Mix-Match Assessment

Mix-Match Assessment is a resource that shows different types of assessments and how they can benefit students. I think this is so important because I know everybody learns in different ways and I think it is the same for the way we are assessed. I wanted to pair this resource with another resource called “What Type of Learner Are You?” because students should know the way that they learn best. Personally, I can pass a quiz on a reading I did but I don’t think that best displays what I have learned, I best display my knowledge in getting to sit down and write about it. If I can write about it then I fully understand. I could see this working in a classroom for assessing students on literacy in their content courses if the teacher gave the students options on how to be assessed and they can decide based on the way that they learn best. I think giving them the opportunity to choose how they are being assessed would give them ownership over the material they read.

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Understanding > Memorizing

The amount of times I have been assigned a reading out of a textbook and not done it or just barely skimmed the pages are too many to count. (I swear I read Chapter 6 though!) I think by the end of my high school career, the way I viewed any assigned readings was: do the least to get by. That meant spark notes, summaries, skimming, or just hoping I would be a good guesser.

via GIPHY

I think this is how so many students see reading assignments now so I loved all the different ideas that were brought up in the text, specifically Jigsaw. I love taking this strategy and applying it to a textbook because I think it really gives students ownership of the material. When a student is expected to be able to not only understand a text but also present it to their peers, they are going to learn the material. This worked for me as a student because the only time I really cared about fully understanding a text in high school was if I knew I would be assessed on the material. Using jigsaw is a great way to give students the feeling of being assessed but in a different form rather than just a typical reading quiz. This creates a low stress environment where students will actually comprehend the material rather than just memorize what they need to get by.

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Read Around the World

Being open about our weaknesses and shortcomings is so important. I think so much of our society, myself included, is so unexposed to what the world has to offer. Reading is a window into another society, another lifestyle. Ann Morgan set out to read one book from every country in the world in a year, she said, “It turns out if you want to read the world if you want to encounter it with an open mind, the world will help you.”  I think this is such a cool idea that could be used in a classroom, something that kids could take ownership of and get excited about. It would allow kids to see reading in a different light, different than a textbook!

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Advocates for Literacy

Reading is a skill necessary to be successful in life and with many students struggling with this skill, it is very clear that this is an issue that we all need to join hands and come together to fight against. After reading in Subjects Matter, it seemed like the two biggest things we can do for kids are equipping them with skills and encourage them. To me, the second one is much more crucial, but the first one is also very important.

Once students have skills and are equipped to read and comprehend more challenging texts, our biggest job as advocates for adolescents is to encourage them, to cheer them on every step of the way. At Hilsman Middle School, we were talking about kids that aren’t on level for reading and someone said something along the lines of this—Kids that struggle with reading are very aware of this. Yet they are coming to school everyday, a place where reading determines success—kids that read well are celebrated, and kids that don’t read well fail. These kids are brave and we need to celebrate and encourage them—when I heard this it really helped put into perspective how this would probably feel. You walk into a classroom and are expected to do assignments and whether you understand the material or not, you are unable to do it because you cannot read. That would be a really hard experience but it is a really cool opportunity to get to celebrate and encourage the kids that are likely ready to give up on school. Kids in middle school dealing with this are not a lost cause, and as advocates for these kids we need to lift them up and walk alongside them cheering them on as they grow in confidence.

via GIPHY

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