Managing Differentiated Assessment

In todays class we discussed how to most effectively manage the differentiation of assessment in our future classrooms. In this blog I intend to summarize the eight components in order to organize the concept in my own words.
1. Be realistic: As teachers we only have so much time and energy, it is important therefore to ensure that we only do what we are capable of taking on.
2. Content: We must have a strong knowledge of the curriculum, this will assist in focusing our attention soley on the type of instruction we are using and not the materieal that we are trying to convey.
3. Process: This refers to the classroom management techniques that we will employ to ensure that the environment in conducive to learning for all students.
4. Product: as teachers we must provide access to many different resources for our students to use, in order to support their learning.
5. Ensure students are equipped to deal with choices: If we are providing options to our students in terms of differentiation we must be sure that they have the tools to make effective decisions about what will work best for them.
6. Consider strengths and weaknesses of the student: Although playing towards student strengths will guide them to success it is also important to build upon their weaknesses to help them grow and develop as learners. Use Vygotskys zone of proximal development as a guideline to push students further in their learning.
7. Consider your comfort level: Only implement the amount of differentiated assessment that you as a teacher are capable of dealing with in the classroom.
8. Push students: It is our job as teachers to ensure that we push our students outside of their comfort zone and encourage them to set their goals higher then what they already know they can achieve.
I think that these points are comforting as a future teacher, because although they promote the use of differentiated assessment they recognize that it is only effective when both the students and teacher are on board and understand what they can take on and how to properly manage the process.