10/24/2014

• How does this teacher manage assessment?

     While observing in the classroom I have seen a few different types of assessment that my teacher has done.  It seemed to me that she assessed different skills in different ways, which I found to be a good tool.  It was a way for the students to not feel as if they were being tested but like they were just playing a game or having some one on one time with the teacher.  She assessed the students reading on one occasion that I was there.  During small group work she would I have a table where she would sit and have the children read to her.  They each would follow along and then read a sentence to her.  Once they had read a sentence they would then read to another person at the table.  I loved this because she could really see how each child was doing with their reading.
   
     On another occasion she was working on math skills and used a similar way of assessment but it was not in a group setting.  She would pull aside a student and work independently with them on their understanding of the math concept they were working on which was adding.  This is a kindergarten class so I can see how doing some one on one time with her students when learning new concepts could really be beneficial.   She mentioned that she usually does this one on one only when new concepts are introduced and tends to more of a group assessments when she is wanting to review certain things.
   
     I really liked that way of assessing.  Using a more personal assessment with new concepts and then when needing to review doing a more general group assessment.  I think that both methods work well in the dynamic of her classroom.

10/10/2014

• What modifications for learners who are exceptional do you see?

This time I was able to work more with the students and noticed a few things.  Some of the students were working on different note books than others when they were working individually with teacher.  I noticed most during the reading time that she had.  Some students were working in more difficult books than others.  I asked her why and she said that some of her students were on different reading levels and when she is working one on one with the students she really likes to push them.  She does that when it is one on one because she does not want the other students to feel like they are not all equal when working in groups.  If they are all working on different books then they might feel like they are not good enough.

I loved that she took the time to work individually with the students on their own level of learning.  It was good to see a teacher that really did take notice of what each student needs and helping to cater to that need.  I liked that she did this individually and it did not make the students that were not on a higher reading level feel as if they were less of a student.