Assessment Journal Article

Albert, L., & Antos, J. (200). Daily Journals. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 5(8), 526,527,528,529,530,531.

SUMMARY

This article was all about using daily journals in the classroom. The article followed a fifth grade class where around two students a day would take home journals and write about how they used mathematics outside of the classroom. They started this on the first day of school and continued it throughout the last day of school. Students were not only encouraged two write stuff down but to also take pictures, draw pictures, diagrams, or any other ways that they could put things in their notebooks. Every day their mathematics class would start with students sharing their journal entries. By doing this the students would create problems for the class to solve. This was used to help the students connect their math to real life experiences in a way that related to them. The things students wrote most about was money, elapsed time ,and measurement The assessment for this project was shared between the student and the teacher. Students are given a guide and are told to use it as a self assessment tool throughout the process. The teacher than looks at this assessment and sees if the student provided sufficient support and reasoning in their process of evaluating themselves. At the end of the marking period students select their best two or three journals to hand in. These journals are used as part of their portfolios. This all allows students to take ownership of their own learning.

EVALUATION

This article was extremely beneficial! I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot about journals ways of using it as an assessment. Journals are a perfect assesment for students at any ability level. Even though some journals may not be as detailed as others, the journals still show a certain level of understanding that will demonstrate knowledge gained. Also for students who have trouble writing, they can use pictures and diagrams to help explain their thoughts. This is good because students can show their understanding in a way that may be easier for them to demonstrate. Using journals is also a great way to connect mathematics to a students real life. By having students go home and write about how they used math in their lives outside of school, it allows students to see that math is all around us, and that we use it everyday in a lot of our activities. By allowing students to see that they actually use the concepts they use in class outside of the classroom it allows them to build a better understanding of the topics and promote the want for more learning. Students will be able to see that we actually use math all the time and will want to learn more about it so that they will be able to see how it relates even more to their lives.