HEROES Teacher's Guide - Book - Page 18
d. Teacher Assessment
Once pupils have completed the self-assessment page, it should be collected and
reviewed to detect any major issues. The teacher then fills in his/her assessment of each
pupil on each of the items and adds comments.
Additionally, the teacher is provided with Unit Assessment Rubrics that clearly display all
the Can-Do Descriptors targeted in each unit, as well as rubrics for each performance
task in the program. The teacher should use these to mark the progress of each pupil at
the end of the unit.
Using the Assessment Activity, the Self-Assessment Activity, the Unit Assessment
Rubrics, and the Performance Task Rubrics, the teacher has a clear picture of a pupil’s
development in the language. Assessments from previous units should be compared,
paying attention to any discrepancies or noting improvements. All these assessment
tools serve as a basis for the Pupil-Teacher Conference.
Unit Assessment Rubrics and Performance Task Rubrics appear in Appendix V b and c.
e. The Pupil-Teacher Conference
During the first week or two after a unit has been completed; the teacher meets
individually with pupils (this can be done while the class is working in their Course
Books). During the conference, the teacher discusses the pupil’s progress and together
they decide on what can be done to improve learning. During the meeting, the teacher
should, together with the pupil, review work in the Course Book and ask the pupil
specific questions about what s/he is learning in class. Pupils’ self-assessment responses
may be related to a general sense of low self-esteem or confidence in English. The
teacher can use the opportunity to provide support and enhance the pupil’s confidence
by pointing out areas in which s/he is doing very well.
f.
Rethinking as a Result of Assessment
Much can be learned from the information that is gathered with the assessment tools
provided in this program. Assessment helps summarize the class progress and guide
instruction. By looking at the assessments, the teacher will get a full picture of the Candos that have been achieved by the class and those that the majority of the class has not
mastered yet. In such a case, reviewing those objectives would be in order. If the
objectives have not yet been achieved, a conscious effort should be made to reenter
these teaching items systematically in subsequent lessons so that everyone will acquire
them. This will avoid gaps in knowledge later on.
In addition to guiding instruction, the assessment tools allow the teacher to monitor
each pupil’s achievements and to identify difficulties. By looking across each pupil’s
performance on the checklists, it is easy to see what the child knows or does well, and
what s/he still has not yet mastered. In order to help the pupil improve on these
objectives, extra help and practice should be provided.
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