Week 6

Today two themes were presented. Alternative Assessments and Inclusion. Both were great presentations. The lesson on alternative assessments ended with an assessment on the class. we were divided into two groups and we were given a physics assignment. We were to create a pendulum out of the supplies given to us and were were supposed to create a hypothesis and try to prove it. I thought that this was very well thought out and creative. I actually really enjoyed working on it and I think that if this was practiced in a classroom it would really succeed. Observation in group work is a great way to assess students. As an educator, I believe that observation is the most important form of assessment. In this type of circumstance, it's a great way to see how students interact with one another socially, how they present the material, as well as a great way to see how well the students know the material. She did a great job on her lesson. I love how she involved our class into each part of alternative assessments by asking us questions and incorporating our opinions. The presentation on inclusion was also a great lesson. He was very informative with his information and incorporated our classroom very well. It was nice to hear personal experiences with inclusion and working with students with special needs or gifted students. I cannot imagine teaching a classroom with full inclusion, especially not by myself. The one experience I had in a special education classroom involved 2 other teachers and that was hard for us to handle. I definitely need more experience and practice with inclusion and working with different types of students.