Assessment--Lynette Richau

Assessment. This has become a bad word for students and teachers alike, both dreading even the mention of the word.  So much emphasis is placed on testing and data that sometimes we unfortunately lose sight of what is most important. To me that is growth, socially, emotionally, and academically. Teaching to the test has never gotten me very far as a teacher nor greatly impacted my students in any way. It is boring, rote, definitely not engaging and usually very quickly forgotten. Why not instead take that same content and make it fun, exciting and engaging? In my opinion, that is what learning should be. I get so much more from my students when they are excited about something, curious and interested. It may take a shift in mindset and Yes, it may take some more planning but in the end well worth it!

In researching for more effective and authentic assessments I wanted to share my favorite as well as a couple of resources that may be beneficial! Notebooks are my absolute favorite way of assessing students! There are different types of notebooks, dialogue and interactive, both which would be beneficial and serve different purposes for my deaf students. Using notebooks to assess students is highly effective and extremely beneficial. The uses of notebooks are limitless and can be used to explicitly match your students’ needs and strengths. It gives you the ability to get to know your students in a personal way and truly assess their knowledge in an authentic and meaningful way. “Notebooks may be helpful for assessment purposes, as they contain the totality of work produced by a student. Such data can be analyzed to track student performance over time, determine particular content areas or concepts in which the student experiences difficulty, or serve as a basis for student self-assessment” (Butler & McMunn, 2006). Personally, I see no greater assessment strategy than that of notebooks. For my deaf and hard of hearing students with significant language delays I can make these notebooks individualized to meet each student where they are as learners and then scaffold their learning. This has the potential to profoundly affect my students learning and overall language acquisition. Notebooks can meet the needs of my diverse learners by being visual, providing a place to hold their thinking, a great reference tool, enhance writing skills, and also be interactive. As a teacher I can use this assessment both informatively and formatively. This tool will give me great insight into what my students know and don’t know as well and what they can and cannot do. My students with little language can still use the notebooks as a way to increase their language and vocabulary through pictures and inventive spelling. Students can share their work with others as well, which will enhance their communication skills. Communication both written and spoken is critical to student success. Notebooks will definitely enhance my students’ language in multiple ways. Students will have ownership of their learning and can see how it improves over time. This type of assessment will enable me to build on my students’ strengths and aid me in planning appropriate instruction to meet their diverse, individual needs. Notebooks are an excellent way to differentiate in order to meet all students’ unique needs.

I would implement interactive notebooks in all content areas, math, science, social studies, grammar, reading and writing. Interactive notebooks can provide, “a way for students to personalize and make meaning of the information presented in class, a powerful study tool, a working portfolio, appeals to multiple intelligences, encourages pride in student work” (Jones & Wong, 2009). Possibilities are limitless! A few examples: maps, charts, pictures, vocabulary, time lines, cartoons, flip books, poems, songs, sequencing, ABC activities, inventive spelling, word problems, explanations, and the list goes on and on. This type of assessment will provide a clear picture of what knowledge the students have acquired and understand and what gaps need to be addressed or retaught. Since my students are different grade levels as well as ability levels this type of assessment gives me the ability to differentiate and provide students instruction on their level and to meet their individual needs. Instruction and assessment through interactive notebooks also provides a visual and concrete form for my students to refer back to. They have the opportunity to see their growth and to self-assess their work. I like the interactive aspect as we can add anything to our notebooks to make learning more meaningful and purposeful. This is truly an authentic assessment.

Dialogue notebooks allow me the opportunity to focus on my students’ language development in an individualized manner. I also like the idea of students having the opportunity to share whatever they would like. This is a student driven notebook and just between the teacher and student. This is such an excellent tool to get to know your students personally and allow them to share things they may not in a traditional setting.

I plan to start small and then totally restructure my teaching next school year. The positive implications of using notebooks could completely transform my teaching and my students learning experience. Coupled with tactile/hands on learning experiences I expect to see a huge gain in student language development and content knowledge.  Through using the notebooks students will have more ownership in their own learning, learn how to self-assess their work, engagement will increase as well as interest, and confidence will increase as students can show their strengths in their notebooks yet grow in weak areas.  

Resources:

Butler, S. M., & McMunn, N. D. (2006). A teacher's guide to classroom assessment: Understanding and using assessment to improve student learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 9780787978778.

More on notebooks:

https://www.lcps.org/cms/lib4/VA01000195/Centricity/Domain/9188/Interactive_Notebooks_for_Interactive_classrooms_Lesson_Bank_version.pdf

List of 60 Assessment strategies: 

http://www.stma.k12.mn.us/documents/DW/Q_Comp/FormativeAssessStrategies.pdf