What I find to be the most important line from chapters seven and eight from Making Classroom Assessment Work by Anne Davies is the line, “[…] the person who is working the hardest is learning the most” (71). I enjoy this particular quote because it focuses on encouraging students to be a part of the evidence and assessment stage in the classroom. Chapter eight specifically talks about how students need to learn how to gather evidence so that they can have solid proof of their learning. It is easier for a student to judge themselves on what they are learning and where they need to improve if they have learning evidence to reflect on. The chapter states that as teachers it is our job to make sure that students are able to simply collect evidence of their learning. We are to keep the process simple, involve the students, help students and parents value the evidence and also continuously reconsider evidence collections (74). If we follow all of these steps then students will able to understand why gathering evidence is important to supplement their learning. Students will have a clear image of what they are doing well and what they need to work on.
Something that I would like to note is the description of why portfolios can be useful for guided learning. I honestly did not know the difference between a progress portfolio, which provides snapshots of a student’s learning over time, and a process portfolio, which is where all of the learning is provided over a time period (79, 81). After reading this chapter I think that I will definitely link portfolios and gathering evidence together to start. Sometimes when I think about gathering evidence from my students I feel a little bit overwhelmed, but I think that a portfolio is an excellent place to start and in time when I have enough practice I can expand from there.
I am particularly reflecting of portfolios because it is an assignment that I am to complete for a current university class. It is interesting to me to put all of my content together and to get the chance to present my evidence of learning throughout the semester. I think that by doing this I started to clearly understand the learning goals from the semester and am able to somewhat review the content before putting my books away for good. Process portfolios are a great way for students to show evidence of what they have learned, to put it all together in a portfolio, and to reflect on how this evidence has enriched their learning experience.
samanthaokrainec 