WAP 6 Assessments

    Assessment is a big part of the classroom. Teachers are constantly assessing students to ensure that students understand the material and to adjust lessons as needed.  At the end of every lesson, it is important to know what students understand and what needs to be revisited in a future lesson.  Throughout each lesson it is important to take a quick assessment of students' understanding to check for any misunderstandings that need to be addressed and reteach information as needed. This information is important to help us as teachers make adjustments to our teaching throughout the lesson. For summative assessments, I prefer projects and presentations but I can see how I would utilize many of the applications available today in my classroom as formative assessments.

    For second graders I feel that using Kahoot for formative assessments would be a fun and interesting task for students. Using a Kahoot after explaining a new concept can quickly inform me what students understand, what needs further explaining, and any misconceptions students  have. While there are many ways that I could accomplish this,  I feel that the fun visuals and sounds make the assessment more interesting for students in a way that Google Forms are not.  I can add images to each question to provide interest and visual cues for those who need help reading the questions.  There are timer and scoring options available if students are motivated by competition.  On the other hand, I feel like this could discourage ELLs and students who have difficulty reading because they are at a disadvantage compared to native English speakers. It takes them longer to read, longer to respond, and would have lower scores. Kahoot gives you the option to turn these features off leaving the quiz un-scored and untimed. 

    Prior to using Kahoot to assess students, I would ensure that students are comfortable with Kahoot.  During the beginning of the school year I would first model how to use a Kahoot, we would then take a Kahoot as a class where students answer  questions about their peers. I feel that this would be engaging and make students interested in using Kahoot in the future. Students would then play through Kahoot quizzes in groups  for a week so they could help each other navigate the application. I would then assess students' understanding of Kahoot by having them complete one on their own after a week. The Kahoot used would use simple questions such as name the student where a photo of each student  is used and students have to click on the correct name.  I would use the data to see if I can then start incorporating Kahoot into my assessments. 

    One way I would use a Kahoot would be during a lesson on renewable vs. nonrenewable resources. I would first use Google Slides to present information on students on renewable and nonrenewable resources. Students would then go to different centers such as: sorting the natural resources they had collected on a nature walk the previous day, a card sort, vocabulary match, and a book with audio to read on the topic. Students would  then reconvene and complete a Kahoot. Once students complete the Kahoot, I can quickly look at the results and see if there were specific questions students struggled with or if they need more information on renewable and non-renewable resources. 

    Using a paper exit ticket, I would have to correct these by hand and find a way to organize all the data on my own, whereas Kahoot grades and collects data for me in an instant. Being able to instantly view this data and assess any misinformation means that I can immediately address any misconceptions prior to it being moved to their long term memory. I can also  quickly change the lesson in a way that most benefits everyone in the classroom. The ability to customize images, timers, scoring, and quizzes means that I can make it meaningful for all students in the classroom.