Chapter Eight Reflection Assessments are vital in the school but, how should a teacher give an assessment? In chapter eight the pros and cons of assessments in schools are laid out. There are also many types of ways to test from project all the way to essay questions. This chapter also reminds teachers to not only give assessments, but also to reflect on how they are doing as a teacher. Assessment is important because it shows how students are progressing and what they need to be held accountable for. Although some students are hurt by poor test scores, it helps them understand what they need to work on and helps the teacher as well. Finding the right assessment strategies for your classroom will help your students test confidently. There …show more content…
I believe that if I am enthusiastic about the lesson that I can really teach my students more than they would grasp in a regular textbook. I believe that oral history places a positive aspect in social studies because a typical social studies class gets a negative reputation. I also like the idea of each child doing a timeline so that other students can see the lives of their classmates. When a child sees that their friend is from another country I want them to think that it is so awesome and by incorporating the timeline project students can brag about where they are from and their different interests. In conclusion, oral history, storytelling, and doing interactive history lessons with a class will excite students and hopefully keep them positive about social studies and all it has to …show more content…
Inquiry is defined as a process that involves gathering data and hypothesis testing. This is important for students to learn about inquiry because many historians use this method for investigating history. Ancient philosophers are known for using inquiry such as Aristotle. Teaching students to use research and how to properly perform research allows them to explore history on their own and discover new and different things. There are many methods of research such as surveys, sampling, experimental research, and descriptive research. I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter and found the sampling techniques very useful and easy to use when exploring history. I think it would be a fun activity for students to preform a stratified random selection around school to reach an outcome. This would not only teach them how to sample, but also they would have to speak to individuals and that relays back to social studies. I also think that experimental research would benefit social studies students because it allows students to go out and explore the world around them while they use inquiry. It is important that students know what is around them and in their surrounding community and experimental research allows them to do
Zinn, H. (2007). Why Students Should Study History. In W. e. Au, Rethinking Our Classrooms, Volume 1 (pp. 179-181). Milwaukee: Rethinking Schools.
Current educational policy and practice asserts that increased standardized student testing is the key to improving student learning and is the most appropriate means for holding individual schools and teachers accountable for student learning. Instead, it has become a tool solely for summarizing what students have learned and for ranking students and schools. The problem is standardized tests cannot provide the information about student achievement that teachers and students need day-to-day. Classroom assessment can provide this kind of information.
Savage, J. & Fautley, M. (2008). Assessment for Learning and Teaching in Secondary Schools. Dawsonera [Online]
Assessments are an important part of teaching. Assessments are a good way for teachers to monitor students’ learning and understanding. Knowing students’ level of understanding can help teachers improve students’ learning and guide their instructions. In the future, I plan to continue assessing students in multiple ways such as, asking questions, illustrations and writing to adjust my instruction. I also plan to encourage students to assess their own work so they are involved in their own learning as well as look for ways to “employ technology to support assessment
Assessments have always been a tool for teachers to assess mastery and for a long time it was just to provide a grade and enter it into the grade book or report card. Through resources in and out of the course, there has been a breath of new life into the research on how to use assessments. They take many forms and fall within the summative or formative assessment category. Sloan (2016) addresses how formative assessments has traditionally been used by teachers to modify instruction, but when we focus on a classroom that is learner-centered “it becomes assessment for learning as opposed to assessment of learning” (slide 4). The fact is, the students are the ones that should be and are the ones using the data we collect through assessments, since it is our way of providing feedback in order
This first part I will go why we should teach it. The reason why we should teach social studies is very important. One reason is the nonrepeating of history. The quite possibly biggest reason that people give is this one. It is also very true because we need to inform people of the past so they do not repeat the same bad actions. They do this so we do not have a case of a second Hitler. The second reason is to teach concepts of culture and economics. It teaches concepts of culture going over history and geography. It goes over the history of certain cultures through out the world that are important to the development of the world. The geography part teaches of cultures throughout the world that are current and historical. Geography is important because it is very important to have knowledge of the world you live in. It teaches of the history of certain countries that existed a long time ago and ones of that exist today. The second part is how we teach social studies. The way a lot of people and students associate social studies teaching is an old white man lecturing in front of a class. This is generally found to be very boring and not very enticing to participate in these situations. One way to combat this stereotype is too do an engaging and socially connecting class. Ways to make it engaging is to do different types of activities to do during class. This includes simulations, jigsaw lessons, and
Cohen et al. (2010) wrote that assessment can be a major contributor to raising standards in schools in terms of teaching, learning and student achievement. In addition, if assessment is properly handled with consistency, reliability, validity and rigour, it can have a possitive effect on learning and can improve students' own understanding of how can they learn more effectively and improve.
I will explain that as teachers, it is imperative to decided on what knowledge or skill needs to be assessed. After we define our objectives, it is time to ask ourselves, “Which type of assessment will be most appropriate?”
Douglas Reeves (2007) believes “assessment is most productive when its purpose is for learning” (p.3). In both the performance based assessment and constructed response assessment students are able to demonstrate their and apply what they know. Throughout this process students are still learning. The goal of assessments should be to provide an opportunity for continued learning for students, and as a result the teacher is able to gather evidence of their learning. As a teacher, I have often seen assessments solely as a way to measure student learning. However, I think going forward it will better serve my students if I see assessments as a way to extend their learning. With that in mind, when planning I will need to stray away from traditional assessments that do not promote student learning and have not produced positive results. Instead, having the courage to try something new will help to better serves the learning needs of my students (Reeves, 2007, p. 9). Providing students with learning experiences through assessments is the best way to extend learning and understanding for students. If student learning is the true goal, assessments must be used as a way to help student learn
Assessments allow for teachers to monitor the progress and growth of his/her students, help engage students and help guide teachers as well as students in their decision making. Teachers should know that tests are not the only way to assess students in the classroom. It is important for educators constantly assess their students on comprehension and progression.Teachers can take use of both formal and informal assessments so that they can engage students in their own learning, as well as monitor their comprehension and progress.
One example is to integrate social studies lessons into reading lessons. To do this, a teacher can pick a book for a read aloud that is non-fiction and explains an event from history. The teacher can also incorporate social studies into reading by teaching units within the classroom. The unit theme can be a social studies topic and all the language arts work, writing, and reading work can be tied to something in social studies; the units could be geographical, moral, or even government themed. Also, another example is to incorporate social studies into science lessons. In greater detail, a teacher can teach a science lesson like climate change or geology but incorporate some social studies topics. If a teacher is teaching a science lesson on climate the teacher could explain how the winds move or how weather is formed in certain parts of the world. This would include geography and climate study within one lesson. Also if a teacher is teaching a science lesson on geology there could also be come economics weaved in. This could be done by explaining what products can be made from these rocks, where the products are found, and where how the products get to the United States or why they are not made here but in a different
I believe that education should be looked as as a desire to acquire all possible knowledge, not as a requirement or something that can be formally examined by standardized tests. There are numerous ways that children learn and I want to be able to encourage as much learning as possible for each child. I believe that using many methods of instruction is the most effective way of teaching to these various ways of learning. These methods include group work, hands-on activities, buddy work, etc. Assessment of children should follow the same idea. When children get the chance to perform on different assessments, they can adequately show their strengths and weaknesses. I do not wish to rely on tests only to assess the students in my class. Some types of assessment that I think should be inlcuded in a classroom are journals, presentations, projects and interviews. I also think that the classroom should be run with the help of the children. By distributing jobs among the children and everyone participating in the classroom, the students will form a sense of togetherness. This will eventually create a community within the classroom. I feel that this community of learners is essential for the students to perform effectively and efficiently. They will feel comfortable in the environment and will not be afraid to take risks or ask questions. The teacher will also be a member of this community and will not be seen as unapproachable or as the only leader.
Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a
Assessment is a tool used in the classroom every day. It is used to measure a student’s mastery of a skill or knowledge of a given subject. It is also what demonstrates to the teacher what the students have learned. Educators use that information to determine if they need to re-teach to a specific student, group, or the entire class. They can also use that information to determine the rate of their teaching. Assessments are important because, as teachers, we need to know what difficulties our students have and what needs to be refined for them. While I do believe in assessment and feel that it is one of the key components of teaching, I am more concerned with a child’s process of learning rather than the overall product that comes from it. This is where grades come in for me. Grades determine the students’ level of mastery on a subject, nothing more. Grades should not be the exclusive indicators that a student has learned the information that is presented to them. It is the things a student learns along the way that truly matter and sometimes cannot be measured.
I use assessments to assist me to identify and to develop their learning process. Assessment is not about the final grade, but the learning experience. I would rather have my students know how to look up information and apply knowledge than to memorize it and forget it ten minutes after the test. Learning is a life-long adventure and I want my students to know how to adjust and cope during their adventure. I want my students to have the skills for researching and finding the answer. It is not always that answer which demonstrates learning; it is in the process in which you find the answer that demonstrates learning.