Holy Cow! I forgot to reflect on last week's class! From what I remember (bare with me it was a week ago) I got a lot out of the class session. We spent the first hour taking the Accuplacer for ESL that is used at M.S.U. It was funny because half the class had perfect or almost perfect scores on the writing and didn't know it. Had we read about the test we would have known that a score of 6 on the writing was a perfect! that illustrated the point that we need to be very familiar with the testing materials especially when using an electronic test that we did not create.
Honestly, the whole concept of assessments is very new to me from the perspective of a teacher. I remember when I was a student, I dreaded tests. now, as a graduate student I still dread them and i am a living testament that some people are simply, "Not test takers". I have a Spanish class that I am currently taking to keep my fluency and I am graded solely on my test scores! It is frustrating because my writing and reading skills are great but that fact is not exemplified in the tests.
Class was well spent reviewing the concept of assessment and coming up with valid ways to assess our students. I know as a teacher, in the future I am going to fun ways to assess my students and show that them tests do NOT have to be scary. Perhaps I could do research on the subject as part of my develop as a novice teacher.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Classroom-Based Assessment Readings
This week's readings were all about assessment in the H.D.Brown book. I noticed at the beginning of the chapter, H.D.Brown made reference to the fact that assessments and tests can be fun and that statement made me want to read even more about the subject that I knew so little about.
The chapter first differentiated between norm-referenced testing and criterion referenced testing. This is the way I understood the two terms:
Norm-referenced testing: The results of a student's particular assessment, evaluation, or test is placed on a scale in comparison with the other students' scores. The purpose of this test is to place students on a mathematical continuum for example, Joe got 90/100 as a numerical score and 90% is his placement among the other students, or he placed higher than 90% of the students. If the students have been differentiated and separated with scores than the goal of the assessment has been met.
Criterion-referenced tests: This test is centered on feedback from the teacher on whether or not the criteria for a particular course or lesson has been met. More responsibility is placed on the teacher to deliver meaningful feedback to each student.
I also took note of the strategies for before-,during-, and after-test strategies. It seems that all the steps are very important to facilitate and prepare students for success, however, the before-testing strategies are vital for students. I think it is important to consider that many students have anxiety when it comes to test taking and each teacher should take this into consideration.
It is also important to be very encouraging for the students and let them know that we, as teachers, have confidence in their abilities as students.
Finally, washback is very important and extensive and relevant feedback from the teacher is the important factor in washback. As a future teacher I plan to provide ample opportunity for my students to discuss their tests or assessments and I can then give them ideas on how to improve in some areas. I will also commend the students on the concepts that they did well. I think praise can go a long way with students also.
The cartoon below expresses how I think some of my first days of teaching in an elementary school. I think I will experience some things that none of my professors can prepare me for.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Reflection of Class on 4/13
Class on Monday started in the G.L.L. with a presentation by Ahmet which was his for his graduate research project. He talked about writing acquisition and other concepts around it. I found it interesting that many of the language learners that he surveyed admitted that they do not use language outside of the classroom! I also found that when a learner does not have good speaking skills that will transfer to both reading and writing skills
It was then time for Jodi to give her presentation about assessment. I thought she did a really nice job explaining assessment and I wish she had time to present everything that she wanted to.
We then got into groups and matched cars up with their definitions. I found that to be quite useful because all of the different terms of validity were at one point a little vague for me. We then had to create ideas about how to assess a certain skill. My group had writing skills and we came up with a few really good activities. We then swapped the activities and had to exemplify the idea behind one of the activities.
Finally, in our whole group discussion we talked about our teacher observations and the struggles that we sometimes had. I was both relieved and disappointed to hear that other students felt that E.S.L. teachers were not put on the same level as the other teachers. Also, some people thought that the E.S.L. teacher was a "fix-it" teacher and I could see all of that in my own experience.
It was then time for Jodi to give her presentation about assessment. I thought she did a really nice job explaining assessment and I wish she had time to present everything that she wanted to.
We then got into groups and matched cars up with their definitions. I found that to be quite useful because all of the different terms of validity were at one point a little vague for me. We then had to create ideas about how to assess a certain skill. My group had writing skills and we came up with a few really good activities. We then swapped the activities and had to exemplify the idea behind one of the activities.
Finally, in our whole group discussion we talked about our teacher observations and the struggles that we sometimes had. I was both relieved and disappointed to hear that other students felt that E.S.L. teachers were not put on the same level as the other teachers. Also, some people thought that the E.S.L. teacher was a "fix-it" teacher and I could see all of that in my own experience.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Readings for Week 14
This week's readings in P&B were extremely interesting and beneficial as usual. I like this book the most because it gives me a chance to think of activities that I would use some day in my future classroom.
A few things I wanted to keep note of:
The concept of rehearsing was not new but the label was somewhat unfamiliar. Rehearsing is used in post reading activities in groups and pairs and help students retain more of the information. Rehearsing can be done by speaking and writing with peers and helps students not only remember and reevaluate what they read but clarify certain points that were unclear.
I really liked the mapping idea presented on page 352, figure 9.2. I just used this strategy when studying for a test in Spanish. I think this type of mapping would appeal to visual and kinesthetic learners.
Learning logs seem to be a great way for students to ask questions and for teachers to continually assess their students. I suppose that is why we blog!
Finally, the idea of photo essays seems like a great way for students to enjoy the assignment and it seems the project could activate the intrinsic motivation of most students. The book gave examples in which the students took pictures of their families and presented them on a story board. In my opinion, students would enjoy this activity because they have a great platform to tell their stories.
Chapter 9 also talked about assessment and the most important idea that I learned from the readings is the fact that assessment needs to be ongoing and conducted in multiple ways.
A few things I wanted to keep note of:
The concept of rehearsing was not new but the label was somewhat unfamiliar. Rehearsing is used in post reading activities in groups and pairs and help students retain more of the information. Rehearsing can be done by speaking and writing with peers and helps students not only remember and reevaluate what they read but clarify certain points that were unclear.
I really liked the mapping idea presented on page 352, figure 9.2. I just used this strategy when studying for a test in Spanish. I think this type of mapping would appeal to visual and kinesthetic learners.
Learning logs seem to be a great way for students to ask questions and for teachers to continually assess their students. I suppose that is why we blog!
Finally, the idea of photo essays seems like a great way for students to enjoy the assignment and it seems the project could activate the intrinsic motivation of most students. The book gave examples in which the students took pictures of their families and presented them on a story board. In my opinion, students would enjoy this activity because they have a great platform to tell their stories.
Chapter 9 also talked about assessment and the most important idea that I learned from the readings is the fact that assessment needs to be ongoing and conducted in multiple ways.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Reflection of Class on 3/30/09
Monday night's class started with Bekir giving a presentation about writing and how it can be taught. He had 3 different groups come up with different pre, during, and post writing activities.
Chris then presented and broke us into partners and we had to demonstrate the different activities presented in the Peanut Butter book. I was so excited because I got the life mural, which I would LOVE to do in a classroom. I think it would work really well to activate the intrinsic motivation, background knowledge and the desire to expand vocabulary. The reason I feel so strongly about the activity and the writing opportunities it presents because people simply want to "tell their story". When students are presented with an opportunity to explain where they have come from, they want to tell it and as a future teacher I would want to hear it.
We then broke into groups to view our videos of us teaching. I spent some of the time having Thea help me fix my paper, as it seems I had it in the wrong lay out. Chris and Thea liked the students in my video and they gave me some really good feedback.
I think it would be helpful to sit as a class and discuss our teacher observations. I find that I had a lot of questions and there was no where to address them. I also learned a lot and again I did not have anyone to bounce ideas off of. I hope we talk about our observations a little next week.
Chris then presented and broke us into partners and we had to demonstrate the different activities presented in the Peanut Butter book. I was so excited because I got the life mural, which I would LOVE to do in a classroom. I think it would work really well to activate the intrinsic motivation, background knowledge and the desire to expand vocabulary. The reason I feel so strongly about the activity and the writing opportunities it presents because people simply want to "tell their story". When students are presented with an opportunity to explain where they have come from, they want to tell it and as a future teacher I would want to hear it.
We then broke into groups to view our videos of us teaching. I spent some of the time having Thea help me fix my paper, as it seems I had it in the wrong lay out. Chris and Thea liked the students in my video and they gave me some really good feedback.
I think it would be helpful to sit as a class and discuss our teacher observations. I find that I had a lot of questions and there was no where to address them. I also learned a lot and again I did not have anyone to bounce ideas off of. I hope we talk about our observations a little next week.
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