Sept. 17th

* I originally posted this last night, but I wanted to add a couple things. Please let me know if you would rather I didn't do this so that you can get an adequate understanding if the posting assignment was done on time. Sorry, I really didn't think about it when I opened the window, but realized there was no turning back because the update time would have already changed on this post.

I believe inventories and pre-assessments to be a key part of understanding what your students know and how they feel. Because there are so many different types of assessments I believe that every teacher can find on that will fit their personal style and purpose of teaching.

I really liked the idea of having pictures included in the inventories instead of having a rating scale. I feel that children at any age would benefit from having a scale that includes pictures instead of only numbers because pictures are easier to understand. I feel it's easier to understand and interpret numbered rating scales for people of all ages. We can relate better to pictures.

I also found it useful to have a set characteristics and have the students sort them into whether they are like them or not. I fell this would help students really evaluate themselves on the level decided by the teacher. This may also help students learn as much about themselves as the teacher does because they may not have thought about these traits before.

Many of the specific subject pre-assessments were focused of investigation, which I believe to be very important. When you ask students to define or explain a topic to the best of their knowledge it provides a pure understanding of what they know and how they understand it. This gives teachers an understanding of the students knowledge as well as the student's learning profile. A couple of these types of pre-assessments also had a section where the student could draw the concept. This is an important part of the assessments because it allows the students an additional means of expression giving the teacher clearer data.

I would love to conduct some type of inventory like this with my student teaching class. Because I haven't been in the classroom with them these last few months it will be important for me to know and understand them as individuals so I can focus my instruction. I would like to do an inventory that would have a section where they can tell me what they want me to know about them. I feel this will help us catch up a little for the time I have not been with my students in their classroom. I feel that allowing them to express themselves openly will also make them feel more comfortable when I ask them more specific questions about their learning.

It is crucial that we understand our students so we know how to teach them. I believe that assessments and inventories play only a very small part in gathering this information. The most important thing that we can do to accomplish this goal of knowing our students is to observe and get to know them. We must establish an environment where students can be themselves and receive the instruction they need to succeed.