Assessing a Learner

The only way to assess someone that is truly learning is to have them show you what they have learned in a cumulating project. I believe I heard that somewhere before. Oh yea, that is what we have to do for this class. Since we have been guided during this class as a learner, I felt that our final project is a perfect was to assess true learners.

How non blogger teachers communicate…

They don’t. I know several teachers that don’t even check their email because they don’t know how. I also know several teachers that you never see or talk too unless we have a mandatory meeting at which they sit by them selves. Communication amoung teachers in my school isn’t really something we do alot.

Portfolio and cheating

I don’t understand the big hype about portfolios. All the seniors in the state of KY must have portfolio with 5 pieces in them. This is then graded by the staff at the high school to prove that our students can write and write in such a way that the state is happy. I feel that eporfolios would make more sense since they start writing them their freshman years. This eportfiolio would allow the students to change, add, and delete pieces as they mature in writing. I am not for sure what they prove though. Why does the state want them? They give us the guide lines and train everyone to grade them the same and we keep them and the students never need them again. I don’t even think that that type of writing is required in the colleges (don’t know for sure though). The big hype may be to make sure that graduating students can read and write. You know you hear all those stories about the jocks graduating without being able to read or write. I guess they feel that can’t happen with portfolios. Yea, write! I’ve learned with high school students, where there is a will there is a way.

Of course this leads us to the cheating aspect of this blog. I would like to share a statement for one of my students just yesterday about cheating. “you can’t prove it and if you can’t prove it you can’t do anything about it.” Well, technically they are correct. I visually seen the student cheating thus promptly moved the other students away from that student. Of course, that student got mad and commented that I couldn’t give him a zero because he had the three problems down that he copied from the other student and I couldn’t prove that he cheated and that they would believe him over me. I just laughed and said yea, they sure will believe it with only 3 problems done and the rest of the test is blank. His tune changed a little then and he admitted he hadn’t listened in class, but of course was ready to listen them, during the test. Needless to say, he failed.
I also have another chronic cheater in another class that doesn’t know that I know she is cheating. I am waiting to catch her on a test, but haven’t had any luck yet. I plan next test to give her a specialized test just for her and hopefully cure her of her cheating ways. I’ll let you know how this turns out. By they way, I always call home after I catch a student cheating so that they will know why their student’s grades are so bad. (the parent always calls weeks later and asks anyways, but I just remind them of the situation).
Ok, I’ve given plenty of examples, I feel the only way for a student (the ones that are constant cheaters) is for them to want to learn the content. To make it interesting enough to them or to make it impossible to complete an the cumulative assignment without have learned the information instead of cheating. I have not mastered either one, but feel that if I could I wouldn’t have any one cheating.