The girls have told me they want tests.

[conuly]

Graded tests.

I have no problem with that. Their math program actually comes with tests I can give them if they/I want. Easy peasy.

But what about everything else? Anybody have any information on how to write a test to give them in any subject? My normal idea would be to just make them write an essay, but I'm trying to limit that because Ana has started writing a lot more and I don't want to make it a chore again. How do you know if you've picked sensible questions?

Comments

[siderea]

Have you read Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn or Wad-Ja-Get? the Grading Game in American Education by Howard Kirschenbaum? Or even Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig?

[conuly]

I'm not going to tell them "I'm not giving you tests because I think it's bad for you" when they're asking for tests. I think that's just a little silly. If they weren't asking, I wouldn't bother - after all, with just two of them I can keep abreast of what they're learning fairly easily and don't really need to do separate assessments other than what's required by law - but since they're the ones behind this, well....

[siderea]

I will take that as a resounding "no, I haven't".

You might want to check some of those things out. It's not as simple as tests good vs. tests bad. It's also things like "kids ask for tests because they don't know what other sort of structure to ask for" and "kids as for tests to get out of certain kinds of learning work" and "kids use tests to manage certain emotions, e.g. insecurity."

You might want to be alert to these sorts of things, and then factor that in to whatever you decide best to do. Which may be tests.

[conuly]

If I have the free time, I'll do that, but I make no promises now. I feel like I've been super busy and it's gonna get worse.

[goss]

Google can be quite useful when designing tests. When I just started out teaching, I'd just search for the subject and grade level, and words like lesson, test, quiz and multiple choice. In addition to essays and long answers, I found that giving a variety of assessment types work best, like fill-in-blanks, matching associated words/definitions, multiple choice, identifying/circling stuff, crossword, etc.

[conuly]

Oooh, good idea!

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

You could get meta with it-- I had a final that was 'write your own question and answer it'. We knew what kind of questions the professor usually wrote for the final, but he wanted to do something new.