After the Task Reflection (3).

Reflect on the interview and the information gained about diagnostic

assessment from your MST. Consider how/why you would implement
diagnostic assessment in a UAE primary classroom in the future.
Explain how this practice will affect student learning in a primary class.
Diagnostic assessment is one of the ways that teachers using it to know what kinds of efforts
they need to spend with the students, so in this task I am going to do an interview with Miss
Sims about her diagnostic assessment that she used with the students in the class. I asked her
eleven questions that related to her way of using diagnostic assessment.
Firstly, I started my questions with what she define the diagnostic assessment, and she answered
that it helps her to develop the children what steps she needs to do with the learning next. I liked
how she defines the diagnostic assessment because thats shows me how she wants to have
different profile for each child in the class. Secondly, I asked her about how can she use the
diagnostic assessment in the class and I understand that in the first weeks she did fifteen minutes
observation for children while they are writing, drawing, practicing phonics and how they get
involved in the activities, then she write comments for what she need from the students to do in
the next step. Also, she mentioned that she used the IPad to take photos for students while they
are doing the diagnostic assessment and put them in dojo system to share with parents what their
child did in class. However, there is a huge difference between the private and the government
school in applying the diagnostic assessment with students because in the government schools
students learn to write their names , and pronounce the letter in grade one , but in the private
school I have seen that students are able to write and pronounce the letter sound from foundation
stage two, so if I would try with students in government school I would spend more time because
it will be the first time to use the diagnostic assessment with them. Actually, I need to use the
diagnostic assessment with them in both individual work and group work because it will help me
how should I judge if the students need more effort in pronouncing, reading, or writing and what
he is good at .Also, group work will help students because they will feel motivated since their
friends will be with them in the group, so they will enjoy group work in class which will help me
to decide which activity they are involved with (Harmer, 2001).

Reference:
Harmer, J. (2001). The practice of English language teaching. (3rd, completely rev. and update ed.). London: Longman.