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.