Blog Entry #4

"How do your teacher manage assessment"

This topic actually came up a couple weeks ago before I actually started this module, but it was interseting to learn my teacher's point of view of assessment. The teacher I help is really into using pre tests and then post test surveys to not only see the assesment of the results but to assess her teaching method in general and see if there's anything she could modify to make it better for her students.

She always starts out by giving a pre test that has questions that are somewhat similiar concepts to that which will be on the actual test. She always closely compares this information to the actual test and answers to see the areas of improvement and the areas that weren't improved which I think is really smart. She told me this greatly helps her understand what concepts she needs to teach better and that she can then alter her teaching method and then see how it goes next time and compare again.

My favorite thing she does in terms of assesment though is she always does a post test survey just to ask the students how good they felt about all the information and if there is anyway to make them feel more confident in it. She said that sometimes you don't get anything to really go off of from them but that sometimes they can have great suggestions on new activites and methods to their learning that they will try together in class.

I also asked her if she keeps track of the standards of learning well and how often she is checking to see if her students are reaching their yearly goals. She said that its definitely something she should be better at but that she tries to go through them often and evalutae what standards need more time and which ones have been acheived. She wasn't really confident in how good she is at this so that makes me want to make sure that when i'm a teacher i'm staying on top of those standards and constantly checking and making sure my students are on top of things. I want to give them the best opportunities and learning advantages possible and I truly think that will be easiest for them when they have a good solid foundation from year to year.