Friday, April 7, 2017

Post #1: Proper Diagnostics through Teaching Grammar

    A big focus in the teaching community is how to evaluate well. This is all well and good, but I believe we should start from the top. This doesn’t begin with teaching, this begins with knowing what to teach. Diagnostic assessments are an essential area of education that are often ignored or disregarded when it comes to discussing changes in the classroom, despite the fact that it is that is arguably the most skewed. Currently, diagnostics are mainly used as a way to gauge the amount a student learned throughout the year, even though it’s a necessary tool to be able to know what each student has to learn and already knows. In the rare occasions when it is indeed used for this purpose, it is simply used as class data and not for individual purposes. This is still standardizing the lesson for the class and is often taken with a grain of salt; only altering lesson plans slightly, maybe spending fifteen minutes less on a few topics each year. Diagnostics should be completed as new topics arise and should be more personalized by student, especially in an English classroom.
    In seventh grade, the English department had us take a one and a half hour diagnostic assessment every quarter. The purpose was to have a baseline for each teacher as to what topics needed a little more focus or review before the state administered standardized tests. It was also the biggest way for each teacher to gain pride points within the department. So at the beginning of every quarter, there would be an class set aside to taking a test that our teacher didn’t even use to change the lesson plans at all; he only administered it because he had to. Not only were the tests despicably boring and useless to the students, but they are also ineffective ways to test true understanding. Since the tests had no effect on our actual grades, some people didn’t take them seriously. Also, since they were multiple choice, students who did try could take very accurate guesses on questions that they didn’t actually know the answer to, which doesn’t in turn even test their knowledge but instead their pure intelligence. In short, not only are tests a somewhat counterproductive way to administer am English diagnostic, but they are often not used correctly or even without a real purpose.
    In Mechanically Inclined, Jeff Anderson is faced with the task of trying to incorporate grammar into his lesson plans. The problem lies in that each student is at different places in terms of sufficiency in grammar and mechanics. In response, his execution of teaching is very fluid, as his diagnostic is the writer’s workshops he has every class. There are several distinct advantages to using this method to personalize the material being taught:
Students who already know the rules don't get beat over the head with mindless worksheets and tests.
Students who are behind don't miss sequential steps in perfecting their rules and struggle more than they otherwise would have.
It's easy to decipher how close each student is to getting the rule and which direction they need to move. This is information that is nearly impossible to acquire from a test.
Writing also utilizes time to help make improvements while taking a test solely evaluates.
      There are also a few important components that need to be present. First is the diagnostic. Kids pick up English by hearing it happening around them, but sometimes the rules can get skewed a little. As a basic example, if a student hears the sentence, “I like to talk,” they assume that like is the correct conjugation of the verb to use. In most cases involving the present tense, this would be true. However, if the student consistently writes a sentence along the lines of, “He like to sleep,” consistently, then there's an obvious problem happening, and it's easy to decipher the root of where the problem is. It is already very important to make sure that students are writing regularly, and these writings can be used as the diagnostics needed as their frequency can help pinpoint whether the problem was real or a one time mistake. Now, from here there are a few paths that can be taken. If the problem is with this one student alone, explain the grammar or mechanic rule associated. Next, have them correct a handful of sentences involving the rule and rules that are related. Finally, have the student write their own example sentence or sentences to solidify their habitual use of the rule. They can also keep the sentences for future reference. Now, if the problem occurs several times within the class, a little bit of time can be taken at the beginning of the next class to address it. A similar approach will be taken, however this time, pick one to two good sentences to hang around the room for all students to use for reference. It's important to surround students with as much language as possible.
      Diagnostics are the most important step in getting students a more personalized education. Even so, at the current moment diagnostics are often misused or disregarded. Unlike tests, writings come straight from the heads of the students, making it easy to figure out what they really know. Though tests are good for generalizations, the finer details must be revealed through writing. And what a coincidence it is that the class in which the finer details are the most important is the English class. Other classes can get away with generalizations, but language, as an art, is something personal for each student and therefore is something that must be made more personal in schools. Different students will have difficulty or lack of knowledge in one set of rules, that another finds natural and vice versa. That is why it is so vital to ensure that diagnostics are more fluid and show what each student still needs to learn, not that they have already mastered.



Anderson, Jeff. Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style Into Writer's Workshop.
N.p.: Stenhouse, 2005. Print.

1 comment:

  1. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging Bentley. Writing is such an incredible way to share your thinking and I love how you emphasize using diagnosis with purpose. I'm a big fan of Jeff Anderson's work so great addition to your message.

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