Assessing and Evaluating Students' Learning

The Spokane public schools website makes a lot of sense because coming from a student’s standpoint I agree that students and parents want a clear picture of what the child has done throughout the quarter/semester. Students take grades very seriously and they want to know where they are at with their hard work they have put in. I also agree with the article that giving a zero is a negative impact on the student. As a teacher, I want to bring so much positive energy into my classroom that I have a feeling zero’s would bring my students down. Giving a zero doesn’t show the students full potential and what they can do. Maybe they forgot to turn something in or they are still working on it. Moving onto the handout Assessing and Evaluating Students’ Learning, I like how it mentions to ask the student “What does it mean to learn literature?” This will influence how students’ will analyze literature. The information the teacher gives is what the student is going to listen to. I also like what this article mentions about feedback. “In giving feedback to students’ written drafts, you are encouraging them to explore alternative perspectives so that they are continually rethinking, elaborating, reformulating, revising, or interrogating their own interpretations.” This will allow students’ to keep on thinking about what they just performed. They can become stronger readers, writers, and thinkers during the feedback process. Once the teacher gives good feedback the students’ can gather their thoughts and re assess what they are going to do next. I also like how it mentions if the teacher doesn’t have time for the feedback process then you can teach your students to do peer feedback. What I plan to do in my classroom will be what the article calls “exit memos.” This will students’ a time to reflect on what they learned that day in the classroom. They can recap on their own what they learned that day and hopefully the information will stick in their head a little more and it will be remembered. This article was very helpful and it gave so many ideas on what you can do in your own classroom.

Assignment Template

I really liked this article because it gives many examples on what you can do to get your students reading. Getting them to read is one thing, but for them to get excited about it and understand it is another thing. I really like how the article mentioned that as a teacher you can do activities before reading like group discussions, brainstorming, rankings and rating skills, and so on. I also love that it mentions if you connect the reading to their lives somehow they will be so much more interested. I want my students to be excited to learn and read. I would also like to ask my students to make predictions. This is because they start generating thinking before they even read the text. They can brainstorm about what they think is going to happen and why. This is the fun part because at the end of a reading they can look back and see if their predictions were right in anyway. Drawing conclusions from what they read help students understand better about how the author structured their writing. Students can generate thinking by asking themselves why the author did it the way they did to make the argument clear. After reading materials you then transfer over into the writing process. It is my goal that my students learn the writing process and the steps they can do to be successful. The article mentions that reflecting on your writing process is very important. Especially asking them “What have you learned about your writing process?” Students should always be reflecting on their work and going back through and answering what they could have done to make it a stronger paper. As a teacher I want to make sure I am always guiding them in the right direction so we can always reach the goal for that day. The writing process is something students will take into consideration all the way through college if they choose to go. The reading and writing process is something I plan to help my students with all the way through their high school careers.

Teaching to Exceed the English Language Arrts Common Core State Standards

            Common Core State Standards can become tricky for teachers now days. They do however, set goals for students, but they don’t tell you what or how to teach. This is where it gets tricky because as a teacher you have to come up with your own ideas on how to teach these certain areas. I know that an English Language Arts teacher I hope I can generate engaging curriculum to meet these standards for my students. I think this is one of the best things about teaching because you get a chance to be creative. Also, you get to try new things. If you do something with one period of your class and it doesn’t work, then try something new with the next period. The nice thing is you can start fresh again in the next hour or so. If something didn’t work for you, pause, reflect, and think of something better that will work for the next group. I like how the article talks about “teaching to the test.” Some teachers are just focusing on certain curriculum and only teaching to prepare them for the tests. Students need a wide variety of different skills not only for school reasons, but for life as well. If a teacher is constantly just teaching for the tests then these students are more than likely not going to take much away from your classroom. This is my opinion because once they take that test, all those topics they learned will most likely just leave their brain. If you are doing more than just teaching to the test I believe that teachers will notice how successful their students are going to be later on. The students will probably end up thanking you for doing so. I plan on using the CCSS as a road map for my teaching like the article explains, but I do not plan on just focusing on that. I want my students to know that their education is important to me and I want them all to be well rounded students.

DISCUSSION AS A WAY OF TEACHING

I think one of my biggest fears as becoming a teacher would be getting my students involved. I think we all know that we will have students that won't want to participate in group discussions. I love the example the reading gave about The Circle of Voices because it gives each student the choice to have an opinion and a voice. When one person is talking, the other students are not suppose to be talking. I love this because each student gets a chance to take a stand. What I also liked about this reading is the chapter on Class Participation. It explains that a class discussion is not to prove how much you may know about a topic, but to get the comments flowing throughout the class. The reading gives examples on how you can keep the discussion going. For example, it explains that as a teacher if you ask another student a question about what the past student said it can keep the discussion going. As a teacher your body language should also show your excitement towards the topic. Getting my students engaged in my classroom is my number one goal. I don't ever want my students to feel like they can't share their opinions in my classroom. When class discussions go on in the classroom I get a sense that this is when the students learn the most. They can not only learn from me as the teacher, but also from their other classmates. My students will know from the get go that my classroom is a judgment free zone.  I love how this reading gave such good examples on ways your students will get involved. This may be a big challenge for the teacher, but if you constantly are working at getting students involved in your classroom, I think you will be okay. I hope to strive to generate thinking in my classroom so they are constantly learning throughout the day.