Integrating assessment into classroom lessons

Many classroom schedules give you limited time to get students to the outcome. By integrating assessment into lessons, you can normally get everything done within your time limits.

Assessment is easier to manage if you can use the same activity for practice, formative assessment and final assessment. If you let each stage of a lesson flow naturally into the next, practice progresses easily into the final assessment. Students are better prepared for assessment and less nervous. It is very unlikely that they will be assessed as not yet competent because you have observed their practice and given formative assessments. Besides, students have a better chance of being ready for final assessment on time if you notice soon enough what they still need help or extra practice with.

Here's how it works; the training session follows these stages:

Stage 1	Introduction	Explain the lesson purpose
Stage 2	Demonstration	You show students what to do and tell them how to do it
Stage 3	Practice	The students try it and you provide guidance. Then they try it with less guidance from you.
Stage 4	Formative assessment	You monitor how they are going. You might informally do an formative assessment while they are practicing. You might also ask students to assess themselves, or assess each other.
Stage 5	Summative assessment	When students are ready, you do the final assessment by walking around the class with an assessment form.