Chapter 5

One of the characteristics of a professional is to be able to reflect upon things. Not to just say what went well and what failed but also to reflect and seek improvement. I think that in chapter 5 the main point was to push the idea of reflection on the readers. If an assessment style does not seem to show accurate knowledge of the student the teacher has to ask why and try to correct it.
    I think the author did well at staying objective when talking about assessment strategies. Teachers should understand that there are pros and cons to each way of assessing and we have to find a testing strategy that shows accurate growth and understanding of a topic within the student. This is where reflection comes in. Teachers should be able to see their students improve from the start of the unit to the assessment. I liked what the author talked about on the topic of pretesting before a unit to gauge student growth. The pretest can be a good way to understand how much students have actually gained.
Personally, I think pen and paper assessments do not show accurate knowledge of the subject matter. Just because a student can memorize things that will be on the test does not mean that they will be able to apply these ideas and facts to real life situations. I believe that school is meant to prepare students to enter the real world and they are not retaining the needed information when they cram for a test.


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