Standard 5: Educators implement effective planning, instruction, assessment and reporting practices to create respectful, inclusive environments for student learning and development.
As a teacher, its important to create interesting leaning practices that your students are able to connect to. There should be learning opportunities and experiences that show the lesson in a real life context that your students can connect to. Teachers understand that all learning is often interconnected and can be assessed in many different ways. How one student is assessed may not be the same way another student is assessed. Each student has their strengths and weaknesses, its what makes them unique learners. Its important that a teacher understands how to assess each of the students so that they can be fairly evaluated and get the proper assistance they need to continue onward in their learning journey.
I saw this standard being practised first hand in my first practicum teacher’s classroom. She assessed each student based on what she knew they were capable of, and where they needed extra help. She pushed her students to do their best work every day, and if they made mistakes they could try again tomorrow. Each student was assessed differently, but it was still equitable between everyone in the classroom. She knew she could ask for help with different teachers in the school when students needed extra time on specific subjects. She communicated with them her expectations clearly and concisely. She would have to repeat herself sometimes because it was a grade 1 class and listening is hard but it still counts. I cannot praise my first practicum enough; they were incredibly kind and I learned so much from the teachers and the staff everyday.
Photo credit: Maddie Corbett, 2021.