Day 12: Dah!

My 365 Blog Challenge:  Day 12/365

Part of my routine this school year is to get up early, so I have time to read:  Bible Study, Twitter, blogs and books for fun.  I recently read a blog post by Tiffany Freeman (@TiffanyFreeman) about assessment.  I have been struggling with grading in general (http://mwren13.blogspot.com/2013/09/day-internal-battle.html).  I have been so focused on assessment for the purpose of grading that I forgot that the goal of assessment shoukd be to improve my teaching. Dah!

I am planning on giving more tests this year: playing tests and projects.  I want my students to be able to show mastery and originally I thought these would help me justify grades.  The point of playing tests is to see where my students are on their learning journey, but most importantly, it is so I can see which areas are weak in my teaching.  All assessments loose their power if they are just graded and filed away.  When students struggle in a particular area, we need to first look at ourselves and see what we can do better.  Our job is to teach students, therefore when students do not learn, we need to first look at what we did/did not do.  As an expert in our subjects it can sometimes be hard to make sure we are explaining things well enough.  

After my Dah moment, I am now viewing assessment as a test on me, not a test on my students.  I want them to succeed and enjoy music, so it is vital that I take these moments to improve my teaching.

Thank you Tiffany Freeman for the great reminder on the power of assessments!