FIAE+B2+Chapter+4



Abstract and Synthesis ~ Chris D.
Chapter 4 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal talks about the types of ways teachers can [|assess]student work. The first type of assessment is a portfolio which is essentially a compilation of student work over an extended period of time. It’s a useful tool for students when they want to reflect on everything that they’ve learned over the course of a year. The next assessment tool mentioned was a rubric. Rubrics are a great way for students to know what is expected from them when given a project of some sort, and it allows teachers to grade fairly based on the guidelines that they set from the start. The final tool of assessment that the book mentioned was self-assessment. Here, students assess themselves and reflect on what they may or may not have learned over the course of a day, week, month, semester, or year. In this, both the student and teacher get to see how far they’ve progressed since the beginning and for the teacher, they will able to see if they understood the concept that the teacher was trying to teach to them.
 * Abstract:**

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 * Synthesis:** Upon reading everyone's reflection, we all seem to understand the different [|assessment]tools and what they can do. As students, we have always known what these were, but for the first time we have looked at them from a different perspective and learned how powerful these tools can be. As a class, we tended to all like the idea of portfolios because they are an accumulation of everything a student has done in a class. Rubrics were also something we learned more about when reading this chapter. Before we didn't know anything about creating a rubric for student learning, but after this chapter we all have gained crucial knowledge on the work that a single rubric requires in order to be a solid rubric. Self-assessments were of no surprise to any of us. We've completed our fair share of self-assessments in our schooling years and we knew what purpose they served well before reading this chapter.

Tiarra
As suggested in the title, Chapter Four outlines three important types of assessment: Portfolios, Rubrics and Student Self-Assessment. Portfolios allow teachers to assess students’ achievement over time by showcasing assignments, projects and tests that show how students have come to meet standards and learning objectives. Rubrics on the other hand directly present learning objectives to students so that they know exactly what they must complete to show that have understood the assignment. Rubrics fit easily into the backwards design of teaching and should be implemented before every major assignment. The final type of Assessment is Student Self-Assessment. Self-Assessments allow students to analyze and reflect on what they have learned while providing the teacher with valuable feedback necessary to understand where your student feels like they are at any given time. Using each of these forms of assessment in the classroom is vital in order to most accurately judge and promote academic achievement. = =

Will L.
This chapter gives an overview of various types of assessment that could be used in the everyday classroom. The first would be a student portfolio. Similar to something I had to put together for EDU101 last year, it is comprised of assorted assignments that are used by both teachers and students to track the progress of the student. The second type of assessment is a rubric. This puts everything required for a student to do so they know what has to be completed in order to pass a certain assignment. The final type of assessment is the student self-assessment. Students are generally honest about assessing themselves, even when given a checklist or rubric to fill out to assess what work they’ve completed. I’ve seen all of these forms of assessment implemented before in both my high school, and I believe these forms are very usable and viable when I become an educator.

Grace K.
The three types of assessment outlined in chapter 4 were: portfolios, rubrics, and student self-assessment. Wormeli outlined the strengths of each, and why they are valuable for differentiated classrooms in particular. Portfolios are worthwhile assessments to pursue because they offer a long-term view of student progress through varied assignments (a “photo album” as opposed to a “snapshot”). Additionally, they offer an opportunity for students to reflect on their own work as they work on putting the portfolio together and choosing/justifying pieces to include. Well-crafted rubrics provide clear goals and objectives and focus learning through those pieces. They focus both a student’s efforts and a teacher’s strategies. Student self-assessment provides a way for students to attach meaning to their work and also makes the student feel like a partner in the classroom. They are a valuable way for teachers and students to confer about grading, so that the teacher can make sure the student understands how they are being graded and for the student to understand teacher expectations. I have always liked having a rubric before completing an assignment, so I agree with Wormeli that they are a valuable tool for many students, and they are something I would use in my future classroom. I hadn’t thought much about portfolios, but the more we learn about standards, the more that a portfolio seems like a strong way to assess whether or not a student has met the standard in their class.

Justin C.
This chapter of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal// talks about different ways in which student work can be assessed. The first method that was mentioned was through the compilation of a student’s work in a portfolio. These allow for teachers, as well as many other people, to see how a student is progressing through the year. It could contain samples of student work in many different mediums to show their understanding or lack thereof. The second method that was discussed was the use of rubrics. These are a good way to outline what exactly is to be expected of a student on a project and gives them something to strive towards. One aspect of rubrics that stuck out to me and I had never really thought about before was when designing it, we should stray away from having five columns of work level. When seeing five, some people will associate that with the five letter grade scale and assume that each of the columns stands for a different letter grade. The final method of assessment mentioned is self-assessments. Giving students the opportunity to reflect back on a project they just did or the process in which they took to make their product will give them an opportunity to see what methods worked and which ones did not. It is important for us as teachers to know what our students think of themselves and it is up to us to get them to a higher level of competency.

Dan B.
I thought that the most important aspect of chapter four of //Fair isn't Always Equal,// in my opinion, is the work that you can do with portfolios. A portfolio is important because it allows you to look at a students work as the year progresses//.// I think that schools should use portfolios from year to year because it allows the students to see how they progressed from year to year, but it also lets the teacher know what their students know when they get them; this will allow the teacher to be able to educate the student better. When I become a teacher I think that I will implement portfolios so that it will help my students see where they are. I will also pass them on to the next teacher so that they, the students, can continue their education where they left off because their next teacher will be able to see their portfolios and know what their skills are.

Danny K.
Chapter four is entitled “Three Important Types of Assessment.” The three assessments that this chapter covers are portfolios, rubrics, and student self-assessment. The chapter doesn’t just describe the three types of assessments but it also describes the strengths of these assessments. Portfolios are a great way for students to get the opportunity to reflect on their work. Rubrics can be used to provide clear goals and highlight the learning objectives for your students. In the rubric section of this chapter the author talks about how developing rubrics can be more difficult than people think. Even though rubrics can be a time consuming, difficult thing to create, as a teacher I will use rubrics to help my students know what I want them to learn. The last assessment that the chapter covered was student self-assessment. This assessment can give both the students and teacher feedback, which in return can help them work together to set goals for the student.

Jen R.
Chapter four of FIAE identified and addresses the three important types of assessment. The three important types are: rubrics, portfolios and self-assessment. Throughout chapter four I learned that portfolios serve as a great mean of assessment because it allows a teacher to collect work over a long period of time and progress can be acknowledged. On the other hand, rubrics focus on learning and are used best for assessing student achievement. Chapter four taught me the proper design of a rubric and how to put one effectively to use in my classroom. The final type of assessment discussed was a self-assessment approach. Chapter four taught me that through self- assessment, you could gather valuable feedback from your students. With this feedback, you can determine personal goals set by the students and document their expectations. I believe all three methods are great ways to approach assessment within the classroom and will be helpful tools for the future.

Grady B.
This chapter of //FIAE// dealt with three important methods that a teacher should use to assess students. These methods, portfolios, rubrics, and self-assessments, all address different advantages to student development; the longitudinal nature of portfolios, the focused nature of rubrics, and the individual feedback of self-assessment. I was particularly interested in the idea of an interactive notebook being used in a classroom to allow students to personally comment on their own learning, and to be able to keep a dialogue open with a teacher throughout the learning process. I was also interested in what this chapter had to say about portfolios, after having used them in high school and not been thrilled with their use. I feel that the biggest issue with portfolios when I used them was that it would seem as if teachers would largely forget about them until the end of a semester and then have students scramble around to put stuff in. As a student that was not particularly well organized in high school, this often meant throwing in assignments simply because I could find them in my backpack. However, I can see how by integrating portfolios throughout an entire year, they would provide a great way to illustrate continued progress and eventual mastery of a given topic.

Tyler S
Portfolios make it easier to assess a student’s overall understanding. As discussed in previous chapters, tests and other forms of assessment test something specific. The portfolio is an assessment that takes place over time. I know as a student, I really disliked putting together a portfolio. It felt like a big waste of time to me. However as a teacher I can see where it would benefit, allowing me to take a look at a lot of assignments completed by the student over time. I think that if done right, a portfolio could be easy to put together, to prevent the students disliking it, while still being just an effective tool. My biggest problem at the end of a grading period was finding work I had kept to put in the portfolio. It would be easy enough to have portfolios kept in a cabinet somewhere in the room, and after handing back things to students, give them so much time to look t comments and stuff, and then take it back and put it in the portfolio

Chris D.
Chapter 4 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal talks about the different types of ways teachers can assess student work. The first type of assessment is a portfolio. I really like the idea of using portfolios in my classroom, even with math being my concentration. This will allow me to track the progress of my students to see if they’ve mastered the content area or not. It’s also a useful tool for students when they want to reflect on everything that they’ve learned over the course of a year. The next assessment tool mentioned was a rubric. These I am familiar with from a student’s perspective as my high school teachers used these all the time. I feel that rubrics are a great way for students to know what is expected from them when given a project of some sort, and it allows teachers to grade fairly based on the guidelines that they set from the start. When I make a rubric in my classroom, I want to do it with my students so that they can play a part in how they will be graded. The final tool of assessment that the book mentioned was self-assessment. Here, students assess themselves and reflect on what they may or may not have learned over the course of a day, week, month, semester, or year. In this, both the student and teacher get to see how far they’ve progressed since the beginning and for the teacher, I’ll be able to see if they understood the concept I was trying to teach to them.

Kaitlin T.
Chapter four of Fair Isn’t Always Equal is about three different types of assessments, as the title implies. The three assessments being discussed in this chapter are portfolios, rubrics and self-assessment. Portfolios allow students a visual representation of their education. Students decide which work enters their portfolios, with an explanation as to why they choice the pieces they did. Like self-assessment, portfolios allow the student to reflect upon his or her work. Portfolios are beneficial because they are not exclusive to grades; a student may choose to add an assignment he or she did not perform the well on. He or she is asked to explain, or reflect, upon this particular grade and why he or she might have scored poorly on this particular piece of work. This reflection allows the educator an insight into the student’s strengths and weakness. Portfolios provide constant learning opportunities to teachers. I would strongly consider using portfolios in my English classroom. My hope is that students would see a strong improvement in their writing from the first quarter of the school year to the final quarter. I believe having all their writing organized periodically will give them a solid visual-aid of their learning and progress.

Jonathan B.
Chapter 4 offers a lot of important insight regarding assessment. I really like the concept and ability to customize you get with portfolios. Portfolios would allow a student to really take ownership in the work they are doing, over time. This kind of assessment makes more sense than a one-time multiple choice test anyway; common sense tells us that a portfolio would reflect a student's understanding much more accurately. The discussion of rubric construction in the chapter also got me thinking in terms of the UbD concept, as both of these concepts seem to follow the same path regarding identifying goals clearly, multiple steps, varying types of assessment, etc. It makes a lot of sense to use portfolios combined with a clear understanding objective, as it gives students something to work towards and to reflect on—I will be sure to use this.