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The ACCESS test for ELs is a criterion-referenced assessment that is taken every year. It measures all four modalities of language, and also combines those scores into various composite scores as shown above. Since this student has 3 years worth of scores, it shows their growth from Entering levels to Developing. Their Speaking proficiency level has generally lagged behind the others. It is important to understand that proficiency levels do not measure the same level across all grade levels. Their scale scores may still be increasing.

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The MAP test is given to all students in Anoka-Hennepin School District. I believe outside a pandemic it is meant to be given once a trimester. You can see from the graph that it is normed to determine the distribution of scores among students in the district. As ELs, typically my students will score in the bottom half percentile. They receive no accommodations for their EL status in either the reading or math tests. Despite this, the tests show consistent growth for this student.

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The MCA is Minnesota's primary statewide testing apparatus. Here the impact of the pandemic is seen more clearly with an entire year missing and a clear drop in score. It can be difficult to square this result with other tests that seem to suggest the opposite. It is important to keep the timeline of testing in mind, whether tests actually evaluate the same skills, and of course that standardized tests can only capture a narrow snapshot of a student's performance. This student may have simply been having a bad day.

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After every selection in our curriculum (National Geographic INSIDE Book C), there is a test of vocabulary, grammar features, reading comprehension, and writing skills that were taught during previous lessons. This student demonstrated mastery of the first two sections, but continues to respond to writing prompts with excessive brevity. Fortunately, this can be addressed in subsequent assessments and lessons, whereas it would be difficult to reteach vocabulary without delaying the start of the next selection and corresponding lessons.

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Online sites like Kahoot are great for getting instant feedback on which concepts are most challenging for the class, allowing me to adjust instruction accordingly. These can be used as a review or even a sort of pretest for a unit. Plus the students think they're just fun games, mostly. Here we see the class took did a Kahoot on subject pronouns, and this student showed that they did not require very intensive instruction. Their answers were automatic and accurate.

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When I first started in my position, the students all had spent the first month of school working with a different teacher. To help in the transition, I asked all my students to respond to four questions: 1) What did you enjoy about class with your former teacher? 2) What do you hope Mr. Davis will do in class? 3) What would you like to know about Mr. Davis? 4) What would you like to share about yourself? I believe this was quite effective in assimilating myself with their learning community and growing it further. I am now able to incorporate student interests whenever relevant.

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In our most recent unit, our main writing project was drafting personal narratives. After analyzing a model, identifying sensory details, and using a sequence chain to organize ideas, students began their first draft. There is an accompanying checklist to help students be sure they have included all the key elements to this kind of writing. Interestingly, this student seemed very reluctant to tell a real narrative about facing a challenge in their life. Instead I differentiated by allowing them to embellish the details, and they produced a horror story.

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Throughout this unit we read several works of fiction, and thus we review many key story elements such as characters, settings, and plot. In this activity, students used the diagram to track the developments in the plot of our selection and how the conflict evolves over time. This student did a good job of documenting the story events in order, and understanding the resolution of the conflict. However, the climax was misidentified. They also seemed to understand how the setting (a school) influences the plot.

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Often when I assign quick write activities, I intentionally choose topics that allow students to share their beliefs and interests. Ideally, this would be good practice of the key language use Argue. They always prove insightful. I personally enjoy this particular prompt because when students mention something I've never had before, I can find a restaurant and try it out! I can confirm that cơm tấm is delicious and really does have a little bit of everything.

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I selected this student specifically because of the challenge of observation. This student does not talk at all. The following sentences are my attempt at using the above Kidwatching framework with a student who chooses to be silent. The student does not vocalize to themselves. The only time they spoke to me in the past 5 weeks was asking once to use the bathroom in a whisper. The student chooses to sit near a few peers who sometimes talk to them, but do not get a verbal response. They are comfortable indicating things publicly by using hand signals (thumbs up/down, #1 or #2), and will write on the board with some reluctance. I have inquired with several of their teachers and peers, and there is a consistent pattern that they simply choose not to speak in school. They show plenty of emotion, laughing with the rest of the class, or furrowing their brow in frustration. It is worth noting that the ACCESS test seems to suggest they are fully capable, though this speaking ability has lagged behind other proficiencies. And it is certainly not the result of a listening barrier.

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I realize that attendance is not exactly "informal", but I find great value in being able to observe a student at this broad perspective beyond the walls of my classroom. Are they skipping particular classes? Do they have trouble accessing their education regularly? This student has excellent attendance. In the past 4 years, they have only missed 6 days of school. As this data is gathered from MARSS number, this also suggests that the student did not attend school in Minnesota prior to 4th grade.

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As I said above, the MAP test is given to all students in Anoka-Hennepin School District. Like the MAP Reading, the Math test is normed to determine the distribution of scores among students in the district. ELs receive no accommodations for their status again, but the test will read questions aloud to the student if they want. In this way, it goes beyond relying on reading skills, but certainly requires some sort of English comprehension skills to perform at a high level. Although the distribution of EL students on the MAP Math test is more similar to the general student population, this student consistently scores in the bottom half, but continues to grow.