From learning about Battelle for Kids in class from Pauline in the module ‘Teaching Practice’ and from a guest speaker Mary O’Callaghan, I was motivated to investigate this more and to incorporate it into my teaching. Mary discussed the benefits this had on her and her students and I was eager to try it out for myself. “Battelle for kids is an organization dedicated to moving education forward for students by supporting the educators who work with them every day” (Battelle for Kids, 2016). From completing the Battelle for kids courses I learned quite a bit about Formative Instructional Practices and how they can improve the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom. “Formative instructional practices (FIP) are the formal and informal ways that teachers and students gather and respond to evidence of learning” (FIP Your School, 2016). Battelle for Kids state that “at the core, formative instructional practices make assessment an integral part of the teaching and learning process, the instructional process” (Battelle for Kids, 2016).
So far on Teaching Practice I have incorporated FIP’s into my lessons at Loreto Community School, Milford. I have made up boxes coloured green, yellow and red which allows the students to self asses their own work before the teacher assesses it. I find that this works very well and the students really enjoy using it. I have used this form of assessment with a few of my class groups so far. I feel that the more I use it the more accurate the student’s self-assessment is and they are being more critical about the standard of their work. Traffic light forms of assessment can be very effective in teaching. “This simple activity encourages pupils to indicate how well they achieved what was expected by the end of a lesson or session” (Northern Ireland Curriculum, n.d.). I have also used exit cards with my classes to get student feedback on their learning, and areas that I could improve on to make the learning more effective. Before teaching practice began I have made up traffic light signal cards to get feedback for the students on areas that they might not be too sure on or areas that they completely unsure about. This is also very effective in my opinion and it is a strategy that I hope to use more when teaching. This allows the “students to signal such things as: ‘stop I’m lost!’ or ‘slow down, I’m getting confused’ or ‘full steam ahead’” (Rutherford, 2012, p. 84).
In conclusion, I believe that formative instructional practices are essential elements in the classroom and they can greatly enhance the learning. It is evident that I have used a variety of FIP’s so far on Teaching Practice and I hope to include more in my teaching after Christmas.
So far on Teaching Practice I have incorporated FIP’s into my lessons at Loreto Community School, Milford. I have made up boxes coloured green, yellow and red which allows the students to self asses their own work before the teacher assesses it. I find that this works very well and the students really enjoy using it. I have used this form of assessment with a few of my class groups so far. I feel that the more I use it the more accurate the student’s self-assessment is and they are being more critical about the standard of their work. Traffic light forms of assessment can be very effective in teaching. “This simple activity encourages pupils to indicate how well they achieved what was expected by the end of a lesson or session” (Northern Ireland Curriculum, n.d.). I have also used exit cards with my classes to get student feedback on their learning, and areas that I could improve on to make the learning more effective. Before teaching practice began I have made up traffic light signal cards to get feedback for the students on areas that they might not be too sure on or areas that they completely unsure about. This is also very effective in my opinion and it is a strategy that I hope to use more when teaching. This allows the “students to signal such things as: ‘stop I’m lost!’ or ‘slow down, I’m getting confused’ or ‘full steam ahead’” (Rutherford, 2012, p. 84).
In conclusion, I believe that formative instructional practices are essential elements in the classroom and they can greatly enhance the learning. It is evident that I have used a variety of FIP’s so far on Teaching Practice and I hope to include more in my teaching after Christmas.