Task Five

I found a very interesting article which included a video titled: Take a Deeper Look at Assessment for Understanding; Performance assessments go beyond traditional tests and serve as an important teaching tool. In it I found some helpful hints that I can incorporate in my lessons. For instance, an ongoing project in which students have the opportunity to show what they know and can do, developing comprehensive rubrics by which to evaluate student's performance and ensure that the project is more than just fun and engaging activities. This is very insightful because it is easy to confuse engagement and fun with learning or demonstration of learning. As I teach Spanish one constant temptation is to think that because students can say some phrases or sentences or answer some questions they are speaking in a meaningful way. However, as I think about this idea of an ongoing project, I wonder how this can be implemented at the primary level. Not only are most of my students in the process of acquiring basic speaking skills in their native language but my present circumstances prevent me and them from engaging in long term activities. I don't have my own classroom. I "travel" from classroom to classroom. This poses a tremendous challenge in terms of space, storing of project as it progressess, etc.

Nonetheless, I truly believe that performance assessments are the best instrument to gauge student's progress and ability, especially while learning a world language. My students do extremely well when given the opportunity to show what they know to each other, to their parents, their regular teacher and me. The video showed some students engaged in a project and the advantages of applied learning in which they can demonstrate skills that cannot be demonstrated in a standardized test--for instance leadership skills. As I think about my inquiry plan I am thinking about how I can use performance assessments in ways that allow these little ones the opportunity to show what they know and can do and on the other hand provide me with the tools to assess these abilities.

The examples shown in the video and in the articles are all for middle and high schools (which is most often the case) and none deal with teaching and learning a world language. I hope that in the new "Race to the Top" emphasis by the Dept. of Education, teaching and learning world languages will be considerd an important part of a holistic education which begins in kindergarden not high school. As Bill Tucker,the author of "Improving Assessment: Getting from Here to There" says in his blog, " even with the best of intentions, all of the incentives in the current system serve to lock in today’s practice." We have had enough quick fixes. We need "a long-term and cohesive strategy for applying decades of research on learning and measurement, experimenting with major advancements in technology, and ultimately collecting the kind of data that will be meaningful to schools, teachers, students and parents."

TASK FOUR

What was that domain? Why did you choose this domain?
I chose domain one because I want to improve in this area the most. I believe this area to be the most crucial of all four domains, even though I know that been good in one area doesn't guarantee overall success in the classroom.

Which component from this domain are you most comfortable with?
I am most comfortable with demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy. Spanish is my first language and I feel at ease when teaching the language and the nuances of the culture. I am well aware of the cultural differences between Spanish speaking countries and I try to convey this important fact to my students as they learn the language and about the culture in general.

Which component from this domain do you believe most strongly ties to instruction?
I think setting instructional outcomes is the strongest tie to instruction. A unit is comprised of individual lessons, but these lessons must connect and move progressively toward an intended learning outcome. In teaching a world language this scaffolding is essential if learning is to be meaninful, otherwise students will know words in isolation without any context in which to make meaningful connections. The result will be what is commonly said by those who take a world language for four/five years and then say" I took ________ (fill in the language) for 4/5 years but I don't remember anything."

Which component from this domain would you like to zero in on in your own instruction?
I would like to focus on designing student assessments.

Question for my group:

How can I best assess oral communication in Spanish in P1 (kindergarden)?