It is interesting that this week’s readings focus on both teaching drama and designing successful performance assessments. While drama is a chance for actors and playwrights to demonstrate a story through performance, the performance assessment is an opportunity for students to “show what they know” by demonstrating mastery skills through final products or performances (Russell and Airasian, 2012, p. 206). Indeed, we see elements of drama in this type of assessment. The teacher becomes the playwright for he or she must design the assessment with a proper purpose in mind. The teacher’s designed criteria become the stage directions students must follow in order to demonstrate competence as masters of the assessed skills. Teachers, like directors, must also control the setting in which the assessment takes place—natural or formal, performance or written. Finally, the teacher becomes the critic and judges the actors/students based on their performance abilities using tools such as checklists, rating scales, and rubrics (2012). However, a dramatic piece of literature and a performance assessment are obviously quite different in one aspect. While dramas are usually works of fiction or at least creative nonfiction, performance assessments are quite real and should be designed in ways that provide proper insights into what knowledge and skills students have successfully acquired.
In Chapter Eight of Bridging English (2012), Milner et al. describe how to engage students in drama. I do not think this is so challenging when teaching more contemporary drama, but it is true that students are often nervous when asked to study Shakespeare and many are even unwilling to try. Milner et al. make a valid point when they demand us to “turn to the stage, not the page” when teaching dramas (2012, p. 264). Most plays, after all, are meant to be observed visually and aurally in order to properly explore plot, setting, characters, themes, and form. Simply reading a play can kill it, according to Milner et al., and failing to take the time in the classroom to demonstrate appreciate for a play and all its parts can be the reason most students graduate high school thinking plays such as those written by Shakespeare are intimidating (2012). I especially like that this chapter invites teachers to design activities in which the students can act out plays or skits to comprehend the emotions characters must be feeling within the text. It is often said we learn better by doing. If this is true, then using precious time to let students “do” plays, just might be the right tool for engaging students in the world of drama.
Kate, I love how you connect the two chapters through a metaphor, that was really helpful. All the elements made a lot of sense. You could even connect it with your final teaching portfolio for the teaching of writing! Regardless though, you make many good points regarding how we use dramas in the classroom and you especially highlight the need for students to "see" the plays/dramas. I think that being able to visualize the play is pivotal to students comprehending them. Fortunately, there are so many resources and ways in which we can incorporate that visualization aside from simply taking students on a play field trip. Even YouTube alone has countless videos available now that aid in students' understanding the texts.
I mainly like the idea of performance assessments as described by Russell because they break up the routine. I know a lot of my classes in high school followed a pattern of introducing a book, reading a book with interspersed discussion, and then capping off the unit with some sort of test. While we often did essays, which are a form of performance assessment, the more unusual types (like speeches or performances) are the ones that had the most effect on me and stand out most in my memory. These types of assessments really do give the opportunity for a student to “show what [they] can do” versus merely showing what they “know” (203).
We’ve discussed this idea in class, but I really like the idea of involving the student in the development of a rubric for a performances assessment (229). My experience with performance assessment in a teaching role influenced this opinion. This past summer the teacher I worked with at Phillips Academy asked our students at Phillips Academy to create a presentation on the topic of their choice, the only requirement being that it last ten minutes. Because the project was so open and the rubric not addressed until the day of the presentations, the project ended up being a disaster. The teacher was very unforgiving, but I felt much of the blame lay on his shoulders, as he never specified his desires for the product, nor did he discuss them with the kids. This experience drove home how important it is to specify, at least in part, the shape the performance assessment should take and exactly how it will be evaluated. Allowing students to take part in the process doubly prepares them for what’s to come, as they have the opportunity to participate in the evaluation and clarify any questions that may come up.
The emphasis Milner places on performance in teaching drama appeals to me. Nothing deadens a play more to me than reading it and putting it aside. The numerous strategies Milner offers to keep a dramatic narrative alive all seem like they’d work well, but I especially like the idea of preparing ninth grade students to put on a performance for younger students (269). This would require some logistical work to prepare, but it seems like the teacher who proposed this activity had created a tradition that students looked forward to when entering the ninth grade. I’m leery of using Facebook (256) in the classroom, even if it’s only to create a page for a fictional character. I worry that that type of activity cuts too close to the students’ personal lives, as most kids have Facebook pages now. The idea of creating an iPod playlist for a character (268), however, seems fun. It connects the play to contemporary art and forces students to consider characters’ motives and emotions.
I also like the idea of involving students in creating rubrics, and you gave a very practical example of why it is so important to set clear and specific guidelines for students to follow. I believe that we as teachers should do everything possible to set our students up for success by being forthright with them about how they will be assessed.
I also identified with what you said about “deadening” a play by simply reading it and putting it aside. I feel that way about all literature; we need to give life to text so our students can appreciate them the way that we do. It is those creative assignments that provide lasting lessons. I remember reading Remarque’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” in the 9th grade and just thinking it was pretty much the most boring thing in the world; that is, until I wrote a song about it’s theme of “lost youth” with two of my classmates as a final project. The book was suddenly meaningful to me, I went back and reread certain pages and chapters and though deeply about what Remarque was trying to say. Unfortunately the song stylings of 9th graders are not always that great, and I still remember every word and the melody to the song and it still pops into my head to this day!
In Chapter 8 of Classroom Assessment: Concepts and Applications, we are introduced to the concept of performance assessments. I am always happy to find any alternative to traditional pen-and-paper tests, so I hope that I’m able to work performance assessments into my classroom. Drama and acting out scenes from plays, as discussed in this weeks’ Bridging English chapter, would be a useful form of evaluation; portfolios would be another. Figure 8.5 on page 233 helps act as a guide to the kinds of “specific, measurable” pieces that can go in a portfolio for assessment, and it reminds us that a portfolio need not just be a collection of papers.
This week’s reading from Language and Reflection: An Integrated Approach to Teaching English doesn’t necessarily present anything new, but is a useful reminder of the four reading models we have explored throughout the semester. Of these four – language-as-artifact, language-as-development, language-as-expression, and language-as-social-construct – I am still unsure whether I fall into a particular category or favor one over any of the others. After all, “There are as many different kinds of learners as there are students” (Gere, Fairbanks, Howes, Roop, & Shaafsma, 1992, p. 220), and as the Huckleberry Finn example shows us, each of these models might work poorly for some kinds of students while working wonderfully for others.
Chapter 8 of Bridging English touches on an aspect of teaching that I have never encountered in all my classes in this graduate program: drama. In my experience, drama is an excellent way for students to interact with text. For one thing, it allows students to experience text in a more lively way than sitting at desks or armchairs; the act of reading becomes active rather than passive. For another, it encourages the students to take ownership of the material in a more genuine way, taking on roles and acting out scenes that would otherwise lay dormant on the written page. “Drama calls on the full array of Gardner’s multiple intelligences: verbal, logical, visual/spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal” (Milner & Milner, 2007, p. 252), so it can help a wide variety of learners to show off their strengths while still proving that they understand the larger concepts of text.
We did a lot of talking about portfolios being much more than paper in our Teaching of Writing class and how useful they can be as alternative assessments (you should have been there! JK, I know you already took the class!) But like you say, performance assessments are an awesome alternative to traditional tests too, especially when doing a unit on drama.
I’m glad you feel that you don’t fall into a specific category. Truthfully, I don’t think anyone does. We pick and choose from each one as we adapt our teaching methods and adapt to our students. I can see teachers generally sticking to one construct, but they change it up when necessary or they have a certain construct when they do a certain unit. I think there are too many variables in the modern day classroom for teachers to fit into one of these categories.
Milner, Milner, and Mitchell (2012), open up their discussion about drama in Chapter 8 with the idea that plays are the perfect match for utilizing Gardiner’s multiple intelligences in the classroom (p. 252). Which of course prompts one to question why so many teachers simple read these plays with their class or assign most of them to read it at home? In a class I visited recently students formed groups, took turns acting out different acts from the plays in front of the rest of the classroom, then provided an oral summary of the act and lead a discussion about it; it seemed to keep everyone engaged and interested. Milner, Milner, and Mitchell (2012) provide fun projects that delve even further into characters. Some of my favorites were creating Facebook profiles for characters, acting out marriage counseling scenarios, and the “Hamlet’s Bipolar Express” chart. Activities like these can be fun and help tie the themes of the play and into the modern world. I also like the idea presented in “final caution,” where students explore the idea of choice and are reminded that “actions come first; the explanation and summation come afterward” (Milner, Milner, & Mitchel, 2012, p. 259).
This week’s chapter in Gere, et al. (1992) had an air of conclusion to it as it summarized, compared, and contrasted the different approaches to teaching English. Although I feel even more strongly about the “Language as a Social Construct” approach, I understand that it is more important to be flexible and do what works best for you and your students. For me, the cornerstone of which a teacher should build the foundation of their approach in the classroom begins with the idea on page 229: “just as each student brings specific talents, each student also brings his or her own version of literacy to the classroom, one that can contribute unique insights to discussions and written texts.”
After reading Chapter 8 in Russell and Airasian I still prefer performance assessments to more traditional kinds such as timed tests and quizzes; however, they seem like a lot more work for the teacher! As a High School student I was a master of memorizing and reiterating on exams and therefore did quite well, but the amount of practical knowledge I retained and can rely upon in my adult life is, while indeterminate at best, is definitely on the low side. By assessing our students on both their process and products we give them the opportunity to show us what they know and have learned with clearly defined guidelines that don’t box them in to “black or white” knowledge, we let them show us all of those concepts in the “gray areas” they have processed.
I completely agree with your thoughts on how much practical information you retained in high school. I did the same thing, memorize and reiterate. Depending on the information I may have remembered the things I enjoyed, but the only way I made it through science classes was this method. Even though performance assessments are more work for us, I feel like it is so much more worth it in the long run for students. I want to give students the memorization and reiteration kind of work as little as possible, but I am sure that whatever school we end up in will require some amount of written testing in the classroom.
The quote that you chose from Gere is so great. It really sums up what we need to expect from our students. As much as we would like to just choose one approach to teaching English, teachers need to be on their toes for what their students are going to bring into the classroom. We shape our teaching around what our students need and what they come into the classroom with. This ties into the different activities you mention in your first paragraph. Some students will love these Facebook profiles for characters, but others might rather write something or act something out. Our students are our focal point in the classroom and I hope to reach their needs as much as I can with my approach to teaching.
In Gere’s chapter on “Exploring and Evaluating the Approaches” there is a section on the difference for the student, which talks about the different approaches and which students would benefit from each. “The language-as-expression approach is apt to work best with students who feel comfortable exploring themselves and their feelings… the language-as-social-construct approach is apt to capitalize on students’ interests in discovering knowledge together… the language-as-artifact approach will most likely appeal to students who prefer a more structured and more teacher-directed classroom… the language-as-development approach – in theory at least – is designed to work with any and every student by recognizing the student’s particular stage of development…” (Gere et al., 1992, p. 220). Each of these different language approaches is something that we as future teachers are going to have to use in our classroom. I hope to try and reach each of my students individually, although sometimes I have that doubt that I will not be able to handle the many different types of instruction my students will need. I wonder if there is any teacher out there that has perfected this balancing act? I had been talking to one of my roommates over the weekend and she had mentioned that she was a hands on learner and she begged me not to use the two column note taking method that she was forced to use in high school because she did not learn anything from it. We talked for about how different students learn differently and how although she did not benefit from this type of note taking, other students might have. It was interesting to then read this section and see how there are so many different approaches that teachers need to be aware of.
In Russell’s chapter on “Performance Assessments” I really appreciated the section on how to develop them. The diving example was a great visual of how performance assessment works. The four features of a performance assessment “have a clear purpose… identify observable aspects of the student’s performance… provide an appropriate setting for eliciting and judging… provide a judgment or score to describe the performance” (Russell & Airasian, 2012, p. 208). Each of these steps really sum up what I thought was necessary for this kind of assessment, especially providing a judgment or score. I think one thing I always resented teachers for was late grades. Not all teachers did this, but there were those few teachers in both high school and college that would give a grade back weeks later. We have talked about this in class before, how giving a grade back too late can make it worthless to the student. Immediate feedback is the best because the student will take more from it and recall the work they did so they know why the received the grade they did. The longer it takes, the more the students will forget the work and therefore the less they will care for the grade.
As a general comment to chapter eight in Milner’s text, I LOVE the idea of adding drama to learning. “Pivotal Vignettes,” “Human Slideshows,” “Character Profiles,” “Picture Plays,” and the list goes on, are all such cool ideas for the classroom (Milner et al., 2012). The more we get students up and moving the more engaged they will be. Every time I was able to move around a classroom I took so much more from the lesson. A great example is from Phitsamay’s class Teaching Diverse Populations that I took this past summer. We all stood in a circle and went around saying our name and a symbol that would represent us for the rest of the semester. I think I could still tell you the symbols of my classmates. Things that get students moving and using their minds and bodies are always better approaches than just writing and reading, as least in my eyes. Let students act out a scene from a play, I truly believe they will understand the scene better after acting it out than if they had just read the play silently or even in groups.
Before I began reading this chapter, I found myself wondering: schools always have a drama club or at least enough people to put on a play. Usually enough students express interest in performing and take it seriously, and schools can have a new production each year. But for the rest of the school, it can be difficult to get students engaged in reading a play in class. I think there is a difference in working to perform, and working on it in class. One is work, the other is play.
This chapter reminded me about the poetry discussion we had in the Teaching of Writing: we need to make it accessible. Many of the plays we are going to be forced to read with our students are old; they are classics. Modernizing the plays is one way to get students engaged and interested. It makes it not as far of a reach when they’re trying to learn from it.
Russell 8 Classroom Assessment: Performance Assessment
I decided to focus on the developing performance assessments section of this chapter because I thought it went along really well with the chapter about engaging drama. There were four key points that every performance should do: 1. have a clear purpose that identifies the decision to be made based on the performance assessment; 2. identify observable aspects of the student’s performance or product that can be judged; 3. provide an appropriate setting for eliciting and judging the performance or product; and 4. provide a judgment or score to describe performance (208-209). I think it’s important for teachers to stop and actually think about these things before going forward for performance assessments. They can easily end up all over the map, so students and teachers need to know what the focus is going to be.
Gere 8 Language and Reflection: Exploring and Evaluating the Approaches
I found it difficult to follow along with this chapter, going back and forth between the different approaches and trying to see what exactly was different about them. But when I got to the end, it all kind of made sense. The approaches may focus on different things, but teachers generally don’t stick to one approach their whole careers. They experience the different approaches depending on what is working best for their students at the time and they try to develop a happy medium. It’s important to remember that each approach has something of value for students.
I also thought that the Milner chapter on drama dovetailed nicely with Russell’s chapter on performance assessment. Drama, after all, is a type of performance assessment – one of the very few cases in which an English classroom lends itself to a kinesthetic assessment. Usually ELA classes focus only on things like reading and writing, which is why I thought examples like diving, while useful to understand the concept, weren’t really apt. But drama allows students to show off different kinds of “multiple intelligences” than the ones traditionally found in an ELA classroom.
It’s funny that you said it was difficult to follow along with the Gere chapter, because I found it difficult as well. The four approaches all seemed so straightforward when I read about them individually, but when all summed up in such broad strokes, I realized that I perhaps didn’t grasp them as fully as I initially should have. The examples given, however, such as applying the four models to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, were extremely helpful in breaking down the similarities and differences.
Drama. It’s a topic rarely studied with the exception of Shakespeare. Do students today know that there are other playwrights beside Shakespeare? Drama can cover any topic that literature can and provides students with a way to appreciate literature in a new way. Students can act out a piece or watch others act it out. They can learn to interpret and critique various versions of a play. Drama can be used to illustrate effective dialogue and how authors use it to convey a variety of things. Drama is not for the creative writing electives only. It can be used to illustrate a difficult topic or used to provide relief after a difficult topic. We rarely think about how stressful certain readings or lessons may be. Having lessons that involve a funny story, a cute poem, or a fantastical play can provide students with a much needed break from the overly stressful content. Drama can also be part of that serious content and can be used as yet another method of displaying it. For visual learners, drama offers a visual venue. Most plays can be found on the internet somewhere or seen in a theater. Students that struggle with the written content can view it instead and be asked to complete the same amount of work. It offers these students a chance to succeed when they normally wouldn't.
In Classroom Assessment and Language and Reflection, tried and true topics are covered. Drama also provides a type of performance assessment. It can be used to assess a student’s understanding or used to assess a student’s interpretation. By having the students act out scenes we get an idea of not only what they understand about the play but we also get a sense of how they interpret the play. Inflection, tone, and the use of body language all come into play when the students are acting out a scene. As teachers, we can use these clues to assess our students understanding and interpretation of the play. If they demonstrate a lack of understanding then we have a good place for our next lesson. Much like writing mini-lessons based on students own writing, we can have mini-lessons based on students performances and understanding. If we see all students are struggling with a certain aspect of the piece then we know that that needs to be covered again and in a different way. It allows us, as teachers, to improve upon ourselves and our methods.
I think you make a great point in your first paragraph. I know in my own high school education, the only drama I encountered was Shakespeare, The Crucible, and Death of a Salesman. While all of those were memorable, that's also a very narrow experience of the genre. It wasn't until I got to college and was exposed to contemporary drama that I found how varied and interesting modern theater can be. I wonder if drama occupies the same sort of space that poetry does - do teachers avoid it because they're unfamiliar with it, or find it inaccessible? It's more difficult to read the script of a play and analyze it than it is with a novel. So much of drama's effectiveness relies on things beyond the page. That should be seen as an opportunity, though, not something to avoid. I like your suggestion that drama can be seen in a theater. We're fortunate that we live relatively close to Boston, where it's easy to find college or local productions. Teachers could map out a unit based on what's available to see in the area.
Your second point is a good one, too. Drama is, in one respect, an easy thing to evaluate, as a student's performance gives a lot of clues about his or her understanding of the piece.
I was really glad to finally read about performance assessment in Classroom Assessment. I think this is one of the most valuable forms of assessment and I fully plan to use it often in my own classroom. What I most appreciate about performance assessments is how the teacher can observe so many factors. With tests, we see only information for which we have specifically asked. And even more limiting is the fact that tests don’t show us where students guessed or simply circled an answer because they had no idea. Performance assessments on the other hand, allow teachers to examine several skills at once, along with acquired knowledge. Teachers get a glimpse into process and preparation. When alternated with product assessments they also give students the opportunity to flex different skill muscles.
Furthermore, performance assessments allow students to develop various communication skills. Throughout my undergraduate years, I observed so many students who were seriously lacking in basic presentation skills. These skills should really be learned at a much earlier age. Granted, many students get really nervous giving presentations (I’ve been there, and I fully understand that as I continue to get nervous in certain presentation situations). However, performance assessments are not limited to presentations. They can include class discussions, student interviews, debates, interactive group work, etc. Basically, there are many ways we can develop strong communication skills in students.
I also enjoyed the chapter on drama in Bridging English. Knowing that I will potentially be teaching Romeo and Juliet at Greater Lowell Tech in the spring, I found this chapter to be really helpful. To connect back to performance assessment, I think incorporating drama in the classroom allows teachers many opportunities to incorporate performance assessments that will be fun and engaging. I really liked the ideas of producing “talkshows” like Oprah that will allow students to connect with the characters. Milner et al. state, “These activities span years of creative attempts to bring Shakespeare alive in secondary classrooms” (2012, p. 265). This sums up an overarching goal for teachers, to bring drama alive in the classroom so as to engage students.
I agree with you 100% about the limitations of traditional pen and paper tests. Not only do they often expect students to simply parrot information back to the teacher, but I believe they encourage assessing learning based on one skill: test-taking ability. Let’s face it: not all good students are successful test-takers. It cannot be clearer. What we do know, however, is that if we give our students sufficient time and the means to “show off” what they know, then not only are we going to get a more accurate picture of what our students have learned, but they will actually benefit from the process as well. Isn’t this what we want our students to do—benefit from learning? Yes!
Do I think classes should be totally performance-assessment driven? In a perfect world, this would be nice. However, the traditional assessment is probably still necessary for the interim between well-developed performance assessments. For some classes where the motivation is low, we might be forced to assign reading check quizzes just to provide extra incentive for completing the reading. In my imaginary, ideal English teacher world, this would not be the case. Every student would come to class prepared to dive into the texts and show me eagerly what they have learned—but let’s be real. I will happily settle for making performance assessments worth more in my classes in regards to both grading and learning.
It is interesting that this week’s readings focus on both teaching drama and designing successful performance assessments. While drama is a chance for actors and playwrights to demonstrate a story through performance, the performance assessment is an opportunity for students to “show what they know” by demonstrating mastery skills through final products or performances (Russell and Airasian, 2012, p. 206). Indeed, we see elements of drama in this type of assessment. The teacher becomes the playwright for he or she must design the assessment with a proper purpose in mind. The teacher’s designed criteria become the stage directions students must follow in order to demonstrate competence as masters of the assessed skills. Teachers, like directors, must also control the setting in which the assessment takes place—natural or formal, performance or written. Finally, the teacher becomes the critic and judges the actors/students based on their performance abilities using tools such as checklists, rating scales, and rubrics (2012). However, a dramatic piece of literature and a performance assessment are obviously quite different in one aspect. While dramas are usually works of fiction or at least creative nonfiction, performance assessments are quite real and should be designed in ways that provide proper insights into what knowledge and skills students have successfully acquired.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter Eight of Bridging English (2012), Milner et al. describe how to engage students in drama. I do not think this is so challenging when teaching more contemporary drama, but it is true that students are often nervous when asked to study Shakespeare and many are even unwilling to try. Milner et al. make a valid point when they demand us to “turn to the stage, not the page” when teaching dramas (2012, p. 264). Most plays, after all, are meant to be observed visually and aurally in order to properly explore plot, setting, characters, themes, and form. Simply reading a play can kill it, according to Milner et al., and failing to take the time in the classroom to demonstrate appreciate for a play and all its parts can be the reason most students graduate high school thinking plays such as those written by Shakespeare are intimidating (2012). I especially like that this chapter invites teachers to design activities in which the students can act out plays or skits to comprehend the emotions characters must be feeling within the text. It is often said we learn better by doing. If this is true, then using precious time to let students “do” plays, just might be the right tool for engaging students in the world of drama.
Kate, I love how you connect the two chapters through a metaphor, that was really helpful. All the elements made a lot of sense. You could even connect it with your final teaching portfolio for the teaching of writing! Regardless though, you make many good points regarding how we use dramas in the classroom and you especially highlight the need for students to "see" the plays/dramas. I think that being able to visualize the play is pivotal to students comprehending them. Fortunately, there are so many resources and ways in which we can incorporate that visualization aside from simply taking students on a play field trip. Even YouTube alone has countless videos available now that aid in students' understanding the texts.
DeleteI mainly like the idea of performance assessments as described by Russell because they break up the routine. I know a lot of my classes in high school followed a pattern of introducing a book, reading a book with interspersed discussion, and then capping off the unit with some sort of test. While we often did essays, which are a form of performance assessment, the more unusual types (like speeches or performances) are the ones that had the most effect on me and stand out most in my memory. These types of assessments really do give the opportunity for a student to “show what [they] can do” versus merely showing what they “know” (203).
ReplyDeleteWe’ve discussed this idea in class, but I really like the idea of involving the student in the development of a rubric for a performances assessment (229). My experience with performance assessment in a teaching role influenced this opinion. This past summer the teacher I worked with at Phillips Academy asked our students at Phillips Academy to create a presentation on the topic of their choice, the only requirement being that it last ten minutes. Because the project was so open and the rubric not addressed until the day of the presentations, the project ended up being a disaster. The teacher was very unforgiving, but I felt much of the blame lay on his shoulders, as he never specified his desires for the product, nor did he discuss them with the kids. This experience drove home how important it is to specify, at least in part, the shape the performance assessment should take and exactly how it will be evaluated. Allowing students to take part in the process doubly prepares them for what’s to come, as they have the opportunity to participate in the evaluation and clarify any questions that may come up.
The emphasis Milner places on performance in teaching drama appeals to me. Nothing deadens a play more to me than reading it and putting it aside. The numerous strategies Milner offers to keep a dramatic narrative alive all seem like they’d work well, but I especially like the idea of preparing ninth grade students to put on a performance for younger students (269). This would require some logistical work to prepare, but it seems like the teacher who proposed this activity had created a tradition that students looked forward to when entering the ninth grade. I’m leery of using Facebook (256) in the classroom, even if it’s only to create a page for a fictional character. I worry that that type of activity cuts too close to the students’ personal lives, as most kids have Facebook pages now. The idea of creating an iPod playlist for a character (268), however, seems fun. It connects the play to contemporary art and forces students to consider characters’ motives and emotions.
Hi Kate,
DeleteI also like the idea of involving students in creating rubrics, and you gave a very practical example of why it is so important to set clear and specific guidelines for students to follow. I believe that we as teachers should do everything possible to set our students up for success by being forthright with them about how they will be assessed.
I also identified with what you said about “deadening” a play by simply reading it and putting it aside. I feel that way about all literature; we need to give life to text so our students can appreciate them the way that we do. It is those creative assignments that provide lasting lessons. I remember reading Remarque’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” in the 9th grade and just thinking it was pretty much the most boring thing in the world; that is, until I wrote a song about it’s theme of “lost youth” with two of my classmates as a final project. The book was suddenly meaningful to me, I went back and reread certain pages and chapters and though deeply about what Remarque was trying to say. Unfortunately the song stylings of 9th graders are not always that great, and I still remember every word and the melody to the song and it still pops into my head to this day!
~Trish
In Chapter 8 of Classroom Assessment: Concepts and Applications, we are introduced to the concept of performance assessments. I am always happy to find any alternative to traditional pen-and-paper tests, so I hope that I’m able to work performance assessments into my classroom. Drama and acting out scenes from plays, as discussed in this weeks’ Bridging English chapter, would be a useful form of evaluation; portfolios would be another. Figure 8.5 on page 233 helps act as a guide to the kinds of “specific, measurable” pieces that can go in a portfolio for assessment, and it reminds us that a portfolio need not just be a collection of papers.
ReplyDeleteThis week’s reading from Language and Reflection: An Integrated Approach to Teaching English doesn’t necessarily present anything new, but is a useful reminder of the four reading models we have explored throughout the semester. Of these four – language-as-artifact, language-as-development, language-as-expression, and language-as-social-construct – I am still unsure whether I fall into a particular category or favor one over any of the others. After all, “There are as many different kinds of learners as there are students” (Gere, Fairbanks, Howes, Roop, & Shaafsma, 1992, p. 220), and as the Huckleberry Finn example shows us, each of these models might work poorly for some kinds of students while working wonderfully for others.
Chapter 8 of Bridging English touches on an aspect of teaching that I have never encountered in all my classes in this graduate program: drama. In my experience, drama is an excellent way for students to interact with text. For one thing, it allows students to experience text in a more lively way than sitting at desks or armchairs; the act of reading becomes active rather than passive. For another, it encourages the students to take ownership of the material in a more genuine way, taking on roles and acting out scenes that would otherwise lay dormant on the written page. “Drama calls on the full array of Gardner’s multiple intelligences: verbal, logical, visual/spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal” (Milner & Milner, 2007, p. 252), so it can help a wide variety of learners to show off their strengths while still proving that they understand the larger concepts of text.
Scott,
DeleteWe did a lot of talking about portfolios being much more than paper in our Teaching of Writing class and how useful they can be as alternative assessments (you should have been there! JK, I know you already took the class!) But like you say, performance assessments are an awesome alternative to traditional tests too, especially when doing a unit on drama.
I’m glad you feel that you don’t fall into a specific category. Truthfully, I don’t think anyone does. We pick and choose from each one as we adapt our teaching methods and adapt to our students. I can see teachers generally sticking to one construct, but they change it up when necessary or they have a certain construct when they do a certain unit. I think there are too many variables in the modern day classroom for teachers to fit into one of these categories.
ReplyDeleteMilner, Milner, and Mitchell (2012), open up their discussion about drama in Chapter 8 with the idea that plays are the perfect match for utilizing Gardiner’s multiple intelligences in the classroom (p. 252). Which of course prompts one to question why so many teachers simple read these plays with their class or assign most of them to read it at home? In a class I visited recently students formed groups, took turns acting out different acts from the plays in front of the rest of the classroom, then provided an oral summary of the act and lead a discussion about it; it seemed to keep everyone engaged and interested. Milner, Milner, and Mitchell (2012) provide fun projects that delve even further into characters. Some of my favorites were creating Facebook profiles for characters, acting out marriage counseling scenarios, and the “Hamlet’s Bipolar Express” chart. Activities like these can be fun and help tie the themes of the play and into the modern world. I also like the idea presented in “final caution,” where students explore the idea of choice and are reminded that “actions come first; the explanation and summation come afterward” (Milner, Milner, & Mitchel, 2012, p. 259).
This week’s chapter in Gere, et al. (1992) had an air of conclusion to it as it summarized, compared, and contrasted the different approaches to teaching English. Although I feel even more strongly about the “Language as a Social Construct” approach, I understand that it is more important to be flexible and do what works best for you and your students. For me, the cornerstone of which a teacher should build the foundation of their approach in the classroom begins with the idea on page 229: “just as each student brings specific talents, each student also brings his or her own version of literacy to the classroom, one that can contribute unique insights to discussions and written texts.”
After reading Chapter 8 in Russell and Airasian I still prefer performance assessments to more traditional kinds such as timed tests and quizzes; however, they seem like a lot more work for the teacher! As a High School student I was a master of memorizing and reiterating on exams and therefore did quite well, but the amount of practical knowledge I retained and can rely upon in my adult life is, while indeterminate at best, is definitely on the low side. By assessing our students on both their process and products we give them the opportunity to show us what they know and have learned with clearly defined guidelines that don’t box them in to “black or white” knowledge, we let them show us all of those concepts in the “gray areas” they have processed.
Hi Trish!
DeleteI completely agree with your thoughts on how much practical information you retained in high school. I did the same thing, memorize and reiterate. Depending on the information I may have remembered the things I enjoyed, but the only way I made it through science classes was this method. Even though performance assessments are more work for us, I feel like it is so much more worth it in the long run for students. I want to give students the memorization and reiteration kind of work as little as possible, but I am sure that whatever school we end up in will require some amount of written testing in the classroom.
The quote that you chose from Gere is so great. It really sums up what we need to expect from our students. As much as we would like to just choose one approach to teaching English, teachers need to be on their toes for what their students are going to bring into the classroom. We shape our teaching around what our students need and what they come into the classroom with. This ties into the different activities you mention in your first paragraph. Some students will love these Facebook profiles for characters, but others might rather write something or act something out. Our students are our focal point in the classroom and I hope to reach their needs as much as I can with my approach to teaching.
In Gere’s chapter on “Exploring and Evaluating the Approaches” there is a section on the difference for the student, which talks about the different approaches and which students would benefit from each. “The language-as-expression approach is apt to work best with students who feel comfortable exploring themselves and their feelings… the language-as-social-construct approach is apt to capitalize on students’ interests in discovering knowledge together… the language-as-artifact approach will most likely appeal to students who prefer a more structured and more teacher-directed classroom… the language-as-development approach – in theory at least – is designed to work with any and every student by recognizing the student’s particular stage of development…” (Gere et al., 1992, p. 220). Each of these different language approaches is something that we as future teachers are going to have to use in our classroom. I hope to try and reach each of my students individually, although sometimes I have that doubt that I will not be able to handle the many different types of instruction my students will need. I wonder if there is any teacher out there that has perfected this balancing act? I had been talking to one of my roommates over the weekend and she had mentioned that she was a hands on learner and she begged me not to use the two column note taking method that she was forced to use in high school because she did not learn anything from it. We talked for about how different students learn differently and how although she did not benefit from this type of note taking, other students might have. It was interesting to then read this section and see how there are so many different approaches that teachers need to be aware of.
ReplyDeleteIn Russell’s chapter on “Performance Assessments” I really appreciated the section on how to develop them. The diving example was a great visual of how performance assessment works. The four features of a performance assessment “have a clear purpose… identify observable aspects of the student’s performance… provide an appropriate setting for eliciting and judging… provide a judgment or score to describe the performance” (Russell & Airasian, 2012, p. 208). Each of these steps really sum up what I thought was necessary for this kind of assessment, especially providing a judgment or score. I think one thing I always resented teachers for was late grades. Not all teachers did this, but there were those few teachers in both high school and college that would give a grade back weeks later. We have talked about this in class before, how giving a grade back too late can make it worthless to the student. Immediate feedback is the best because the student will take more from it and recall the work they did so they know why the received the grade they did. The longer it takes, the more the students will forget the work and therefore the less they will care for the grade.
As a general comment to chapter eight in Milner’s text, I LOVE the idea of adding drama to learning. “Pivotal Vignettes,” “Human Slideshows,” “Character Profiles,” “Picture Plays,” and the list goes on, are all such cool ideas for the classroom (Milner et al., 2012). The more we get students up and moving the more engaged they will be. Every time I was able to move around a classroom I took so much more from the lesson. A great example is from Phitsamay’s class Teaching Diverse Populations that I took this past summer. We all stood in a circle and went around saying our name and a symbol that would represent us for the rest of the semester. I think I could still tell you the symbols of my classmates. Things that get students moving and using their minds and bodies are always better approaches than just writing and reading, as least in my eyes. Let students act out a scene from a play, I truly believe they will understand the scene better after acting it out than if they had just read the play silently or even in groups.
Chapter 8 Bridging English: Engaging Drama
ReplyDeleteBefore I began reading this chapter, I found myself wondering: schools always have a drama club or at least enough people to put on a play. Usually enough students express interest in performing and take it seriously, and schools can have a new production each year. But for the rest of the school, it can be difficult to get students engaged in reading a play in class. I think there is a difference in working to perform, and working on it in class. One is work, the other is play.
This chapter reminded me about the poetry discussion we had in the Teaching of Writing: we need to make it accessible. Many of the plays we are going to be forced to read with our students are old; they are classics. Modernizing the plays is one way to get students engaged and interested. It makes it not as far of a reach when they’re trying to learn from it.
Russell 8 Classroom Assessment: Performance Assessment
I decided to focus on the developing performance assessments section of this chapter because I thought it went along really well with the chapter about engaging drama. There were four key points that every performance should do: 1. have a clear purpose that identifies the decision to be made based on the performance assessment; 2. identify observable aspects of the student’s performance or product that can be judged; 3. provide an appropriate setting for eliciting and judging the performance or product; and 4. provide a judgment or score to describe performance (208-209). I think it’s important for teachers to stop and actually think about these things before going forward for performance assessments. They can easily end up all over the map, so students and teachers need to know what the focus is going to be.
Gere 8 Language and Reflection: Exploring and Evaluating the Approaches
I found it difficult to follow along with this chapter, going back and forth between the different approaches and trying to see what exactly was different about them. But when I got to the end, it all kind of made sense. The approaches may focus on different things, but teachers generally don’t stick to one approach their whole careers. They experience the different approaches depending on what is working best for their students at the time and they try to develop a happy medium. It’s important to remember that each approach has something of value for students.
Briana,
DeleteI also thought that the Milner chapter on drama dovetailed nicely with Russell’s chapter on performance assessment. Drama, after all, is a type of performance assessment – one of the very few cases in which an English classroom lends itself to a kinesthetic assessment. Usually ELA classes focus only on things like reading and writing, which is why I thought examples like diving, while useful to understand the concept, weren’t really apt. But drama allows students to show off different kinds of “multiple intelligences” than the ones traditionally found in an ELA classroom.
It’s funny that you said it was difficult to follow along with the Gere chapter, because I found it difficult as well. The four approaches all seemed so straightforward when I read about them individually, but when all summed up in such broad strokes, I realized that I perhaps didn’t grasp them as fully as I initially should have. The examples given, however, such as applying the four models to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, were extremely helpful in breaking down the similarities and differences.
Drama. It’s a topic rarely studied with the exception of Shakespeare. Do students today know that there are other playwrights beside Shakespeare? Drama can cover any topic that literature can and provides students with a way to appreciate literature in a new way. Students can act out a piece or watch others act it out. They can learn to interpret and critique various versions of a play. Drama can be used to illustrate effective dialogue and how authors use it to convey a variety of things. Drama is not for the creative writing electives only. It can be used to illustrate a difficult topic or used to provide relief after a difficult topic. We rarely think about how stressful certain readings or lessons may be. Having lessons that involve a funny story, a cute poem, or a fantastical play can provide students with a much needed break from the overly stressful content. Drama can also be part of that serious content and can be used as yet another method of displaying it. For visual learners, drama offers a visual venue. Most plays can be found on the internet somewhere or seen in a theater. Students that struggle with the written content can view it instead and be asked to complete the same amount of work. It offers these students a chance to succeed when they normally wouldn't.
ReplyDeleteIn Classroom Assessment and Language and Reflection, tried and true topics are covered. Drama also provides a type of performance assessment. It can be used to assess a student’s understanding or used to assess a student’s interpretation. By having the students act out scenes we get an idea of not only what they understand about the play but we also get a sense of how they interpret the play. Inflection, tone, and the use of body language all come into play when the students are acting out a scene. As teachers, we can use these clues to assess our students understanding and interpretation of the play. If they demonstrate a lack of understanding then we have a good place for our next lesson. Much like writing mini-lessons based on students own writing, we can have mini-lessons based on students performances and understanding. If we see all students are struggling with a certain aspect of the piece then we know that that needs to be covered again and in a different way. It allows us, as teachers, to improve upon ourselves and our methods.
Olivia,
DeleteI think you make a great point in your first paragraph. I know in my own high school education, the only drama I encountered was Shakespeare, The Crucible, and Death of a Salesman. While all of those were memorable, that's also a very narrow experience of the genre. It wasn't until I got to college and was exposed to contemporary drama that I found how varied and interesting modern theater can be. I wonder if drama occupies the same sort of space that poetry does - do teachers avoid it because they're unfamiliar with it, or find it inaccessible? It's more difficult to read the script of a play and analyze it than it is with a novel. So much of drama's effectiveness relies on things beyond the page. That should be seen as an opportunity, though, not something to avoid. I like your suggestion that drama can be seen in a theater. We're fortunate that we live relatively close to Boston, where it's easy to find college or local productions. Teachers could map out a unit based on what's available to see in the area.
Your second point is a good one, too. Drama is, in one respect, an easy thing to evaluate, as a student's performance gives a lot of clues about his or her understanding of the piece.
I was really glad to finally read about performance assessment in Classroom Assessment. I think this is one of the most valuable forms of assessment and I fully plan to use it often in my own classroom. What I most appreciate about performance assessments is how the teacher can observe so many factors. With tests, we see only information for which we have specifically asked. And even more limiting is the fact that tests don’t show us where students guessed or simply circled an answer because they had no idea. Performance assessments on the other hand, allow teachers to examine several skills at once, along with acquired knowledge. Teachers get a glimpse into process and preparation. When alternated with product assessments they also give students the opportunity to flex different skill muscles.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, performance assessments allow students to develop various communication skills. Throughout my undergraduate years, I observed so many students who were seriously lacking in basic presentation skills. These skills should really be learned at a much earlier age. Granted, many students get really nervous giving presentations (I’ve been there, and I fully understand that as I continue to get nervous in certain presentation situations). However, performance assessments are not limited to presentations. They can include class discussions, student interviews, debates, interactive group work, etc. Basically, there are many ways we can develop strong communication skills in students.
I also enjoyed the chapter on drama in Bridging English. Knowing that I will potentially be teaching Romeo and Juliet at Greater Lowell Tech in the spring, I found this chapter to be really helpful. To connect back to performance assessment, I think incorporating drama in the classroom allows teachers many opportunities to incorporate performance assessments that will be fun and engaging. I really liked the ideas of producing “talkshows” like Oprah that will allow students to connect with the characters. Milner et al. state, “These activities span years of creative attempts to bring Shakespeare alive in secondary classrooms” (2012, p. 265). This sums up an overarching goal for teachers, to bring drama alive in the classroom so as to engage students.
Hi Cassandra!
DeleteI agree with you 100% about the limitations of traditional pen and paper tests. Not only do they often expect students to simply parrot information back to the teacher, but I believe they encourage assessing learning based on one skill: test-taking ability. Let’s face it: not all good students are successful test-takers. It cannot be clearer. What we do know, however, is that if we give our students sufficient time and the means to “show off” what they know, then not only are we going to get a more accurate picture of what our students have learned, but they will actually benefit from the process as well. Isn’t this what we want our students to do—benefit from learning? Yes!
Do I think classes should be totally performance-assessment driven? In a perfect world, this would be nice. However, the traditional assessment is probably still necessary for the interim between well-developed performance assessments. For some classes where the motivation is low, we might be forced to assign reading check quizzes just to provide extra incentive for completing the reading. In my imaginary, ideal English teacher world, this would not be the case. Every student would come to class prepared to dive into the texts and show me eagerly what they have learned—but let’s be real. I will happily settle for making performance assessments worth more in my classes in regards to both grading and learning.