While looking through the required resources, ten rules for writing multiple choice test items immediately caught my eye solely for the fact that I always looked forward to multiple choice tests/quizzes. Of the ten rules listed, two had really stuck out to me. One was to keep all answer choices same length and the other was to mix up the order of the correct answers. As a student I can remember that these were the little queues I would try and pick up on to give myself an advantage. I always applied process of elimination when doing multiple choice to help establish which answers could possibly fit, and which answers were completely off. As I would apply this to my tests I picked up on short answers and lengthy answers and would use process of elimination to help myself come to the appropriate answer. As a future teacher I don't plan on throwing too many curveballs at my students, however I will do my best to keep each answer around the same length and keep it consistent.
After reading Chapter 12, I really enjoyed learning about motivation in learning, goals, self-determination and self worth. In school and in life in general, having self-determination goes a long way in helping you get over that hump and reach your goals. As a student in high school, I didn't have much self-determination to reach goals academically. My mindset was to do what I needed to do to only pass the class. I didn't shoot for an A, or A-, or a B. I didn't narrow the scope. I left my goal sitting on a broad table and would tell myself just do what you need to do to pass. If I could go back in time I would change my own mindset in a heartbeat. As a grew older I was able to create this self-determination for academics and thinking back on it, the mindset has become calloused when setting personal goals. Aside from self-determination I also believe having self-worth is very important as well. Speaking as a coach and when talking to my athletes prior to going into a big game being considered the underdog, I like to remind my kids of letting them know who they represent and how we play. I attempt to build their self worth to mentally give them a fighting chance even though on paper we might not be as good as our competition. This translates to the classroom when learning new material. Student's need to know that they can achieve almost anything when setting their mind to it and to not discredit themselves based on past grades or what someone else might say.
Chapter 14 goes into discussing effective teaching, planning, different approaches and adaptive teaching. Taking different approaches in the classroom with your students hit home with me as I couldn't agree more that we all learn differently. Many individuals can open a book, read the material, be engaged and retain the information that was covered. Speaking for myself this hasn't always been the case. If the topic really catches my interest, than of course I'm engaged and enjoying what I'm reading, however, I've always thoroughly enjoyed watching a film, or video clip to absorb information than open a book and read the material being covered. As a future teacher I will use apply as many different approaches as necessary to create that engagement the student needs to learn and retain material being covered. Also covered in Chapter 14 that I enjoyed looking over was Rosenshine's six teaching functions: 1. Review and check the previous days work 2. Present new material 3. Provide guided practice 4. Give feedback and correctives based on student answers 5. Provide independent practice 6. Review weekly and monthly to consolidate learning. It explains that these steps aren't to be followed in order but are elements of effective instruction. As a future teacher I can say that I plan on utilizing these six steps and they're all very important in being an effective teacher.
In Chapter 15, Woolfolk discuses classroom assessment, grading and standardized testing. One of the biggest things that stood out to me in this chapter was confidence interval. It states to never base an opinion on a students ability or achievement on the exact score a student obtains. When it comes to myself I know that my test scores DO NOT reflect upon my overall intelligence. I've always thought of myself as more of a street smart individual than a school smart, yet I know to never cut myself short of others just because of a bad grade. You win some and you lose some, that's life. You're gonna have a great scores, good scores and poor scores. Even though that number might represent a letter grade it is by no means a way for you or someone else to classify you for what you received. Teachers understand that some of us aren't good test takers due to whatever the reasons may be, however as a future teacher I will never look down upon, or criticize a student for receiving a poor grade. I've received my fair share of bad grades in school but cant say I've ever had a teacher judge my intelligence based on a test of quiz. There is more to the lesson applied than a final grade.
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