Assessing and Evaluating Students' Learning

I will definitely hold onto this text.

 I find that most humans find themselves trapped in routine, and forget that there are other ways besides formal essays and tests to evaluate a student's learning. To encourage different assessments is important, because people have different strengths. There were certain assessments I was better at and others I wasn't. I also think certain assessments work better for certain subjects or criteria that is hoping to be met. I think that Journal/Blog responses are interesting because subtle changes can be seen over time, plus they are pretty consistent and routine. I also enjoy discussion evaluations/assessments. I think they can be a little more nerve wracking as a student but, I think they are great to use at the end of a quarter or semester. 

People perform differently and a lot of that has to do with their strengths and weaknesses. When balancing between their strengths and their weaknesses and by applying different evaluations/assessments, a more accurate representation of their learning is acquired. Yay!

I think that this reading was helpful, not just as a reminder of different ways to do things, but that it really broke each assessment down. For example, when evaluating classroom discussions the reading included a possible rubric (228). This rubric covered not only a person's involvement in the discussion as a speaker, but as a listener as well. Sometimes it is apparent, even if a student only speaks once, if there involvement in the discussion was successful or not. Sometimes I find that I struggle with the listening part because I here something that I want to apply right away, or it sparks a thought that I can't ignore. 

The reading also got me thinking about my personal experience with assessments, what I liked and what I didn't like. I have enjoyed blogs/journals/discussions/and online discussions, because not only have they helped me to develop my own thoughts and understanding but I am also encouraged to see what others are doing/thinking. I find that discussions are most helpful when I am at a loss for what I should do. I may here someone else's idea and it may spark one of my own, or it makes me think of a subject from an angle I didn't see before. I also tend to learn more through discussions than I do taking a test, or writing an essay. That is just how my brain works, others may disagree and feel the opposite and that's okay too. But like most things, I think it is important to balance, or get to know your group of kids and see what really works for them.