Digital Badge #J- Ch.11. Engaging Students in Performance Assessment and Reflective Learning

A digital teaching portfolio, as stated on the book, is a collection of educational and professional materials accumulated in an electronic format (Maloy, p. 279). As teachers, we have to designing a well organized and professional teaching portfolio. This can give us an edge in a competitive job market, and help us score high marks on the school's teacher evaluation form. Electronic Portfolios are a creative means of organizing, summarizing, and sharing artifacts, information, and ideas about teaching and learning, along with personal and professional growth. The reflective process of portfolio development can be as important as the final product. In many cases, they are used as part of faculty and student evaluation along with other assessment tools such as standardized tests. A portfolio is a sampling of the breadth and depth of a person's work conveying the range of abilities, attitudes, experiences, and achievements.The following website, Center for Teaching, is a great resource to learn more about teaching portfolios, such as what to include in it, general guidelines, and also examples of some portfolios.

The next mind map gives some elements that should be included in a digital teaching portfolio.


 
                                                                    Created on Bubbl.us by Janette Rodriguez


Teachers have to evaluate students’ learning, “assessment is central to the work of teaching” (Maloy, p. 277). The assessment of learning and teaching can be viewed as two complementary and overlapping activities that aim to benefit both the quality of student learning and the professional development of the instructor. Assessing learning alone is not sufficient because the ultimate success of students also depends upon their motivation and commitment to learning. Assessing only teaching behaviors and course activities is not sufficient because qualities of the instructor may be appreciated by students, but not optimally helpful to their learning and growth. Assessing teaching and learning can help instructors improve and refine their teaching practices and help improve students’ learning and performance. There are three elements on assessment:

1. New teacher assessment is how supervisors will assess the new teacher’s work. They evaluate the teacher’s academic and classroom performance. 
2. Student assessment is how a teacher will assess students’ learning and his/her own effectiveness as a teacher. Assign grades, complete report cards, conduct meetings with families, and give written or oral feedback in the form of comments or suggestions about the students’ performance. 
3. Student self-assessment is how students are going to participate in the classroom. Student active involvement in learning helps them to build their own commitment to the school curriculum. 

          (Maloy, p. 277-278)


Preassessments are a way for teachers to know what the students know about a topic. These types of assessments come before introducing a new lesson or topic. Students come to the classroom with a broad range of pre-existing knowledge, skills, beliefs, and attitudes, which influence how they attend, interpret and organize the upcoming information. I believe that preassessments are helpful for the teacher to know how to integrate a new lesson with the knowledge that the student already have about any topic. How they process and integrate new information will affect how they remember, think, apply, and create new knowledge. Some preassessments are:

• Pretests 
• Writing prompts 
• Graphic organizers 
• Observations 
• Questions 
• Surveys

References:

Maloy, R., Verock-O’Loughlin, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.