Assignments, Assessments, & Evaluations (Student Teaching Summary Post 1)

Through the course of my student teaching experience, I had several ideas & epiphanies. Here are those that apply to assignments, assessments, & evaluations. 

- Provide homework/practice before and after giving an assessment/evaluation for any given unit/standard

- Use the following table to put variety in student practice and assessment:

Blooms	A) Easy	B) Medium	C) Hard
1) memorize (only one correct response)	something easily memorized OR recognition (t/f)	medium to memorize  OR recognition (matching), recall (fill in the blank)	difficult to memorize OR cold recall
2) apply out of context (likely one correct response)	simple practice problems	mid-level practice problems	high-level practice problem
3) apply in context (potentially multiple correct responses)	simple scenario/ story problem (ala 2A)	mid-level scenario/story problem (ala 2B)	high-level scenario/story problem (ala 2C)
4) create/synthesize (infinite possibilities for correct response)	making something simple (ala 2A-2B)	making something with moderate complexity (ala 2C-3A)	making something with high complexity (ala 3B-3C)

This table probably doesn't make a lot of sense if you're not me. So below I've put in a table that has some examples of what I'm thinking about. Let me know, in the comments,  how it doesn't make sense, if it doesn't make sense, and I can further clarify. Also let me know if you want examples that are more specific to your needs.

Examples	Easy	Medium	Hard
memorize (only one correct response)	true/false, or multiple choice questions		Provide the definition for _________
apply out of context (likely one correct response)	solve for x: 5-x=2	3x-2=4+5x-12	-3(12x-4)+7=12x+8(x+2)
apply in context (potentially multiple correct responses)	Johnny has five apples before giving some to Tammy. Afterwards, Johnny has two apples. How many apples were given to Tammy	My backyard has a fence. The fence is 30 feet long and encompasses the whole yard. If my yard is a regular geometrical shape, what shape might it be if each side is > 2 feet?	Our school website says the school grounds covers 3,000 sq. ft. Prove that this is either correct or incorrect.
create/synthesize (infinite possibilities for correct response)	create and solve an algebra problem	create a problem that requires the distributive property to solve OR write a story problem to go with the equation y=3x-2	find an example of the concepts we've been covering in class from your life; write a story problem describing what you come up with

- Hold office hours everyday to help with assignments:
  + Monday    = for A-level students
  + Tuesday   = for B-level students
  + Wednesday = for C-level students
  + Thursday  = for D/F-level students
  + Friday    = Peer tutoring sessions
  + Alternatively, provide some other meaningful structure for who should come and/or what is going to happen during the office hours. 

- I really like an article by Margaret Schwan Smith and Mary Kay Stein called "Selecting and Creating Mathematical Tasks: from Research to Practice." It breaks all work that's done in a math class into four levels of demand: memorization, procedures without connections, procedures with connections, and doing mathematics. Their thoughts & ideas in this paper really guide my thinking about assignments, assessments, & evaluations. I find myself asking, 'What is the level of demand for this task? What ought to be the level of demand for this task? What level of demand are my students ready for at this point in the unit/semester/year?' 

That pretty much sums up my thoughts about assignments, assessments, & evaluations. This was a long post. If you made it all the way through, FIVE STARS for you! Yea, STARS!