Assessment
January 5, 2014
After you’ve decided which research-based book to read and how to collaborate with another teacher, how about resolving to survey your students? My third suggestion for a 2014 resolution is: 3. Survey your students. We all know the power of honest feedback. Have you ever invited your students to give you constructive feedback? I’ve surveyed […]
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December 24, 2013
2013’s third most read post is about an update to my most popular project, homework choice. Stay tuned in 2014 for how these updates are going in my class – including one student’s feedback call to Nescafe. The homework choice approach is probably my most popular idea ever (it’s a toss-up between that and the […]
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December 11, 2013
If you’re interested, here’s my final exam for AP Spanish, addressing two themes we have incorporated this semester: religious celebrations, and healthcare challenges. The exam includes a persuasive essay and an audio prompt for a speaking response. In the persuasive essay, students are asked to discuss whether we should try to change other people’s opinions […]
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October 25, 2013
Assessment has a lot of purposes, the least important of which is to give students a number on a report card. Some that come to mind are: educating students and parents on proficiency helping students identify areas that need improvemen keeping parents informed on their child’s progress, responsibility, etc. showing administration what your class is doing […]
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August 18, 2013
Choice in homework, updated
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The homework choice approach is probably my most popular idea ever (it’s a toss-up between that and the YouTube commercials quizzes). Read about the original idea and browse lots of updates using the choice tag. I just updated my list and its format (and stole a name for it from Bethanie Drew @lovemysummer). I used […]
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July 10, 2013
Back when I used to ask for translation at the end of every test, I’d comb through that chapter’s vocabulary list to come up with sentences that would test the maximum number of words and target features. Like this gem: I saw a turtle with two heads in the park with my tall friend and […]
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June 30, 2013
This summer I’m reposting some of the gems from the early days, partly because I’ve gotten a lot of readership since then and really, who has time to go back mulling over old blogs, and partly because my traffic is significantly slower and I’m working on other projects in the summer. This topic is from […]
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June 12, 2013
Guest post: Coaching with choice
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This semester I was blessed and honored to teach an amazing group of kids who were coachable. Coming from an athletic background, this concept of being “coachable” is one of the most valuable traits that a coach can have in a player. The coachable player is one who may not have the best skills or natural […]
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June 4, 2013
I can write all I want about how much I dislike traditional worksheets and multiple-choice questions, but we have to admit they’ve got something going for them: they’re easy to grade. Do you ever feel like there’s a battle between wanting to do more communicative assessments and dreading how long it’s going to take you […]
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May 13, 2013
Novice high vs. intermediate low
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I got a question recently from a colleague who was having trouble pinpointing the difference between novice high and intermediate low with her students, especially in writing. When it comes to writing, here are some keys that I think mean a student is consistently performing at IL and not NH: Changing topics with relevance A few […]
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May 1, 2013
Last year I had one of those ideas that was a game changer for me. I completely abandoned any type of testing a few years ago, but I was still trying to control an awful lot of my assessments. But student choice was working so well in other areas that I decided to extend it […]
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April 19, 2013
Why I love mistakes
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I love mistakes. Not because they give me a chance to point out the grammar. Not because I get to circle something in red pen. Not because I can recast it and see if they notice the correction. No, I love mistakes because I’m a second language acquisition nerd and mistakes give me a change […]
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