Standard+8-+Assessment


 * 8S1: Administering assessment tools using the student’s preferred mode and language of communication.**

**__Communication Needs During Assessment __** During last year I spent 60 hours doing volunteer work in a deaf education classroom. During this time I was able to talk to the CT about different issues that arise. It was mentioned how important it is to have any type of accommodations needed listed in the students IEP. For example when one of the students was taking the MEAP exam, they were allowed to have an interpreter present to interpret all of the directions. This was of great help to the students who may have a communication barrier between the two languages. If the student did not have an interpreter present and was trying to read the directions on their own they could end up miss-interpreting the directions and therefore starting the exam at a deficit. As I have learned before in my CEP course last semester, if a student is taking an exam in a comfortable setting then it is less likely that stress will hinder their performance.


 * __Integrating Technology __**

In my Teaching and Learning with Technology course, I have been learning about different ways of implementing technology into the classroom to better assist students in learning. As a deaf education teacher, I am sure that I will have many students in my class who require different modes of communication needs for assessments. Some students may be able to independently take the exam just by reading the directions on their own. Some may require an interpreter or teacher to sign the English directions and answer choices. Other students may not be able to write answers at all, and may need to simply sign everything. I have thought of a neat way to incorporate technology into their assessment to accommodate this students needs. There is a way to make digital stories online you can use a Google doc’s presenter, where you can upload photos, videos, and recordings on the program. Instead of standing in the front of the classroom and giving the same exam to every student. The teacher could create a presentation and place the assessment on there to accommodate each student’s language mode. For example, the teachers can video herself signing the exam questions to the students, and there the student can go in and correctly choose the answer. For those students who cannot read/write, they can go in and video themselves signing to the teacher the correct answer. I see this as being a neat idea on how to accommodate all students, however there may be some downfalls depending on where you are a teacher. If you are in an urban Ed setting, schools may not have a computer center to use where all students can use this feature. If this is the case, maybe the teacher will bring their own personal computer into the classroom and then the students can take the assessment one at a time. Each student would have their own assigned Google presenter document, where only the student and teacher, who is taking that assessment, is allowed to edit and make changes to that assessment. This way students can go in and edit their answers, written, video, or pictures that they have added to the site. I think that integrating technology into the classroom is a good way to get students motivated and properly accommodate students during assessments.


 * 8S2: Developing specialized assessment procedures that allow for alternative forms of expression. ** 


 * __Different Assessments Needed __**

Since every student learns differently and therefore tests differently, it is important as the teacher to understand your students so that you can best accommodate them in their learning process. During my Kindergarten placement this year in TE, I observed them becoming writers. However, this is not a Deaf Ed classroom, but I think that the CT's process could be applied to benefit deaf/hard of hearing as well. The teacher asked the student a question where they would write the answer in their journal. For example the teacher asked, "What is your favorite thing to do at school?" The children all began to use their best Kindergarten think spelling and writing to make their journal entry. The part that I found very helpful was that the teacher and I would then walk around the room and ask the students what they wrote. I would then write down what they said verbatim on a post-it note and attach it to their work. This could be applied to deaf Ed as well. Since students may be English Language Learners, it will be good to see how they write and where they need assistance in that category. Since they may not be writing perfect English, they may be able to sign their idea in ASL across to the teacher more comfortably. Also, some students who may be more advanced might be able to more comfortably sign English better than they can write it, since Sign comes more naturally. I am curious to test this out in a field placement with lower Elementary students to see if I get the same results as my CT.


 * __Classifier Game __**

In our CEP 434 class, our group created a board game for students to play for deaf/hard of hearing students. This game is created to help students practice the use and understanding of classifiers through the use of poetry. Instead of simply giving the students an exam on classifiers, students can interact with one another through playing the game. The teachers can then walk around the room and observe students playing the game to see how well they understand how to properly use classifiers. In the game students are given a poem, written in English, and they are also given a classifier to use, the student will then translate that poem into ASL and sign it using the classifier correctly. The students are also given a picture where they are to come up with their own poem using a classifier to describe that picture. This game gives the student multiple different ways to express classifiers through the use of poetry while playing a game and having fun. Instead of simply sitting down with pencil and paper, or signing to the teacher, the student gets to interact with classmates and have fun while the teacher is informally assessing them. This game that we created can be used in any grade; the poems will simply need to be adapted to best fit the students reading levels. This game allows for an alternative form of assessment, and helping the students express what they know in a more fun interactive way.


 * 8S3: Collecting and analyzing spoken, signed, or written communication samples. ** 


 * __Communication Breakdowns __**

Last semester in my deaf education placement, I worked with a kindergartener. I sat down with her every time I was there and dissected possible communication breakdowns. Over the course of a month I worked with her on trying to find out what she misinterpreted and how to solve this problem. Something that seemed so simple to me to understand was very complex to this child. I began to notice that when she did not understand something I was signing to her, she would read my facial expressions and give me the same look back. For example if I was smiling she would smile, if I laughed she would laugh. However after a while of analyzing, I came to find out that if I did not give a facial expression of the answer that I was looking for she would just smile and stare with a blank look. I then decided to re-phrase my questions and began modeling a response. She slowly began to pick up on the cues and by the end of the project, I noticed that when she did not understand something she would look at me and sign "what" for me to re-phrase my question/statement. I realized how important this is as a teacher to recognize the cues that a student does not understand. They can usually do a good job of hiding it, which I have learned from my past CT, it is my job to dig deeper and rephrase. If a student does not understand what you are saying to them there is no possible way they can reach 100%. I believe after doing the assessment, the child was having so many communication breakdowns, because her language was not developed further enough for her to understand what was being talked about or asked of her. She had little to no communication at home, because her parents did not sign, therefore the only interaction she received was in the school setting. Little by little the breakdowns and becoming less and less extreme.

Here is my write-up description on the breakdowns:

                [|Student+Obs+Study.docx]


 * __Conversations __**

I found it very interesting that in my field placement for TE, the CT allows the Kindergarteners to use their snack time for free conversation with one another. There are some cases where she will do activities with them during this 10-15minutes, but mostly it is a time for students to converse freely. At first I was unsure about this; it seemed like a waste of time in their learning. But after thinking about it, I realized how beneficial a time like this could be for both the students and the teacher as well. The students, especially with deaf/hh students, seem to be limited with the times that they are simply allowed to interact with one another, when it is not on an academic level. What a perfect opportunity to allow all your students, deaf/hh and hearing to mingle with one another. This would be interesting in a class of all hearing students and only one deaf/hh student, to see what happens when the child is left alone, how will they react to this situation, will the students try to communicate with one another? This would be a good time to watch the students to see how well they understand communication, how they initiate communication, and how they understand turn taking. The teacher could use this time to wander around the room and focus in on certain student’s ability for communication, their vocabulary, and expression use in voice/sign. It was interesting to see that even in Kindergarten, with no formal teaching on the subject; the students were beginning to survey one another. They were also exhibiting forms of role play and also working through minor disputes. I feel that collecting spoken and signed data from students in a natural communication setting would be an interesting way to gain information on the student's abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Usually data that is collected is simply in a formal setting where this situation may be uncomfortable for the child. This way you are seeing what the child can do on his/her own without it being scripted.