end of semester

So I am blogging again today but only because I have the time and because my keyboard is messing up on my lap top so I am afraid that I won't be able to log back in because the leters are messing up... Anyways.... I just wanted to say that this class was very interesting to me. I didn't know really how much goes into being able to read because I personally didn't have problems with reading (lucky me) and so I was lucky because I didn't have any frustrations in reading. Then again lucky because both of my girls are fine in reading too. They got the foundation to be able to read and they had good teachers. I think all those components have go together to facilitate reading. This class has educated me more on the whole process of being able to read, how you can assess reading and the different wasy it is done. All the information was very useful and will be a help to me when I am in the classroom.

assessment tool

Okay so we had to do an assessment tool and Dr. Wilson said to be creative and to think out of the box... well I thought that I did and I was disappointed in my grade. I thought I was being creative getting away from "worksheets"...I guess it didn't do what she wanted. I am not in the classroom and I am not a teacher in the classroom so I thought of what could be done that is not being used right now to assess a student. I really would like to know what the student knows before coming into the classroom because it makes a lot of difference to the teacher and lets the teacher know what that student can or cannot do...as well as their foundations for being able to read. I am interested in the beginning years of the child, the developing years. I enjoy the classroom of prek, kinder...because I do want to do the songs and dances with them...I want to use creativity and play centers with them, that is what I want to see and encourage with them. My youngest daughter is 7 and she still pretends and imagines and guess what I do right along side her!

chapter 7

So here I am again trying to play catch up....I have been working and so when I get home I am exhausted. I have to say that this semeter was a tough one but thankfully it is almost over...Okay chapter 7. Chapter 7 covers how the formal and informal assessment tools help the teacher in the classroom and I do agree that they are needed. What gets me is the politics behind the testing. Why does everything come down to money? We talked in class about why there are so many different test out there. I agree with the book and Dr. Wilson that teachers do need an assessment tool kit. We know that not all students learn the same and it is evident from the discussions we have had in class. It is unfair sometimes to base what a child knows from one assessment and that is why we have to be able to look at the bigger picture. How else can we assess the student and use all those tools to decide. I found desagrigating (did I spell that right?) the test results to be very interesting too. I never knew you culd tell so much from a piece of paper. I guess I am a litttle torn as a teacher and then as a parent. As a parent I do want to know where my child is and if she is on track but at the same time I don't want one type of assessment to determine that. I have had teachers tell me in confrences not to pay attention to what the results are on the assessments because in reality she knows how my child is doing and that the results on paper from that assesment are nothing to worry about. I think that is where good teachers come in to play because I know that my child means something to her and that the teacher is doing her job. I don't know it is all confusing too!
The assessments are a good thing there is just too much of them. Plus not everyone learns in the same way or at the same speed so we have to take that information we get from those assessments and really look at the whole picture of the student.

chapter 6

So once again I am running around like a chicken without a head trying to juggle everything on my plate and sometimes it seems impossible. I can't believe that the months have gone by so fast and that we are close to the end. I am still behind on my reading but I seem to be on track for my project. I had a hard time trying to figure out what I wanted to do. That was half of the battle. Anyways..... We went through the different formal assessments with the help of our little powerpoints that we did. My girls go to Holy Name Catholic School and my 12 year old would tell me that she was taking her SAT. I thought what do you mean? She is in 6th grade afterall.. well it turns out that she was taking the Scholastic Reading Inventory. Why they call it SAT, I don't know maybe that was just my daughter calling it that but anyways now I get it. What I want to know really is why do the different school districts need to use different assessments? It gets frustrating and I tell you what, both of my girls were nervous and worried for the whole week of testing. These test put alot of stress and pressure on the student and then they get consumed with the " test". It is so unfair. I have yet to get the results but my feeling is that they did well. Fortunately both of them have done well so far. We will see....

chapter 5

Okay so just when I think I am doing alright and on task....I am still behind. I am another one who is so not used to chit chatting on line or mingling etc. so bare with me. I read chapter 5 and then we heard Dr. Wilson lecture on it as well,and I have to tell you that the lecture always makes better sense than just reading it.
Chapter 5 covers formal assessments and we talked about it in class so I am not going to try to summerize the chapter. What I will say is that why does assessing a child have to be so complicated and full of bullsh**t rules. It is a good thing that there are various assesments out there to use and it is a good thing that they are used but as we have all learned just because the assessment is packaged real pretty doesn't necessarily mean that it is the answer. I thought that the video on Maddy reading was very interesting because I wonder if as parents and teachers, we look at the physical, and facial expressions of a child and assess those things. Obviously those remarks and gestures mean a whole lot more than just what is seen to the eye. Maybe what we should do is look at the physical and facial expressions to see what is really going on with the child. Kids come to school with all kinds of problems, guilt, and negativity and alot of the time that plays into what they do and don't do. Obviously what we as teachers want to know if our students are at their level and these assessments are there for that but it may not always be the ultimate solution. We as teachers also need to find ways to keep trying to help our students and I know that in the real world that doesn't always happen for whatever reason. iknow alot of people who just fell through the cracks and that is so unfair to them and to our society.

chapter 4

Chapter 4 was intresting to me as well as confusing. I finished the chapter and in our last class we dicussed it. I tell you the discussion made far more sense than the chapter. I know that assessments are needed and necessary but it can be so confusing! As was stated in chapter 3 and again in chapter 4, that the appropriate interpretation is based on the teacher's experiences, training, and dedication. This goes back to what Dr. Wilson was saying about glorified babysitters! There are the new teachers in the class who will be determined to find different ways to assess and be excited. Then you will have the teachers who are just going through the motions, may use just one strategie and the student will be lost in the shuffle.
This chapter also discusses the use of BRIGANCE, AIMsweb, and DIBELS. They have alot of the same purpose and as we discussed can be adjusted to the need of the student. The one that I have never heard of is the computer based assessment. I think that if used right and with the right student it could be very effective. Especially for those students who don't care to read a book just are not interested in reading, it would be perfect. A prime example is my brother. He is 24 years old, dyslexic and was diagnosed as ADHD when he was in grade school. He was shuffled through the years and was never held back. So he slide through all the way to high school and graduated. He is still a struggling reader and speller. The one thing that he does like a pro is surf the net. If there is something that is is interested in he will make it a point to figure out how to find out the information he wants to learn about. He loves history and before he goes to the library to check out a book, he is on the computer surfing. Guess what he has to spell and read! If it holds his interest, no problem but if it doesn't he could care less
Hopefully with the use of computer assessments those who fear or dislike opening up a book will still be able to show their abilities. I think it is great. Remember not all students learn alike so we shouldn't expect students to be assessed the same and expect the same results.

Chapter 3

Well I started reading chapter 3 at the beginning of the week and I am still working on it and as we all know this chapter is long.... so far it has been an experience.

Informal Assessment: these would be the startegies used by a teacher to see if the student is "getting" what they are suppossed to in reading. There are several different strategies that are used and they include basal reading series, IRIs, miscue analysis, CBMs and portfolio assessment. So what I have learned is that there are some that are across the board used in all classrooms and then there are some that are not. Since I am not a teacher yet I can't say with certainty which ones are better than others or even if they are effective. I can see how using the basal series would be useful because I would think that it at least gives you something to go by, like a reference, but at the same time it can not tell you everything you might need to know. By using the observation method, I think that it would actually tell you more. As a teacher you will see facial expresions and body gestures that can say a lot...that says a lot about the student. I think that a combination of the strategies might need to be done to really know. Like I said I am not in the classroom so I could be wrong. Maybe several techniques are used, I just don't know it.
I have been in a 1st grade class where the teacher was assessing him on word recognition. She had a worksheet with the sight words on them and a timer and she gave him the paper and prompted him to read the words on the sheet one at a time and he couldn't. They were very simple words but you could tell that he had no idea.. An example word was something like, step and he didn't sound out s-t-e-p, he would sound out totally different letter sounds and it was shocking. At that, the letters he was sounding out didn't even go together to form another word. They were just random letter sounds! I don't know what happened to him because I didn't observe long enough but this teacher was a good teacher so I am sure she continued to help him or recommended more help for him maybe even a reading specialist. The odd thing is that he didn't think he was wrong either....