Self assessment for students examples inside this blog post & podcast episode will help you get started with self assessment for students.
Self assessment is a key skill to enabling students to be self aware and engaged in their learning process. As teachers we’ve been through the self assessment process so often we sometimes forget how powerful it is. We self assess for our formal observations, during student teaching, after a terrible lesson or awkward parent interaction. It is through these self assessments that we’ve learned, grew our practices, and become better communicators.
So, of course we want that for our students– so on today’s episode let’s chat about self assessments for students examples & tips you can take with you today to increase engagement.
What are Student Self Assessments?
Let’s first start by thinking about the act of self reflection & self assessment.
In my opinion the act of reflecting on your own actions can teach you much more than being told or even getting feedback.
John Dewey says, “We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience.”
“We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience.”
-John Dewey
This quote explains it perfectly. We can experience many things… we can experience really important learning opportunities and inquire… but if we don’t reflect on those experiences and learning opportunities, we won’t actually learn it.
Think of it like this.
Students have time to explore with tiles to build rectangles and count them – a pre-multiplication skill. They share their rectangles at their table and the class even has a conversation about the rectangles and shares a few to chart. However, the child never spends any time reflecting on their own understanding or looking back at their own work to compare it to the learning target & criteria or consider what they might be missing from their work that they now understand after the experience.
Intentionally pausing to give students time to reflect will help our students learn more.
Building in the time to self assess & reflect on the learning experience will help our students learn more content and learn more about themselves and how they learn.
The thing is, we aren’t just teachers of curriculum & standards. We are teachers of children, so anytime we can incorporate life skills that will also help our students learn standards better– why not? Let’s do it!
Why Should Students self assess?
Learning how to self assess is a valuable life skill. When you can assess what is going well, what is feeling challenging or you just don’t understand yet you are better able to set appropriate goals, and select interventions that will help you.
Think of it like this.
A child is learning to skip count or understand that pattern. They are using unifix cubes to connect the cubes in alternating colors by 6s. Once they have them all connected they are labeling the groups with post it notes. Counting by ones and then placing a post it note until they’ve created a unifix cube “number line” of the 6 multiples. (Can you picture it?)
However, this child keeps losing track and going back to the start. They will get the 6 written down and then start back over at 0 counting by 1s until they reach 12, 18, etc. Starting from one each time. They are getting frustrated by the daunting task of the repeated counting of these blocks and they are losing focus.
You notice this as you’re walking the room– what do you do?
A few options include:
- Show them how to start at the last number they wrote and count up
- Show them the multiples on the wall posters and remind them they can use those to help if they get frustrated.
- Ask them if they need a partner to help them
- Ask them how its going. Then listen tow hat they say. Then ask, “What are you doing about it?” or “What do you think would help?”
Have you ever heard that metaphor or parable– I don’t really know. Anyways it goes something like… you could catch the hungry man a fish or you could teach him how to catch his own fish?
That’s what I’m talking about here.. Yes, we can give our students the answers or “suggestions” – air quotes there… because we know we’re really just suggesting they actually go do what we say…. Suggestions on what to do to solve their problem.
OR We can help them reflect on what feels challenging and help them brainstorm new strategies.
This is a life skill I actually talked about in the Middle Web article I wrote about Teaching Students to Problem Solve. The SMP #1 tells us students need to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. That means they need to come up against dead ends, revise their thinking and attempt new strategies. These are problem solving skills. Students can practice these skills, but they can’t practice them if they don’t have an opportunity to struggle and self reflect.
Examples of Self Assessment for Students in Your Classroom:
Okay, so let’s talk about 3 ways to incorporate self assessment into your day.
Obviously there are TONS of ways to incorporate self assessment. However, my goal with this episode is to give you 3 ideas that you can start implementing and trying out self assessment. With any idea you start to incorporate, reflect yourself on how it is going– notice what changes, if anything. Notice if students are being thoughtful, if they struggle to be honest, notice trends in their reflections. Use what you notice to drive further teaching about how to reflect.
Self assessment for students examples:
Include the learning target.
Include the learning goal on the worksheet or paper your students are working on. Then, at the end of the lesson ask them to rate themselves on that learning target. You could use 1,2,3,4 or thumbs.
You include this so it is simple for student to circle their rating. However it is crucial that students understand the learning target and the levels of understanding. Don’t worry., we’ll be talking about both in the weeks to come. However, in order to start using this approach simply as, your students to reflect on the LT… then give themselves a 4,3,2,1… I suggest your review with students what it might look like to be a 4,3,2,1.
Here’s what that might sounds like. “I can show how I solve on paper.” A 3 means you can do this. So, you are clearly showing a model, you have a number sentence that matches your work and have added labels and words to explain your work. A 2 means you’re doing some of those things. A 1 is very few. A 4 in this case means you’re showing multiple ways to solve, but each of those models is meeting the criteria.
If you’re looking for more information about learning targets and criteria be sure you listened to last weeks episode #30 Learning Targets and Criteria Help When Giving Students Feedback.
Colored Turn in Trays
Get 3 trays– of any color, or the stop light colors. Then, start having your students turn their work into these trays. You’ll need to give context EVERY time you use them. So, when you ask student to turn in work you’ll say…
“Put it in the pink bin if this was challenging for you or you need more time or help.
Put it in the green bin if you got it or you think your answers & reasoning are sound and correct.
Put it in the middle bin or the orange bin if you’re in the middle– you got some parts, but others were a challenge and you need more help”
This act of self reflection shouldn’t take much effort but helps incorporate reflection in every part of your day. Think about how many times students turn something in during a day in the 4th grade classroom– those are ALL opportunities to say to yourself “Did I get it? What do I need more support with?”
I know this sounds like it is going to take a bunch of time. And to be honest, it will take more time than your typical turning in work routine. However, we spend our time on our priorities. So, if engaging your students ins elf reflection in order to help them engage more in their work, then I would say this is time well spent.
Ask open ended questions – turn and talk or jot ideas
Another way to incorporate reflection into every part of our day is by doing a quick turn and talk. A simple open ended question can help you do that.
You might ask your 2nd graders to turn and talk about the question, “How well can you use base 10 blocks to show a number?” or maybe a 5th grade class you could ask, “Share about how well you stay on task today.”
These are simple ways to get kids thinking & talking about themselves and their performance. I highly suggest you establish a safe, welcoming and inclusive classroom community before starting on this wrok of having students share their growth areas with others. Also, be sure to continue to monitor students as they chat to ensure your classroom norms are being upheld. If you want a lesson on norms (or re-setting norms mid year) check out episode 12 “Re-Setting Norms in the New year”
Self Assessment for Students Examples- Let’s Review!
Let’s review teaching your students to self assess is how to engage students in class. When you help students see their growth and capacity you help them set realistic goals that they can attain. They will be intrinsically motivated to work toward their goals when they see the need for that goal through their self assessments. You can start with work with your students now by putting the learning target right onto their work & asking them to self assess at the completion of each assignment. You’ll be able to utilize open ended question in turn and talks or stop and jots to help students get comfortable with self assessment. And my personal favorite is incorporating a no risk self assessment through turning in work to colored baskets. These self assessment examples are sure to help you develop a few strategies to help students engage in self assessment without feeling overwhelmed.
You totally got this friend! I can’t wait to hear about how infusing a bit of self reflection into your classrooms help your students feel empowered and engaged.
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