E-Reflection week 11 Principle of effective teaching and assessment

          Good feedback practice is not only about providing good information to the students about learning but also providing good information to teachers. Yes, that’s what I’ve learned on the last meeting in PETA course and what I feel inside about the importance of the giving feedback in teaching and learning process.  It is very powerful and I think it’s potentially constructive learning tools. Teachers give feedback messages to students about the strength and weakness in their work assuming that these messages are easily decoded and turned into action. In Yorke’s assumption (2003), teachers need to be careful when delivering the feedback and don’t make the feedback falls short of what is actually necessary to help students close the gap in the learning process between the current learning achievements of the students and the goal set by the teacher. Based on my observation during school experience program last year, less incompatibility type of feedback given will give the negative impact for students. They became a pessimistic, unmotivated and lacking of self esteem because of teachers’ reprimand. In contrast, the positive feedback increased students’ motivation in learning and improved subsequent performance.

            Based on my experience, positive feedback is also effective to encourage teacher and peer dialogue around learning and deliver high quality information to students about learning. Let’s reflect on what we often do during group discussion activity in PETA course. There were always many feedbacks both teacher and the students when we discussed about some topics.  Of course, it became the evident that feedback as dialogue means is very crucial and don’t expect that the discussion activity will take place meaningfully and effectively without any feedback on it. I realized the importance of the feedback itself. As long as my existence especially in learning, the positive feedback from teacher and peers provides the additional information that can help me in reassess my knowledge and get an immediate response to difficulties. It also serves as an authoritative reference point against so that it directly helps me to check out and correct misunderstanding.    

            Finally, at the end of this reflection, I conclude that any model of feedback must take account of the way students make sense of and use, feedback information. When teaching trough feedback, teachers need to be aware of the feedback itself. Feedback should be relevant to the task and in hand and to students. Back to the purpose of using feedback in learning is actually to provide additional information that can improve students’ understanding about a material. It means that the higher the understanding and mastery of the material and learning outcomes, the higher the success rate of learning.

Himmatul ‘Aliyah

2010110030

E-Reflection week 9 Principle of effective teaching and assessment

Do you know about the picture?

            Hemt,,,maybe some of us didn’t know about the form of this assessment. People tend to call this informal assessment technique as anecdotal record. So, what is anecdotal record? Based on American Association of School Administrators (1992, p. 21), it is a written record kept in a positive tone of a child's progress based on milestones particular to that child's social, emotional, physical, aesthetic, and cognitive development. It is such a formative assessment. In this case, the teacher just observes and then records a child's actions and work throughout the day while the activities are occurring. It is done only when appropriate and is not forced. Wow,,,it seems cool, actually. Although I don’t have any experience using this assessment technique and haven’t seen my teachers use this assessment technique yet but I think it is positive in tone. Teachers can see students’ progress, their skills and achievements over the time during the class. 

            This assessment technique may be similar manner as we will conduct performance assessment in group discussion. But when I’m trying to compare with the other formal assessment technique such as the performance assessment technique, I found the difference between them. Anecdotal record is more detail and need not a rubric to assess students. Teachers can record as many details as possible. It might their eyes and ears act like a video camera. Hahaha,,,,am I right? So that, they can record how student communicate both verbally and nonverbally then figure out how students look and what they do. They also can make a note about students’ physical gestures and their movements. By using this assessment technique, teachers will get information that can’t be obtained using the other methods of assessment. It is objective observation and not judgments. 

            That’s my opinion about anecdotal record as the means to assess students’ progress and achievement informally. However, both formal and informal assessments are really important to support teaching and learning process. It can improve their behavior especially their motivation to learn, and their attitudes to be more likely active during the class.

Himmatul ‘Aliyah

2010110030

E-Reflection week 9 Principle of effective teaching and assessment

Influencing motivation through assessment.  In your opinion, is it a good idea?

            Actually when I heard about this issue, I had wondered to myself. Is it correct? How to do so? I was really curious at the moment and immediately I moved to have a great passion to find out more information about that. It’s important for us as teachers’ candidate and I think this issue will help teachers’ candidate especially me to know more about what activities that can be used to influence students’ motivation through assessment. 

            By this 2 stray 2 stay activity that held on the last Tuesday, I have got a lot of information about how to create assessment that can influence students’ motivation especially in learning and getting as much as possible achievement in class? Before studying this material, I just knew that the purpose of assessment itself is only means that in chronological assist teachers in monitoring students’ performance. Teachers uncover concept that had been achieved by students and assess student progress in this regard about the development process of how a concept is acquired. But after I heard about my friends’ explanation about this issue, I just realized that it’s really crucial thing. In creating a good assessment, teachers need to know that the assessment must be meaningful, involve students’ improvement, and expose students’ optimism and confidence.  As known that the purpose of this issue is encouraging us as teacher candidates to see that not only improve students’ motivations that include the extrinsic motivation but also their ego and task involvement. 

            As far as I’ve done observation well in both SD Menteng atas and SMA 12 Jakarta when doing school experience program, mostly their motivation to learn especially in learning mathematics were still low. Only a few students that had a motivation to learn mathematics based on their own volition. I remembered when I had a chance to teach them, I tried to assess them with various ways to maximize their performance. Not only using post test or pre test, I assessed them when they still discussed a topic, presented their work until found some solutions in the game that I gave to them. There were many differences that I could see. I could see the progress, most students motivate to learn more deeply in mathematics and they enjoyed with activities that I’ve created. And the most important thing is I had success to improve their skill in problem solving, analyzing and evaluating through assessment. 

In this reflective way, I got the conclusion that assessment is the means to create effective learning and students' motivation to learn is the tendency of students to find academic activities meaningful and worthwhile. And by the time they receive the learning activity that is where the motivation to learn appears. Motivation in learning is effective if it can provide mental forging on learning, Students are people who have feelings and who don't want to feel cornered. They want to learn but they also want to feel as if they have some control over themselves. It is our tasks as teachers to find assessment model that not only motivates each student to learn but also motivates them to misbehave. If we can meet them at that point and take away that motivation, we can go a long way towards a more effective classroom and learning experience.

Himmatul ‘Aliyah

2010110030

E-Reflection week 8 Principle of effective teaching and assessment

Welcome back to PETA course again,,,yeay,,,It’s almost two weeks, we had no this course and I was really miss it.

            As usual, we have a new topic that has to be discussed together in every session. And yesterday, we have to discuss a topic that it is really important for us as teachers’ candidate. Yes, it is about what assessment is and how to make the assessment itself effective in class. As known that assessment appears to be the topic on every primary school's agenda at this moment in time and it is also the important thing that should be considered in teaching and learning process. However teaching is not only teaching the material but also giving the meaningful experience for my students. 

            Based on the discussion result, I just realized that it’s a little bit hard to create assessment that can test students’ understanding and also cover their comprehension. It takes time and need some creativities from the teachers itself to make good assessment for their students. This opinion has change since my first impression earlier on in my teaching career in SMA 12 Jakarta. I had to use various types of assessment because I believe that those can help me to assess my students effectively and see their learning progress. I know that the main purpose of assessment is not focused on students’ achievements. It exists and should be used with equal balance to make a well rounded judgement of an individual child. So in this case, I tried to involve students’ participation on it because I want my students active in class and it’s better for them to get information about their skill that need to be improved. Although in fact, it was not perfectly success to do because there were some students that still not familiar with my assessment model, but I was still satisfied because the assessment that I gave to them at least can motivate almost students in the classroom to improve their performance and also encourage them to participate to assess their own learning progress.

            Finally, I got the point that the important part of the application of the assessment is teacher willingness to work hard to apply the assessment which can appropriate to assess their students’ performance. In looking at assessment in this reflective way and based on the last experience, as a teacher candidate I believe that I still have a chance and a long journey ahead in terms of developing a useful effective assessment system for my students in the next opportunity.

Himmatul ‘Aliyah

2010110030

E-Reflection week 7 Principle of effective teaching and assessment

Hemt,,,Finally, the school experience was over and it ‘s time to go back to my beloved campus and do some assignments that never stop to follow me.. hahahha…

Actually, I was really happy because I can meet my friends again and share anything about their experiences when doing team teaching. It was also what we did on the last meeting at PETA Course. We did some reflections based on the school experience program and define what the effective teaching is, what criteria to be the effective teacher and what moments where student’s teaching versus mentor. Haha,,the discussion was very hot and I like the moment when my friends together gave their opinions and enthusiast to join the discussion:)

Talking about the effective teaching itself, actually it is important for every teacher to create the condition and I know that it is not simple. As known that if the teacher can create the effective teaching, the learning process will be more meaningful and students will be easy to understand the concept and enjoy with all activities in class. That’s my reflection and what I have learned during the school experience program. Make a good lesson plan, try to be creative in creating the meaningful activity, enthusiasts in the teaching activity, understand what their needs, have a caring attitude and a love of learning and try to have a great desire to make a difference in the lives of young people. That’s what I did when I had to face them in the class. Actually, it’s too tired for me to act such the role, but I always try to consider those as my efforts to be a great teacher that success to deliver material in class. I knew that my teaching is almost perfectly. All the learning objectives and the indicators were reached, but sometimes, I felt that what I did is not enough for my students to make them engage in my class. I felt that they still couldn’t fully respect to me and enjoy with some activities that I have created. I know that it’s my bad experience. It’s my challenge to make the teaching process run well and yielded satisfactory result. 

                In the last meeting of PETA course, I got the fact that I was not the only one that has the experience as I have explained earlier. Most of my friends have the same experience with me. And what we did? We shared each other and tried to find the solution of the problem. Then, I tried to make a conclusion that every person is destined to not perfect, but they can do their best way to cover up their imperfections to look so perfect.  I tried to not blame the experience that has gone badly because I knew that the journey will be fascinating. It is such an obstacle for me before being a real teacher. I believe that what happened to me during the school experience were just my mistakes that bring me to learn at the maximum rate. That actually, I have to be strong and get ready to do the best for the other chance.

Himmatul ‘Aliyah

2010110030

Mathematics Department