Personal Assessments really stood out to me in this chapter. When I was in school, I never had a teacher who really found out anything about me through conversation, interviews, or surveys. I really think that this is a very important thing for teachers to do. The chapter states “Knowing more about students as individuals will help with teaching and learning in at least three ways: one being, motivating students by bringing their backgrounds and prior knowledge into classroom lessons.” After thinking about this statement, I realize how true it is. By a teacher talking to a student, it allows students to become motivated. To me, it would make a student feel like the teacher cares about what they learn.
Classroom observation is something that we have been discussing since we have been in the program, but I loved the way the book talked about observing. When a teacher observes they are not only supposed to be observing for signs that indicate the student understands the concept. A teacher should look at how the student becomes engaged in the learning activities they are presented with. A teacher could see if they are having a problem in a certain area by doing this, and will be able to possibly better help the student. To me, I would consider this actively observing. Some teachers say they observe, but they simply are not watching to see how the student approaches a learning activity. I think that is a key factor to observing.
I also really enjoyed reading about reading attitudes and interest surveys. In lab Tuesday, those are two surveys that we will be giving to the student that we tutor. The book states, “Success in promoting students’ engagement in reading requires that teachers know as much as they can about students’ reading attitudes and interests.” I believe that knowing how a student feels about reading is very important. Sometimes, a student can feel bad towards a subject because they have had a bad experience. I believe it is my job as a teacher to try to do everything I can to turn their negative thoughts towards reading (if any) into positive thoughts. I believe that’s why learning their interests is important. A student most likely will enjoy reading more if they are given the opportunity to read a book of interest.
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Personal Assessments were the main focus in the chapter and Conley does an excellent job describing them. Much like you Brittany when I was in school teachers did not take out the time to get to know me or the other kids in my class. When I finally found a teacher that connected what she taught directly to us then learning became much easier to me. When you get to know your students as well as their individual learning styles then it is much easier to motivate the student and to keep them involved in the lesson.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Brittany W. I like what you said about students becoming motivated because their teacher knew about their background. I also think that students feel more comfortable with their teacher if their teacher knows their personalities, likes, and dislikes. If students feel comfortable with their teacher, they are more likely to express their thoughts and opinions in class.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that we are doing attitude surveys in our lab class. I wish my elementary teachers would have taken the time to find out what subjects I favored. I used to hate reading during my elementary years. I think that this was due to fact that everything I read in school was boring. When we have our own classrooms, we have to remember to do these surveys throughout the entire school year!!!
I believe a classroom needs to have a variety of texts available to students for their reading pleasure. Comic books, newspapers, novels, teen-magazines, etc. can be used to inspire students to read. We, as teachers, do not like to read the same thing as other adults, so we need to take this in to account when providing literature for our students.
ReplyDeleteBrittany, I didn't have a teacher that gave a personal assessment in high school either; I think that if one of my teachers had it would have made planning meaningful lesson easier. I believe that teachers should give their students personal assessments as well as looking into their educational files. This is the first step that teachers should take when it comes to getting to know the students. I think that personal assessments will help the students realize that the teacher cares about their learning experience and wants to get their input in designing or planning lessons.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what Brittany A. said, and was something I have thought about. I think it will be very important to administer surveys to our students throughout the year. I believe it will help us as a teacher to learn about the students. I think school would have been more interesting if my teachers would have made the time to give surveys to me.
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