Peer and Self Assessment: Help others help you!! By Lisa Fulbright Mickey Morehead

Who should attend this workshop? Primary teachers Secondary teachers Administrators Curriculum coordinators

Aims of the workshop To help students be able to improve their learning with the use of peer and self assessment strategies To increase the independence of your students To help students become competent with the use of peer and self assessment

Why would you want to use it? Because you believe: Students should be valued participants in their own learning Students should be able to identify their learning gaps and solve their learning needs, with teacher assistance To help students develop skills for life-long and self-motivated learning by learning peer and self assessment strategies

Possible Concerns Are primary students too young to self and peer assess? Will students find the process too difficult? How are you at giving up some control in your classroom?! You can probably think of other concerns you may have.

Goals to Accomplish Develop an environment within the classroom that will support peer and self assessment (Trust and respect) Encourage students to become more involved in their learning Improve teaching by assisting students in the learning of these strategies To be more of a facilitator and less of a dictator in the classroom

Steps to Implementation Early stages Share models of work with the students to show students what will be expected Model success criteria with examples of work Gather the students together daily at a set time to discuss and reflect with them on any learning goals in relation to a successful assignment

Developing a trusting and respectful environment During the early stages ask volunteers to share their work with the class. Have the class identify two to three items that represent how the assignment was well done and one item that may help improve the work Have the students work in pairs completing the same task. How did they do it right (2 or 3 items) and how can they improve (1 item)

Steps to Implementation Later stages Develop as assessment sheet where the students can indicate how well they have met certain criteria (CBM’s – Graphs are particularly favorable) Have students review their own progress and reset their goals. Have students reflect and give opportunities for improvement and examples of what they have learned At this point the focus is starting to shift from the teacher to the student

Possible Results Students are beginning to manage their own learning and become more focused on the next step/steps in their learning process Students are aiding in each other’s learning by sharing two positive ideas about their work and one idea for improvement It can be used with all levels of learning – both high level students and those with learning challenges

More Results The students will begin to take more ownership in their own education The climate of the classroom has shifted from one of a teaching to a learning environment Students will begin to work more independently and rely less and less on the teacher Students will be able to look at successful work samples and talk about what they had done well

Benefits to the Teacher Ability to give away some control of the student’s learning Ability to become better at sharing learning targets and expectations Become more focused on providing feedback and expectations to the students Spend less time on grading and recording assessment data!!!!!!!!!

In Conclusion Begin by having students assess their work orally slowly moving to written assessment Provide opportunities for peer and self assessment within each unit of study Create a trusting and respectful environment where students are comfortable with sharing their ideas and accepting constructive criticism and advice

Some things to consider How could you currently use peer and self assessment in your classroom? How would you change the way you currently keep records? What would you do with the time that is now available?

Possible Classroom Strategies T.T.P.A.T. – Turn to a partner and talk Think – Pair – Share Say It – Draw It – Write It Key Words What strategies do you currently use that could be used to implement this process?