Module 2 Blog Entry

Wow! I thought that the first module required a lot of reading but this module had a lot more things to pay attention to. My blog partner, Ashleigh Copeland and I agreed that our experiences in module 2 gave us lot more insight and was packed full of interesting information! This week, we read and discussed a lot about assessing students in reading. After reading over the battery of tests provided my Dr. Powell on Blackboard, Ashleigh and I learned that there are many ways to tell where a child is in terms of their reading level and abilities. Although I have yet to meet with my assigned student, I am anxious to begin assessing him/her and work with the student to improve his/her reading skills. Ultimately, I learned that these assessments are great tools that many teachers today use to help their students. I feel that I may end up using them once I have students of my own. Before this module, I had never heard of assessments such as the Running Records, Miscue Analysis, or the San Diego Quick IRI. I am curious to see these assessment put into action once I administer them to my tutee.

Although I have a somewhat deeper understanding of assessment, it was interesting to read about other procedures Serafini uses when assessing students. He shares his ideas in chapter 9 of his book. He made a good point by saying that assessing should be something done while the teacher is teaching, not after. He comments that he makes mental notes about each student as he works alongside them throughout each day (pg. 117). He mentions that classroom-based assessments require the instruction of a knowledgeable and observant teacher. I think this is especially true because if a teacher is not going to closely examine a child’s growth or regression in class, then there is no point in assessing him/her in the first place. I took note of how he described what assessment really is: an ongoing process that requires the teacher to watch students while they learn, talk to them while they learn, and lastly gather products of their learning (pg. 118). As Ashleigh and I discussed this, we were reminded that this is exactly what we will be doing when we go to tutor a child for the lab portion of this class.

As I read through Serafini’s explanations of keeping observational records, I saw similarities to types of records/assessments made available in this module. For example, he keeps a record of each student’s information by asking parents about their child’s interests, hobbies, and reading habits (pg. 120-121). Although I will not be asking parents these things, I will ask the student similar questions in the “Interest Inventory” and the “Burke Reading Interview” during our first tutoring session. Serafini made a great point about teachers making checklists to remind themselves of what to look for when observing students in the classroom (pg. 124-125). As I read this, I thought: “why would you need a checklist to remind yourself to look for improvements/changes in your students? You should always be looking at that.” My opinion changed once I read over his example checklist. I was amazed at how much could go on a checklist and it is very easy to overlook an item if you are not thinking about it. Now it’s not such a bad idea!

More reading through this chapter led me to learn a lot more about assessment. I was happy to hear him mention another familiar step learned in this module—retellings. I like how he described retellings as something that requires no prompts or questions from the teacher (pg. 130). Looking back to my tutoring schedule, I am reminded that “retelling” will take place on day 2. I also liked Serafini’s description of teachers keeping reflective notebooks or journals. Ultimately, this means writing down thoughts, ideas, or issues about classroom observations. This is where teachers also make notes on whether or not they could improve their performance (pg. 131). After discussing these things with Ashleigh, I am more aware that I will be doing something quite similar after each tutoring session.

In addition to reading Serafini’s work, I found chapter 17 from “Word Matters” to bring a lot of similar ideas to the surface. Pinnell and Fountas share a lot about their thoughts on routine observation. It was interesting to hear them discuss the use of running records (pg. 222-228) and miscue analysis (pg. 228-230) as forms of assessment. From this description, as well as the actual assessment provided by Dr. Powell, I was reminded that Running Records are essentially assessments that help teachers/tutors identify a student’s reading behavior. They are intended to help pinpoint the approximate reading level a child feels most comfortable reading. The video provided at the end of the Running Record document was a great example of how a running record assessment works. It helped to see the assessment put into action, rather than reading about it on paper. I liked how the video gave some great benefits of recording a child’s voice. This is something I may consider using in my future teaching (On a side note, the technology the lady talking in the video was using was very neat! I can see how that would come in handy for so many areas in a classroom)! The Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) gives the teacher a similar idea as to what level a student is reading. I continue to be surprised as I read about such items in different books and documents. I think it’s mainly because I have never heard of them before. I am sure that I will become more familiar with these and many other types of assessments as I continue my pathway to becoming a teacher. It helped that the authors provided step by step details about the process of completing each task. I really liked how they included examples of the results of each given assessment. I believe this will help me when it comes time to work with my own child tutee.

The document provided in this module about finding the right book for my tutee listed a lot of helpful information about the readability of books. I liked the definition timetabler.com gave of readability: “all the factors that affect success in reading and understanding a text.” I learned that when choosing an appropriate book for a student, things such as the interest of the reader, legibility of the print, and the complexity of words in the book. I noticed that the possible “tests” to assess a reader’s age discussed on this site are quite to the similar to the assessments discussed throughout this module. When it comes time to assess my student and determine what reading level he/she is on, I know that the Scholastic website (bookwizard) and the Lexile website will be easy, helpful tools to help me find the right book(s) for him/her to read. This will also come in handy for my future teaching! The readability index calculator (standards-schmandards.com) was a very interesting tool! I think it is so neat that you can type in any text and it will give you a Flesch-Kincaid score—this will tell you how easy or hard the text is to read. I thought it was really interesting reading about how to determine the readability of a passage using Microsoft Word! I had no idea this was possible. This goes to show you that you really do learn something new every day! I can see this feature coming in handy for times when internet connection may not be available. Very cool! I like how Dr. Powell provided us with a Data Chart to record all of our findings from each assessment. I think it will be helpful to have all of my results in one place so I am able to go back and read over my observations.

Although I have learned a lot about assessing reading so far, I was rather excited to get to try out an assessment on myself! The “Have a Go!” assignment really opened my eyes about my own reading. As I mentioned in my discussion post on Blackboard about the activity, I feel that it strengthened my views (and Ashleigh’s) about reading. Last week, I explained that we think that reading occurs when the eyes see words, the brain recognizes words, and the mouth produces the sounds words make. After recording myself reading the given passage, I was surprised to hear myself stumbling over many words, mainly because I was reading too fast. From what I learned, I know that not all miscues need to be corrected. I felt better after reading that since I made several mistakes in my reading. I know that it’s okay to stumble as long as I correct myself or I did not change the meaning of a word/sentence. I was excited that I was able to take my miscues, analyze them, and come up with ways to prevent making similar mistakes in the future. This activity helped me better understand the information I learned about running records and miscue analysis in this module. Analyzing my own reading has equipped me with new information and new ideas of what to look for when it comes time to assess my tutee. Since I know how reading works for me, then I can use that to help my student think about his/her own reading!

The readings I have mentioned throughout this blog entry were helpful but I think that the “Reading Assessment” Powerpoint provided by Dr. Powell, helped me to see the breakdown of assessment. It covered everything pretty much everything we need to know for this module. It was the most helpful because everything was found in one place! Honestly, it made things really simple. I really liked the “Assessment/Teaching/Assessment Cycle” slide she included (slide 3). This was simple, yet useful diagram to help me what happens during assessment. The presentation informed me that assessment is always formative in that it informs you of where students are on a reading level, and summative because it will tell you what a child has or has not learned (slides 5-6). Measuring students on their knowledge could be done through formal or informal testing. As I look back on my own experiences, I can definitely say that the more formal assessments did not appeal to me. They often made me feel anxious and worried that I was not going to perform well. The first thing that comes to mind is the End of Grade tests (EOGs). It seemed like this type of formal, standardized testing caused everyone to freak out! I was excited to read through the “Test Taking Tips-Reading and Mathematics” Powerpoint Dr. Powell provided in this module. It indeed offered excellent tips for younger students to remember to do such as read the directions slowly, look for key words, reread sentences, and most importantly: RELAX. I know it was always hard for me to do that! I personally felt better with being assessed informally by having the teacher observe my progress, making checklists, and having me retell things to them (slides 5 and 7). The slides about the 3 major informal reading assessments were very helpful because they gave a very brief description of the meaning and reason behind each (slides 10-13). Reading about these things helped me understand what exactly the Literacy Profile is for. It also led to a deeper awareness that these will lead me to diagnose my tutee’s reading level, strengths, weaknesses, etc. and help me put it together in a formal document. The description and links to information of other inventories were just as helpful (18-21).

After reading over the websites discussing the use of authentic assessment, I found myself liking this type of assessment much more than formal, standardized testing as I mentioned above. I think that Ashleigh agreed with me on this one! The first article found on teachervision.com helped me see exactly what authentic assessment really is. It was great to hear that it ultimately aims to evaluate students on their “real-world” abilities. I think it makes more sense to assess students on their knowledge of something by observing their performance of completing a task rather than having them memorizing information and then taking a test on it. Watching students perform science experiments, solve real-life math problems, and write/interpret literature often provides teachers with proof of student knowledge and improvement. I really liked how the website provided me with ideas of how to use authentic assessment in my future classroom. I feel that these simple, yet very informative tools to use to help me see what students have learned in class. The second article: “Portfolio Assessment Guide” on the teachervision.com website was also emphasized the importance of assessing students, not only at the beginning of the school year, but throughout a student’s educational journey. I liked how this article stressed that the assessments are meant to be developed by the students themselves, not the teacher. As I read through this, I thought about how some students may not be interested in keeping a portfolio and may not put as much effort into it as others would. However, I realized that that is what the teacher is there for—to be a coach and encourage their students to keep up with their portfolios. This article also reminded me that it would benefit me once I start teaching to start my own portfolio, one where I will want to file away interesting documents, lesson plans, self-evaluations, and ideas on how to improve my job as a teacher. In addition to the articles provided, I really enjoyed watching the “Comprehensive Assessment: An Overview” video on edutopia.org. This video revealed some really surprising facts. As I mentioned earlier, I have always had a negative outlook on standardized testing. I don’t think the scores students receive on these tests always reflect the knowledge and educational potential they actually have. I loved what Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard University had to say about these types of tests: “people may be good test takers but once you leave the world of testing you have to think for yourself because the world doesn’t come organized in for choices with the fourth one being ‘none of the above’.” I could not help but think about how true that statement is! The video covered a lot of different, yet important ideas to consider about high-stakes testing, student portfolios, and student achievement. I thought it was interesting to learn that many high schools are fighting to ditch standardized testing and assign students with major projects that will showcase what they have learned. I thought the part about students designing their own school sounded like an interesting task. I could tell that a lot of the students seemed to enjoy working on their design and presenting their work in front of real architects—how cool! I liked how the video explained that these big projects would go into a student’s portfolio so they can see what they actually learned overtime.

With all the negative talk about standardized testing, I was surprised to hear that a lot of people are critical of putting students in charge of independent study projects. In the video, Grant Wiggins, President of Relearning by Design makes a great point of ensuring that students develop projects that fit into certain criteria/standards that can prove they can learn something from doing “really cool” projects. I personally think that this is an excellent method to use. Students are able to learn more if they do it for themselves. Sure, you can tell a student that flowers need water and light to survive and grow, but if they take the time to plant the seeds, water them every day, and make sure they are getting enough sun, they can see adequate results. From my experiences, I still remember a lot of things I learned in school because I actually did them. It reminds me a lot about doing science fair projects in middle school because I can remember all the projects I completed. Although this video highlighted the use of authentic assessments for middle and high school students, the ideas can most definitely be applied to younger student’s learning. As the video stressed the overwhelming need for high schoolers to make high scores on SATs, the same goes for elementary students when it comes to the EOGs or other state given exams. I can see how giving them age appropriate projects to complete throughout the school year could give teachers and other adults a much more accurate report of what a child has learned. It’s amazing how an 8 minute long video can spark so much thought and ideas about assessing student knowledge!

Wow! So I don’t know about everyone else in the class, but Ashleigh and I learned a lot from this module. I know that a majority of the information will stick with me throughout the rest of my time in college and more importantly, throughout my future teaching career. I am eager to take what I have learned and apply it to the assessment of my student tutee.
Thanks for reading my blog!

Kelsey