Running head: PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, AND 1

Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment

Micayla Chapman

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 496 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2019

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, AND 2

Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment

Introduction

Be prepared and ready for anything should be the official motto of every teacher.

Whether someone is working with elementary or secondary students, planning and preparation

are part of a teacher’s daily routine as they should be ready for any potential changes and

adjustments within the classroom. This requires a teacher to think about planning and preparation

as a key element to instruction and the eventual assessment. A teacher should typically start with

planning the assessment and use their assessment tool to help guide the planning and preparation

for daily instruction. Understanding the eventual desired outcome helps a teacher know what and

how to teach a subject. In the secondary English classroom, especially high school, there is a

greater emphasis on looking at English in conjunction with historical and social influences. This

means that a teacher should understand how curriculum is broken down chronologically and

teach on this more linear timeline. In the 12th grade classroom, Virginia state curriculum is

centered around British literature and thus the units are separated more chronologically

according to the history of British literature. Following the timeline laid out in the textbook is the

key to keeping a high school classroom organized and on track since the curriculum builds on

each other. This was evident in my planning since I used the curriculum and pacing guide to

create a pre/post assessment tool and from there I prepared classroom instruction.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

The artifacts I selected show testing using traditional assessment tools while also utilizing

more creative approaches in testing student knowledge of curriculum. The pre and post

assessment tool I used for quantitative data are the same tests because I wanted my data to reflect

any student learning growth. I did not want to have two different tests that could skew the final
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data. I wanted to see if my ability to teach these students poetry during the English Renaissance

would improve their initial scores, which turned out to be the case. On the test, I incorporated

information that would be discussed in that unit as well as content that they should already know

because that prior knowledge would be building blocks for the new content. The pre-assessment

data showed me that the questions the honors students mostly got incorrect were the newer

concepts like metaphysical or pastoral poetry. On the other hand, honors students had a better

idea of general literary techniques like hyperbole or allusions. This told me that I did not need to

reteach information that they already were taught in other classes and I could mainly focus on

information that was specifically pertaining to the Renaissance poetry unit. However, my regular

students had more difficulties recalling information that was not specific to the Renaissance

poetry unit. That meant that during instruction, I emphasized and explained that information

more than in the honors classes. I calculated class averages and percentage changes which also

showed overall student growth. I noticed that my Block 4 Honors class had the least amount of

growth, but the highest average for both the pre and post assessment. My Block 1 Regular class

had the highest amount of growth, but the lowest average for both pre and post assessment data.

Personally, I think that I am the most satisfied with Block 1’s increase in growth rather than

achieving the best class average. The priority I want to instill into students is not to be the most

perfect and intelligent student, but rather to be the student that shows improvement despite where

they initially started.

My other artifacts are rubrics that represent a more qualitative and creativity-based

assessment tool. I decided I wanted to see my students write sonnets and apply their knowledge

of Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnet forms. This was a great way for my students to express

themselves and I thoroughly enjoyed reading their sonnets. For my Block 1 class, I decided that
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they would get to read aloud their poems. It was deeply personal to witness them pour their

hearts out and share their stories. It was a special moment and I feel like I got to know these

students better. Through this assessment tool, I was also able to help them understand the

significance of poetry and why sonnets are still studied. Sadly, the honors students did not get to

share their poems because on that same day they had a Socratic seminar for their novel they

studied, and we just did not end up having the time. However, I still enjoyed reading the sonnets

and that was special on its own accord. Personally, I think these two assessment tools each

showcase my own teaching philosophies and the success I saw with both will be noted for future

teaching experiences.

The English Renaissance Poetry Unit aligns with the following English Standards of

Learning:

12.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze the development of British literature and

literature of other cultures.

a) Compare and contrast the development of British literature in its historical context.

b) Analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to meaning and interpret

how themes are connected across texts.

d) Interpret the social and cultural function of British literature.

e) Interpret how the sound and imagery of poetry support the subject, mood, and theme,

and appeal to the reader’s senses.

h) Use critical thinking to generate and respond logically to literal, inferential, and

evaluative questions about the text(s).

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Reflection on Theory and Practice

The assessment tools I used in the 12th grade English classroom reflect my general

ideologies surrounding measurements of learning and how I use them as a planning tool. I think

that solely quantitative data and standardized testing should not be the only reflections of student

intelligence. I recognize that there are students that are more creatively intelligent while others

might be more logically intelligent. As a teacher, I should be willing to step outside of the typical

quantitative and numerical box to reach students who do not excel as well on multiple-choice,

more data-centered testing. Quantitative data is still important and helpful when looking at the

bigger picture of the entire classroom. Qualitative data is more valuable for looking at individual

student intelligences. It was interesting to see how both are practically used in a secondary

classroom. Black, Harrison, and Lee (2003) concluded after research involving summative

versus formative assessments that, “such [summative] tests should be used to chart learning

occasionally rather than to dominate the assessment picture for both teachers and students.

Active involvement of students in the test process can help them to see that they can be

beneficiaries rather than victims of testing, because tests can help them improve their learning”

(p. 113). Often, students groan at the idea of taking summative, traditional assessments. When I

passed out the pre-assessment, I received many complaints from student which made me wonder

why exactly I got this response. For many of the 12th grade students, there is an increased

pressure to succeed because they want to graduate. One thing I made sure to emphasize was that

the pre-assessment was not a grade and will only be used to gage their understanding. I was not

using this pre-assessment data to hurt their grade, but rather to improve their understanding and

support their individual learning experiences through proper lesson preparation in response to

initial data. Extracting the idea that their worth is somehow connected to their grades is a major
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aspect of my teaching philosophy in that I strive to help students see themselves as complex and

understand that grades do not measure the total worth of human existence.

As previously mentioned, I utilized rubrics for an original sonnet assignment that was

utilized as an assessment. I decided that this was a fun and creative way to assess students that

did not involve that pressure of a multiple-choice assessment. Test anxiety is a real phenomenon

and as a teacher, I want my students to feel more at ease and less anxious when it comes to

evaluating their understanding and growth while in my classroom. According to a study

conducted by Bagley (2010) about alternative assessments in secondary schools, “through end-

of-year presentations, and ensuring that they clearly understand the requirements for receiving –

or earning – certain grades via detailed rubrics, students… are ultimately encouraged to take

charge of their own growth and learning as students” (p. 101). I saw this while watching the

students read their sonnets to the class. I saw their confidence bloom because I gave them the

opportunity to be creative on any topic of their choice using specific parameters illustrated in a

rubric. This alternative assessment will help students improve their grades, especially if they deal

with test anxiety or perhaps have lower test-taking skills. Making learning more student-centered

is the ideal and taking those small steps to make assessments more accessible to students is how

to start incorporating that idealization. I am not saying that traditional assessments are not

important, but I am saying that the emphasis entirely on quantitative data can be damaging for

students, especially if they have learning or emotional obstacles. Recognizing the nuances of a

student’s experiences helps me to want to creatively engage students better.

Another aspect of student assessment that I want to emphasize as a teacher is not to teach

simply to prepare for a test, but to teach curriculum as inherently valuable and important despite

the test. Instead of being teacher-centered or student-centered, there are some classrooms that are
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test-centered which is not the most productive way to understand education and the value of

learning. In an article about the dangers of test preparation as the sole focus of classrooms, Davis

and Vehabovic (2018) said that, “rather than allowing test items to frame the way students think

about texts, teachers should encourage dialogic interactions in which multiple interpretations can

be debated and texts are used to sustain ongoing inquiry and curiosity about the world” (p. 585).

For example, when I am teaching pastoral poetry during the English Renaissance, I provide an

example of a poem and I do not immediately provide an interpretation. I ask the class and desire

them to draw their own conclusions using the imagery, figurative language, and sound devices

presented within the poem. From there, the class can provide multiple interpretations using

evidence and examples directly from the text. Students may have completely different

interpretations, but that is precisely what I am looking for because they are using evidence to

support these varying conclusions. In English studies, it is not always about whether someone is

correct, but rather can they provide evidence? Are they capable of supporting their arguments

with examples or details and do they make sense? When I have class discussion, I continually

ask for students to provide supporting evidence as this will prepare them for their college studies

as well as their ability to be eloquent and critical thinkers. Ultimately, pre and post assessments

provide overall class data, but when it comes down to student comprehension of English studies,

I prefer that they can inquire information from texts and apply those techniques to their own

lives. In my case, utilizing the pre and post assessment for English Renaissance poetry, while

simultaneously providing opportunities for either informal or creative assessments is more

affective. I have seen my students improve and become more inquisitive thinkers that are

motivated through their own curiosity, rather than just their grade on a unit test.
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References

Bagley, S. S. (2010). Students, teachers and alternative assessment in secondary school:

Relational models theory (RMT) in the field of education. Australian Educational

Researcher, 37(1), 83-106.

doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.regent.edu:2048/10.1007/BF03216915

Black, P., Harrison, C., & Lee, C. (2003). Assessment for learning: Putting it into practice.

Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.regent.edu

Davis, D. S., & Vehabovic, N. (2018). The Dangers of Test Preparation: What Students Learn

(and Don’t Learn) About Reading Comprehension from Test‐Centric Literacy

Instruction. Reading Teacher, 71(5), 579–588. https://doi-

org.ezproxy.regent.edu/10.1002/trtr.1641