What has I found out?
- Students need the support from their teacher to be successful
- Students learn by doing
- Assessing students on their interests proves better results
- Students like to be creative
- Students want to learn
In order for students to feel successful they in turn need to become resilient. Resilience is the ability to cope with life's stresses in a way that enables them to lead health and fulfilled lives (Government of South Australia, 2011). By teaching students to become more resilient when challenges arise, as they are faced with authentic assessment they have the knowledge and skills in order to complete the task and feel successful, as well as an established sense of comfort and order within the classroom.
In order for students to feel successful in the classroom they need to be comfortable. Establishing a classroom with comfort and order contributes to how a child feels about school, their learning and in turn assessment. A comfortable classroom may have warm colours, airy, lighting, noise level and space. A classroom with order may have a class routine, guidelines for acceptable and non acceptable behavior. Marzano and Pickering 2009 state that it is important that the learning managers involve the students in making decisions about the comfort and order of the classroom, for it is their needs that have to be met (Marzano & Pickering, 2009).
Below is a YouTube clip showing students interacting in the classroom. Students Interacting in the Classroom |
From research and surveys of teachers it is apparent that authentic assessment is purposeful and engaging which allows students to learn by doing. They apply their knowledge to create real life situations which encourage higher order thinking that will not only benefit students across all areas of the curriculum but also as a lifelong learner. In order for students to be a life long learner they need to possess these attributes; knowledgeable with deep understanding, complex thinker, creative person, active investigator, effective communicator, participant in an interdependent world and a reflective and self directed learner.
Students are much more likely to engage and improve their knowledge and understanding when they can see that tasks they are set hold a meaningful application for them to use within the real- world. ACARA document states “that the needs and interests of students will vary and that schools and teachers will plan from the curriculum in ways that respond to those needs and interests”(ACARA, 2010). Their ways of working are extended as it isn't based solely on the accumulation of specific skills and knowledge, but more on whether students are able to apply their newly learned skills and knowledge.
In answer to my question,ensuring a sense of success within the classroom is vital. How does authentic assessment contribute to this? Authentic assessment is the final destination when ensuring student success, students need to feel comfortable to explore, experiment and take risks within their classroom and school environment. Authentic assessment allows students to learn and be assessed in different ways, therefore allowing all types of students (learning types) to be given an equal chance at succeeding. |