Assessment: In Class and Standardized

As the issue of assessment is one that is constant in today's classrooms, I am constantly reminded of its importance. I feel that I have gained SO much knowledge through this year of studies, and it is imperative that I carry that with me into my future classroom. In Dr. Risko's class, we learned of all of the assessment tools and programs that are not proven to be effective, and yet they are still sufficient for school districts to use to gauge their students' progress. As we learn about new tools and programs that have the research to back them up, it is our responsibility to make them known to our schools.

In my practicum, I have learned about the importance of informal assessments throughout the lesson. I spent the last few weeks observing after I finished teaching my lessons, and it is so obvious just how many students leave the lessons still confused. That is one of the clear dangers of planning too far ahead; there is not enough room to make adjustments, especially when three teachers are sharing teaching one subject. There is bound to be a problem with overlap or gaps in general.

Assessments are crucial to monitor progress, but they should not be the only ways that a student's knowledge is measured. There needs to be a thorough balance of authentic assessments with formalized assessments in order for a teacher to be sure that he or she understands all that a student knows. 

The Power of a Teacher

Sitting in class Tuesday night, I felt inspired to say the least. The words being spoken to us gave us such a feeling of power and responsibility. I feel like I am actually beginning to grasp that I will be teaching next year and actually utilizing all of the information I have been learning for the past five years. That seemed to be just a crazy idea....until now.

In watching the videos about guided reading and discussing the elements that make a successful literacy environment, I grasped how much of the knowledge I have truly internalized. Throughout my various practicums and classes, I have observed countless lessons, and I have seen firsthand the benefits of this type of teaching. I cannot wait to do it. 

I taught a lesson on writing today, and the power of individual students continues to amaze me. Some of the students are so bright they finish all of their thoughts and are constantly needing new challenges, whereas other students are struggling to lay the basic ideas on the page. Regardless of their abilities to actually write, through observing conversations and actual seat work, I hear and see such bright ideas. The students are anxious to write a persuasive essay, a feat that I never thought would be accomplished. 

Teachers truly do have power, and it is up to each one of us to utilize it to the best of our abilities. We can make a difference. 

Popcorn and movies

After last week's class, I really got to thinking about how important it is to make the information relevant and tangible to your students. A seemingly simple description of a literacy tool can sound so complex to ears that have never heard of it before. The shoe analogy observed in the movie reminded me of just that; even though it seems so simple to us, we often have to think like our students....however scary that might be.

In my practicum last week I was teaching writing, specifically on the idea of a thesis. This simple word can be so daunting to students, and it is one that will consistently reappear throughout their school lives. However, I discovered that the idea is fairly difficult to describe and even more challenging to put into real writing. My students barely understand the concept of an essay, and I think the idea of a thesis may have been over their heads. That is the tricky part of teaching like this....coming in twice a week, following someone else's lesson sequence, trying to put the pieces together...there are bound to be some disconnects. I think I may have found one.

In a school world overcome with five paragraph essays and a large amount of matching someone else's format, I think it is beneficial to teach students to be creative. There needs to be more emphasis on originality and writing for writing's sake instead of just assessment. Standards can be creatively wrapped into writing, and the teachers just need to figure out how to do it well. As we saw with our reading lessons and Al Capone, starting with the quality instruction and then incorporating the standards is a sure fire way to effectively meet the needs of one's students. 

Lit Circles

      After loving literature circles in my practicum, I was excited to be able to learn more about them in class. I can see how they can be used for a wide variety of ages and abilities with different books. Through reading Al Capone Does My Shirts, I now better understand how to start from a whole book approach and then choose the standards and big ideas that coincide with good literature. Not only did I really enjoy the book, but I also feel like both boys and girls would like it as well. They would be able to understand the deeper themes and develop relationships with their classmates through discussing the topics in literature circles.

     I really like the idea of literature circles in upper elementary classrooms because they give control to the students. At this point in their lives, they are often trying to find responsibilities they can take on, and if they can take charge of their learning, they will benefit greatly! In my practicum, the students loved choosing what to discuss and how they were to structure their own talks. Literature circles can be a great way to delegate responsibility to each and every member in the classroom, thus including the often quiet and shy students who might be overlooked in book discussions. 

      Because I came into my classroom after much of the routines were already set, the literature circles seem to flow so easily. However, after many talks with Dona, she informed me that the first several weeks were spent solely teaching the students how to talk in their groups. Clear scaffolding is needed if the students are to thrive in this type of environment, and I think they can do just that. 

Graphic Organizers and Teaching

     I strongly believe in using graphic organizers to enhance one's teaching to make learning accessible for all learning styles. After last week's class and receiving all of the MANY organizers, I was reminded of their many different purposes. During student teaching, we had an inservice day that was designed entirely around concept maps and how they can be used for multiple ages and in a variety of settings. Whether they be used in reading to keep track of characters or in social studies to compare and contrast cultures, they can be useful tools for students, and they ultimately bring literacy into every lesson since they involve reading, writing, and communicating ideas. 

     When it comes to graphic organizers and comprehension, I think they greatly enhance a student's ability to put together information in a way they can easily understand it. Because understanding is the ultimate goal during reading, it makes sense to use these organizers often. However, I do think that they must be carefully introduced to the students. Because so many teachers just give out pointless worksheets, it would be easy for students to miss the true purpose of these organizers. 

     In the lesson I taught on character theories, the students drew their own theories, therefore basically creating their own graphic organizers. Because they were asked to translate their thoughts into a drawing, they were forced to transfer their information through multiple modalities and in doing so clarified their ideas. Teaching the students about reading has been such a joy since they seem to have a thoroughly developed love of reading, and I am anxious to see how writing goes this week since they will just be beginning a new piece. There will hopefully be many opportunities for me to try out graphic organizers with the students.

Word Work and Lesson 1

This week proved to be an interesting week in my practicum. I was finally able to observe the students working on their word work, which is supposed to occur daily, and they seemed to be very engaged. They were working on prefixes, sorting words, and they then wrote words in sentences to show their meaning. I am glad that I was able to finally see them work on their vocabulary, but I am not sure how effective it truly is. After this week's class, I understand now more than ever the importance of using words in context. In many of the readings regarding the various literacy theories, the authors emphasize the importance of interaction between reader and the text. When students sit quietly and cut out words at their desks, are they getting the full benefit from their work? I think not.

I taught my first lesson at practicum this week as well. It had to be planned fairly last minute since Dona had to restructure the lesson schedule due to an impromptu visit from "Abe Lincoln" on Monday. However, I am pleased with its result. After teaching on theory charts, a subject which I am not very familiar with, the students seemed to internalize the idea of making theories about characters in their books. Many of them made charts like the one I demonstrated in their Reader's Notebooks, and Dona used scaffolding with one of the groups, which is slightly lower than the rest, to produce a compare/contrast character theory chart. The students seemed to do well with this type of activity. The students surprise me more and more with what they internalize, the words they use, and their familiarity with literacy concepts. It is such a joy to see such success in a Nashville school. 

Assessment

Assessment is the core of education today, whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. Many educators solely focus on the outcomes of assessment, as much instruction is to "teach to the test" so that schools and classes will pass or perform well enough to stay in existence. Whether or not we agree with the implementation of assessment, it is not going anywhere. Thus, I agree with the four purposes of reading assessment: outcome assessments, screening assessments, diagnostic assessments, and progress-monitoring assessments.

It is a balance of these four types of assessment that will lead to a full picture of a student's ability to read as well as provide a standardized comparison by which one can be leveled accordingly. It is necessary to understand where each student is according to their reading ability, and to do so, they must be assessed both as a whole group and by individualized, specified tests. Teachers need to address both students' needs AND strengths. If you do not build upon their strengths, students start to think they are only struggling readers. Students need to be assessed regularly to address their current capabilities as learners. 

With all of the different types of assessment that lurk the hallways of schools these days, it is a constant battle to determine which is best to meet the needs of both the students and the school as a whole. After learning about the DIBELS assessment in class, I cannot see how it is the best determiner of a student's abilities. There are many qualms about it, and there is clearly not a verdict as to its proficiency as an assessment. The one minute time limit does not mirror a realistic reading situation, and it might as well just teach students that speed is all that matters in learning. Also, it is not an effective measure for older students as a whole. Is there an outcome assessment that is sufficient for upper elementary students?

Edmondson is using AIMSweb, and I am curious as to the school's reception to the test. Dona was less than thrilled to administer it as she feels that a typical DRA would be a better measure. If reading specialists are not behind these tests and instead back more thorough assessments, why do the districts not listen? Shouldn't the authorities have a say in the measure?