Are you ready?

(Module 6 - EDS 113) Aircrafts, vehicles, houses or buildings, and even art have blueprints or two-dimensional drawings that contain details that are needed for a project. It is crucial to have these schemes to enable architects, engineers, and artists to design with the big picture in mind. This ensures that all the wants and needs are incorporated into the design build. It is a model or guide for those who will construct the actual product.

Upon reading up on our 6th module, I learned about the Table of Specifications (TOS) which ensures that assessments gauge the content and thinking skills that it is supposed to measure. It is a foundational tool for designing assessments. Prior to studying it in this class, I wasn't aware that such a tool existed. In our school, we made use of rubrics which are a set of guidelines that can help students to monitor and evaluate their own work. It helps instructors on teaching and assessing what is important and valued in the students' output. Personally, it has enabled me to reduce scoring subjectively which usually tends to happen in Art.

I realize that it makes so much sense to create a TOS prior to the beginning of instruction. I am happy that I get to approach this with an open mind, I am in the early stages of teaching and I aim to be flexible and learn to adapt to different strategies that can make planning assessments easier for me. I'm not saying that crafting a TOS is effortless, on the contrary, I deem it will take time and a lot of work on my part. However, in the long run it will help me create effective assessments that can be valid and reliable. It will assist me in evaluating my assessments that should be on target in both cognitive processes and content.

I guess students are not the only ones who should be prepared for classes and assessments. Educators should plan everything ahead of time, not just the lesson plans and daily power point presentations though. It is crucial for teachers to employ a visual graphic chart that will guide them in curating effective assessments that mirror both cognitive and content processes and reflects the objectives set at the beginning of instruction. It will definitely help me be systematic and prepare for this coming school year. Not only will it benefit my students, but more importantly, it will aid me in my teaching and construction of assessments in the years to come.

* Photos are from Freepik using my premium account.