Holly Gustafson SPED 496M 4-9-14 Standard 4 Reflection Standard 4: Assessment The fourth CEC standard states that

Special Education teachers should use assessments to make educational decisions about their students. Another key point of the fourth CEC standard is that beginning special educators engage individuals with exceptionalities to work towards quality learning and performance and provide feedback to guide them. The artifacts that I have chosen to put in my portfolio are a test review and a test from an adapted Basic Math class. The review and the test were over basic geometry skills. The students had been working on these skills for about a month before we took the test. I taught the students these skills by using a worksheet packet that I had put together with my cooperating teacher. We used LPS Docushare to find the worksheets, since there isnt a book to take information from to create worksheets for this class. We found third grade geometry worksheets that were at about the right level for the students in this class. Every day I would create a warm-up for the students to complete, then we would go over the warm-up. I would then start off each day by completing one of the worksheets with the students. I would complete more than one worksheet, if the students seemed like they were struggling. If I thought that the students were understanding the material, I would let them try a page or two on their own then we would go over the answers. Setting up my teaching this way seemed to work very well. The students were able to try things on their own, as well as get help from the teachers in the room, they also didnt have to struggle through new material that they didnt understand, because they would get to see the problems worked out by the teacher. I then created a review that I had the students try on their own the day of the test, then went over the

answers with them. After going over the answers I handed out the test. I think that completing the review the day of the test rather than the day before the test, sets the students up for success, rather than failure. This was the second test that I had given this way, and I really liked being able to make my students feel confident in their abilities to succeed on their tests. What I learned from this experience is that creating a review for a test that looks a lot like the test, with the same types of questions helps students succeed in their learning. I have also learned that giving the students their review on the day of the test helps the students feel more confident in their abilities. At the beginning of the semester when my cooperating teacher was teaching the class, she gave two tests and gave them the review the day before the test. When I took over and started teaching, I asked her what she thought about giving a review the same day as the test. She told me that I could give it a try. I tried this and it was a success, the students grades improved. I was very happy about this. I think that Im going to try to do this in my future teaching as much as I possibly can.