Formative Assessment Essay Example for Free

Formative Assessment Essay Assessment is regularly conducted by classroom teachers to determine whether students learn the lessons or have acquired the skills they have been taught. However, the prevailing concept of assessment is that it is given after lessons. It is also viewed as extra work that consumes time that would have been better spent in teaching. Some teachers do not even have the adequate knowledge as to how to assess properly having focused more on how to teach (in contrast with how to assess) during their years in teacher training school. As a consequence, assessment results tend to function as a periodic â€Å"snapshot of student progress and as predictors of student performance on the end-of-year statewide tests (Heritage, 2007) rather than a tool to help teachers during instruction. This need is the reason why formative assessment should be implemented. Heritage defines formative assessment as â€Å"a systematic process to continuously gather evidence about learning. The data are used to identify a student’s current level of learning and to adapt lessons to help the student reach the desired learning goal (2007). † It involves strategies which can be categorized into three types: On-the-fly-assessment which requires the teacher to provide quick â€Å"pop-up† lessons right during discussions to correct students’ misconceptions; Planned-for-interaction which requires teachers to think of questions beforehand which would make students think and explore ideas during discussion time; and, Curriculum-embedded assessment where the teacher solicits feedback by talking with the students about ongoing classroom activities like seatwork, board work or students’ notes. There are four core elements of formative assessment (Heritage, 2007). First, it is a means for teachers to identify the gap between the students’ current status in learning and the desired educational goals. Second, it is designed to provide feedback at multiple levels. Third, it encourages student involvement in the daily classroom discussion. Finally, it aims to help teachers develop learning progressions. To use formative assessment successfully, however, teachers also need to possess certain knowledge and skills. Teachers must have domain knowledge of their subject area of expertise; pedagogical knowledge; knowledge of their students’ previous learning; and assessment knowledge or knowing a variety of proper assessment strategies. With regards to the required skills, the successful implementation of formative assessment can only occur if teachers are able to create classroom conditions where learners feel a sense of community and can critique each other without fear. They must also help students learn how to assess themselves. Teachers must be skilled in analyzing student inferences. Finally, they must be able to match instruction to the gap in the present skill level or knowledge of the learner. Heritage’s article provides a convincing argument for formative assessment as it points out the ineffectiveness of current assessment methods to actually help the learner. When students perform poorly in periodical and annual exams, it becomes too late to do something about things. Students either get low grades or are not promoted to the next level. Something could have been done halfway through the school year had formative assessments been conducted. However, formative assessment can only be seen today as an alternative to the existing views since year-end statewide assessments, for example, would be a hard practice to do away with. The present school system, specifically the public schools, have been practicing traditional assessment methods for decades, even the new curriculum and programs do not change things. Nevertheless, the article introduces a challenge to educators and administrators to try this alternative if it is being lamented that the quality of the aptitude skills of the students has been regressing every year. School administrators should mind the rationale behind formative assessment, which is placing more emphasis towards reforming student performance rather than the punishment-reward system that the traditional method offers. Of course, this would mean additional training for teachers who are not used to employing formative assessment in their own classrooms and changes in the curricula of teacher training schools. Then again, the benefits of formative assessment as enumerated in the article far outweigh all cost considerations. Reference: Heritage, Margaret. (2007, October). Formative Assessment: What do teachers need to know and do? Phi Delta Kappan, pp. 140-145.

The Odyssey Essay examples -- essays research papers

Throughout vast journeys of many heroes, no other hero had a more complex journey than Odysseus. This journey is called The Odyssey, written by Homer. It is an epic poem or story told of a hero name Odysseus on a 20-year voyage trying to get back home from the Trojan War. The great epic poem known as The Odyssey and attributed to Homer was probably first written down around the eighth century BC, but the origins of the ancient story in myth, legend, and folklore and art appear to be much older. Greek Epic Hero When you think about Greek Epic heroes, Odysseus will most likely come to mind. Odysseus is the main character in Homer's poem "The Odyssey." "The Odyssey" is a narrative poem that describes Odysseus' adventures and obstacles in his quest to return home to Ithaca, where he is king, from the Trojan War. Odysseus has been gone for two decades. All the other chieftains have returned home. However, Odysseus' whereabouts are unknown. One of the things that make Odysseus a Greek hero is that the gods favor him. In the Odyssey the gods help Odysseus many times. When Poseidon struck Odysseus' ship with lightning, Odysseus was able to survive because a goddess named Ino gave him a magical cloak. The cloak prevents Odysseus from drowning. When Circe turns Odysseus’ men into swine, Hermes the messenger god gives Odysseus a magical herb that prevents Circe from using her spells on him. Due to this Odysseus was able to gain favor in Circe's eyes and he convinced her to turn his men back to normal. Towards the end of the book, when Odysseus returns to Ithaca, Athena disguises him as a beggar. The disguise was to fool the suitors, who are eating Odysseus out of his home and are harassing his wife Penelope, and to get Odysseus access to the palace. The ancient Greeks used to say that a true hero must show respect to the gods by giving them sacrifices and praying to them. Odysseus gives sacrifices to the gods in many instances in â€Å"The Ody ssey." When Odysseus goes to Hades, the underworld, he sacrifices a ram and an ewe to the gods. When Odysseus defeats Polyphemus the Cyclops who is the son of Poseidon the god of the sea, Odysseus gives sacrifices to the gods. Lastly when Odysseus defeats those horrible suitors that outnumbered him by so much Odysseus realizes that it was the gods who helped him do this. A mere mortal could not perform the fea... ...d wars are true. Let’s take Ithaca for instances, is a real landmass in the Ionians Islands of the western part of Greece. Through the Trojan War, there is some truth to that because researches have found some parts and signs that deal with a war that took place a great time ago. They found that Troy is in what we call present-day Turkey. It is very hard to understand the book because of the depth it goes into. The translator E. V. Rieu said that â€Å"The Odyssey† was one the hardest books to translate mainly because Homer writes with emphasis on his works. But in the movie, the director Andrei Kanchalovsky said â€Å"the movie was hard to make because it was to many books that translated The Odyssey in many different ways.† In actuality, the article was the best summary of the book and half as good as the movie. Fayetteville State University By: Adrian Williams History 110 11-16-00 Book: Homer. The Odyssey. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA. Penguin Books Inc, 1946. Movie: â€Å"The Odyssey†. Directed by Andrei Kanchalovsky. Starring Armand Assante, Vanessa L. Williams, and Eric Roberts. 1997. Article: http://members.nbci.com/blademaster/myths/odyssey.html

Milestones in Professional Nursing Essay

The origin of professional organization was an important milestone in the development of professional nursing. In early period nursing was viewed as an extension of motherhood, midwifery or religious duty (advance practice nursing, (Denisco S.M, 2nd edition, P.7),and this primary nursing was job was carried out by the untrained people who just did it for room and board. Form here now nursing has grown to stage where we have DNP programs, nurse scientist, and many more advance practice roles.. While looking to this development of nursing through the years in spite of strong opposition from the medical community nursing has gown and I believe the role of professional organization has been spectacular The professional education created human mobility, more and more women came to nursing education this upward human mobilization helped a to argue for profession. And also collective efforts from these professionally educated nurses increase the power and provided a place for nursing in professional group Human beings have a tendency to congregate, talk among themselves, and advocate for their causes. This has certainly occurred in nursing as evidenced by the breadth and depth of the various nursing groups that seek to enhance the work of nurses generally and in their specialty areas. There are over a hundred national nursing associations and many other international organizations. The website, Nursing Organization Links (NOL, 2011), maintains a web-based list of organizations. Among those hundreds of organization two of them need special emphasis, American nurses association (ANA) and National league of nursing (NLN) The first nursing organization was American society of superintendent of training school (1893) they fought for uniform standard for nursing education and training and this society later became national league of nursing. The current ANA (1911)who is fighting for the rights of nurses representing 1.9 million nurses in USA, was originally formed as association of trained nurses of USA and Canada(1898).ANA worked hard to define the code of ethics for nurses, for the social policy as well to define the scope and practice of nursing. Regulation via licensure was an early major milestone in ensuring patient safety and quality of nurses. Moreover they played vital role in professional advancement by fostering high standard of nursing care, promotion of nurse’s rights at work place, projecting nurse’s roles in public health improvement, negotiate with the law makers, played a vital role in generating the energy, flow of ideas, and proactive work needed to maintain a healthy profession that advocates for the needs of its clients and nurses, and the trust of society.

The Four types of Reinforcement - 666 Words

Everybody has been punished at least once in their life time and we all remember how that one small spanking, time out, or grounding seemed like it was the end of the world. What event caused the punishment, did that event ever occur again? Punishment is a type of reinforcement. The term reinforce means to strengthen, and in Psychology it is used to refer to any stimulus which strengthens the probability of a certain response. There are four types of reinforcement: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment and extinction. Of those four types of reinforcement, punishment is the most effective type if given after an undesired response; it can also be used to teach one a lesson. It lowers the probability that a response will occur again. In operant conditioning, punishment is any change in a human or its surroundings that occurs after a given behavior which minimizes the likelihood of that behavior occurring again. There are two types of punishment: positive punishment and negative punishment. Positive punishment is known as â€Å"punishment by application.† This form of punishment involves presenting an aversive stimulus after a behavior has occurred. For example, a puppy does not use the puppy pad and the owner scolds him for it. The second type of punishment, negative punishment, is known as the â€Å"punishment by removal.† Negative punishment involves taking away something that is dear to the punished. An example of this type of punishment is a parentShow MoreRelatedSkinners O perant Conditioning Theory Essay658 Words   |  3 Pagesconditioned to respond in a certain way, and learning takes place. Reinforcement is a vital element in Skinners Stimulus-Response Theory. A reinforcer is anything that strengthens a desired response, such as verbal praise, or a good grade. Skinners theory also covers negative reinforcers, and punishment that lead to the reduction of undesired responses. 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