As seen in the prior blog, Tovani believes as well do I, that there should be multiple ways to assess a student. The first example was assessing strategy use: a way in which the professor can see if they are honestly trying and thinking.
Another way to assess student's efforts is through goal setting. A goal should be set by each student and throughout the school year the student and the teacher should proceed forth in small conferences where they discuss their progress. Examples of goals that students have made in the past are:
1) Finishing a book more than 150 pages long
2) Reading a new genre
3) Learning two new strategies to keep the mind from wandering while completing a dull text.
Conversation calenders, being another way to assess the thinking process, involves a short question or comment for each day. This can help a teacher to get to know there students on a personal level. By knowing the students on a personal level the teacher is more efficient at making the content relevant to their passions. By making the content relate to their passions we prep the grounds for them making connections to their personal life on their own and show the relevancy. By making their own connections they are able to come to their own translation and able to ask questions back to the text.
My favorite assessment is the response logs. Tovani allows the students to read any book that their heart may desire and to summarize what they have read once a week. To go past the point of summarizing, she also asks them to respond to the text. Once you respond and ask questions towards a text you are truly making it your experience, your translation of the text.
She also considers collection of work samples to observe the students progress and to use as examples for the next round of students.This is a great idea since this will also allow the teacher to grade themselves and to see if they need to make any modifications for the coming year. Since we forget how it was to learn this material for the first time we may throw out new material in a fashion that goes right past them.
Another aspect that was mentioned in an earlier chapter had to do with the voices in your head. She finds there to be two voices: one being the reciting and the other being conversation voice.
1) Reciting reading involves reading through a text while thinking about other things. So you are speed racing through a text but what will you remember.
2) Conversation voice is where the student is being proactive with the text they are asking so what, the relevancy, making connections and asking questions.
Therefore learning how to read and take in information and respond back to the text are vital for fully comprehending text.
The most crucial and essential point that I took away from this text is that we will never have
all the answers but as a teacher it is our duty to find and supply
the student with the proper resources and to always be open for learning.
I think setting a goal might actually be beneficial. If we as teachers set a clear understanding of what we expect, then perhaps the students will be more willing and feel more capable of reaching the goals. I think reading a new genre is a great idea. Start with allowing the kids to read what the want, and the once reading stops being such a foreign concept, introduce more genres and more challenging books. This sounds like a great book.
ReplyDeleteYes I think it is essential for students to practice reading complex texts in a way to prepare them for further education.
DeleteI thought so too, this book has taught me so much.