TESOL Gaocheng

In Unit 15, Evaluation and Testing gave me a better understanding of how to assess my students and grade them. I think test are necessary to assess a student, and I use them now. My former position as an ESOL instructor in NJ, I didn't have the pressure to push tests onto my students. However, when I did occasionally give a tests to my students, there were always two kinds of reactions, nervousness, and excitement. Those who were nervous test takers, did awful in the test. However, the academic students, who were usually fresh out of college, manage to score a 100. The test seemed to have discouraged my older students, and made them feel like they were wasting their time trying to learn English. It boosted, however, the confidence of the younger ones. Yet, it was my younger students who struggled using English in everyday life, in everyday conversation. In this unit, I learned there are many ways to find out what the student needs and what their purpose is being in my class. I look forward to trying this out on my students. I would ask my students these questions throughout the school year, and they were always happy to volunteer what they needed from the class. I always found this to be very helpful. I also like the idea of having my students answer such a question in written form. This allows me to assess the student in their use of the English language.