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Jamie Simoes EDC 452 Journal #4 Today while being at my placement I observed a new type of assessment. This assessment did not take place between the entire class and the teacher. It was done between the reading specialist and one single student. The student that was being tested is very far behind the rest of the class specifically with reading and writing. He struggles a great amount when it comes to deciphering letters and numbers. The reading specialist works with him everyday in and out of the classroom setting. Today the reading specialist worked with this student in the classroom and she allowed me to observe her working with this child. The reading specialist let me know ahead of time that she was going to be assessing this student on the alphabet. As I watched the session, I noticed that the student was very eager to work with the reading specialist. She made everything exciting which made the student want to learn. When assessing the student the reading specialist gave him a white board. She then told him that she was going to say a letter’s name and the sound it makes. She told the student that after she said the name and sound she wanted him to draw what he thought was the correct letter on the white board. After they finished the letter the student could erase the board and get ready for the next letter. While watching the assessment I noticed the student would rush to write the letter down if he knew it and if he didn’t know it he stared at the teacher as if he was waiting for her to tell him the answer. The teacher did not give him any answers and when he would look at her she would remind him that the answer was in his brain not hers. The assessment probably took 15 – 20 minutes all together and the student got about 75% of the letters correct. This assessment can be frustrating on the student’s behalf but also on the teacher’s. Not only do the students get frustrated when they can not remember a letter but sometimes teachers have a hard time understanding why the students can’t remember the letters that are drilled into their heads on a daily basis. Watching this specific assessment I was able to see neither student nor teacher get frustrated. The student felt comfortable with the reading specialist and she supplied a very positive atmosphere for the student to be tested in. The reading specialist did not get frustrated with the student; instead she was constantly supporting him and praising him for his hard work. I really learned a lot from watching this assessment. I was able to see what it is like to work with a student one on one who is struggling and I was also able to see how important it is to have a comfortable and positive atmosphere when working with these students. I liked being able to see an assessment done outside of the typical classroom and it helped me realize that there are assessments happening everywhere not just in the typical classroom setting with all of the students involved.

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