Reflection 8

 

As teachers in the Department of Education, we are expected to teach and mold the minds of our students. To do this, we have to evaluate our students and assess them throughout the entire learning process to accurately state each student's achievement (s) based on the curriculum provided.

There are several assessments that we use in the classroom to aid our evaluation and the student's performance. These are:

1) Assessment for learning- where information is collected about the student's progress with the aim of adequately supporting, and improving the student's learning process. It is a formative assessment that occurs during the teaching and learning process and is teacher-driven to provide the students with differentiated instruction based on their skills and abilities, and enhances students' learning through feedback and guiding parents on the best way to support their children.

2) Assessment as learning- is another formative assessment where the student is actively involved in the monitoring and reflecting of their learning progress. They must act as critical thinkers to analyze the expected learning outcomes. This is accompanied by teacher guidance but must be student-driven.

3) Assessment of learning- this is the only summative assessment that teachers use as evidence of a student's achievements. In the classroom, this is commonly seen in the tests and quizzes we give our students. Unlike the other 2 assessments which are done during the learning process, this is done after. This is where comparisons are made between the student's work and the curriculum objectives to measure if the expectations have indeed been met.

As the quote by Margo Gottlieb states "Assessment 'as', 'for', and 'of' learning offers a comprehensive system that optimizes opportunities for multilingual learners..."

This quote spoke to me because ever since I have been assigned to Grade 1 for practicum next year, I have been complaining about the Spanish-speaking students in my class. My complaints were not about having them present in the class. However, my concerns surrounded the fact that they barely spoke any English and I fear that I would not be able to adequately accommodate them in the classroom even when differentiated instruction is applied. I do not see how I can teach them basic English such as the ABC's and the letters sounds make when the rest of the class is learning how to grammatically write sentences correctly. How can I be expected to teach them what the curriculum requires of me when they cannot understand English and I am not fluent in speaking Spanish? So with the language and communication barrier, it will definitely not be easy. I can already tell that although I will try my best to keep all students at the same pace, there are just some things that we cannot control and this is one of them. 

This is where this funny meme applies to the way I think I will have to explain myself next term when I am in the classroom. Before I left for study leave, I tried to teach one of those Spanish students the word 'lip'. I made him write the letters out repeatedly and call out the letters. I also asked "Que eso en espanol?" while I pointed to my lips. He responded, "boca". I do not know the term lip in Spanish so I had to work with what I received. I then replied to him "In English.. eso es lip". Though my Spanish is not the best. I can confidently say that by the end of the day he might not have been able to spell lip for me but he could identify the letter p and say lip in English when I asked him. 

So as the meme states, although I have taught the student(s) to do a particular thing, it doesn't necessarily mean that they have grasped it completely but through Assessment for learning and Assessment as learning, I will continue to manipulate my approaches to what I am teaching so that students can grasp as much as they can during their time at school.

With that said, using Assessments of learning like standardized English tests and for those Spanish-speaking students, I will never be able to accurately measure how well they can actually perform unless I am able to teach the content in both languages and then read the test in Spanish as well. Because of this, many Spanish-speaking students are placed in the low achiever groups and sometimes looked down upon when it is clear to see that this assessment would not be compatible or effective enough to use and measure their learning progress. 

Tests should examine a person's ability to represent/ create products, that establish their strengths, and weaknesses and monitor their signs of progress. Weekly checklists and portfolios would be put to great use in this regard, as the assessment will be student-centered in order to properly assess all students performances.

Teachers have always complained. "How can we differentiate students in the classrooms to meet their needs but expect them all to complete the same standardized tests when they are not all on the same level?" This question has yet to be answered to my satisfaction. 

In our most recent class with our facilitator, we were given the task of assessing several writing products of American students using the checklists given based on their grades. However, instead of just judging the stories at face value based on the student's Grade level, statements arose concerning whether it seemed like it could've been the student's first attempt at writing, could have been the product at the end of the school year, as well as comparing how well stories were written for students in their perspective Grades and how we wished our student's work held a candle to theirs. 

It is clear to see that Assessments of, and, and for learning were all taken into consideration in this class session despite having to witness misspellings, grammatical errors, and the disarray of some sentences in the story. 

As we all prepare to bid this course Adieu and prepare for practicum, I leave this quote with you.