Assessments

• What is your philosophy on assessment? 
• What are your impressions about the 2 formative assessment technologies (PearDeck & EduCanon) Scott shared?
• What was the most striking thing you took away from Scott's presentation? How will it impact your own learning?

Assessments are essential to the classroom and is part of becoming an effective teacher. Without assessments, how can you, as a teacher, know and understand where your students are at? It can be as simple as an exit slip, or nodding your head if you understand, to  a final exam at the end of a semester. The assessments that the students take show teachers as well as the district (etc.) what they have learned and retained over the course of the day/semester/year, so on. School and teaching would almost be pointless without any type of assessment. There are so many different types of assessments, specifically formative and assessments. I learned the important difference between the two during the weekly video and many websites we had to visit to read about.

Formative Assessments	Summative Assessments
Anecdotal records	Final exams
Quizzes and essays	Statewide tests (FCAT)
Diagnostic tests	National tests
Lab reports	Entrance exams (SAT and ACT)

In my opinion, both are super critical and important, but formative assessments help out both the student and teacher a tremendous amount during the year. It's more relaxed and only shows where each student is during their learning experience. Summative assessments create more pressure, especially for students who have test anxiety or get nervous. 

Peardeck is so beneficial and useful in a classroom. After watching the weekly video, I saw firsthand how it worked and how it showed where the students were during the lesson, what they understand and what they did not know. It's easy to use, even as an early education teacher. It shows how many students understand and how many are still lost. I will definitely use Peardeck as a future educator.

 I will also use PearDeck during my lessons as well. It is a great for formative assessments. It shows how students learn and move at different paces and what I need to do as a teacher to help the students who are behind or confused. 

I was so surprised during Scott's presentation with how many different types of assessments there were, especially for formative assessments, as well as technology available for assessments. I've only ever had face-to-face, pencil and paper tests until I got to college, so it is still new to me. As a future educator, I will absolutely use the technologies available for both formative and summative assessments.