Module 7- Assessment

In my own reading, I used the Cornell Notetaking System because I found it interesting how it could be used for lecture and the reading of the chapter.  Although I knew I would not get to hear a lecture over this chapter, I wanted to use this notetaking system so I would be familiar with it and be able to apply it to future classes.  I often take notes while reading a chapter, otherwise I forget what I read an hour later, and I also always take notes while listening to a lecture.  However, I’ve always been disorganized when it came time to combine the notes.  I always had two sets of notes for each topic, instead of all on one sheet.  As I read this chapter and used Cornell notetaking, I found myself organizing my notes in a way that allowed me add more details to the notes if I were to listen to a lecture over it.  I felt more organized in my thinking as well.  When I finished the chapter, I was able to easily go back and reread the notes with ease and this review helped me to remember what I had read.  I plan to use this type of notetaking in the future. 

Important Concepts

1.     Since I teach kindergarten, I often forget the stress and importance that comes along with high stake testing.  I know there is a lot of pressure not only on the teachers, but on the students as well.  In this chapter, I found out something new that I am surprised I never knew, maybe partly because I don’t teach in a testing grade so I don’t stress a lot about the tests.  But I read that if schools do not perform well enough on the state tests, the state department of education could overtake the school and basically do what they want with it.  I think a lot of times, teachers who teach in non-testing grades are more relaxed, but they shouldn’t be because the students they are teaching are one day going to be taking those tests which ultimately could effect their job..  Even though I have not taught long enough for any of my former students to be old enough to take the state tests yet, I still need to have the mind set that everything I do in my classroom everyday is preparing the students for their tests in later years.  I think a lot of teachers forget about this if they aren’t teaching in a testing grade.

2.     I liked how this strategy emphasized the fact that reading comprehension strategies are very important for testing taking, however, these strategies are a “long term enterprise” (p.380).  Just like a lot of high school and college age students cram to learn material for a test, I think some teachers try to cram for the tests when trying to prepare students for the tests.  Instead of teaching reading comprehension strategies all year long, some wait until the end to really focus.  Another example that applies to a school is tutoring.  A lot of schools offer tutoring in February and March in order to try and cram as much information possible into the students.  Well, why don’t they tutor all year long?  I know a lot probably has to do with money, but why not spread the money out over the couse of the school year?  At our school, they tutor everyday of the week in February and March, but if they only tutored twice a week from the beginning of the school year, the students would probably retain a lot more information and strategies to use on the tests.

3.     The chapter emphasized the importance not to teach to the test.  This happens a lot when trying to prepare students for tests, but the long term effects are not worthwhile.  Students need a variety of skills and strategies, so focusing too much on one skill or strategy, will cause them to not do so well if a problem arises that calls for them to use a different kind of skill or strategy

Implementation

As I mentioned above, even though I do not teach in a testing grade, this chapter made me realize the importance of not being so relaxed in my teaching or thinking.  I need to be thinking that I am preparing these students for the state tests even though they are not taking the tests while they are in my class.  I think if everyone had this mindset, teachers might set higher expectations which results in greater achievement.  So I plan to look at all of the areas I teach and really focus on whether or not what I do is truly meaningful and purposeful in order to get these students to achieve at their highest ability.  This will challenge me to differentiate my instruction more in order to meet the needs of the students who are already at the level in which I am teaching at so that they can be even more prepared and score even higher on those tests when it’s their time to take them.

Strategy

Since I teach kindergarten and it usually takes my students a long time to write a couple of sentences, I figured I did not want to try any notetaking strategy; therefore, I chose to use the Visual Box.  I chose to use this strategy at the end of the week after we had learned the meaning of the vocabulary words.  I allowed them to put these papers in their reading notebook for future use.  For the most part, they drew pictures and labeled the pictures instead of writing a complete sentence, but the most important thing was I found that the students retained the words a lot better after we used this strategy.  The students enjoyed using this type of strategy and I plan to use it in the future.