My+students


 * Lance:** Lance is a senior and could probably be described as an athletic popular student. This is the third year I have had had him in class. He was in my American History class as a sophomore, my American Issues class as a junior, and now in my Ancient Western Civilization class as a senior. Lance has traditionally been a very good student; each quarter in my classes he has earned a very high A, on occasion accumulating a score of over 100%. While he is very naturally intelligent, he is also very motivated. Every project or assignment he has turned in to me has been of the upmost quality. He gives a lot of attention to detail, and can be counted on to complete a task exactly as it is assigned, only veering from the instructions to go above and beyond what is required. While in the classroom he is also a model student. Lance can be counted on to participate in classroom discussions offering very thoughtful and insightful answers and questions. A problem for Lance I believe is that school is often too easy for him. He is a student that can complete traditional assignments and assessments to a very high level of efficiency with little effort. It seems that he rarely feels challenged in the classroom. The couple of projects I had him complete in pervious years that offered him a chance to showcase his abilities and push himself, seemed to give him an extra dose of motivation and as a result the projects he turned in could not even be compared to those of other students. I decided to use Lance as one of my subjects because I knew he would thrive in my class, and I to talk to him and follow his work closely over the semester. As a student who finds school easy and has a lot of internal motivation, I thought he would be very interesting to follow to see how this process affects a highly skilled student with a lot of motivation. His thoughts and feelings on this course and authentic assessment will give me a lot of insight into how this method appeals to and helps drive students with a wide range of abilities. Assessment should be about evaluating students’ capacities, no matter if they are the top of the class like Lance or the student who is struggling just to pass.



**Sammi:** Sammi is a senior and is very involved in student council and choir. I feel that she is occasionally look upon as a “teachers pet” because she enjoys being involved in the classroom and is very comfortable with teachers. This is the second year that I have Sammi in class. Last year as a junior she was in my American Issues class, and this year she chose to take my elective course Ancient Western Civilizations. Sammi is a very good student who rarely received anything other than an A. She is intelligent, works very hard, and has what I call a “social studies mind.” She very easily comprehends the topics in my class, and is able to make connections and assumptions that other students are not able to make. Even with this very natural ability, she is very motivated and thorough. She may know every answer to a test, but will be one of the last ones to finish because she is writing out every detail that applies. Her projects are always above and beyond what is needed, usually adding on to what was assigned to give a more complete product. In the classroom Sammi is always willing to participate and offer an opinion or question, to the point where she can begin to dominate the classroom discussion and I will be forced to stop calling on her. While I think social studies comes very easy for Sammi, I think her interest in it, and her desire to achieve at a high level, keeps her motivated. I believe she honestly enjoys and has fun creating projects, but that sometimes when she is creating her projects she is adding to them because they are just not challenging enough for her. No surprise, the style of project that she most enjoyed completing was an opened one. This style of project challenged her more and allowed her to create the type of project that challenged her understanding and ability. I decided to use Sammi because I knew this style of assessment played to her ability. She is a student who is probably rarely is challenged in most classes and by most assessment, and I wanted to see how she would respond to being encouraged to express herself and showcase her ability. Also, Sammi is planning on becoming a social studies teacher. While she obviously has no training, I think her thought process and approach to the course is affected by this and will give an interesting point of view. Also Sammi will give me a point of view from someone who truly enjoys creating projects and being involved in a social studies class.



**Ariel:** Ariel is a senior who will graduating a semester early and can probably be described as an alternative student, who is an outcast among most high school students. She is graduating early because she wants to get out of high school, not because she has done well and wants to get started on the next phase of her life. Ariel was in my US History class as a sophomore, and decided during her final semester to take my elective Ancient Western Civilization course. I felt I connected with her as a student and she enjoyed me as a teacher. Ariel is an intelligent outspoken student, but with very little motivation. She completes most work, but does not always feel that it is necessary. Usually her work is done correctly, but with the absolute minimal amount of effort possible. Occasionally she will omit the portions of an assignment that she deems unnecessary or irrelevant. Ariel will often participate in class, and she clearly demonstrates an understanding of the information, but she is as likely to offer an insightful answer as she is to ask what the point is or as why we need to do a particular task. Clearly the main problem for Ariel is motivation. I decided to use Ariel as one of my subjects because I was curious how the freedom of the projects would affect her motivation to complete them and the level to which they are completed. As a student who finds most assignments pointless, I thought following her would allow me see if allowing students to create their own assessment could motivate a student who is otherwise unmotivated. I thought by allowing her to play to her own interests and talents she would be more motivated to complete and excel then she would be with assessments that are dictated to her. I feel assessment should be varied to allow all students to communicate their learning in a meaningful way.


 * Nick:** Nick is a senior who I would describe as a very middle of the road student. This will be the third year I have had Nick in class. He was in my American history class as a sophomore and my American Issues class as a junior, and now my Ancient Western Civilization course. Nick is a student who usually does pretty good work. Depending on his interest his work will vary from very good to just good enough. He is not the brightest student that I have, but he is by no means low. Nick very often seems to be trying to find his place in high school society. I get the impression that he kind of floats back and forth between several groups of friends. He is a student that is capable of creating some very nice work if he is inspired, but at the same time if he isn’t he has no problem just getting by. He usually understands what is going on in class and will participate often, but his effort on assignments tends to vary. As I said, Nick is very much your typical high school student. He tends to understand all the material, but he doesn’t always feel inspired by it or by what teachers expect him to do with it. He seems to have a lot of potential, but he does not always have an outlet for this potential. I picked him to follow for several reasons. For one, because he really is your average high school student. Nick really represents most of the students in the school and his reaction to this style of assessment will show how most students will react. Also, I will be able to see if the average student is going to be able to motivate themselves and create an assessment that displays understanding and helps them to learn the material. While I may not get a project that is above and beyond what was assigned, what I want to see are projects that meet the average student’s potential and inspire them to really grab hold of material that they may otherwise just try and get through.