Student learning is dynamic and constantly changing when you’re on the right track. You should not wait until the end of an activity or lesson to start gauging student learning. While planning, you should be thinking about students’ current levels and be ready to scaffold or challenge the range of abilities. When drawing out what students have prior knowledge about for the topic, you’ll begin to see where students are on a continuum and start to plan for the growth you want to see next.

Throughout the activity, you’ll want to observe and take note of achievements or misconceptions. Make plans to celebrate or create new challenges for their achievements. Address misconceptions as quickly as possible. You may need to adjust the goal or learning experiences as needed for specific situations.

You will be continuously assessing the students throughout a lesson or unit through observations, or their work. These are types of formative assessments that let you check their understanding and adjust the lesson if needed. Tests, projects, and presentations at the end of a unit are commonly referred to as summative assessments. 

 Differentiating instruction is important to helping all students make growth in their learning. As exciting as the chosen activity may be, there’s hardly ever a one-size fits all plan when it comes to teaching. 

Connecting to PBIS:

Assess students’ progress in social, emotional and behavioral learning.

Know your students' present levels and support them in making growth.