The first thing I enjoyed about this particular text is the case narrative it starts off with. As a student teacher, it's a lot easier for me to relate to another student teacher's experiences, as opposed to a veteran teacher. Because student teachers are in the same situation as I am, they can provide insight into the difficulties of developing assessment. I know that I have felt the way Heidi Murphy has felt because I have also seen how my cooperating teacher's assessment methods differ from what I've seen in the past. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's something I have to consider as I work alongside her. What's great about this connection is that it made me think about my upcoming lessons, and how I can develop assessments for my students to make sure they are getting out of literature what I would like to see them get.
For example, I am going to be working with students on the elements of literature, such as plot, conflict, resolution, etc. While I do need to help them understand the academic language of the content, I would also like to help them think critically of the short stories we will be reading, so I will have to be able to teach to standards involving critical thinking and also be able to reliably assess that critical thinking. I feel that the "correct answer" style of assessment isn't as effective as it could be due to its limitation on testing student cognitive abilities. Therefore, I feel developing assessments that involve students developing their own ideas or applying concepts in an assignment in their own words is far more effective due to the effort students will have to put in to complete the assignments with proficiency.
What's great about this text is that it also provides some interpretive strategies I can ask students to use in their assignments in order to test their cognitive skills in a variety of ways. I definitely plan on using these in the classroom, as they will be a great measuring tool for student proficiency.
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