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Using the Tests You Think You Hate to Help the Students You Love

Walt Whitman

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Published in Achieving Next Generation Literacy: Using The Tests (You Think) You Hate To Help The Students You Love

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Stop seeing assessment as the enemy

If you're a teacher, you've probably had this experience: you spend hours creating a test, and then when you give it to your students, they bomb it. You're frustrated, your students are discouraged, and you start to wonder if you're even teaching them anything.

But what if I told you that tests don't have to be the enemy? What if I told you that they can actually be a valuable tool for helping your students learn?

Achieving Next Generation Literacy: Using the Tests (You Think) You Hate to Help the Students You Love

by Maureen Connolly

4 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	3720 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	160 pages

In this book, I'm going to show you how to use the tests you think you hate to help the students you love. I'm going to share with you my favorite assessment strategies, and I'm going to show you how to use them to:

Identify your students' strengths and weaknesses
Provide feedback that will help your students improve
Motivate your students to learn

I know that assessment can be a challenge, but it doesn't have to be. With the right strategies, you can use assessment to help your students succeed.

Transform your view of assessment

The first step to using assessment to help your students learn is to change the way you think about it. Assessment is not about punishment; it's about providing information that can help students improve.

When you see assessment as a tool for learning, you'll be more likely to use it in a way that is helpful to your students. You'll also be more likely to be patient and understanding when your students don't do well on a test.

Embrace authentic assessment

Authentic assessment is a type of assessment that measures students' performance on real-world tasks. This type of assessment is more meaningful than traditional tests, and it can help students transfer their learning to new situations.

There are many different ways to use authentic assessment in the classroom. Here are a few examples:

Have students create a portfolio of their work
Have students present their learning to the class
Have students solve a problem in a real-world setting

Authentic assessment can be challenging, but it's worth the effort. When students see that their learning is connected to the real world, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated.

Use assessment to differentiate instruction

Differentiation is the process of tailoring instruction to meet the needs of individual students. Assessment can be used to identify students' strengths and weaknesses, and this information can be used to differentiate instruction.

Here are a few ways to use assessment to differentiate instruction:

Provide students with different levels of support
Give students different types of assignments
Provide students with different feedback

Differentiation can help all students succeed, regardless of their learning style or ability level.

Use assessment to motivate students

Assessment can be used to motivate students by providing them with feedback on their progress. When students know where they stand, they can set goals and work towards them.

Here are a few ways to use assessment to motivate students:

Set clear learning goals
Provide regular feedback
Celebrate student success

When students feel successful, they are more likely to be motivated to learn.

Assessment is a powerful tool that can be used to help students learn. If you're not using assessment to help your students, you're missing out on a valuable opportunity to improve their learning.

I encourage you to read this book and learn more about how to use assessment to help your students succeed.

Achieving Next Generation Literacy: Using the Tests (You Think) You Hate to Help the Students You Love

by Maureen Connolly

4 out of 5