As a teacher it is your responsibility to not only present new material to the student but to teach them and to verify and monitor what information they are actually obtaining and processing. There are many forms of assessments that teachers can use to evaluate students understanding of lesson material. I will suggest a few methods that I will use in my secondary education mathematics classroom.
The first strategy of monitoring I will discuss will be quizzes. There are multiple advantages for this form of testing. First, is that it easily produces recorded data. I can quickly grade multiple choice questions and record the students’ grade. Being able to record this grade will allow me to present scores to the parents when I am asked for a student’s progress. Another advantage to a quiz is the ability to assess both the entire class and each individual’s understanding on a topic. I will be able to look at the overall measurement and decide whether there is a need to review the topic or lesson, or if the class is ready to advance in the given studies. Also, by presenting multiple quizzes through the term the students and I can create a set format, which can help ease classroom anxiety.
Another form of monitoring students’ progression through a lesson is homework. Homework can be one of the most effective methods for tracking mathematical progress. Assigning, collecting and grading homework can be a very timely way to gather information on how each student is progressing through the lesson, but homework provides a way for students to effectively review knowledge that had been taught that day in class. Through the grading process data will be created making it easy for me to track the progression of each individual student, and inform me when an individual or the whole class may need a review or even entire representation of the material covered in class. Also, by collecting homework I am able to hold the student responsibility for their own learning experience.

It is important for students to stay alert and engage in class when you are presenting material in a direct format. Often times lecturing can be hard for students to benefit from. I would monitor students’ progress in these lectures by collecting note taking samples. A complete advantage to note taking samples is that you are able assesses your student in a natural and comfortable setting for the student. There is no stress in this assessment. Also collecting note taking samples as a way to assess my students can allow me to emphasize the importance of organization and planning. I will be able to analyze their students’ productivity during lectures and be aware of what students need a little extra attention during lecture.

A fun and engaging way to monitor your students’ progress is in-class group projects and presentations. These projects are different lesson format than students are used to, allowing creativity to be introduced into the lesson. In-class projects often raise the students’ involvement and increase their desire to learn without them having to exert extra effort. In-class projects encourage and access communication and organizational skills. The projects create a well-rounded learning experience where each student is responsible for note-taking, presenting, assessing their peers and facilitating discussion.

Finally, when applicable I can introduce labs or experiments as a way to assess the class. Experiments can provide a variety in the lesson plan, while also allowing the teacher to assess if students truly understand theories and concepts. They allow students to understand the ‘real’ world applications of what they are learning through formulas, equations and theorems. Experiments teach students the importance of problem solving through trial and error and provide students with the opportunity to work through more difficult theories taught in class. I will be presented with an easy way to assess and record the progression of my students. 2.
An effective monitoring system for students that are more likely to struggle with assignments would be a personal journal for each subject. In this journal I would require three sections to be completed for each lesson. I would help these students create these journals in the beginning of the school year. Allowing the students to help create them would allow the students to personalize the journal, making each one unique and a pleasurable experience for the student to use on a daily basis. The first section of the journal would be a dictionary. This is a dictionary that the students would create throughout the year. The students would enter terms they view as important or interesting and also include terms they are not familiar with or are struggling with. This dictionary portion would help the students organize their learning and allow them to take pride in the progress they have made throughout the year. The second section of this journal would be ten problems assigned for each lesson. Students would be require the complete, or at least attempt these problems. The final section of the journal would be a writing section. In this section students would be required to explain what they have learned in the lesson, apply their knowledge to real life examples, and explain what concepts they do not fully understand. The students would use this section to assess themselves on the lesson knowledge. In this writing portion they would be encouraged to include any questions about the lesson they were learning about. At the start of each day I would allow up to five minutes to discuss their personal journals. The students would be allowed to raise any questions they came up with while completing their homework or ask about terminology they did not understand. In addition to the review each class, I would collect the journals before the end of each lesson. I would review the journals and collect information that I would the take to for a comprehensive review for the lesson that would then be presented after the journals were returned to the students.