Assessments

Week 3, assessments

Fulfilling the promise: The assessments from the book were alright. Most of the questions that asked about a child’s hobbies and interests would be most effective for finding out how they learn best. There was one question though on one of the assessments that I didn’t think would really be that helpful. Asking a child to explain how they learn best would probably be hard for a child to answer, unless it was upper level, like late junior high or high school. So if it were me, I would probably eliminate that question. One that I did like though, was the question that asked what they would see themselves doing as adults, their jobs, and their interests. I like the forward thinking that would produce and it would give me a clue as to what subjects they might be interested in.

Blackboard assessments: As far as these example assessments go, I really liked them all. If I were teaching older grades I would especially like the writing samples. I liked that they don’t want you to give the students perameters or even tell them exactly what you want, but rather give them ideas, such as writing a you a letter, or beginning with a picture, then going from there. In this way, you’re truly finding out their skills in writing.

I also think it’s effective to use pictures in assessments. Happy or sad faces seem to help children express themselves more accurately. This also gives a teacher a starting point to know where to start from. If a child chooses a frowny fact to answer how they feel about reading, then you know that you might want to come up with fun ways to incorporate reading into your lessons.