Tammy Benson

Portfolios in First Grade: Four Teachers Learn to Use Alternative Assessment

Educational assessment is experiencing significant changes which affect classroom practices. This article describes an in-depth qualitative study of the implementation of portfolio assessment by four first grade teachers. Creative activities and valuable insights were given by these teachers which allow for successful implementation of portfolios in the classroom. These teachers found three major benefits of portfolios: (1) a means of communicating more effectively with families, (2) a tool to motivate, encourage, and instruct students in the skills of self-assessment, and (3) a mechanism to monitor and improve their own instruction in the classroom.

Getting on the Same Page: Expanding Student Support Services to Increase Candidate Success and Educator Accountability.

Today’s teacher candidates frequently exhibit confusion and express discouragement while navigating the expectations of their educational journeys and career goals. Characteristically, many candidates tend to be first-generation college students limited in universal knowledge, global travels, diverse experiences, and multiple perspectives. Contemporary candidates continue to live at or near home, work full- or part-time, and intend to seek teaching positions in their local communities. Overall, they appear restricted in individual ingenuity and academic acumen contributing to personal, professional, and pedagogical competence and confidence. Thus, faculty specializing in middle and secondary education customized a College of Education student support system to assist their candidates. This article describes the department services, candidate interactions, faculty growth, and program benefits through narrative enquiry addressing thematic, structural, dialogic, and visual aspects of their student support services and educator accountability.

The Language Patterns of Preschool Children in the Computer Environment

Abstract This article describes the language patterns of eight preschool students in a computer environment. Videotaped interactions at the computer center were analyzed to examine the nature of the verbal interaction that took place among peers. Using Hallidays functional framework, the authors found that regulatory was the most popular language pattern, followed by heuristic and representational. The results of this study reveal the scope and variety of preschool childrens language in the computer environment and may help early childhood educators understand how preschool children use language to interact with each other.