Reading Reflection Chapter Nine

Chapter nine was all about making assessment meaningful.  On page 139 I really liked and thought that the second paragraph on the page that starts off “active learning is a hallmark of good projects” this paragraph stood out to me because it grasps a lot of important things and puts it into one paragraph.  In order to make something meaningful including assessment it is important to understand what our students know because if we know where and what our students know then we are able to create a meaningful lesson that they will be more engaged in.  One way to understand and assess student’s prior knowledge is by using a KWL chart, this is something I have been taught to use and when I have used it it has been extremely helpful. Establishing anchors is an important part for a project because as it was discussed on page 140, “by establishing anchors, you gain a sense of where students are starting and how far they are going as the work to meet learning goals”.  Using a KWL chart again is a great way and easy way to do just that.  A good question I think teachers need to remember is “how will you measure the distance each student travels as a learner?” Some way they discussed in the chapter on how to assess what students have learned from the project is to use an online grading book, or even as simple as having students write about what they are learning and doing to see if they are making the connections they should be and if not then you as the teacher have a way to know what needs to be adjusted so that the student is reaching the goals. Overall connecting this chapter to what my group is doing for our class project, I can say that it relates in a few different ways but the one that stands out to me the most is standards and objectives because when we created objectives and rubrics for our lesson plans there was a lot we had to take into account.  Assessing students is another big point and connects to our project because with what all is being taught if students are not assessed before and after then it is hard to see student growth and it is hard for the teacher to know what their students also know.  This chapter was interesting to read and I am glad to be reading this book as it is filled with a lot of useful information that I am glad I am learning more about.