discussion

EXAMPLE ONLY!!

Checklists:

The strengths of using lists in the classroom to allow the teacher and the parents to know how their child is developing. Checklists are somewhat versatile, they can be ordered from a company, or it can be modified for the children in your classroom. in my center we do a set of checklists in the begging of the year, this gives us some insight into what the children already know and what they need to be working on throughout the year.

Although these checklists can sometimes be tailored to the children in your class, most likely they will be purchased from an outside company and given to the teachers to administer to their students. This kind of assessment does not allow for those students who get nervous and who do not do well test taking. Not all children learn the same, and often they do not prove the same, checklists limits room for children who struggle.

Anecdotal Notes:

This type of assessment is my personal preference, taking anecdotal notes allows the teacher to capture what is explicitly happening in the classroom with that student at the exact time and date. When taking documentation, the teacher writes only the facts about what you are observing, no opinions. The teacher can show parents how their child is progressing using these notes as a summary of different times of the year.

Anecdotal records are not as formal as a checklist and do allow for more error if the teacher is not that experienced. Often teachers add in what they think the child is feeling during this type of assessment, the point of these types of documentation is to gather as much information on the students to use when assessing their development.

My findings concluded that I would instead use a more informal way of assessing children rather than using a specific set of questions to be asked. I feel like when teachers use these assessments, there is no room for student error, no space to indicate what type of learner the child is.

I think that Mrs. Ashland would use a checklist assessment. By reading the time and dedication, Mrs. Ashland puts into her students that she would also want the type of evaluation that would allow children to be themselves when being tested. She spends every day observing her children and getting to know the person that they are becoming rather than teaching based on the results of an assessment.

I would suggest using documentation as a tool or guide for understanding specific needs of children. Documentation can help the teacher develop developmentally appropriate activities to help each child progress in struggling areas. Documentation also allows the teacher to observe over a period, rather than an assessment at the beginning of the school year.