Password of the Day

Unforgettable experience

When I was in high school, there were times that I felt I was unjustly graded. I was timid back then. Let me tell you a story that I will never forget and will never do as a teacher. I submitted a module ahead of time. Our teacher checked it, and I was elated that I almost got a perfect score. Days later, she asked me to return the module.

To my surprise, when I got the module back, it was full of erasures. She erased the initial scores she had given me. I was devastated. How can a teacher do such a horrible thing to a student? Because of that experience, I persevered more.

Some students have a good memory, which might benefit them on standardized testing. As a teacher who is new to constructivist curriculum, I am fascinated by how learning is measured through the application of knowledge.

Entry and exit tickets

One of our teachers uses entry and exit tickets, or she calls it “password of the day.” Every single day, the class or the teacher decides the password of the day. She does this to monitor students’ retention of the topic in one of the subjects, whether it’s math, UOI (science-based topics), or English. Students who want to play outside of the classroom during play time must go to their teacher and utter the password of the day. If the student can’t say it, the student needs to stay in the classroom, which is a form of negative reinforcement.

Formative and Summative Assessments

Formative and summative assessments are integral parts of assessing students’ learning. When it comes to summative assessments, I prefer non-standardized testing. For me, the application of knowledge is more important, and it is a skill that is needed to become a competitive individual. Although standardized testing is considered the norm, educators should vary in how they assess students.

Blind Grading techniques

Knowing about blind grading techniques to minimize bias in grading is one thing that I want to consider doing as a teacher to reduce the influence of prejudice in the grading process. I will also want to try using entry and exit tickets as a way to test students right after I introduce a new topic. It’s a straightforward method of evaluation, yet it yields very useful results. This is because the teacher can figure out right away how to close the knowledge gap she finds when she looks at the students in her class.

As educators, we need to always plan our formative and summative assessments to track students learning progress. By doing so, they can also mofidy their instructional design and scaffolded instructions.

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