Name: Date of Reflection:
TFE 800.61 Interactive Field Experiences in Assessing Learning: Part 1
Effective educators understand how to collect, analyze and use assessment data to plan instruction that
meets student needs. This field-based experience (FBE) draws on courses such as TCR 405 Questioning
Strategies and Feedback, TCR 406 Formal Assessment, and TTL 409 Using Data to Inform Instruction. As
you spend time interacting with students in another teacher’s classroom you are watching for both
formative and summative assessment strategies. Pay close attention to the techniques the teacher uses
to gauge understanding and what they do with this information. Does the teacher reteach a portion of
the lesson, pause independent work to clarify a concept, or pull a small group aside to give extra time for
mastery? In your reflection, refer back to previous coursework to connect what you saw in the classroom
with how assessment is used to guide instruction.
IMPORTANT: This field experience requires 5 hours in the classroom. The Texas Administrative
Code §228.35 (e)(1)(A) requires FBEs include your active engagement with students during educational
activities the entire time you are in the classroom. Please make sure to discuss with the teacher
beforehand ways for you to be actively involved, such as but not limited to facilitating small groups, help
with monitoring the class, and answering student questions. You may distribute, collect, and analyze exit
tickets, discussing with the teacher the evidence collected. You may help administer an assessment to
an individual learner who needs their test read to them. You may even be able to ask individual students
questions that assess their understanding of the lesson and then report that back to the classroom
teacher. How else can you engage in understanding how assessment is used to impact instruction?
Reflection Questions:
1. What type(s) of formative assessment did you see in the classes observed? How was it
administered and used to impact future instruction? Did you observe any summative
assessment? If so, what were the testing conditions like?
The type of formative assessment I observed was a set of daily classroom assignments to
moniter how well the students were understanding the material given to them during that class
period, based off how well the students did on said assignment, my teacher would then review
topics that students struggled with at the start of class the next day. I was able to observe one
summative assessment during my time of student observation, the testing conditions were a bit
more strict, but still required all phones to be put in the designated phone spot and additionally
no talking throughout the duration of the class period regardless of if you finished your test
early.
2. In TCR 405 Questioning Strategies and Feedback, you learned how to use questions to check
student understanding. One of the key ideas presented was democratizing questions. Describe
how the teacher(s) you observed used strategies such as cold-calling, signaled responses,
individual white boards or other methods to involve more students in assessment. If you did not
TFE 800.61 Interactive Field Experiences in Assessing Learning: Part 1
Effective educators understand how to collect, analyze and use assessment data to plan instruction that
meets student needs. This field-based experience (FBE) draws on courses such as TCR 405 Questioning
Strategies and Feedback, TCR 406 Formal Assessment, and TTL 409 Using Data to Inform Instruction. As
you spend time interacting with students in another teacher’s classroom you are watching for both
formative and summative assessment strategies. Pay close attention to the techniques the teacher uses
to gauge understanding and what they do with this information. Does the teacher reteach a portion of
the lesson, pause independent work to clarify a concept, or pull a small group aside to give extra time for
mastery? In your reflection, refer back to previous coursework to connect what you saw in the classroom
with how assessment is used to guide instruction.
IMPORTANT: This field experience requires 5 hours in the classroom. The Texas Administrative
Code §228.35 (e)(1)(A) requires FBEs include your active engagement with students during educational
activities the entire time you are in the classroom. Please make sure to discuss with the teacher
beforehand ways for you to be actively involved, such as but not limited to facilitating small groups, help
with monitoring the class, and answering student questions. You may distribute, collect, and analyze exit
tickets, discussing with the teacher the evidence collected. You may help administer an assessment to
an individual learner who needs their test read to them. You may even be able to ask individual students
questions that assess their understanding of the lesson and then report that back to the classroom
teacher. How else can you engage in understanding how assessment is used to impact instruction?
Reflection Questions:
1. What type(s) of formative assessment did you see in the classes observed? How was it
administered and used to impact future instruction? Did you observe any summative
assessment? If so, what were the testing conditions like?
The type of formative assessment I observed was a set of daily classroom assignments to
moniter how well the students were understanding the material given to them during that class
period, based off how well the students did on said assignment, my teacher would then review
topics that students struggled with at the start of class the next day. I was able to observe one
summative assessment during my time of student observation, the testing conditions were a bit
more strict, but still required all phones to be put in the designated phone spot and additionally
no talking throughout the duration of the class period regardless of if you finished your test
early.
2. In TCR 405 Questioning Strategies and Feedback, you learned how to use questions to check
student understanding. One of the key ideas presented was democratizing questions. Describe
how the teacher(s) you observed used strategies such as cold-calling, signaled responses,
individual white boards or other methods to involve more students in assessment. If you did not
