Classroom Confidential -- Chapters 8 and 9

Even if you don't teach Social Studies or the Arts, what are some ideas you could glean from Schmidt chapters 8 and 9 for your own teaching?

I really liked what Schmidt had to say about history tools of the trade. She listed five that can be useful in any classroom and any setting:

• Primary source documents
• Visual images
• Artifacts
• Literature
• Architecture

While it might initially seem difficult to implement these into a special education setting, I've seen my teacher do it in our classroom almost daily. During our current event lessons, she pulls interesting news stories from a site called News to You. We read the articles together and then follow them up with an activity. The kids usually seem pretty interested in them. I like these stories because it's an easy way to incorporate news from other parts of the world, or country, into the classroom and into the lives of these students.

I also really liked Schmidt's idea of historic simulations. Throughout my schooling, I've had the opportunity to participate in a few simulations and I loved every single one. I appreciate simulations because I view them as a way to involve students in history in a way that really relates to them. I think they're fascinating and I hope to include them in my teaching to help students see how learning can be fun and relevant.

According to Schmidt, involving kids in the arts, regardless of their predetermined artist talents, is extremely important. Through the arts, students learn valuable skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. Schmidt lists ten reasons why teachers should embed music, drama, the visual arts and drama into their classrooms. Here are my favorites:

The arts: 

1. Activate multiple intelligences to help students learn in different ways

2. Create opportunities for self-expression using mind and body

3. Develop higher-order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and problem-solving

4. Build our awareness and appreciation of other cultures

I think the arts are a very important part of school. While I can't honestly say I'm particularly skilled in any one area of the arts, looking back, I can clearly see how taking classes such as art, music, exploratory, and foreign languages have benefited me and impacted my life. I hope to give my students ways to implement their vast gifts and talents into my classroom and their daily lives. This will make learning more fun for them.

What types of authentic assessment have you seen? How could you use it?

I have definitely seen and have been involved in many different kinds of authentic assessment. While I might not have realized it at the time, as I reflect on those instances, I can say with confidence that those experiences meant more to me than any test or paper has.

As I progressed through elementary school, it became a requirement to compete in a Science Fair every year. The projects could really entail any scientific experiment and they always required a lot of time and energy. However, with some help from my dad, I usually ended up finding a pretty interesting project and by the end, although I never would have admitted it, there were times when I actually enjoyed myself. Well, at the end of these projects, all students presented them to their class and then to the school in large. It was intimidating in my first few years, as I was asked questions by teachers and then moved on to the larger pool of students and drove to another school on a Saturday for a larger scale event. So, while the whole process was a lot of work, I could still name the topics of my projects even though that was about 12 years ago. I learned a lot from those science fairs because they seemed relevant and applicable to my life as I researched and completed the experiment out of class with family and friends. 

In middle school, my teachers began assigning debates, especially in history classes. Now, I've never been a fan of public speaking, so these were not my favorite projects. However, I did learn a lot from these presentations and they were actually kind of fun, too. Debates were a way to illustrate our knowledge through means often used in historical contexts. Although sometimes intimidating to me, they were fun too.

I can use these same methods as a form of assessment in my own classes. Because I'm (sometimes) shy myself, I can also tailor these activities in ways that allow quiet students to participate comfortably too. I can use debates, formal presentations, simulations, and interviews to help students show me what they know. After all, the purpose of assessments is to illustrate knowledge.

Schmidt mentions other means of authentic assessments. Some of these are:

• Learning fairs
• Dinner parties
• Reading and dramatic performances
• Murals and quilts
• Short stories
• Picture books for younger kids

I especially like the short story and the mural ideas primarily because these are ways that allow students to experiment in the arts. When students combine subject areas in a single project, that assessment takes on a whole new meaning. It becomes more relevant and more interesting. It gives kids the chance to see how topics can matter in the outside world as well as how it can matter to them personally.