Assessment During Math Workshop

 Assessment is always a tricky concept and a very personal endeavor for teachers. For me, assessment is an ongoing process that is ever-evolving. I am constantly listening to the children, noticing, and naming what they are doing and thinking.

When considering assessment during a math workshop structure, there are two key ideas I like to focus on. The first is staying rooted in the triangulation of assessment, a combination of observation, conversations, and products. This helps me move away from solely assessing through products (such as math questions) and allows me to delve more deeply into observations and conversations during mini-lessons and investigations. I love to think about it using this graphic, created by Hastings and Prince Edward School District, reminding us that even when using the triangulation, there is space for differentiation. 

The second key idea I like to emphasize is one from Pam Harris. She discusses how children can know more than they can do and do more than they can represent. Check our her podcast about this concept here. Thinking about this idea, I am reminded that children’s representations of their thinking (often on blank paper, during investigations) are a small fraction of what they actually know and understand cognitively.

When conducting assessments, I have tried a variety of methods. My favorite approach is to have a clear understanding of the developmental trajectories that the children will experience for our given topic. For example, if I am assessing counting (during counting collections), I like to have a clear picture of early counting strategies. I generally use two assessment trackers (in addition to the many, many sticky notes I jot down throughout the day). The first tracker is a class list. At the top, I will list the counting strategies I might observe in the children. When I hear the children using those strategies, I will simply put a checkmark beside their name. This allows me to keep my assessment strength-based and identify what the children can do and are doing. It also enables me to notice trends over time. For example, am I listening more to some children than others? Are the children using a variety of strategies, or are they mostly using the same strategy multiple times?

The second form of assessment I like to use is more during investigations. I will map out what strategies and models the children might use for our particular investigation series (counting strategies, multiplication, etc.). I will list each of the strategies and models at the top of the page so I can easily reference them when listening to the children’s thinking. Then I will track the children’s strengths by noticing what strategies they are using and how they are modeling their thinking. I then have a box at the bottom to highlight possible next mini-lessons to teach based on my observations. This helps me keep my mini-lessons grounded in the development of strategies and models, as well as mindsets and regulation, always using assessment to inform my future instruction.