This past week’s recorder test had me thinking about my philosophy on assessing students through testing and how ineffective I think it can be when measuring student knowledge and capability. I have always been one of those students that fail miserably when it comes to tests. Even when I have put in solid study time and feel confident with the material I always seem to stress and my mind becomes blank.
The recorder test is a perfect example; I practiced for about an hour everyday for a week. I became very familiar with song, the notes, the fingering and anything else that a recorder player should know! However, come test time, in rolled the all too familiar nauseating anxiety... I was an un-breathing, hand shaking, nervous rash-ing mess. I felt as though I had never even seen the piece of music in my life and I am sure it looked that way too!
10 comments:
Chantal- I feel the same way sometimes! It feels as though all of the hours you put in are lost at the moment you need them the most!
I have been thinking of ways to evaluate students without causing anxiety. I think the most important way to avoid anxiety is by not telling your students you are assessing them. The recorder, for example, could have been assessed by putting us in pairs to get ready for a performance and the teacher would casually see if the students are on task and really trying to master their music. He could have taken that into consideration.
What about self-assessment? Do you guys think that students would be honest in this regard? It's hard to say, but I guess you need to know your class before implementing this strategy.
I am definitely in the same boat as you Chantal, I have always had troubles writing tests due to anxiety and nervousness, despite the amount of studying and homework I had done. I have found some ways to deal with it but there is only so much you can do!
In regards to student assessment, I agree with what Rachelle suggested-trying to assess students while they are unaware of it. Although, in my opinion, as will most, this does have a draw back-this does not accommodate all students' learning styles. Some are simply comfortable and like the testing method of assessment and prefer to stick with that. There are many other ways to assess your students including observations, daily work/progress, and self-assessment. I feel it is important to include a variety of assessing methods while evaluating your students so that you are able to accommodate each student's learning needs.
Hey Chantal I felt the exact same way with that recorder test. Even when i was practicing i was nervous that i was going to make a mistake when it came to the time. Even though I was playing correctly the whole time. When it came to the test I was even more nervous which showed in my performance and grade. But I did not agree with how it was done because an hour later I played again with no nervous knowing i was graded and I played the song perfectly.
Thinking about other ways of evaluation and I see where teachers have a issue. They need to test students to see where they are in the class but how do you do that without the pressure. For the recorder test I think that he should have given us some time every class to practice our song and walked around and listened this way were weren't paying attention to him and he could see our development.
But how would you do that for spelling and grammar assessment and other subjects? Will it hit every students needs? This is a touchy subject and I think that once you establish your classroom community you will know how your class functions and will use the best methods for them. Whatever they may be.
I think that assessment is a really hard thing for teachers who really care about their students. So knowing that we will have gained empathy towards assessing, is one of the many things we learned this year. I have felt a few times this year that it seems like no matter what, teachers cannot assess us all equally, the recorder being a perfect example. I think that the way it was tested demonstrated that assessment needs to evaluate the knowledge granted in the lessons prior. The recorder test did not ask us to play B, then A, then B, A. It asked us to muster up the courage to perform infront of the teacher, in an arena that is somewhat intimidating. This wasn't part of the prior lessons. When assessing we need to remember our PLO's for the lesson, and stick to those throughout the lesson AND assessment. Students should be meeting the PLO's and their assessment should come in the same form as the learning did. We never had to sit by ourselves in the prof's office before, let alone play a song on our own. That adds way too many external factors to the assessment tool that are simply out of the profs range to grade.
I can completly relate to Chantel!In school I was always scoring good marks on all my assignments, but when it came to exams I would get so stressed and nervous, that I would never do as well.
I understand that tests are a helpful tool for teacher's to use when it comes to assessing students, but is their anyway for teachers to find a way to make the exam experience less stressful?
I thought I would be fine for the recorder exam, but when I sat down to play, I suddenly became very nervous. I started to shake and I completly forgot to breath!
I agree with Rachelle, maybe teachers should try to assess studetns without telling them they are being assessed.
However, like Danielle H. metioned ever method of assessment has their draw backs. For example, my brother had no problem with taking exams and always scored very high. For him, he enjoyed this type of assessment.
As a teacher you're going to encounter so many students with different personalilties and ways of learning. Some students are going to feel stressed and nervous about exams. Some students are going to feel stressed and nervous about having to do group work, or some students are going to feel stressed and nervous about completing a report or essay.I think the best thing a teacher can do is have a varity of different assessing tools.
I totally agree that testing is not a great way to assess students. I do think, however, that we still need to teach our students the tools so they can take tests, even if we do not agree with that form of assessment. There are so many other areas in our society that tests are used, that it is important to learn ways to study, get past anxiety, and perform in stressful situations.
Although I believe it is important to have the skills to be able to perform well in a test, I will stress again that I do not agree at all with this method of assessing students. Testing does not always reflect a students knowledge on a subject, and many other factors and tools for assessing must be used.
Yes, formal testing does most certainly cause students anxiety and as we have learned, is often not the best, most effective way to assess student learning or progress. However, I do also agree with Nadine that testing is a part of our society and that students do need to learn and practice this. I think it would be a disservice to our students to eliminate tests all together, as they do need exposure and practice with that means of assessment. What about when students move on to high school or post secondary, and eventually their job fields? Also the more students are accustomed to the procedure and format of formal testing, the less stressful and more effective the testing becomes. That being said, I still hate tests, and know there are many other effective assessment tools we can use with our students. Just something to keep in mind…
I agree with what Rachel was saying. I had such a hard time with that recorder test. It really did not factor in who had previous experience playing the recorder and who did not. We did not have a lot of in class time to practice (understandable at a university level) but that means that our teacher did not really have a knowledge of who had previous experience and who did not.
The performance made me extremely nervous. I was playing ok one minute and the next I couldnt play a single note. It did not translate into actual learning for me either. Although I was able to have an ok performance for the teacher I still do not feel I know how to play. For instance, after the test I went home that day and my mom wanted to hear my song (mostly because she had heard me practiciing and didnt believe I could actually play anything) and I was completely unable to play a note. Not a single note... not even B, A or G... it was terrible. I tried to play it again later for my boyfriend and again I could not play at all. Since then I have been afraid to pick up my recorder.
This leads me to a question... so what did the recorder test do for me learning wise? It gave me a B for a grade and thats about all. I feel less confident about teaching it in a school than I did before and now Im even afraid to practice it. All of this because the testing did not match up to the class expectations and teaching format combined with an innate fear of recorder testing that started when I was a child. Does our teacher know that playing anything other than hot cross buns is a huge challenge for me? Probably not. Does he know that I lost sleep for a week because of the test? I doubt it. And yet I walk away with a B for and Im supposed to feel that I learned something. I dont really blame our teacher for this at all, but I do think it is an unfair system.
I totally agree with everyone's conflicting feelings about testing. Through my personal experiences, i have found that generally when I am presented a test, i feel like I panic and am unable to produce answers that under another situation I would excel with.
Nadine brought up the point that it is important that we teach the students skills that will help them succed in stressful situations, such as tests. Teaching children the basic skills that are used in testing situations will lead them on a path of success. I also think that tests are generally brought up in a negative light. They need to be presented in a more positive way and I think that by doing this we will relieve students stress levels.
I think that some of the most valuable information that I have learned through this semsester is my knew found knowledge and feelings towards assessment. I think that if we, as new teachers, begin to provide students with a variety of ways to assess, the future of tests will be more positive.
Leading up the recorder exam butterflies were definitely acting up. I've never been as nervous for a school exam as I was for this specific test.
I think the main reason why I was so nervous was because it was a music test. As I sat down and began to play I was visibly shaking but as the song progressed the shaking definitely stopped and I became more comfortable.
For music class I totally agree with Rachelle on not letting students know they are being assessed. This is definitely a strategy that could eliminate student’s anxiety. I also agree with Danielle that students learning styles differ and some may feel comfortable with the testing process.
But in the end, as teachers we must use many different methods of assessing students to make sure we are helping all student’s needs.
Post a Comment