Thank you for your tips and comments in response to my previous article “Growing as a Writer on R/Cryptocurrency”. It made me not want to rest on my laurels. So I’m continuing this series with a reflection on how I think I have become a better presenter this year.

In January this year, I was tasked to give a presentation on formative assessment in front of everyone from the English department. Allow me the privilege of explaining what formative assessment is. Formative assessment is employed by teachers during lessons and through homework to determine if their students have mastered the curriculum material that is imparted in class. We teachers can fancy ourselves sitting on ivory towers and bestowing gems of illumination to our students - but our charges may not actually be listening intently to us in the first place. Gaps exist between teaching and learning - and hence, formative assessment is used to plug these gaps. 

To be honest, I wasn’t very comfortable with the idea of anchoring this presentation then. I think my lack of confidence showed as I merely recapped the main points in my presentation during the last slide. A screenshot is attached below: 

Regardless of my misgivings, I guess I must have performed pretty well during my sharing because I was asked to do the same presentation - during a staff meeting in front of all the teachers.

This should have intimidated me because I would be presenting in front of the school leaders as well as key personnel who would surely know more about formative assessment than me. But I think I have matured quite a bit this year because I now have a helicopter view of how formative assessment should come into relation with teaching and even identity. So this is my last slide this time round:

This is what I intend to say:

I have been teaching for about 15 years, so I think that makes me qualified to make a few observations. For those of you who are new to the profession, it’s typical that you start out teaching with fire in your belly, eager to make a difference. However, the truth is that, as a teacher, you have little control of your time. There are many competing demands on your time, and before you know it, it’s time for the next lesson. So, some teachers gradually grow disillusioned with the profession and leave the service. They become burnt out and think that they are shortchanging their students. Now, I’m not saying that formative assessment is the magic solution to all your problems. But being an ongoing practitioner of formative assessment helps in enhancing the sense of peace within yourself. Because you can look at your students in the eye and tell them, “This is what you need.” If you are sharply attuned to what your students lack in terms of instruction and are trying to plug their learning gaps, then I think you should give yourself a pat on the shoulder because you have devoted yourself as best as you can. And you have forged a teaching life that you should be rightfully proud of.

My presentation is on next Monday, so do let me know if I can still improve my rousing finale!