Chapter 8

"What Do I Do with All These Sticky Notes? Assessment That Drives Instruction"

"The hardest part about reading is remembering what I've read"-Jessica, ninth grader.

This chapter starts off with her College Prep English 12 class. She talks about the students behavior now that they are the "top dogs" of the school now. I can't help but to think of my senior year of high school. I totally thought we were the top dogs. I never acted like I was, but I secretly thought I was. LOL. She addresses the class about what they will be learning about and that at the end of the semester she hopes that they are selfish. One student says that, that wasn't a problem, because his mom tells him is is so selfish. She then goes on to tell the students to always ask themselves, 'What's in it for me?' She tells them not to read for the teacher or their parents, but for themselves. A question about tests comes up. The student wants to know if they will be taking a lot of tests and she tells them no, but she will be measuring their thinking the entire time, so it is kind of like having a test everyday. She then makes the comment of "I will be explicit about what they need to know, because school should not be a game of 'let's see who the teacher can trick'". I agree with this comment entirely. We are educators to help the students learn as much as they can in our classrooms.

Cris says that she is selfish when it comes to assessments, because she wants to know of her student's thinking so that it can help her teaching. Assessments should be used to show us what our students are doing well and not so well on. Assessment should reflect everyday activities. She says that district and state tests are used to inform the way programs are being used. Chapter tests, according to Cris show us the finite knowledge the students have and not what they are thinking. She goes on to say that, "if teachers want students to comprehend and actually use content from their classrooms, they need to show them how to be better thinkers about that content."

She feels that there is not 1 assessment that will measure everything and when she realized this it was a sad day for her. Setting a goal at the beginning of a class is a good start. Start off with a goal that is attainable and at the end of a quarter if the goal is met, then set a higher goal. If it is not met then the student can keep that same goal and figure out why the goal was not met. Keeping a collective chart reminds the students of the strategies they had been practicing in the weeks before.

She also has each student keep a conversation calender. This is used to communicate with the teacher in a more individual setting. Each week the student writes down what they are thinking, whether it be a question or something they need to get off their mind. The teacher should respond by the next day and it should be worth while for the student. Giving points for this is a good incentive. Another tool is a reading response log. This shows the teacher what the student is reading and thinking about with a text that the student chose them self. The first part consists of a 4 to 5 sentence summary. The second part is a 10 to 15 sentence response to what the student read. In this second part the teacher is able to see what strategies the student is using to get through the text. Keeping a file of each student is a good way to show the student of their progress. Keeping examples of certain work done by the student will show that the student is proficient or recommended remediation. For Cris, quick conferences is her best assessment tool. It gives her insight in how to teach and guide her students.

I like the quick conference and conversation ideas. I feel that it is important to show an interest in who the student is personally. I feel that you get a better response from the student when you take an interest in who they are.

Renee