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Working with several levels of German permitted me to use different types of assessment, everything from basic tests to games. Because the German I students were brand new to the subject and the material, it seemed best to give them the standard tests that accompanied the textbook in order to give them a higher level of comfort through familiarity to the material.
With the German II students I was able to have more fun in assessment, both formal and informal. Informal or practice tests might include games or use of realia. Instead of a vocabulary quiz that assessed the students’ knowledge of certain clothing articles and accessories, I arranged two bages filled with at least two each of the appropriate clothing, jewelry, hats, and such from the vocabulary. The class was then divided into two groups and all but two students then received one item from the bag. The object of the game was to have one item in hand when the time ran out. The students who were empty-handed had to step out of the circle and ask another student a properly formed question using the correct vocabulary. To up the stakes and get more kids talking, I sometimes stepped in and removed one of the articles of clothing.
It worked out well because the kids were having fun using the language. I liked this strategy because it gave the students a chance to work their kinesthetic intelligence and to really get their interpersonal intelligence in gear. It was great to see the kids enjoying themselves with the language, and an unexpected result from this activity was that the kids ended up correcting and helping each other despite the competitive nature of the game. Later, I incorporated the items from the bag as part of the actual test. Instead of listing the words on paper (for translation or other manipulation) I held up the actual objects up. I held the items up two at a time in order to allow the students a choice and thus lowering the affective filter. However each pair of items always had the same gender as proper article choice was part of the test and this way I was able to determine whether they had comprehended that aspect as well.
I wanted to be more demanding with the German IB-1 students, but still keep things fun and interesting for them. The overarching theme of the unit was art and we had just completed a section on architecture. Using the words from the architecture and art vocabulary lists, I created a fill-in-the-blank story to test their vocabulary. The story was based very roughly on the tale of “The Three Little Pigs” though substituting students’ names for the pigs and the wolf. At the end I included two questions that checked comprehension of the story and that required the students to create their own sentences and to formulate their own thoughts. I made sure that the “big, bad wolf” was one of the students who could take the joke and I also checked with him before the test. I increased the number of pigs in order to include all the words from the vocabulary list and chose the students who were more shy and less involved in class in an effort to draw them out more and have them feel more included (it worked!).
I gave and proctored standard tests as well and discovered how crucial it is to give precise directions to the students. One test in particular that I had created based on the textbook demonstrated this necessity. I administered the test to both German II classes I was teaching. One class received basic instruction on one day. That night I looked over the test and realized that while the kids were answering the questions correctly, they weren’t answering them in the correct manner. The next day I gave the same test to the other German II class, with more precise instructions and their performance was vastly improved. As a result I decided to retake the part of the test in question with the other class and to expand on my instructions and expectations. The results were as expected. They understood the material, they had just lacked the necessary instruction.
My time as a student teacher only enforced my position that varied assessment is not only beneficial to the students, but enriches their experience and interaction with the language. Further, varied and alternative assessment reaches those students that don’t fall within the narrow margin that is generally addressed with standardized tests.
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