Reading Reflection 9

1. Description of a method of understanding prior-knowledge of students.

First, having students fill out a KWL chart will help us assess their prior knowledge on the subject, it will also give them a chance to recall and see the information they already know. Using anchors will also get a sense for where students are before starting and as the project grows, how they are progressing.

2. Discussion on the importance of establishing anchors for a project.

Using anchors will help students realize their learning abilities and where they are currently at before starting the project. It will also help teachers know where the student is and if the students are reaching the anchors throughout the project it will show that the project is successful and the students are learning and progressing.

3. Description of several ways to assess what students learned during the project.

Having students create something new will really show how knowledgeable they are about the topic and what they have learned in their own form of presentation. Another way to asses students is to evaluate them based on the standards that professionals use. Students will be working like professionals during their projects so assessing them in this way will show how far they have come and what they have learned. Another way to assess is to have them submit their projects in a contest or for publication. My teachers had us do this many times and I believe that this would make assessing more fun and students will work harder when they know their final work will go into a contest.

4. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

It is really important to know where students stand before a project so we can make sure to assess them on how far they’ve come. We also must know how to assess them when the type of project is so different from the usual learning in the classroom.