Summative assessment occurs less frequently than formative assessment in my classroom.  It usually occurs after the formal teaching has ended and the students are asked to 'show what they have learned'.  The summative assessment is usually some form of a task that the students can complete.

Traditionally summative assessment looks different in different subject areas.  In Math and Science it could be a test or a formal write up.  In Literacies (Language Arts) and Social Studies it might be a project.  In PE or Fine Arts is may be a game or a performance.  That said, in each of these instances there are a plethora of possibilities for the structure of the assessment.

Usually the completion of the summative assessment signals the end of the topic of study.  Those interested in further study will need to do so on their own time, the class will be moving to a new topic shortly.  It signals completion.  We will continue to call on the information and knowledge we have amassed as we proceed to the next topic of study but our general focus will change.

Depending on the length and depth of study the discussion around the summative assessment can last from several minutes to several classes over several days.  Often when I set a summative task I have an idea of what I might receive as completed tasks; through class discussions, invited guests and 'wild imaginings' what I receive as completed projects are often beyond my initial ideas.

I am not a 'rubric' teacher.  Many of my peers are 'rubric teachers', and we co-exist quite happily in the system.  I do use rubrics, just not when I ask the students to 'show me what they have learned'.  With that question I do not set a rubric for them to work in.  I try to initiate their imagination and their creativity so they can show me the limits of 'their current box'.  I work with what they understand and ask them to stretch their understanding.  I believe that when they have to ask themselves how they will show me their learning they will access parts of themselves that I can not hope to have access to.

Many of the students in my class have more than one language to access, I do not. (First Language) Many of the students live different lives than I did as a child.  They have access to technology that I did not and sometimes do not have.  And they have time, time to think and plan and connect and dream; given something they want to engage themselves with they will access that time.  I can set a lower limit, but an upper limit is (in my opinion) not in my control unless I draw the box and have them stay within it.

Many of the projects I written accounts for fit into the summative assessment category: Ma Famille and Welcoming Catherine to Begbie in French, the Constellation Boxes, commercials and unit test in Science, the 'Harris and Me' and 'Zack' projects in Literacies, as well as the Poetry Coffee House that Division 15 did with our student teacher, Brad Dean.

Sometimes summative assessments become grades, but not always.  Sometimes they are just 'gifts', to the students and to me.