kdd+journal+1

Journal Assessment #1:

The classroom that I am currently observing is a Narragansett Elementary School first grade. I am in the classroom from when school starts until lunchtime and that is when they mainly focus on reading and writing. The assessment that I focused on during my first visit was how the teacher assessed her students reading out loud. Students are put in “centers” which include reading, writing, spelling words, computers, math/science/social students, and listening. While the students are in the reading center there is a reading level book that is chosen and the teacher reads the book out loud to the small group and then the students individually “whisper read” the book out loud. The teacher takes the time to visit each students in the circle and listen in or help them with their reading. Each of the reading groups are different leveled readers, which helps the teacher zoom in on the progress of the students. This is a great way of assessing because it is encourages each of the students to strive to advance rather then having all different leveled readers read the same book. As the students are completing their book the teacher monitors their progress and focuses on each student to notice both good and bad strategies they are using. During this assessment the teacher is mostly using her own observations to assess the students. Since this is a very frequent activity the students engage in, it is easier for the teacher to mentally record how each of her students are either advancing or staying the same. Observation is one of the most reoccurring forms of assessment early elementary school teachers use because it allows the teacher to watch how students are interacting socially, how they are speaking, how they are listening, and how they are reading and writing. This is an effective way to assess the students because during class they are pulled out at times to read with one of the assistant teachers but when there is one teacher and many students it is difficult to asses students and record exactly how they are doing individually each time. Making a mental note is an effective way of assess //if// the teacher is able to keep track of each of her students progress, which in this case the teacher is.