MI Chapter 10 Response

Reading about all the different ways to assess student through MI theory was very enlightening, especially considering how everything seems to revolve around standardized testing these days.  Like many people, I do not feel that standardized tests provide an accurate depiction of a student’s knowledge.  And, it’s not all about knowledge anyway!  Students also need to know how to use their knowledge.  Testing via authentic measures allows students to use their knowledge in context, which is what they really should be getting assessed on.  I think that the list of varieties of assessment will be a helpful reference to have when I am a teacher because one thing I certainly don’t want to do as a teacher is automatically resort to using the same assessment over and over again—especially written tests.  I also really liked the idea about using student portfolios as means of assessment.  Portfolios allow teachers to look at “the entire photo album” instead of single “snapshots.”  For this reason, portfolios provide a much more accurate depiction of a student’s abilities than a single test ever could.  And, I think that portfolios put much less pressure on students than having them sit down to take a test.  If a portfolio is viewed as an ongoing product to track progress over time, then there is less pressure associated with each individual assignment.  I really like the idea that “assessment experiences and instructional experiences should begin to appear virtually indistinguishable.”  What’s the point of putting pressure and stress onto your students?  This will only give them a negative attitude towards learning.  I would definitely like to use portfolios in my future classroom.