Assessment is where I am feeling the least free within the structure we have in our district. Our mandated reading and math assessments are so comprehensive and numerous that to create new, performance based assessments would be counterproductive to student learning.
However, my teammates and I enjoying working within the science and social studies curricula to design assessments that challenge students and allow them to demonstrate their learning in unique ways. Students write poetry about the water cycle, design science posters that highlight land and water forms, assume the identity of an historical figure for a Wax Museum and work in teams to create bridges with straws, pins and masking tape to connect a given distance, just to name a few activities. These activities build student confidence, creativity and problem solving and just as importantly, do the same for their teachers.
Designing these assessments with your peers gives you a chance to see where your colleagues’ hidden strengths and talents lie. It pushes you use new strategies and techniques and can give you a fresh perspective on a tired unit. I would love this type of freedom and flexibility to pursue more of this kind of assessment development in literacy and numeracy.
Related posts:
Beth Cavalier grew up in Exeter, NH with her parents and two younger sisters. She graduated from Boston College in 1995 with a degree in Political Science. Working in a private pre-school in Connecticut after graduating inspired her to pursue her teaching certificate in special education at Westfield State College. After working in the Agawam Public School system as a Title 1 assistant for a year, she and her husband moved back to New Hampshire and she began working in Amesbury, MA as a special education teacher both in a self-contained setting and in a co-teaching model. When the opportunity presented itself, she became a general education teacher and taught a grade 2/3 loop for eight years. She is currently in her second year as a member of the fourth grade team and her thirteenth year of teaching in the Amesbury Public School system. Beth earned a master’s degree from Lesley University in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Literacy and a Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies from Plymouth State University in School Leadership. She has served on various curriculum committees, the Writing Assessment Team, the Math Assessment Team and the Strategic Planning Team in Amesbury. She lives in the seacoast of New Hampshire with her husband and daughter. 
I agree that there is little freedom in our assessments in the 3Rs. Our district mandates the tests and assessments in these areas. But, every so often, it is enjoyable to have the students do a project or complete a task that is more “creative” (dare I say not in our text books) and allows me to see the students’ understanding of a concept. The problem seems to be that our schedule is so jam packet with these mandated assessments that there is little time to do these types of activities. It’s GO GO Go!
Exactly!