Which comes first teaching or learning?

We put a lot of emphasis on the importance of good teaching and I think forget about the learning at times.  Let's not forget about the ultimate goal of learning for all students.  If we are working harder than our students, then something is wrong.

"If your students are going home at the end of the day less tired than your are, the division of labor in your classroom requires some attention." - Dylan William

How do you check for evidence of learning?

Formative assessment is a natural way to put more emphasis on the learning.  Wiliam describes formative assessment as, "the process used by teachers and students to recognize and respond to student learning in order to enhance that learning, during the learning." 

Here is a good example of the use of exit cards to provide immediate feedback for your teaching and allow for adjustments in future instruction.

Traditionally, the only feedback that we have used to change instruction has been based off of summative assessments (NWEA, NDSA, ACT, and etc.).  This type of feedback is too late, the students have moved to the next grade or you have moved to the next unit by the time results are ready.  Doug Reeves, mentions how formative assessment is like a physical, and summative assessment is more like an autopsy.  Don't get me wrong both play a role, but we really want intervene much earlier if students are not learning from the teaching.

How do you know the effectiveness of your lesson?

Formative assessment will go no where if we don't first establish the essential learnings for our students. This begins with developing Powerstandards for your curriculum.  Once we know what is most important and what we expect ALL kids to know we can then develop formative assessments to check our teaching.

"We cannot predict what students will learn as a result of any particular sequence of instruction.  Formative assessment involves getting the best possible evidence about what students have learned and then using this information to decide what to do next." Dylan William

Source: Embedded Formative Assessment - Dylan William