"Introduction: Assessment and Probes"

I never truly understood the importance and variety of assessment until the Methods of Mathematics course I took this summer. After learning that summative assessment was thankfully not the only way to test, I found a greater understanding of why teachers assess. This article also guided me towards common and useful tips to gauge student achievement and self-reflection.
I like that the variety of assessments can come in the form of any sized group questioning, student interviews, observations, informal conversations, journaling (*a favorite), performance tasks, and even traditional forms like quizzes and summatives tests (p.1). "...assessment practices should focus on making students' thinking visible to themselves and to others by drawing out their current understanding so that instructional strategies can be selected to support an appropriate course for future learning" (p 2) is a quote that I found most comprising from this article.
Something that became clarified to me is that assessment, aka probes, is for learning, not of learning. It is never too late to make alterations in a lesson and it is always best to make everything work in its best form in order to aid the students at full potential. I keep finding great quotes that summarize the article as well as beliefs that I have gained through all of the readings. For example, "...you must know what your students' starting points are so that you can provide experiences that support the development of correct conceptual understanding," (p. 4). I am glad to see the incorporation of the questioning strategies, whether they are straight forward or vague enough to get students truly thinking.
Whether it is assessments or probes, the student and teacher must be engaged and maintain a level of communication of understanding in order to provide further learning opportunities.