Assessment Blog

I really liked reading through chapter 10 of Classrooms That Work. This chapter had many assessment ideas that a teacher can observe a student’s progress.  The chapter talked about determining reading levels for each individual child. It talks about how important it is to know the reading level of each child so the child does not get discouraged with an assigned book too high for his or her reading level. Reading assessments are what help the teacher to determine the child’s reading level. The book mentioned that standardized tests should not be used to determine reading levels and I completely agree.

I also really enjoyed reading chapter 11 of Classrooms That Work.  This chapter is about differentiating Instruction for Diverse Learners. I think this is a very important for every teacher to know because every student is always going to be at a different learning level, especially in reading. This is the hardest aspect of the role of a teacher. The chapter discussed ways for the teacher to help all students by using a variety of collaborative groupings like literature circles and ideas like taking turns and reading and pointing. I did like the idea of partnering older struggling readers with younger struggling readers. I think this will really help the students collaborate and understand each other’s struggles but also have the older one help the younger one with problems he or she had when he or she was younger. A struggling reader definitely needs extra time and attention with getting help with reader; a child’s family, friends, teacher, and classmates are very essential with helping the child.