10 Questions
Jessie S. Muna
ED 450- 01
Oct 15, 2012
1.) As a teacher in training, what do I need to know about
assessment? From my understanding of assessment, it’s a great tool to figure
out where the students are at.
Assessment is also a great way to check for understanding. It can make teachers figure out what
students’ need to improve on and use that information to modify lessons for
that particular student.
2.) What is the difference between Common Core and CNMI
Standards and Benchmarks? Common Core is more rigorous and vertically aligned. It’s setup for students to be ready for work
force. However, CNMI Standards and Benchmarks don’t have math and language arts
implemented into other core areas.
3.) How do we assess without stressing out? I feel being
prepared in creating assessments will prevent struggles. If I am stressing out I would figure out the
cause of the stress and fix it. Or I
would find alternative way of assessing the students
4.) Do we asses just to get a grade for the report card? As
a future teacher, my answer would be no because when it comes to assessing a
student, I get feedback from their performance and tell them their
results.
5.) Do you collaborate with teachers from the same grade
level to create assessment activities?
As a future teacher I see collaboration as a big factor in becoming an
effective teacher. So in this scenario,
I would collaborate with teachers from the same grade level. My peers and I can come up with more great
ideas in creating assessment activities.
I feel that this is a great way for me as a future teacher to learn from
experience teachers.
6.) What are your most effective assessments and why? Just
knowing the three assessments from ED 450, I feel that formative assessments
are most effective. Since formative
assessment is checking for understanding frequently the students will be able
to improve step by step. With constant
improvement it can lead to a high score in the summative assessment.
7.) What is the purpose of assessing students? Going back to
question number 1, the purpose would be checking for understanding and making
sure the students are improving in their assignments.
8.) How do students receive feedback? If I was teaching and
I want to provide feedback to my students.
I would set up a little conference where I talk to my students one and
one and find out where’s the problem.
9.) What are the diagnostic assessments that your school
has/ use? Summative? Based on my knowledge about diagnostic and summative
assessment, diagnostic can be pretest in the beginning of a core subject. An example of a summative assessment that
elementary students go through would be final examples and also midterms.
10.) What challenges do you face when assessing students who
have different learning styles? One challenge I feel will be difficult would be
if the assessments I provide doesn’t improve a particular students’ performance. For example, I give 5 assessments on math,
but he/she still struggling in his/her assignments.
10 Questions
I Interviewed – Joseph Muna, 6th grade in William
S. Reyes Elementary School
1.) How do you assess your students with special needs?
According to Mr. Jay, he accommodate and
modify the class works for students with special needs, but when it comes to
tests he gives grade level materials to all students including students with
special needs. For example in math,
students with special needs have the option of completing lesser amount of
questions than their other peers. This
approach, he believes prevents frustration and allows him to reach students
with special needs with the lesson. But
when it comes to assessment, he gives the same level of assessment and he
provide equal opportunities to students with special needs by giving them grade
level questions that their peers being assess on.
2.) How do you know your assessments are effective? He
believes his assessments are accurate because his students with special needs,
are given the opportunity to answer the same questions that their peers are
being assess on.
3.) What are several ways you
assess your students? He frequently used assessments are summative assessments,
in the end of particular units and project based activities including
presentation. He uses informal
observation.
4.) What is the purpose of assessing students? The purpose
of assessing students is for the teachers, parents and students to receive
feedback on the proficiency level of what the student is learning. Grades given through tests and assessment are
not set in stones, but act as indicators to show teachers and students what
they need to improve to reach the level of mastery.
5.) What do you do with the results of your assessments?
Other than reporting these grades, he uses these results to reflect on his
lessons and teaching strategies to better cater to his students needs moving
forward.
6.) Do you assess your students based on their learning
styles? How? Yes, I do assess my students
based on their learning style. One
example would be after a particular science or social studies lesson, students
are expected to show me what they’ve learned based on their learning style that
they chose to use. Options that students
are given include drawing, reflective journal, summary, and story writing.
7.) Does PSS have a certain guideline for assessing? Yes,
CNMI Standards and Benchmarks provide performance indicators and a general
rubric.
8.) Do we assess just to get a grade for the report card? Of course, as I mentioned in the previous
question number 4 that grades are for feedback and grades act as indicators to
show teachers and students what they need to improve on to reach the level of
mastery.
9.)How do students receive feedback? There are two types of
feedback that students receive from me.
These feedbacks can be called Informal and Formal feedback. An example of informal feedback would be
telling the students to check their answer in a particular assignment. An example of a formal feedback would be
printing out accelerated reading data from online to inform to work on their
comprehension and taking these quizzes.
10.) What type of assessments do you prefer and why? I
believe that all three types of assessment (diagnostic, formative, and
summative) are equally important in measuring students learning. But if I have to pick one, I would choose
formative assessment. A reason why I chose formative assessment is because
it’s a opportunity to see where which
students are at in their learning and I can plan accordingly to be
success.
