My biggest takeaways from the book, Embedded Formative Assessment, deal with how assessments should guide future plans, appropriate feedback, and clarifying learning intentions.
It states that formative assessments should be an indicator as to where the lesson should go in the future. It is a little "old-school" to think that the exact same lesson plans can be done the exact same way each year. Every class is different, and by using formative assessments more often, we can be flexible with the plans and teach those students, not just the curriculum that we HAVE to get through.
I know I have to improve in the area of feedback. I think more of the lower-end kids would benefit from more one-on-one feedback because English can be very overwhelming for those that don't understand the basics.
Clarifying learning intentions is another takeaway I'm going to try to improve on. I'm sure I assume the kids know what I'm trying to teach and my expectations, but sometimes they don't...and I find out a little too late. I will do more with the "I Can" statements as well as verbally telling them at the beginning of the lesson. I also hope to get across to them that they aren't learning this just for this 45 minute time period, but to apply what they've learned to other things outside this class.
