Formative Assessment in an Online Setting

There are a few good tools out there I have used for formative assessment. Some students may not be working on the same thing at the same time, so using something that is asynchronous allows them to do it in their own time but gives you the data you need to keep planning.

Here are a few tools I recommend:

• Kahoot! - this has synchronous and asynchronous settings. Create your own set of questions or find in their list of many!  
  
• Quizizz - similar to Kahoot! this one also allows you to create your own set of questions or choose from other teacher-created ones, and can be done on their own or as a class.  
  
• Flipgrid - this is a great way for students to submit answers to question via video. They can blur themselves out or share their face, while also choosing fun video backgrounds and features.  
  

Differentiation Online

Recently I hosted a PD session for teachers at my school to talk about the very topic of differentiation online - it's a hot one for sure and, although I may not be able to share everything I taught them due to platform differences, I do want to share what I can.

Many of your are finding yourself using Zoom, which is a great platform and something I used until very recently when my school finally decided to partner with Microsoft, so now we use Teams. Here are a few ways you can use Zoom or other platforms to differentiate:

• Create various "rooms" for your students to go into. You already have them grouped by ability, designation, or other levels within your classroom, so this is no different. You give each group a task for the time period and they work together on it, you bounce from room to room providing support.
• For students in Special Education or English Language programs - send them notes before the lecture or topic for the day (you probably do this in your classroom anyway), then they can follow along. Create the notes as "fill-in-the-blank" to help them pay attention.
• Challenge your upper-level students to do some internet research on the day's topic(s) and have them come back at a certain time to present the info to you.
• If you are posting videos of yourself teaching also include links to websites or other resources on the topic - this provides various methods of delivery for the material.
• If you are using Google Classroom or another platform that students are logged into frequently, create a Q&A section and have students post questions and answer each other.
• Encourage students to respond to asynchronous discussions in a method of their choosing: video, audio, typing, or other presentation format.
• Utilize your knowledge of ELL support for students - always post your content and language objectives to be clear about the expectations for you session that day.

I used THIS article by Theresa Melenas, Ed.D. as a reference for some of these ideas.

These are things you do in a classroom everyday - now take those concepts and make them virtual!