I am glad to have been of service in acting as a sounding board. I only wish I had more experience to offer and to collaborate more on a professional level.
I remember a variety of formats for testing when I was in school. I was much more comfortable with the "repeat what you read or hear" than I was with the creative answers but I eventually grew to be comfortable with both.
Having only experienced being a student and not a teacher, I really am starting from scratch when it comes to using assessments. But taking a stab at it, I will say that I like the "word test" for several reasons. It's flexible, it forces the student to be creative and at the same time allows the student to respond in his or her own language which is incredibly important as Dr. Britton said several times in his speech.
Looking at "collaborative test making", I was always afraid that I would make the questions too hard and the other kids would be mad at me. But incorporating "test prepartion" with the creation of questions would make this a much more socially agreeable option without dumbing down the questions.
As for "creative assessments", I always found that music is a great focal point and can help bring together new information with something already familiar. Again this would be brilliant idea because it is an opportunity to blend learning and schoolwork with something deeply personal to the students like their favorite music.
My favorite of the outlined assessments is the "reaction or response to a story". I am always curious to know how other people react to important themes or classic stories. It is an indirect way to find out about their inner selves and hopefully find out a better way to incentivise learning for that individual.
I have learned a lot of the jargon (but still missed so much) that is associated with being a professional teacher. In the future, I hope to incorporate my fledgling understanding into new paradigms for what it means to be a teacher and part of the education system. Thank you for allowing me to be your student as well as a learning partner.
- Shannon
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