Portfolios

I really like portfolios and think that they are a very successful tactic to use in the classroom. I can only recall making maybe one or two portfolios growing up, but I remember being really excited that I could decorate the pages anyway I wanted too! I also, remember my teacher had us pick our own schoolwork (test or essay) that we wanted to put in it and she also wanted us to put a couple of the tests and papers she thought were important for us to include. I was really excited to put my 'A' essays and tests in there that my teacher put stickers on, and I also liked the items she had us include that weren't necessarily my best work, but it showed me how I improved from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

Therefore, I think portfolios should be used in the classroom, the same way that my teacher had my clas create them. I think it should be a mixture of what the students want in their portfolios and also the items I think are important for them to include to show their growth throughout the class. I think its really important for students to design their own portfolios any way they want, I want them to be as creative as they can be and use things that make them excited and want to use the portfolio.

Essay test or multiple choice

Honestly, some people are really good test takers and some are not. From elementary school to high school, I was a poor test taker, because I would get so nervous before the test, that I blanked out. Therefore, I liked multiple choice growing up, because it would gave me multiple opitions, that made me think and reminded me of what I really learned in class, thus taking out for the most part the incorrect answers. I always felt intimidated by essay test, because I had no assistance when I went blank, thus I wasn't very successful and I started to hate test a lot.

In college I started to like both essay test and multiple choice test, for different exams. Sometimes I really like to elaborate on my answers and get every point down. I also like multiple choice, because it created me to recall information from class, but also know the wrong answers too.

I think it's important to give students a mixture of test, depending on the different units being taught, so that every student gets a chance to succeed in one way or another. I think it would be important to see what students in your class mostly succeed in, whether its multiple choice, true false, or essay tests and try to give them those types of test more, but not just completely limited yourself to give just one of those test.