Chapter 7

Chapter 7 talked about different types of assessments and different types of test questions. First, I really liked the many different types of test questions and the explanations of the questions. I believe that it is very important to use many different types of test questions. Many teachers get in the rut of using 4 or 5 different types of test questions, when there are so many more types of questions they could be using. Also, different types of test questions allow students to showcase what they know in a different way. That is why another reason to use many different types of test questions is because since students learn in so many different ways, they also will be able to show what they have learned in many different ways. Some students will be good at showing what they know through writing an essay, but other students are better at showing what they know through performance assignments. Different types of assessments (whether it's a diagnostic, formative, or summative assessments) will have use different types of questions. That is yet another reason there are so many different types of test questions.

Chapter 6

This chapter talks about the different ways that students learn and about making and planning lesson plans and units. In ETE 215 we had to plan a integrative thematic unit. That assignment taught me so much about how to construct a unit and how much time it takes to do so. It took so much more time than I ever would have expected. Writing lesson plans and units that are done well definitely cannot be done quickly. It is something that takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. The chapter also talked about the many ways that students learn. Kids learn in so many different ways that it is so important to recognize that and tailor your lesson plans to how the students learn. Each group of students that you have will learn differently than the last. This is why it is so extremely important to tailor your lessons to each individual class that you have. I have been a daycare teacher for over 4 years and each time I teach a lesson I revise it according to how the students in my class learn. I think that this chapter covers so much essential information about lesson planning and the different ways that children learn.

Chapter 5

This chapter focuses on planning and curriculum (and the importance of planning your curriculum ahead of time). As a teacher, planning is essential. Planning helps keep you organized, and in the case that you become sick it keeps your substitute teacher organized as well. Classroom can become hectic and busy very very quickly, and planning ahead makes it easier when this happens. Planning also is essential when planning the curriculum you are going to teach. Also, not just what you are going to teach but how you are going to teach it. When planning curriculum it is important to get information from many different sources, not just one. This saves you from getting biased information and also gives students a wide variety of sources to look at. There are many things that go into curriculum from objectives to standards to assessments to making sure that all of these things align. This is why it is important to plan your curriculum ahead of time. Curriculum is definitely not something that you want to make last minute. Last minute curriculum planning often ends up being not as good of quality as you could make it. This is why I think that this chapter is such an important chapter.