going & going and... Ongoing Assessment- Chapt.4

Assessment should be an every day routine for the teacher. It needs to be continuous and on going throughout instructional classroom time. Thinking back from last semester, I recall learning about the different types of assessment, examples of each and when to implement them. This chapter talks about some of the same things, as well as new ones. While students are learning, teachers should be updating their knowledge regarding their students. (pg.85) This is/should be an everyday routine/process. The reading attitude & Interest surveys are good starter assessments for teachers to administer. In Mrs. Whitcomb's class (CIR 412L), we are administering these 2 surveys next week to the student we will be tutoring through out the semester. I was excited to see the connection from class to class!

I liked the idea of day-to-day conversations with students. Personally, I think that more teachers should do this. Based on my field experience from semesters passed, I have seen none. These teachers were so pressed for time, they often left out the communication aspect of student learning. Classroom conversations are good tools for teachers to use with students who are having difficulties with text, concepts, etc. The book suggests some questions the teacher could ask to help redirect the student's thinking. When planning for assessment, the teacher should always bring in the students' prior knowledge into classroom lessons. Students should be able to make connections between their lives and the texts and concepts taught. Doing this, will help and aid the students' further understanding, which should ultimately lead to comprehension. Teachers should use multiple assessments because no one single assessment determines what students care about, know, or want to know. LOOK for patterns in & during assessments!!!!

Basically, the chapter went on to talk about content assessment (Content Area Reading Inventory), classroom tests, portfolio assessment, mandated assessments (state), standardized tests and interpreting assessment. I really like the idea of portfolio assessment. When I was in high school, my AP English teacher required we keep a portfolio of all our work. She even asked that we keep any and every sheet of scratch paper/ rough draft of every essay, report, etc in the folder. I always wondered why. But now, I see her intentions and its significance. Toward the enc of the nine weeks, we'd grab our folders and choose one assignment to revise for another grade. Each year, we were given a new portfolio. The others remained silently in her filing cabinet... waiting to be unleashed!!! :) Toward the end of my senior year, she handed out all of the portfolios from previous years (including my 12th grade one) and allowed us to "look back" and reflect on our work through out the years. That was pretty memorable! Some of the stuff I'd completely forgot about! I still have those portfolios! And even though I did complain about her thoroughness from time to time, today I am grateful for having such an accomplished teacher!