Reflection #7: Evaluation
Although up until now, we have likened the lesson plan/ learning strategy to the act of building a gigantic educational snowball, when you are considering the nature of evaluating the effectiveness of a lesson (a necessary part of every good lesson plan), the analogy of a bus-trip for the learner might better serve to clarify the activity. If, at the outset, the bus driver said you were going to Cincinnati, you, as a passenger, have a right to expect that destination. Somewhere along the way you will look at signposts to make sure that you have not headed for Walla Walla. Those signposts are also necessary to the lesson. In addition to frequent pauses to check for understanding, at the end of each lesson you should include some method by which both you and the students know where you are. (To belabor this poor analogy, you have a better chance of getting off the unintentional detour if you find out early on that you have strayed.) Everybody will be happier if you include an evaluation process in each lesson.That doesn't always mean a 16 cylinder test situation. Evaluation techniques might include:
· a 5 minute recap discussion at the end of class.
· a review discussion of the previous day's work used as an introduction to the next lesson.
· some sort of quiz or hot seat review
Although the evaluation technique you choose should arise organically from the lesson you have presented, there ought to be some activity that lets everybody know that the day went well. This immediate feedback is good for student morale, and it is good for your diagnostic purposes in planning the next lesson.Caveat: You must be sure of your own reason for evaluation. Don't do it because you think someone else expects it or just to acquire grades for your grade book. You must evaluate constantly because that is the only way you know how well students are progressing.