As I sat grading 9 weeks tests this weekend, I saw another clear reason to reflect on my teaching, especially in using assessments to determine what students still struggle with. My test consisted of two components: 1) Writing a memoir with fictional aspects (80% of the grade) and 2) multiple choice questions related to the material covered in class (20% of the grade).
Since we have covered MLA a couple of times over the course of the 9 weeks, I figured students would have no issues answering a couple of questions about the structure of citations they have frequently used and works cited pages they have frequently created. However, I was incorrect. The multiple choice was low-stress, so I'm not sure whether to attribute that to sheer lack of focus or if students genuinely had a difficult time with it. That being said, I'll probably review that before too long.
Another thing that my students really struggle with are the use of commas. They do not seem to understand when they should use them. I would expect to see students using commas unnecessarily as well as using them too little. Again, I'm incorrect. I am in the process of creating an instructional activity to use to teach them how and when to use commas. I'm absolutely open to suggestion on this.
These two things are just a couple of examples of things I've noticed while reviewing the results of the nine weeks tests. As a pre-service teacher, I have been increasingly conscious of the need for constant reflection. In the near future, I will be acting on the results of my reflections. More to follow soon.
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