Elementary Methods: Chapters 8, 9,&11

I thought/ I remember….

While reading Chapter 9 I definitely remember doing this when I was in school, and I still do it now. I always found that when teachers gave me verbal and written feedback on my progress or what I needed improvement on, I felt like I was more on track with my own learning and what I needed to work on, or didn’t need to worry about. This was a super helpful learning tool that I still use and appreciate. Come on, everybody likes feedback!

In the field…

Based on my reading in Chapter 8 on personal communication assessment, I totally felt a connection- effective usage of words is the number 1, first thing you learn as a teacher. In other words, if you can’t word it in kid language, or understandably, they will ask questions not really having anything to do with what you’re asking them, or in most cases stare off into space until you come up with something better. Communication skills are vital in life for these kids both at home and at school; so if we can teach them effective language to communicate with, we are doing it right! Having the ability to communicate both efficiently and effectively is one of the single most important skills to have. This can be in the form of questions outright or discussions on topics to test the student’s knowledge and engagement with the subject.

I believe…

Based on my reading in Chapter 9 on Record Keeping (tracking student learning) I was refreshed that this could include anything from practice work, projects, quizzes, homework, and many other pieces of work. And that inevitably those scores contribute to the Summative assessments of their learning. I believe that can either be motivating or not, depending on how you present the record keeping to your students. If this is used correctly, students will have the ability to:

·         See their growth

·         Set Goals for themselves

·         And Self-Assess 

A connection I can make is…

A connection I can make to Chapter 11 about portfolios is the portfolio I have been building at JSC for the past 3 years. Similarly to in school, grades and test scores are not always the most accurate interpretation of our knowledge, and going the extra step farther, can sometimes make the difference.