Tales of Thinking Ch:3,4,6

“If I could hold a child’s thinking still at one time and in one place with no distractions and measure it—but assessment really doesn’t work that way.” This statement really stood out to me, because there is one student in my class that I can not read for anything. She does receive some Special Ed services for her learning disability, but she doesn’t talk much at all to other students or even teachers. When I try to talk to her or ask her a question she just looks at me and stares with this smile on her face. I know that she hears me, but she just doesn’t respond. The few times that she does talk it is very low; almost always like a whisper. At the end of almost every day I think of her asking myself what is going through her mind. My host teacher has complained a lot of times because it is hard to assess her, and it is also hard to get her involved with the lessons. If you call on her during discussions or a group activity she just stares at you. She is eligible to receive special services, but when you ask her if she needs help she just stares at you with the same facial expression. It is very unique, and very intriguing to me. It was when reading chapter 6 that I began thinking about what kind of learning style (intelligence) is best for her. I couldn’t seem to put my figure on one that could really match up with what I have observed. As I continued reading it brought up the idea of using a portfolio to assess students. In doing so the students can pick and chose what goes in it, as well as communicates with the teacher as to what and why they want different things to be placed in there. Following the framework: collect, select, reflect, and project could possibly get this child to open up. In doing so she herself can discover things about her learning, and also the teachers can get a better understanding of how she is best learning. It is important for every child to develop an intelligence/learning style that best fits them in order to be successful throughout most of their schooling. Some students it may be easy to discover, but for others it may be more difficult. I feel the idea of a personal portfolio would be perfect for this child. I think that she and her teachers could benefit in many ways using this as an assessment tool and as a way to discover what multiple intelligences best fit the child.