Become a more confident language teacher.
This is my third year using Standards Based Assessment, and I’m hooked. WHY I LOVE STANDARDS BASED ASSESSMENT Reason #1: My students have a clear, measurable goal for my class, instead of a GPA goal. Throughout my entire school career, my goal was to earn a 100. An A. A 4.0. Or higher, if I was…
Read MoreStandards-based assessment means assessing students’ performance in reference to predetermined standards, goals, or outcomes for the course. In language classes, teachers will typically set targets for students to reach in the different communicative skills: interpretive reading, interpretive listening, presentational speaking, presentational writing, and possibly interpersonal speaking. I began using Standards Based Assessment, or at least…
Read MoreNew York State (NYS) revised their learning standards for Modern and Classical World Languages in 2021, and many NYS teachers are now wondering whether they need to make changes in their teaching in order to meet the new standards. As a team, we have spent a great deal of time pouring over the resources that…
Read MoreAs language teachers begin to consider implementing Standards Based Grading, a question quickly arises: what standards should I be grading? Typically, Standards Based Grading in language classes means basing student grades on their interpretive, presentational, and possibly interpersonal performance on summative assessments. Students complete interpretive reading and listening tasks and presentational writing and/or speaking tasks,…
Read MoreNote to the reader: this post should have been published on 2/12/13. Too many distractions!! Kristy’s recent post on #authres reminded me that it was sitting in my draft folder waiting to be published. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I had to settle to be a passive participant in #langchat tonight.…
Read MoreWhen we make changes to instruction, we must also change assessment (and vice versa!). If you—like me—are transitioning to a more proficiency-oriented, comprehension-based way of teaching, you are probably realizing that your old ScanTron Midterms and Finals just won’t cut it. So… what does a benchmark assessment (like a midterm or final) look like for…
Read MoreIf you are already feeling confident about your language instruction (the why, what, and how of Comprehension-based teaching), but not so sure about assessment, then we have just the thing you need. Assessment for Acquisition Boot Camp, starting soon! ASSESSMENT FOR ACQUISITION BOOT CAMP (A-ABC) is a two-week, self-directed learning experience designed to introduce you to…
Read MoreWhen a teacher is working alone to figure out how to grade students’ work in reference to a standards-based rubric, it can feel very daunting. It is hard to feel confident that you are making sound determinations when you are looking only at pieces of evidence produced by your own students. For that reason, teachers…
Read MoreHow do you grade reading comprehension? This has been a hard question for me to respond to for quite a few years now. I have felt somewhat torn about what kind of reading skills I have wanted to assess in order to fit my vision for a proficiency oriented course. Finally, I have a plan,…
Read MoreI asked my Facebook followers what I blog about on this, my 500th blog post since switching to WordPress in March of 2011. The consensus was to do something reflective…so here it is! When I dove head-first into TPRS® in early 2010, the only materials that I had to work with were those that I…
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