I would just like to share some of the more hard hitting points from Claire’s comments on how we assess. I feel that, in spite of all I have done in forty years of teaching, I am just beginning to learn what best practices in assessment even means.
My take-aways from what Claire wrote:
(1) … start to notice students more….
You mean like…notice the students and what they can do? Is that what you mean? That’s pretty radical! I didn’t know they had hippies in Tennesse. Hmmm. I thought I was supposed to report what my students could do on a test! Hmmm. I’ll need to think about this for awhile. Sounds pretty left wing to me.
(2) …it doesn’t have to be for every child, every day. It doesn’t even have to be that formal….
You mean I don’t have to assess them all at the same time? And like almost every day? Hmmm. That conflicts with what my idea of a grade book is, as per:
https://benslavic.com/blog/this-is-your-gradebook-speaking/
You mean I can just report what I see them doing? Come on! That doesn’t sound very scientific! Oh, but language acquisition is not a science but a divinely organized process that is far beyond what we can measure? Riiighht!
(3) …notice how one student writes or speaks or responds nonverbally….
That is the essence of jGR – we in Denver Public Schools have been talking about observing “non-verbal observable” behaviors that align so perfectly with ACTFL’s Three Modes and with what language really is
(4) …we show holistic growth and use it to drive our instruction faster, slower, or wherever it needs to go, real-time in an ad hoc way….
I have always done this since starting stories sixteen years ago. But I always felt it was wrong, didn’t fit. How dare I not provide my superiors with hard data!
(5) …never say “I don’t assess”….
I made this mistake and reported back here about it a few weeks ago. It was horrible. And Claire is right. I assess a ton! I just didn’t know it.
