MichellePaquinJournal7

Michelle Paquin EDC 452 4-4-09 Assessment Journal #7

This past week while I was in the elementary schools, I observed the students taking a test that consisted of short answer and fill in the blank questions. It was on a story that the class had read together. This test was an open book test where the students could go back into the story and find answers if they did not know them. Each student had the same test, and they all had to complete and hand in their own.

I noticed several things while observing this type of assessment. There were many students that came up to either me or my cooperating teacher and asked questions. Some students did not know what a certain question meant. For example, one question asked something like why did Mrs. Smith talk the board into letting something happen. I had to clarify to the students that “talk the board into” meant convincing them. Also, once the students understood this question, they still did not know the answer and wanted us to help them. However, since it was a test, my cooperating teacher told them that they need to go back into the text and find where that specific event happened, reread it, then try to answer the question again.

Many students also got very confused about the fill in the blank questions. There was a word bank on the top of the page, and sentences in which one character was describing her friend. Many of the students came up to me trying to find an answer to the same question. They had used the word //outside// in the sentence “she likes being _.” However, another sentence said “she colors ___ the lines.” The only word that fit there was //outside//. I had to ask the students what other word might fit in the first sentence that would free up the word //outside// for the coloring sentence. With assessments like this, students do not tend to second guess themselves, or think in that way that might allow them to change one answer that might have two possible answers. This can get very confusing for the students.

Overall, the students did well on this assessment. They knew to ask questions if they were confused, and did that. Also, since they were able to use their books to go back into the story and find their answer, they were correct on most of them. I believe this was an okay assessment. It was very reliable because all students had the same questions, and they were all given the same resources to use to complete the assessment. However, many of the students did get confused about the directions, and some of the questions. I feel as though if the teacher went over the directions thoroughly with the class before they began, then they might have understood better. Since some of the more developed students did not even know what some questions were asking, and they spoke up and asked us, then the students who struggle were most likely confused as well. However, they are shyer and may feel “dumb” if they asked for help, so they probably guessed. Going over the directions so that all students are aware of what they are being asked is crucial for success in the classroom.

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