Chapter 6: Creating Good Test Questions

This chapter explained how to create tests worth giving. First it is important to have questions and the test format to be clear and not confusing. Next a variety of questions and multiple assessments are needed to give a clear picture of the students’ understanding. Feedback should be specific and instantaneous or within a few days of taking the test otherwise it is useless. Keep tests short to avoid student test fatigue and save yourself time grading them. Add questions that include common mistakes that students make while learning the content. This clears up whether the student really knows or just memorized the material. Have fun making the test and be a little creative. Use students’ names and popular figures in their culture. This makes test drudgery a little less painful. The tests should have no surprises; ask questions in the same way you taught them. Changing it confuses students and will skew the results. Lastly, it is suggested to scatter the tough questions throughout the test instead of saving them for the end. This affects me as a teacher because the last thing I want to do is make a test that a student who knows the material will do poorly on. This is counterproductive. I learned that I need to be straightforward, clear, and avoid surprises on the test. This impacts my students by helping them succeed in every way I can. Students already have test anxiety and other obstacles in their lives, a test that is easy to understand, do, and is not surprising will help them show me what they really know. I mean I do not expect a hallelujah chorus or a round of applause but the students will appreciate it.

Chapter 5:Tiering Assessments

This chapter makes an argument for the need to tier assessments. If a teacher tiers his or her teaching and they do not tier the assessment is the assessment an accurate picture of all the students’ grasp of the content? Tiering is adjusting the level of challenge to each student’s ability to be challenged but without overwhelming him or her. The best way to begin tiering is to start at what is expected at grade level. Then list all the skills needed to perform the particular task. Then pick one task or concept and tier that both for a lower and an upper level. The goal of tiering is to not tier at all by the end of the unit. Start the unit at each student’s level then gradually increase the challenge to the students. Another way to do this is to set up a learning contract. The student will still learn all of the tasks and concepts but at a different pace. This impacts me as a teacher by re-emphasizing how important it is that students learn and almost by whatever fair means necessary. It also helps to be a little creative and keep it interesting. This impacts my students by offering them choices and changing the pace to help them learn more effectively. Rushing through material will do nothing but offer students who learn at a slower pace the opportunity to check out. By adjusting and providing opportunities to maximize the learning environment will maximize learning.

Chapter 4: Three Important Types of Assessment

This chapter explains the three best ways to assess in a differentiated classroom. The first way is through a portfolio. As with the other readings we have had, this book states that a portfolio is one of the best ways because it can show a student’s growth over time. The second way is through a rubric. One tip the book gave was to only show the students the above and beyond criteria so they only have that to shoot for and they do not settle for a lower category that requires less effort. A rubric should have the objectives clearly stated. When designing a rubric keeping in mind the goal of the task is critical in order to figure out what is evidence that the student knows the subject. A rubric can have more important sections weighed differently and be more technical in nature or it can be more holistic. The holistic version is more objective because details have to be interpreted. The last kind of assessment is student self assessment. This is especially important in a differentiated classroom because each student can set individual goals and see his or her own progression toward those goals. This can be done in journals or learning logs. The student could also grade his or her own project with the rubric to self evaluate. The knowledge in this chapter impacts me as a teacher because I will have to design a rubric and assess my students. The idea about students helping design the rubric is really insightful because then I will know what the students think is the most important aspects of the assignment. If they are way off then I could address the real goals of the assignment before they start. This will impact my students because they will know what is expected of them. They will also be able to set their own goals and see their progress which will encourage them.

Chapter 3: Principles of Successful Assessment in the differentiated Classroom

The point this chapter made was that the word assessment means to sit beside, or in other words to coach. We as teachers have a goal in mind, the standards, and assessing students is a way for us to know where they are. This book also talks about assessing students at the beginning, middle, and end of a unit. This impacts me as a teacher because if I assess my students, notice that there is a problem, and then do not doing anything about it, it would have been better to not have wasted the time assessing them. The point of assessing students is to help the teacher modify the lesson to meet the students’ needs. I should also break down the standards to decide what is essential, what is highly desirable, and what is desirable. Having priorities of what to teach keeps the teacher focused on the goals and less time is wasted on arbitrary lessons. A good assessment will accurately show what the students’ know and are able to do. This helps my students because if I give them feedback that they can understand and the feed back comes before the next assessment, the students have time to fix their mistakes and perform better on the next assessment. The students will also be helped by the fact that they always know what the goal is and there are no surprises.

Chapter 2: Mastery

This chapter was about how to measure the students’ mastery of the material. The two suggestions were to have multiple assessments and to track a couple of big projects over time. The best way to know what the students should master is to check the standards of the state. Also consulting colleagues, list-serves, curriculum guides, and the textbook are a few suggestions. This impacts me as a teacher by setting the goals of the lesson by the standards and developing a way to assess the students’ mastery of the material. This impacts my students by making them more prepared to meet the standard if I have taught them with the standard in mind.

Chapter 1: The Differentiated Instruction Mind-set: Rationale and Definition

Modern research about the brain has uncovered information not available to teachers of the past. The idea of using this information to make more effective teachers is to teach in the way the brain normally learns. Differentiated teaching is highly effective teaching. The end result is better through this method and that is what teachers are held accountable for. The government does not care about how you taught the students, it cares about how much the students learned. This affects me as a teacher because differentiating my teaching will help my students so much. They will appreciate the challenges that are appropriate for them and so are motivated to achieve because they are held accountable.

Chapter 5: Considering Evidence of Learning in Diverse Classrooms

In this chapter about assessment I learned three important principles to remember. The first is to take more than one measure of a student’s knowledge about a certain subject and if time does not allow for multiple assessments then vary the assessment format. The second principle is to match the format of the assessment to the goal you want to achieve. There are three types of knowledge, declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and dispositions and each can be measured by a different kind of assessment. So it makes sense to assess the students with the format that will most easily show the kind of knowledge you wanted them to know. The last principle is to know the purpose of assessing students. There are three types of assessment and they each serve a different purpose. Summative assessments are the end result, or the measurement of what the student learned, this is what goes on the report card. Diagnostic assessments or pre-assessments are given before the start of a unit to find out how much the students already know. Formative assessment or feed back are given throughout a unit to offer encouragement and to fix any problems or gaps in learning. This impacts me as a teacher because it offers a lot of advice about how to assess. One idea was to offer students choices of how they want to be assessed as long the rubric is generic enough to grade all the different choices the same. This will impact my students to help them learn better by me offering feedback that is clear, understandable, and timely.

Chapter 4: Teaching Students About MI Theory

This chapter explains how a teacher would teach the MI theory to young children. The value of this is that students learn better when they understand how they, themselves learn. The two big tips the section gave to help during teaching the lesson were to keep it simple and make connections to the students. Show the students what lessons looks like when targeted to different learning styles. This affects me as a teacher by giving me another option of how to become acquainted with my students' intelligences. For my students, this gives them an opportunity to be a part of that discovery. Not only I, as the teacher, can become aware of the students' intelligences, but they can too.

Chapter 3: Describing Intelligences in Students

This chapter simply stated that formatted tests were only a starting point to find out how students learn. The best way is to watch the students, especially the way they misbehave. The book suggested creating a portfolio of information about the student. By not only looking at what the students does during class or structured free time, but also the students' past records, asking the parents, other teachers, and especially the students themselves. Creating special activities to "test" which students prefer using different intelligences is also an option. This chapter affected me by giving a lot of different ways and examples of how to discover my students' intelligences and their learning styles. This will help my students because the more aware I am of their needs the more effectively I can meet them.

Chapter 4: What Really Matters in Planning Student Success?

This chapter made the importance of being teachers of both curriculum and students unmistakably clear. Neither of these two important elements can be less important than the other. Both are needed for students' success. We need to know our students, their lives, learning styles, and interests, and how to make the major point of the curriculum reach them where they are. Keeping all this in mind on a daily basis is what will make me a better teacher. This affects me as a teacher by letting me know that perfection is not what is required because that is impossible. Persistence and perseverance to make today better than yesterday is the goal. This will affect my students in a positive way because they will notice that I am trying to meet their individual needs and that I care enough about them to go the extra mile. I hope that gives them the motivation to learn for themselves.

Chapter 3: What Really Matters in Learning? (Content)

This chapter introduced the 3 step backwards design to plan units of a curriculum. By following this model the focus of the planning is to meet the standards set up by the local government. In this state those standards are the Maine Learning Results. This graphic form of designing a lesson affects me as a teacher because it will keep me focused on the big ideas I want my students to learn instead of what activities we are going to do or how we are going to finish covering the book. This will help my students because my lessons will not be arbitrary. Using this model the lessons will keep in mind the main focus of the unit. The student will not be subject to random assessments but each assessment will check for understanding the main ideas presented. It will also help students who are not understanding get help sooner because the instructor will know what is supposed to be learned.

Chapter 2: MI and Personal Development

Standard question tests, such as the MI Inventory, do not fully show all of the intelligences a person may have. It is only a guide. Multiple tests and task orientated tests would provide a better base and is a more accurate picture of an individual's intelligences. The intelligences an individual has are strong because those intelligences have been practiced. The "weaker" intelligences just haven't been given a chance to develop. This chapter impacts me as a teacher by suggesting multiple ways in which I can develop my weaker intelligences. Partnering with a colleague that is strong in those intelligences can help, asking a student to demonstrate a way they like to learn, and using the schools resources are all ways to help develop weak intelligences. This impacts my students by me making adjustments to help them develop their weak intelligences. Their strong intelligences have been 'crystallized' by activators or experiences that allowed them to practice. The weak intelligences have been 'paralyzed' by certain experiences that turned the student off to that way of thinking. Also understanding why students' intelligences have been shut down will help them. The chapter gave biological, cultural, and personal history as possible reasons.

Chapter 1:The Foundations of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardiner was dissatisfied with the idea that the intelligence of a person could be summed up in a single number, the IQ score. He came up with the theory of multiple intelligences, eight of them originally, with one that has since been added and another one still being considered. This is a cognitive model that focuses on the content of the world and how people use their intelligences to solve problems and build products. The types are: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. The qualifications for an intelligence are the following: the ability to exist without one or more of the others due to brain damage, the existence of intense specialization in one intelligence leaving the others underdeveloped, also known as a prodigy or a savant, the ability to test a single intelligence, a clear evolutionary path that has been traced, the existence of an exceptional piece of work using that intelligence in history, and a set time in a human's life that the development, peak, and decline of the intelligence exists. This information affects me as a future teacher by simply knowing that these intelligences exist. My students will use their different cognitive abilities to understand my lesson. Even though a few students might share dominant intelligences, the way the intelligences interact and express themselves is completely different. However if I don't try to teach to the different intelligences I will inevitably leave some students behind or struggling. For example, if I never use anything that has to do with nature in my lessons, the naturalist in my class won't ever get a chance to use his natural or most dominant intelligence in my class. This will make the lesson harder to learn because the student will have to use a secondary intelligence. This affects my students because even though I will try to appeal to all intelligences, all of them have all of the intelligences, and they could, with extra work, develop their less dominant intelligences. I might even try to help my students develop other intelligences.

Chapter 2: What Really Matters in Teaching? (The Students)

The concept that is taken for granted when the public sees a teacher is that the teacher knows his or her content area and it is for that reason that I believe this chapter of the book spends one paragraph devoted to that subject. The rest of the chapter is concerned with knowing our students in aspects such as: family life, identity (race, religion, and parents' income), learning disabilities, and learning styles; all of which affect a student's ability to learn. All students expect and desire the same things from their teacher. They want a competent adult that provides a stable, caring, accepting environment in which they can find themselves in school individually, socially, and academically. Even though students all want the same thing, they will take different paths and need help in different ways to get there. One size does not fit all when it comes to teaching students. This affects me as a future teacher because I must learn right from the start to be a responsive teacher. This means I can and will adapt and craft curriculum, circumstance, and the environment to enable my students to have success. I need to take a proactive approach to making changes and not just let it shake out with whoever achieves success as long as someone does. The information in this chapter will affect my students by motivating them to learn. If students perceive that the teacher cares enough to show interest in their lives, to adjust the curriculum to fit their learning needs, and to help them find a personal connection to the information; they will be motivated to learn because they believe the teacher believes in them.

Chapter 1: UbD and DI: An Essential Partnership

Understanding by design and differential instruction must be intertwined within a teaching method. In order to be successful incorporating one method into the classroom, it is imperative to implement the other. UbD is a "curriculum design model" and DI is a "instructional design model," and in this way the two systems compliment each other. This impacts me as a future teacher because these two systems address important questions such as: how, what, whom, and where we teach. A few ways this chapter suggests addressing these questions is by pre-assessment, teaching to the students' needs, and using the backwards model to present the important ideas. This impacts my future students by, hopefully, more appropriately meeting their learning style needs more effectively. Ways that the chapter suggests to incorporate Ubd and DI to help my students is by the following: create a supportive, encouraging, goal oriented, but challenging environment in which the students' needs are met, impart on them the understanding of not only the big picture, but also how it applies to them, and help them gain the tools and skills they need to continue their discovery on their own.