Well I thought that it would be interesting to blog about the assessments that we are giving in our practicums for assignment number 3. I feel that these assessments are really very interesting and I really enjoy giving them. The student that I chose to assess is a very bright child from China who has only been here for 9 months. She came here not knowing one word of English and now speaks fluently and reads at a higher level than most of the English speaking students. She does have a heavy accent so sometimes the tests given were a little more difficult but over all it went pretty smoothly.
These tests were very time consuming and I do not see how a teacher could do these one student at a time. There is just not enough time in the day. I think it would probably take about half the year to assess each student on each of these tests if one teacher was doing it him or herself.
My favorite test to give would have to be the running record. I just thought that it was neat to make the marks and listen to how she would read things and how some things could be left out or completely changed. I also enjoyed tallying up the points at the end and making the decision what level she was best at. I just think that these assessments are really important if you want to get to know where your students stand. As a teacher it would help you to accommodate to their needs that way they can actually learn and not just struggle or things be too easy.
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4 comments:
These assessments were very intersting. In the Clark County School District, we test for phonics, spelling, reading comprehension. My school did not test for listening. In the district we had to complete these assessments three to four times a year on every student. We were allowed to give the spelling assessment to a couple students at one time. Using these assessments at first were very time consuming. But the more you administer them, the fast it becomes and then you know approximately where your students are.
With regards to running records, we were required to use them on students every month. We used running records during guided reading. Every week I would do a running record on one or two students in each guided reading group. I had a running record on every student with a total of nine for each student. Running records help to assess students when they are improving to move groups and to know what they need help with.
These types of assessments are essential for the teacher to complete and for adminstration to keep track of where students are and if they are progressing. With No Child Left Behind and Adequate Yearly Progress it is vital and necessary for teachers to complete these assessments as thoroughly as possible so adminstration and sate officials can see the progress or lack thereof of students in schools and strugling schools.
The students in my class do well in reading comprehension when someone reads orally to them. They should change the assessments to make it choice to do it silently or orally.
Posted by Kathy Ramos 6:00pm
My problem was that the teacher gave me a kid who didn't care much about how he did in school. At first he failed the 2nd grade assessments and then he passed the 4th grade ones. It took me about six or seven times to get all of his assessments done.
I don't know whether background is the issue in this case, but he moved here five years ago from a 3rd world country and his mother died almost immediately after. His father works at a convenience store and it doesn't seem like anyone looks after him much.
After the assessments I think he started to care more about his progress and hopefully will start pulling up his socks and making more of an effort. He really is quite smart, if he would exert himself.
I agree with you that these assessments were very interesting to give and they were definitely time consuming. I remember giving those during my last practicum and I didn't realize how much time it would truly take to test a student on all of the assessments. I feel like these assessments are a great resource for teachers to gauge where their students' learning levels are at.
I also have noticed that in my two practicums neither of my teachers have used these assessments so I just wonder if I will truly use these in the future. I know that there are plenty of assessments to choose from when testing your students. I am glad that I know how to administer these and be able to evaluate what levels my students' learning will be at.
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