As I have experienced the true classroom life this semester in the pursuit of the

completion of the required thirty hours of student teaching, I have come to realize that my

teacher has particular methods of assessing students throughout the course of the school year.

Since my teacher specializes in teaching ELA, his assessments revolve around understanding the

student’s comprehension of the subject of English Language Arts. I myself have been assigned

with working with a couple students who took tests, and these were the students who needed a

little extra assistance in their studies and comprehension. As assessments are important in

understanding whether our students are mastering, or even showing a proficient level of

understanding, the content taught, it is essential to prepare our students well enough to take these

exams. Having the chance to student teach this semester has opened my eyesto the numerous

possibilities when it comes to assessing our students and how test taking has advanced since my

childhood.

To begin with, the teacher I’m working with this semester assesses his student’s

comprehension of the material taught in a number of ways. First, and possibly the most

important kind of testing, the students undergo is standardized testing. These types of tests

include NWEA (or Northwest Evaluation Association) and AZ Merit. These exams seem to

cause the most anxiety for the students out of all the other tests since they hold significant value

in the student’s academic career. Another kind of testing that occurs within the classroom are the

more formal assessments that we are all familiar with, namely tests that the teacher creates to

understand the student’s grasp of the material. I have experienced this kind of testing twice in my

student teaching program this semester. The tests that the teacher has created have been on

assessing the student’s comprehension of the different point of views and on locating claim in a

story and support it with evidence. There was a particular kid that the teacher wanted me to work
with as he took his exam, saying that he needed a little extra help in his academics, being a grade

level behind. I was greatly encouraged when the teacher gave his students a couple extra minutes

to study before taking the exam when the students pleaded with him for such, but my student

looked at me confidently and told me that he had studied really well beforehand, and it showed

as he was taking the test. Another kind of testing done is the more informal kind where the

teacher does not collect physical data for student comprehension, but instead just gets a general

idea of where his students stand. For example, the teacher told the class to get into groups and

write in their hand-held white boards their answers to the questions listed on the smartboard. The

team with the most points was rewarded with playing a class-created game and a chance to win

prizes. These are the types of testing that goes on in the classroom that I am working with this

semester.

Overall, I have had a sense that testing has changed in a number of ways since I was in

grade school. A big change I have seen is the heavy use of computers when it comes to testing

and even regular classwork in general. It seems the students all have computers assigned to them,

and all the tests they have taken so far have been via computers. Back in my day, pencil and

paper were the typical method of test taking and getting to use computers was a luxury.

Personally, I can understand the heavy presence of computers in the classroom as that is where

society is headed, but I see more benefits coming from using the old-fashioned test taking

method. Just the mere fact that the students are using pencil to write down test answers seems to

stick with students better, as some studies have shown. In any case, testing, whether done the old

way or with computers, is an important component in understanding whether students are

mastering the concepts which are being taught, and so it is important to help those students who

may struggle with test taking or just find exams unnecessary. “Recipe for success: Study while
others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream

while others are wishing.” (William A. Ward)