"Mr. Maddox has the skills of a veteran teacher when it comes to classroom management. He has gained the respect of his students, and maintains a positive rapport which benefits instructional time as he does not have to manage behaviors. He uses a variety of teaching strategies to help his students make connections so the text is more applicable and attainable. Setting high expectations for his students promotes a positive learning environment, where all feel motivated to learn!"
Mr. Maddox believes that setting goals is important. Mr. Maddox's goal for this instructional year was to use assessment data to better meet the needs of his students and to help them better master all content standards for History and Social Science.
But, what is assessment?
Simply put, assessment is a measurement used to see what students have learned.
And how did Mr. Maddox do in meeting this goal?
Mr. Maddox believes that he was able to meet this goal this last school year!
However, there are several reasons Mr. Maddox believes this.
First, Mr. Maddox formulated assessments that would give him quick and immediate feedback. His students became very familiar with the "Comprehension Check." This check allowed students to show what they learned from the previous night's reading homework through the identification of the main ideas of the text. Mr. Maddox continued to use this assessment so that student's were familiar with it. This allowed him to gain more accurate results. Over the course of the year, Mr. Maddox was able to see students Comprehension Check scores improve as they mastered the skill of identifying main ideas!
Second, Mr. Maddox was able to review the results of these assessments quickly. Being able to evaluate the data of assessments efficiently and effectively is extremely important. Without the results of the assessment, Mr. Maddox would not be able to understand what his students have learned and what students still need to learn. Though this information is important to helping students, it is even more important to helping Mr. Maddox become a better teacher. It allows Mr. Maddox to understand what he has taught well and what he can teach better!
Third, in meeting this goal, Mr. Maddox is able to set goals for the next school year. For example, even though Mr. Maddox used the Comprehension Check this year to help himself become better at assessment, there are many other exciting and fun assessments that he can use in the future! Learning more about assessment this year was only the beginning. With the moderate success Mr. Maddox has experienced with the Comprehension Check, he will be able to find and implement new and exciting means of assessment in his classroom.
That sounds like a lot of work. How can Mr. Maddox stay motivated to get it done?
That is a great question. Very simply, Mr. Maddox believes that being a committed teacher also means being a committed student. According to Mr. Maddox, great teachers will never admit that they know everything! Instead, a great teacher will focus on what is still to be learned. While Mr. Maddox loves learning more about the historical content he teaches, he also loves learning more about how to become a better teacher. He is committed to learning new and exciting strategies and approaches to learning that he can share with his students!