Assessment as Learning - Self-Assessment Through Journaling and Blogging

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Assessment is one of the main topics of this course and so I thought that it would be beneficial to explore assessment as learning assessment for this blog. Assessment as learning is a type of assessment in which students are expected to self-assess and to monitor their own learning (Drake, Reid & Kolohon, 2014). Assessment as learning falls under the umbrella of assessment for learning, as this assessment promotes additional learning for the student. In assessment as learning scenarios students are expected to reflect and grade what they have learned and/or created in order to deepen their metacognitive skills (Drake et al., 2014). Metacognitive skills are extremely important for young minds because it means that they are able to think about their own thinking. This allows them to think more critically about what they are learning and about various situations that they may find themselves in.

Throughout my educational journey I have realized that I have been given many opportunities to self-assess. I think that in the long run this has benefited me because it has given me practice in evaluating my own work. Most of these opportunities occurred throughout elementary school and have decreased in frequency as I have moved through university. Even though I find that I don’t have the opportunity to grade/assess my own work often throughout university, I realize that I assess my work before it is actually graded by my teachers and professors. I believe that assessment as learning (self-assessment) is super important because it encourages thinking about what you are writing or presenting, and therefore enables you to edit better.

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One of my favourite examples of self-assessment is through journaling. Journaling can be done in many formats and can be used in any grade. If a student (in kindergarten) has not yet mastered the ability to write they can draw in their journal, and once they can they can write in a journal all the way up to high school. Much like a personal diary, journals can be used to see how we are doing and where we need to go. Journals can be used for assessment because they allow a teacher to see where a student’s thoughts are, and they allow the student to reflect on and inquire further into topics that they are learning in class. Using this method in my future classroom, I can give my students the opportunity to understand through their writing how they are doing with regards to a particular subject or lesson.This site is a really helpful resource that may be worth tucking away in your future teacher toolkit. It describes different ways that teachers can use journaling for their students to self-assess, and it has all sorts of resources including rubrics.

Another interesting site that I found (Link) discussed ways in which students can assess their own work. I found this site interesting because it listed blogging as a form of self-assessment. Prior to this research I had not considered the act of writing these blogs to be a form of assessing myself. It makes sense now that this is the case because I realize that we are writing about and expanding our knowledge on topics covered in class, and therefore we can self-assess and see what we have understood and taken away from lecture and class material. Blogging is another great way for students at all grade levels to share what they have learned and to improve their metacognitive skills.

Assessment as learning, is a great way to incorporate additional learning and knowledge into self-assessment by students. Incorporating this into my classroom will be key for me to see how my students think they are doing. It will also enable me to assess their thinking skills. I hope that you have found this blog informative and enjoyable. Until next time, happy teaching!

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References

Chan C.(2009) Assessment: Reflective Journal, Assessment Resources@HKU, University              of Hong  Kong http://ar.cetl.hku.hk

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom

Assessment: Engaging the 21^st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.