Monday, May 20

            Today I was observing using the template for assessment, particularly checking for understanding.  Because I’ve been in this class for over a month using the checking for understanding template, I decided today to switch my focus.  I focused on the end of lesson assessments, as well as any written/concrete assessment the teacher did throughout the day.

            In the first lesson, math, Mrs. L. had the students follow along in their math journals as they always do.  There is always something to write down in there.  Most of it is done as a class, then there is often an activity completed within their table group, also recorded in their math journals or occasionally on a worksheet.  After they complete these activities, they usually also do math boxes in their math journal as well.  Finally, as the last written assessment, they take home a math study link to be completed before the next class. 

            Many of the students do fill in what they’re supposed to in their math journals.  Most follow along, however there are a few that always slip through the cracks and have less than half written.  They are only reprimanded and redirected when the teacher sees this during class.  To my understanding, the journals are never collected and looked at or checked off.  They also are not corrected.  In the last class I was in, the homework was sometimes corrected, however there was never any follow up with it, whether the students had it done or not.  Today, the group activity was making an angle measurer.  All students did have this done.  Mrs. L. didn’t officially check this, although it was easy to observe whether or not the student was using their angle measure during their work time. 

            One of the reasons I decided to write about written assessment instead of checking for understanding was because Mrs. L. mentioned to me that we were going to be handing back their study links this week.  I asked what happens with them (I’d been wondering because I’ve been correcting them and they have just been in a stack at the back of the room).  Apparently she occasionally does this and then gives the student with the most sheets of paper back a prize. 

            In writing, the students are working on reviews of places.  Today they completed an activity where they got a review and were to underline the descriptive language in it.  They did this as a class, so all students were repeating on their own paper what the teacher did. 

            Some of these are effective ways to assess, however I think a few things could be done to add to them, especially so the teacher knows how the class in general is doing.  For example, in math, I think going over their homework and correcting it at the beginning of class could go a long way.  As I was correcting, there were assignments on which many students missed almost half the points.  There are also students who regularly get very low scores.  They get completion points in the Dojo system, so it does not matter if they did not try on it, simply if they had some answer written down.  This also is a huge issue because I can see that they are not understanding certain topics.  When I’ve mentioned this (particularly with mean, median and mode), we still haven’t gone back to reteach or clarify it.  I think that correcting the previous night’s assignment could clarify things at least a little bit for students. 

I also had one other issue with completion points in Dojo: one student (we’ll call him J) never does his homework.  I’ve developed a relationship with him in the past few weeks, and one day I pulled him aside after correcting many homework assignments.  Mrs. L. has me highlight the boxes of students who have not turned in an assignment.  I showed him the row of highlighted boxes next to his name.  I asked him why he wasn’t doing his homework.  He said he didn’t have a pencil at home.  I don’t know if this is true or not, but I gave him one to take home.  I told him I really wanted to see his homework, that I just wanted him to try it and that it was okay if he didn’t get the questions right, etc.  I encouraged him a lot, and told him to turn it in to me instead of putting it in the homework box.  Since then, he turns homework in much more (not consistently, and I have to remind it of him often).  I think he just needed some encouragement and individual attention, and that the consequences for not doing homework were not of concern to him.  He was also only affected in that he did not have a chance to get the prize, although one possible prize every few weeks is also not that big of a deal to miss out on. 

I think there are a few great things in place, but that they could be enhanced without too much difficulty.  I think that something daily that the students thought was a bigger deal could be more effective.  My first thought towards this would be to have a reward at the end of the week that is based on turning in homework daily.  The reward could be class game time, like around the world to work on multiplication facts, or sparkle, to work on spelling.  If students have all their homework for the week done, they get to play.  If they still need to finish some, they can use that time to work on it.  If the student finishes, they then get to join the game.

Question of the Day

What are some misconceptions you had about teaching before entering the profession?

First reaction: “I don’t know, that was back in 1993!” After thinking for a few minutes, Jessica shared that she thought teaching was primarily done at school and during school hours.  She was surprised at the amount of work she had to take home with her, and how much time she put into preparation each and every night.  She began talking about how this is still something she is a little surprised at, and how she thinks others outside of the profession don’t fully realize it.  She shared that this weekend, with the end of the year coming up, she spent almost all her time writing report cards.  She ended with, “Teaching doesn’t just happen within the four walls of this school, or within the time I’m in the classroom.  I take it home—I am a teacher long after the bell rings.” 

            I think this is a strong point, and brings up more thoughts than I think Mrs. L. intended.  This made me think about another piece of teaching that is brought home after every school day: the mental and emotional reactions to each day, and the concerns for and celebrations of every student.  This was something that I wasn’t expecting as strongly when I entered student teaching, or even fieldwork.  I didn’t realize how much the school day would affect what I thought about when I went home.  These are definitely both good and bad, and they end up being a huge drive for me in my planning and attitude for the next day.  I am starting to feel the end of my time at this school coming to a close, and I’ve begun to consider coming back a few times a week until the school year ends.