Assessment

My thoughts on assessment:

One quote that I thought was very important and thought it really explained a lot was "Assessment must promote learning, not just measure it." pg 559. I think that is really important to remember that we often do assessments just to measure or compare students, but the important thing is to make sure that students are learning. It shouldn't just be the numbers.

The chapter did a nice job explaining portifolios, it explained how and why portofolios are good for teachers and students. Routman explained that it would be great for the teacher to have an example of a portifolio one that they created themselves. I think that is an excellent idea. I not really familiar with portifolios but I now feel I have a better understanding of them and the importance of them. I think it is a great way to show progress.

I also thought the idea of student led conferences was a great one. I remember as a student loving when my mom would come to back to school night so she could look in my desk and see the work that I had done. We always did a project for back to school night and I loved that my mom would come and see it. I feel like you always like to show off you work, even today as an adult I wanted my mom to come see the school I work in and see how I set my classroom up.
I also understand how Routman explained that some parents still want that one on one time with the teacher. The parents in my school are really involved they have to be. We have meetings at least once a month at home and one meeting at school to discuss the student's progress or lack of progress.

I feel like I just went on and on. Sorry

The way Routman explained rubrics really touched on why they are important and why it is important for students to know why they are used. "If we want kids to do quality worky, they have to know what quality is." I think that is an excellant quote and one that I want to bring to my classroom. We don't use rubrics in my school because it is an ABA school for children with autism but we do evaluate them every day. I think it is important for teachers to realize that students don't really know what is expected of them so we have to show them.