Directing Young Learners Towards Effective Self-Assessment discusses how self-assessment can be a useful tool for primary school students when done properly. The document outlines steps teachers can take to guide students towards effective self-assessment, including involving students in the assessment process, having teachers model self-assessment techniques, incorporating daily informal self-assessment activities, and creating a supportive classroom environment where students feel comfortable providing peer feedback. When implemented correctly using these steps, self-assessment can help students better understand their own learning progress and strengths.

1. DirectingYoung LearnersTowards
Effective Self-Assessment
Image by D Sharon Pruitt
David Dodgson
TED AnkaraCollege (Turkey)/
University of Manchester (UK)

2. What is assessment?

3. What primary school teachers think
about assessment:

4. Assessment is NOT only about...
• testing
• grading
• reports
• passing/failing
Image by Renato Gonoza

5. • Teaching is a lot
more than assessing,
and assessing is a lot
more than testing.
Henrick Oprea,
hoprea.wordpress.com
‘AboutTeaching’
Image by Henrick Oprea

6. • Assessment should be done all the time in class
.... so that we can see our students progress
and not only the final result. (@sabridv)
• Assessment should be a continuous process.
(@Mtranslator)
• Assessment should ..... be continuous and
measure the progress of the student -
comparing the student with himself earlier in
the course, not with others. (@cecilialcoelho)
Quotes from theTwitter community

7. ...for learning
• formative
• reflective
• continuous
• personalised
• raises awareness
...of learning
• summative
• tests
• grades
• reports
• STRESS!
Assessment...

8. • At its best assessment is for showing
students where they are, what they need
to do next, and how to do that. At worst,
it's just labelling. (@harrisonmike)
Quotes from theTwitter community

9. Self-assessment in language teaching
Image from Stardust 4, OUP

10. • They just give
themselves top marks
for everything
(especially the
troublemakers)!
• They don’t know how
to do it properly!
The criticisms:
Image by Jennifer Hardt

11. • They can’t do it
idependently
(especially the shy
ones)!
• They are too young
to comprehend the
concept!
The criticisms:
Image by Kevin Chang

12. • ...we tend to underestimate the potential for
self-regulation in our children, seeing them
too often as blank sheets to be written on,
empty vessels to be filled, or wild and in
need of taming. Young children can, within
the limits of their cognitive development, be
helped to organise their resources, both
internal and material.
Cameron, L. (2001) Teaching Languages
ToYoung Learners

13. • [Self-assessment] is a teaching strategy as
much as an assessment strategy.
McKay, P. (2006) AssessingYoung
Language Learners

14. S.T.E.P.S. to effective self-assessment
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15. tudent involvementS
Image by Rex Pe

16. • Students should be involved in the process
..... and they should be aware of what is
expected from them. (@sabridv)
• Let your students set their own goals and
monitor their own progress. It`s tangible.
They feel in control. Nine times out of ten
they will surpass their own expectations. A
great motivator! (@miladakrajewska)
• Motivated students do much better.
(@gret)
Quotes from theTwitter community

17. eacher modellingT

18. Image byVancityFair

19. • We watched everyone's movie and gave
positive feedback and constructive criticism. I
modelled the first few comments and then let
them try it. What ensued was the most
effective feedback session I've witnessed in a
while, adults included.
Mary Beth Hertz
philly-teacher.blogspot.com
‘Effective Feedback’

20. eacher modellingT
Thinking
aloud
Reflective
questions
Feedback &
support

21. veryday self-assessmentE
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22. • I truly believe that putting more emphasis
on self-assessment brings more benefits
to the learner and the learning process
than a pure progress or end-of the course
test. (@erikasovath)
Quotes from theTwitter community

23. • ...you can easily gauge student understanding
by having each student take 10 seconds to say
one thing they learned at the end of class.
• In 2 minutes I had a snapshot of the actual
learning that had happened during the 45
minute period.
Mary Beth Hertz
philly-teacher.blogspot.com
‘More Adventures in Checking for Understanding’

24. veryday self-assessmentE
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• What did you learn
today?
• What did you like about
today’s lesson?
• What didn’t you like?
• What do you think of
your work?

25. eer evaluation & feedbackP
Image by miscellaneous chemistry

26. upportive classroom environmentS
Image by Scott Robinson

27. And finally....

28. • What did you learn from today’s session?
• What did you like about it?
• What didn’t you like?
• Any questions?
And finally....