Assessment

Today I got a glimpse into assessment. I was still very curious about how assessment worked and how teachers ultimately assessed their students, and today I found some answers. I got to watch the teacher assess as well as I got the chance to try to assess as well. She uses benchmark assessments as one way to assess her students. One child at a time would get called into a room where the teacher and I were. From there we had each child read a small book at their reading level. As the child read along we used the benchmark sheet to follow along and displayed a checkmark on top of each word if it was read correctly. If the child had trouble with the word and did not say it correctly, then the word they actually said would be written on top as a reminder to the teacher of the error made. I noticed many students would self correct their error and fix their mistaken pronunciation of the word right away. After observing 5 students being assessed throughout the day, I noticed that every child is so different and there are very different reading levels and capabilities within a classroom. The teacher uses this form of assessment as a snapshot on where each child is at, however, she uses other writing samples and how the child interacts within the classroom as other forms of assessment. Together, all of this creates an accurate representation of where the student is at. It is a long process but it’s important for educators to understand where their students are at so they can help their students improve over the school year and record their progress. I noticed that many students remained at the same reading level as before and were very consistent however one student made great improvement from their last assessment and their reading ability improved drastically. In that moment, I remember thinking; I wonder what this student has done in order for their reading to improve so much. At home, this student may do their daily reading and practice their reading every night.  Either way, it was great to see how well each of these students did. They not only read the stories well but their comprehension and understanding was great as well. Also today, Chinese New Year is on its way so the majority of the class was spent talking to the students about it. It’s a good opportunity to teach the students about the world around them. We watched short video clips on the celebration and had the students write about what they had learned about the festival as well as write about the similarities to specific holidays that they celebrate. I read a book on Chinese New Year to them as well. It’s important as an educator to talk about special events and days like this one so they gain knowledge about different cultures. Special occasions like this one provide educators the opportunity to bring culture and diversity into the classroom. It is fun learning about other cultures and I saw this excitement taking place within the classroom today. Overall,  it was a great day to expand my knowledge about teaching.