March 27th (Chapter 10 & 11)

This week went very well. The weekend before it started I read both Chapters 10 and 12 and so it's a little more difficult to separate the material that I did read, but I do remember it listing all these different strategies for helping students become self-sufficient and I thought they were great ideas. I’m currently not sure how I feel about specific motivators (such as candy and small prizes) I've heard very mixed opinions about students expecting a reward after everything that they do good and how it's not a good self-motivator but more of an extrinsic motivator which doesn't help students in the long run. While at the same time I know that students need some motivation to accomplish tasks that they don't necessarily like. I feel as though it is a student-by-student judgment and you really need to know the student and understand what will work for them to succeed. On Wednesday we talked a lot about strategies for test taking which is also very important to understand how to better serve a classroom and students with special needs. I remember talking about things similar to this in the beginning of a section and I feel like I understand it even more; especially after all the material we have learned since then and we better know how to apply it into our teaching. One thing that we focused on today was formal and informal tests and the pro's and con's to each. To be totally honest, in my opinion, I believe that they both should be used in the classroom but each has its own specific use and purpose and we as teachers need to know when that is. When it comes to informal assessments those really help the students that do have test anxiety and it may even make them feel more comfortable and prepare them for formal test assessments. It also allows you to see how the student does in a regular classroom setting and it allows for some scaffolding. While formal tests it allows you to understand what exactly they are struggling with and could be a good measurement for what to teach/review and what the students already know. Formal teaching also allows you to prepare the students for more formal assessments that will happen from elementary school to college. With formal tests I believe it's just a little more necessary to help students learn to not be nervous when it comes to taking these tests.