A. Providing the students with multiple choice answer tests is not the best way to test the students. Yes, they do prefer multiple choice answer tests because that is all they are use to through out their years as students. Also, you can not blame the teachers for providing them with this kind of test because at the end of the year when they have to take the STAAR it will be a multiple choice test. The students are then limited to thinking outside the box because their thought is the answer A, B, C, or D. They need to be able to think more about what they are learning and provide opinions about what they are being taught. But also you cannot have it all rest on the teachers shoulders. The students need or have to want to be given challenges to further their knowledge and their thinking ability. As teachers, they look for their students to succeed and if that means giving something they will be able to pass then a multiple choice answer test it will be.
B1. I put them in groups to help them further their ability to work with someone and to see how far ones thinking ability is compared to the others. I constantly ask them questions thought out any lecture I give in order to see who is paying attention to the material and who is not. Also, I ask them questions to attempt to start discussions as a class.
B2. I give them a chapter test, quizzes, and unit tests. The chapter tests are to reflect on what they were taught in order to keep it fresh in their mind when the unit test comes. The quizzes are straight from their folder daily to make sure they are up to speed on what was taught the day before and as a reminder to be prepared for the next day. The unit test is to measure where they are when it comes to retaining all they have been taught and then we discuss what we all as a class need to work on next time around.
B3. When it comes to grading the two one will weight more than the other. The formative will help those who do not test well and their daily grades will help keep them afloat with the others.
B4. I would like to try to start implementing essay test to see where their writing ability is and to see their thought process. As a daily grade I want the students to provide me with news and it can be world news, locate, state, or US news to prepare, preferably world because it is a World History course. I want them to read and see and think about things happening in the world, rather than thinking about drama from FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, what they are going to have for lunch or how boring the next class is going to be. Lastly, I want them to start reading a historical book or two through out the semester and provide me with a review of the book(s) and their opinion of the book(s).
