Gipe Chapters

So after spending much of my Saturday evening perusing the Gipe chapters and then also looking over the PowerPoint slides this am, I will try and share with you some of the feelings that I experienced and thoughts I had while reading.

Chapter 5:
Man oh man are assessments important. Its crazy that going through high school as a student, I had absolutely no idea that everything I was doing was being assessed. I mean yeah I was getting grades for things but as far as knowing that I was being assessed as to where I was compared to other students, I just never formed the link. Now that I am on the other side of the table I struggle as to how I didn't make this connection. Reading assessments are so important because they really tell you what levels your students are at. Whether it be a Running Record, or Diebels, the idea that you know what level your student is at so you can focus their instruction at that level is crucial. As far as the formal assessments such as standardized and high stakes testing goes, I'm not a huge fan. I understand that students need to be compared to their peers and all that jazz, but I'm just not big on the idea of high stakes testing. I think there are too many factors that can lead to students having a bad score on one day. However, as a teacher, you must understand how to interpret these scores and be able to verbalize them to parents when necessary. As Forrest Gump once said, "And thats all I got to say about that."

Chapter 6:
I feel that informal assessments are really at the heart of teaching. It is the little exercises that teachers do daily that really tell them all the information they need to know about how a student is performing in the classroom. I really enjoyed the slides that gave opportunities for informal assessments for the multiple intelligences. It gives a whole host of ideas that can be used in the classroom, that to be honest, I've not sat down and thought about a whole lot. Having the procedures and breakdowns for IRI's was also very nice because I've heard of them and talked about them in multiple classes but as far as having a visual copy of them I haven't had. Like I said, I just feel that these quick informal assessments are much more important and practical than the high stakes and standardized tests. However, as usual, finding time in the school day to try and assess students on a frequent basis can be difficult and is something that needs to be thought about and planned ahead.

Chapter 11:
I feel that comprehension and teaching comprehension might be one of my limitations in the classroom. I don't feel that I am bad at it, but I think that because I really never had any problems with comprehension as a student, that when I see a student struggling with it, I'm not quite sure what to do. I usually just understood things. So seeing someone who isn't, I don't have tons of practices in those strategies to use when comprehension isn't there. Does that make sense? I mean obviously comprehension is REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY important. You have to know and understand what the heck you are reading. I loved the chart in in the PowerPoint that lists skilled comprehenders v. less skilled comprehenders. The bullet that struck me the most was that less skilled comprehenders tend to read word by word. I can't tell you how often I saw this in my student teaching placement. Working with fifth graders that were barely on a third grade level, its just hard for them to read. When they are stopping every third word because they don't know, comprehension is almost non-existent. That is where the organizers, and webs and questioning strategies come into play. Being able to ask the right questions at the right time is a skill that I think develops over time. Personally I hope that comes sooner rather than later so that my comfort level and teaching ability can improve enough to really help these students.

Welp thats all folks!
HAKUNA MATATA
'GO CUSE