Tests

I think that every teacher encounters the question as to what format (multiple choice, essay, fill in the blank, etc.) they think would best suit the subject, their students, and the information they want to test their students on. I've always been a supporter of the essay or fill in the blank tests for a number of reasons. In my opinion, I feel that a teacher can more easily identify whether or not each student obtained the information you've taught them or not. When you give an essay, the student is required to write about what they've learned and what they know about the topic at hand. In addition, fill in the blank tests also test their knowledge on a certain subject. Multiple choice tests on the other hand can never insure as much accuracy. Often with multiple choice tests it is better to guess at an answer then leave it unanswered an automatically get the answer wrong, but guessing gives you the oppertunity to hopefully guess right. In this case, as a teacher, multiple choice tests can't fully assess a students knowledge because you can't be sure as to whether they understood what was taught to them and retained the information, or if they simply were very lucky at guessing the answers.

In my classroom, I understand that I can not always be biased by using essay tests or fill in the blank tests, and that in some cases I will have to use multiple choice tests, however, I believe that essay and fill in the blank tests more accurately assess students than multiple choice tests so I plan to use these methods more frequently.

Portfolios

In my personal opinion I think portfolios are a really usful tool to track student development. Portfolios should involve both the teacher and student. You always want the student, in my opinion to choose the assignments, projects, etc. that they would like to include in their portfolio with the guidance of the teacher who should help them choose the material that will show the most development from the last piece included in the portfolio to now. So the teacher should give suggestions to the students including telling them what material s/he thought showed the most improvement and the most effort.

I also believe that portfolios should be passed on from grade to grade with an accumulation of portfolios for the student to have when they graduate from high school. This will allow students to see how far they've come and how much they've learned from the begining of the year to the end, in addition to see how much they've learned this year in comparison to last.

I would definitely consider utilizing portfolios in my classroom. I think they have a lot of really positive aspects to them and even if people don't believe in them, they will be a display of the progress of each student.

Homework

Homework--every elementary school student's worst nightmare! Homework in my opinion, can be a great reinforcement tool to help the students refresh and better understand the material that was taught in the classroom. However, when your student leaves your classroom, you can never truely know whether it was your student or his or her parent who has done the work. For this simple reason I believe that homework should be given as a tool for the student, and as a way to see who has done or not done the homework you've assigned, on the other hand, I don't believe that homework should be used as an assessment tool because you don't see your student do the homework in front of you so you can't be sure it was s/he who did it.

As a teacher I would definitely reinforce giving homework to my students because I do feel that it is a necessity to teaching students. Even as a college student I receive homework assignments daily from my professors, but as an elementary and high school student I never saw the point of homework until I wanted to be a teacher. Now, with most of my education classes behind me I see the importance of homework in the classroom and the effect it has on students. Homework, if both teacher and student do it right, should always have a positive effect on a students academic performance. A teacher should never assign something for homework just to give homework. Homework should be given to reinforce what was learned already in the classroom.

Teacher Expectations

Homework and teacher expectations in my opinion, go hand in hand. As a teacher, it is inevitable that we will be giving homework to our students, and as a teacher, one of our expectations will be that our students will complete and hand in the homework we assign to them. As an elementary school student, I sometimes thought homework was nonsense and a way for the teacher to give you things to do at home so that you didn't have to waste time in class doing it, but now that I'm on the other side of that situation now, I feel that homework is a necessity in any classroom. In my opinion homework helps the teacher and the student both. It helps the teacher to assess and see if her expectations are met by her students and it helps the students refresh what they have learned in the classroom, in addition, it will show the student whether or not he or she has fully grasped the concepts of what was taught.

Teachers always have high expectations of their students, and in my opinion, that is a characteristic of a good and effective teacher. As a teacher you expect your students to respect you and the rules of your classroom, you expect them to learn certain things throughout the year, you expect them to complete assignments that you have given them to enforce what they have learned (this includes homework), and you expect your students to respect themselves, their fellow classmates, and the policies of the school. I've only listed a few of the many expectations teachers have for their students, in my opinion these expectations are goals you would like to see your students reach, and if by the end of the year they have met all of your expectations, then they should be prepared, or atleast on their way to advancing to the next grade level.

Rubics (cont.)

I found the Rubistar website to be a great tool to use as a teacher, and I definitely plan on using it for my classroom. Overall, I believe that rubrics are always beneficial and can always assist a student in understanding what it is a teacher is looking for in any given subject or assignment. As a student I’ve always found rubrics to be both a guide and a resource because it gives you insight into the teacher’s mind, what she expects of you, and the grade you are likely to receive if you meet those expectations, so it’s all up to you, the student, whether or not you use this resource. I love this website, plan to use it in my classroom, and would recommend it to any other teacher as passionate about rubrics as I am!

Rubistar

, I found the Rubistar website to be a great tool to use as a teacher, and I definitely plan on using it for my classroom. Overall, I believe that rubrics are always beneficial and can always assist a student in understanding what it is a teacher is looking for in any given subject or assignment. As a student I’ve always found rubrics to be both a guide and a resource because it gives you insight into the teacher’s mind, what she expects of you, and the grade you are likely to receive if you meet those expectations, so it’s all up to you, the student, whether or not you use this resource. The Rubistar website is an amazing tool and I'd recommend it to any teacher who feels as strongly about rubrics as I do!

Rubistar

I found the Rubistar website to be a great tool to use as a teacher, and I definitely plan on using it for my classroom. Overall, I believe that rubrics are always beneficial and can always assist a student in understanding what it is a teacher is looking for in any given subject or assignment. As a student I’ve always found rubrics to be both a guide and a resource because it gives you insight into the teacher’s mind, what she expects of you, and the grade you are likely to receive if you meet those expectations, so it’s all up to you, the student, whether or not you use this resource. The Rubistar website is a really usful tool and I'd recommend it to anyone!