Case: What shall we put in our notebooks today?

Case Introduction/Commentary

Currently, there are various assessment options available to teachers in each of the academic disciplines. Teachers must weigh these options and determine which one is best at meeting the objectives they set for their students. The following case illustrates an example where the teacher determined what she wanted her students to learn and accomplish in her class and then chose an assessment strategy that met and supported those objectives.

Case from Preservice Teacher

The high school English teacher that I am observing is very well organized. Her room is organized as well as her lessons. Not only is she well organized, but she expects her students to be organized as well. The students are not allowed to carry book bags into the classroom, so they all carry a large notebook that holds all of the necessary things they need during class. These notebooks are also used as their classroom assessment. For each new section Mrs. Sersey teaches, she creates a table of contents consisting of the classroom and homework writing assignments that the students have to complete. In class, she puts this table of contents on the transparency machine and the students copy it down to include in their notebooks. As students complete the assignments and receive feedback from Mrs. Sersey, they put them in the appropriate place in their notebook according to the table of contents. At the end of each section, the notebook is turned in.

Mrs. Sersey treats the notebook as a portfolio and makes additional comments on the individual assignments as well as on the notebook in general. She specifically focuses on the progress that each student made throughout the section. She also grades them on how well they organized their notebooks. Mrs. Sersey told me that she started using the notebook system because she thinks that it is important for students to not only complete the assignments but also to keep them organized so that they can see their own improvement. The comprehensive feedback that she gives them helps them to see the strengths and weaknesses in their writing. This way she can encourage different students to work on different weaknesses in the following section. I think this is an excellent way to teach students to be organized and an excellent way to make sure that they are doing their homework and keeping it for later use.

Case Questions

1. What do you see as the potential benefits of Mrs. Sersey's approach to assessment?
   
   
2. What do you see at the potential drawbacks of Mrs. Sersey's approach to assessment?
   
   
3. How can a similar assessment approach be implemented into classrooms other than English?
   
   
4. To what extent should teachers grade their students on criteria that are peripheral to classroom content, such as organization, preparedness, or following directions? Justify your answer.