ARTEFACT 3
Handwriting Intervention Program Extract - TLC Experience
Standard Descriptors
Standard 5
Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
Focus
Interpret student data
5.4.1
Demonstrate the capacity to interpret student assessment data to evaluate student learning and modify teaching practice.
Standard 5
Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
Focus
Make consistent and comparable judgements
5.3.1
Demonstrate understanding of assessment moderation and its application to support consistent and comparable judgements of student learning.
Annotation
For my TLC experience, I was given a fantastic opportunity to create a handwriting program for a group of year one students. These students had been identified by their respective teachers as not achieving the standards for hand writing in accordance with the standards set by the NSW K-6 English Syllabus and NSW K-6 Literacy Continuum and Writing Aspects. Together with my peer, Joshua, we created the 'Handwriting Intervention Program'.
The program involved addressing basic fine motor skills, which according to Hill & Khanem (2009), relates to the control over the small bones and muscles of the body, which directly relates to handwriting as it also effects the ability to respond to direct movements such as writing in a straight line.
This program gave me the opportunity to assess student data and evaluate their needs which resulted in a modified teaching practice as a direct result of this data. This helped me demonstrate that I was able to interpret student assessment data and modify my teaching practice in order to cater for these needs (5.4.1). As this was a lengthy program over an 8 week period, the pre-assessment in particular was vital as it allowed us to group students according to mixed abilities, in order to maximise their learning potential.
In addition, during this program we also had to provide feedback to Mrs Manning, the assistant principal of the school, as well as the classroom teachers as to how we were progressing with the program on a weekly basis. Throughout the program both formative and summative assessments were used to assess student progress. This helped me to articulate how I understood the need to moderate assessments in order to support student learning (5.3.1).
Assessment and evaluation is evident within all teaching. In order to make accurate judgements and decisions on student progress and their own teaching, teachers will regularly observe and collect information (Miller, Linn & Gronlund, 2009). This program overall allowed me to learn a great deal about the way students learn, and gave me a large pedagogical knowledge on the most successful methods to addressing handwriting skills within children.
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