FIAE Chapter 5

The general consensus concerning this chapter is a big emphasis on teachers using tiering as a method to reach all students. Tiering is, simply put, "how teachers adjust assignments and assessments depending on student's readiness levels, interests, and learner profiles,". With that in mind, though, it is important to remember never to expect your students as a whole to understand more than the standard. Asking for more or less then the base standard can potentially confuse your students, making them unsure of what to expect, and unsure of what the teacher expects. Also, it is important to keep in mind that tiering should only be used when it is obvious to the teacher that students are learning at different levels and speeds. There is no need to tier a classroom that is learning at the same pace. After introducing the concept of tiering, the chapter goes on to give several examples of it, split up by grade level. Going on off of tiering, the chapter introduces Tomlinson's equalizer, which is a nine category system to use while building lessons. Beyond the equalizer were other methods of tiering a classroom, such as Learning Contracts, which allow students to work at their own pace -- giving them the opportunity to move faster or slower depending on their personal preference and interest level. There is also the RAFT(S) method, which is an acronym giving the student a Role, Audience, Format and Topic (much like GRASPS). The RAFT(S) method gives them a chance to be independently creative.

Overall, the class was pleased with the option of tiering in a classroom. There were some minor concerns about how to manage such a multitude of things happening at one time, as well as the idea of making things too challenging or too simple for a student. In the long run, though, it seems that everyone would be interested in using the tiering system in their own classroom. The examples given were incredibly helpful, namely the tic-tac-toe and summarization pyramid. There was little to no disagreement with the idea of tiering, save for the extra work that it creates, as well as the difficulty that it may pose for new teachers. Many students also seemed drawn to the RAFT(S) method, probably because it is so close to the GRASPS method that we are learning to use already.

FIAE Chapter 6

This chapter was about creating good and fair test questions. It contained a lot of tips that teachers could use in creating tests for their students. Questions should be clear and easy to understand. This chapter suggests that teachers should use a variety of test questions, more traditional such as matching and true/false but teachers should also use diagrams or analogies. Using this mix of test question will provide teachers of a better understanding of what their students know and what they do not know. Some good tips to create better tests that are not as confusing to students are to put all parts of a matching question on one page with the questions on the left and words on the right. To make it so that you do not have the problem of trying to decipher between T’s and F’s print them right on the test so that students only have to circle them. Writing prompts for essays should be very clear so that students know exactly what is expected of them. A great tip is to have the students create a double of the answer sheet so after the test the students can compare answers. Just make sure that you change the answer sheet for different classes. Try to avoid confusing negatives and try to keep the questions short and simple. One way of proving mastery is to include some tricky question, but make sure that the students know they may be included on the test so that they are not tricked. It is a good idea to make the questions in the same format that they learned the material. Make sure that students are showing what they know, not guessing at what you want them to answer. Try to make tests fun by including the names of students and their interesting into the questions. Make sure that the test is long enough to evaluate the material but not too long that it cannot be done in the time allotted. At the very end of the exam ask the students a couple of question about the test itself, “such as what would you have included on this test.” By asking these questions you will gain insight on how to improve future tests.

This chapter had a lot of test tips that we can use in our classes. Some of us felt that this chapter was a contradiction to what the author had been talking about before. Some others felt that this chapter generally contained common sense. That it should be obvious that it is annoying and confusing to have to flip pages when matching. Many of us felt that the best suggestion was having an answer sheet that was split down the middle so that the students could put each of their answer down twice, tear the paper in half when they completed the test, and then they would be able to easily compare answers with their classmates. This gives a little more time for the teacher to grade the test without students bugging them as to what they received for a grade. Yet, the main point was that the moment student’s step out of the classroom they are chatting about what the answers to each of the questions are anyway, so why fight it. A lot of us felt that we had had bad experiences with tests in the past. Some of the common issues were essay questions that were too vague and you did not know what was expected to be in your answer, matching sections that were on two different pages, and multiple choice questions that were too tricky. As teachers we are not suppose to try and trick our students, we are supposed to be able to evaluate their knowledge on the subject. Another issue we had with tests is having a time limit. I feel as if it makes taking a test more stressful than it was before. If students are stressed out than they might not be as successful on the test. Some people did not understand why matching should not be used that often. I had that same question because the most common type of question on foreign language exams were matching long lists of vocabulary. It probably is not the best way to demonstrate a students knowledge of the words and there meanings. Overall I think we thought that the chapter was helpful in giving tips on how to effectively test our students.

Chapter 10: Multiple Intelligence

Abstract
The beginning of chapter ten in the Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom there is a double message that teachers have with their students. This message is that we try to teacher our students all eight of the multiple intelligences, but we only test through two of them (logic and verbal). So this chapter helps teachers to create different and more fitting ways of assessing the students that they teach. The main components of assessments are observation and Documentation. Using journal entries to record thoughts and ideas that a student has, keeping work samples, making videos, non-standardized tests, student interviews and checklists are all ways to get your students to work hard and document their progress. All of these can be assessed and graded. Having students make a portfolio and ensuring that they display the five “C’s” of portfolio development: celebration, cognition, communication, cooperation and competency, is another import tool to teach the students.

Reflection
This chapter really tries to get teacher to broaden their assessment practices. Simply using standardized tests isn’t an effective assessment strategy. There are many students that are scared of standardized tests so why make them uncomfortable? We shouldn’t but we do. For example having students answer questions about the story of Huck Fin only will show if the student had the same or similar perceptions as the teacher. But say you allow the student to create a poster, a movie or even a song will give them a chance to express there understanding of the Huck Fin story. Their activity should have some sort of rubric or guidelines to follow but give students more than one chance to get it right. They are humans just like we are and they aren’t perfect just like us.

Chapter 4: Three Important Types of Assessment

This chapter focuses on three types of assessments that are available to differentiated teachers for authentic assessment. They are the portfolio, the rubric, and the student self assessment. A portfolio is a collection of the student’s best works over time. They can be used successfully in every subject area. This makes it easy for the teacher, student, and parents to assess the progress that has been made. Students can reflect on their own work which helps them in goal setting for future assignments. Teachers are able to see learning style, strengths, and weaknesses so they can differentiate better. A portfolio can be either the student’s, the teacher’s, or a shared responsibility. Also, a portfolio does not have to be just a binder of paper work. It can contain non paper artifacts like digital stories, electronic/digital artifacts, among other types. It can even be completely digital! Rubrics are tools that can really help the assessment be more objectivity and consistency. There are two types, analytical and holistic. The analytical type is more detailed and gives more feedback than the holistic type. They can help the student be more focused, but are harder to design that you might think. The book recommends designing one in order to understand them better. They need to be clear and they need to assess everything you want it to. The chapter contains detailed instructions that can help with this. A rubric can be changed, adapted, or personalized which really helps when teaching with differentiation. A good way to help students focus on the tasks in an assignment is to have them develop their own rubric. Student self assessments are a good way for students to be part of the assessment process. The information can be used to set goals. Some types of self assessments include self check lists, self rubrics, videotaping performances and analyzing, portfolio analysis. Reading notations, journals, and interactive notebooks are also good for self reflection and provide good feedback to the student and the teacher.
This chapter introduced useful strategies for assessment but they are not the ONLY assessment types. The idea of teachers and students working together on portfolios is great and allowing parent’s access to it to see progress is great. A multi-year portfolio is interesting, it would give you a better understanding of a students learning style to allow better differentiation. Teachers’ making sure that the portfolios are organized was mentions as a worry. An artifact as big as a portfolio must be worth something to the student, do not have them work all year on it and not weigh it very strongly at the end of the year. The information on rubrics was helpful but they are not that appealing to some of us. Are student assessments that accurate because of being too biased or to harsh? Reading notations look like a good way of making sure the students understand the text. The interactive journals look like a great idea and the websites for student journals are intriguing.