Fulfilling the Promise 100-103 and Online reading

How would you use the information this would produce in differentiating? There are a lot of dynamics that these surveys address that I never would have thought to address previously. For example, on of the qualities that students are asked to identify if they are good at or not is if they like to plan things. I never would have thought to ask that. But that information will help the teacher understand if they work well in groups or not. You would also get a good feel about what interests the child and what kind of things you can do to trigger their intrinsic motivation and their desire to learn.
What would you personally like to add or remove from this inventory? I think one really important question to add would be "I like (don't like) it when teachers___________ because...." There are just some things that really annoy kids and can interfere with their learning. For example, some kids don't like it when their teacher uses a bell to get their attention because it makes them feel like a dog. Or some kids will say they like it when their teacher puts their work on the wall. I think this question will give the kids the chance to voice pet peeves and what they want their classroom to be like.

Do any of these hold potential for you to use in your ST classroom? Explain. If they don't, what are you going to do for preassessment toward differentiation? First of all, allow me to put the disclaimer that I will only do the preassessments that my student teaching teacher will allow me to do:) That aside, I have to say that I had a really good experience with the reading attitudes preassessment in field last semester. Through the "Garfield" test, I was able to discover that the child that I was working with LOVED to read at school but any mention of reading got one of the lowest two ratings. I think that simple test can give really good insights and lead to other great questions as to a child's reading attitudes. As for the preassessment tests for other subjects, I like any preassessment when kids have to EXPLAIN what they know. For example there was one that asked for a definition (with pictures or words) of multiplication. You can see how much a person knows (adult or child) by how they explain it. If they are unsure about a subject then they wont be able to explain or teach that concept to another. It is also through these explanations that you can also look at the child's writing skills and their comprehension of what the questions are asking. Some assessment should also be done orally in order to make sure that what the child is writing is a true reflection of what they really know. This could be done by listening in on small group discussion or by conducting interviews with each child.