The time has come, awaited by many and feared by others: The evaluation boards. How to execute one successfully?
As education professionals, we know how important learning assessment is. It not only reflects the growth that our students have had during a certain period of time; but also a compass that will help mark the path along which we want to guide each one of them.
For this reason, assessment boards represent a huge opportunity to go beyond the number or the hard mark, and engage in discussion on student development. However, the challenge is to ensure that this valuable time is used in an efficient and enriching way; resulting in real discussions about education in them.
We have prepared a quick guide on some actions you can take before, during, and at the end of the meeting to get the most out of them.
BEFORE
First of all, it is important to make sure that all teachers have entered the grades and comments for each student. This will avoide hindering the meeting if there are any items to be included yet; encourage them to use the comment area, as it will enrich the conversation. In addition, board members should read and review the specifications for each student beforehand, so that they arrive at the event prepared to talk and no time is wasted. Fortunately, there are programs and platforms like Classlife, that allow you to complete these tasks quickly and to share the data with all participants immediately. They’ll make your job easier and open up space for longer, richer conversations.
DURING THE MEETING
One of the keys to a successful evaluation meeting is that it flows smoothly, starting with consideration of time. Time is a very important resource, especially when the groups to be evaluated are large; try to start promptly to take advantage of every minute. Similarly, having an overview of the group and starting with discussion of general observations will help each board member get into context and quickly shift to discuss individual cases.
The conversations generated within the evaluation board are of great value and can be decisive for the future of the students; taking notes on the spot will help not to lose important data. The “Board Meerting Act” section within Classlife allows you to perform this task, as well as to modify each student’s notes on the spot; facilitating this work and speeding up the session.
AT THE END
Finally, once the board members agree with what was discussed in the session, they must sign the evaluation minutes. This is usually a tedious process because the agreed-upon changes will have to be made, and board signatures obtained; so the more that is accomplished without leaving the classroom, the better. Classlife’s on-the-spot editing and finalizing features, plus digital signatures, will make this process more agile and allow attention to set to new important issues. It also provides greater security since digitally signed documents cannot be modified or altered.
Conclusion
Therefore, evaluation meetings are an opportunity to generate constructive conversation around learning. Taking care of the time and optimizing the processes involved in this session will be decisive for each of the board members to contribute with what is relevant, to focus on education, and to achieve a successful evaluation meeting.
