"One of the most readily available ways of learning about students is through conversation." Conversation between students and the teacher is important because sometimes students do not have much adult conversations, especially if their parents work late and are not home much. Conversation also allows the teacher to evaluate the student's prior knowledge of a subject. Conversation also can help the teacher see the areas in which a student needs further teaching. Conversation builds community in the classroom, which is very important.
"Reading interests involve preferences for reading different kinds of reading materials." There should be a variety of reading materials in a classroom, especially in junior high and high school. Comic books, newspapers, teen-magazines, etc. can be used to inspire students to read. Students need to know how to read so they can get through life.
"A primary goal of portfolios is to involve students in evasluating their own work." Students get to choose their best work to have in the portfolio which allows them input on what is assessed. I think thei is great because some students may do well in some assignments but not in others. By using portfolios, students feel involved, which also builds community and confidence.
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Lisa, i totally agree with you about having conversations in the classroom. I get so sad when i walk into a classroom where the teacher as the students sitting at their desks not saying anything to anyone for the majority of the day. We can learn so much about our students by having conversations with them, and on top of that, the students learn so much about each other. I like how you mentioned those students who may not get very much conversation at home. Often times parents come home from work, are exhausted, and the last thing they want is their child "running their mouth." This is something we as teachers can encourage as part of parent involvement. We can suggest for them to sit down and listen to their child talk about their day, or let them sit in the kitchen while they are making supper so they can hear about their child's day at school. Conversations are so important and we as teachers should be promoting grand conversation and facilitating grand conversation as well as teaching the students the proper time to engage in it.
ReplyDeleteI plan to use portfolios as a way of assessing my students when I have my own classroom. I like the fact that portfolios give students a voice in their own assessment. Students who may not feel confident in themselves can choose what they feel is their best work, and when they see all of their best work group in front of them, they can see where they have improved over the course of time.
ReplyDeleteI also like portfolios because they are parent friendly. For example, if a parent is concerned about their child's performance, the teacher can pull the portfolio to allow the parent to see for themselves what is actually going on with the child. The work samples can show the parent things that the child may not be telling them at home.
Whitney,
ReplyDeleteYou can get parents involved in listening to their child by sitting and listening to them talk about their day at school. We as adults would go crazy if we could not talk to anyone for 8 hours. I hate going in the schools where students cannot even talk to each other at lunch. People need time to socialize and we as teachers must allow some socialization in our classrooms. Conversations will also build community which is also important in classrooms, so let students talk sometime!