Become a more confident language teacher.
If 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…
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As 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,…
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When 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…
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In language classes, we believe that midterms and finals should be easy for teachers and easy for students. But before I tell you why, let me tell you a little story. The First Year Teacher and the Semester Final Once upon a time, there was a middle school Spanish teacher. It was her first year…
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How 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,…
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The outcome of an assessment is never entirely dependent on student competency. There are a bazillion factors that influence student performance on an exam, and truly very few of them give us information about how well the student knows the material. With regard to assessment, it is our responsibility as teachers to limit the influence of those…
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Learning the difference between Formative and Summative Assessment has been an important part in my journey to rethinking how to assess and grade students. What is Formative Assessment? Formative Assessment is assessment that happens during a learning period. Formative assessments are like progress checks, and they are intended for the teacher to gather information about…
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I enjoy coming up with (or discovering) different kinds of questions to ask my students. It must be some sort of a sick teacher thing, because I can’t think of any reason that my students would be excited that a new question type popped up on their most recent assessment. I guess I like finding…
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Along with the holidays come something else that all teachers and students anticipate…end-of-semester assessments!!! While midterms and finals are often viewed as burdensome and intimidating–both for the students that take them and the teachers that create, administer, and grade them–they certainly do not have to be. What should semester exams in language classes look like? Let me…
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December 1 is Tuesday, which means that it’s time to start thinking about midterms and finals! I’ve shared most of the exams that I have used in the past on this blog, but I found one today in my files that I never posted. This was the first midterm that I gave after my switch…
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