20 inches of snow couldn't keep our class down tonight, and what a great interactive class it was! Nicholas began with his micro-teaching about assessment and we all participated in giving our thoughts on what assessment meant. Throughout the rest of the class we really concentrated on assessment and standards.
In studying assessment, the word diagnostic really represents my understanding. It's like going to the doctor when you've had symptoms for years. If you had gone sooner, the ailments could have been healed. The same thing goes for a student who goes through school without being properly assessed or diagnosed. Through authentic assessment, a student can be regularly monitored. No one slips through the cracks with this type of assessment. Everyone has to participate and give feedback.
National Standards ensure that teachers are all on the same page. A teacher can assume that a new student coming into the fourth grade classroom has been taught the skills and concepts within the standards for kindergarten through third - Systemic Learning. Standards also provide a focus for teachers. They can match their assessments to the exams as well as the materials to the standards.
I agree that assessment should be used in the beginning because the teacher can prepare how to serve her students best. Through KWHL charts, observation, questioning and an array of other revealing tools, a teacher can assess and measure where the child is in relation to the standards.
This is a whole new way of learning for me as a returning student. My first class with Dr. Smirnova was such a learning experience. Now I understand why Dr. S. uses authentic assessment. It seems hard at first, but by the end of the class you realize what happened. You learned!! When you are given the tools to obtain the information you are strengthening your ability to learn. The learning is much more memorable and I can become part of the whole experience.
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