Tests as Tools

One of the most important things to keep in mind when making or using language tests is that tests and other assessments are tools. We want to use a test or assessment for a particular reason, to do a certain job, not “just because.” We should have in mind what that reason is, and who is likely to be taking the test, before we start planning the test—let alone before we start writing it. Almost without fail, the reason for giving the test will have something to do with making decisions about students, or other people (for example, prospective students, prospective employees, or people wanting to have their language ability certified for some purpose). These decisions, naturally, should inform the way that we design our tests (Mislevy 2007).Keeping in mind that a test is a tool can do a lot to clarify our thinking about how to use it. A particular tool is better for some tasks than for others, as anyone who has ever used pliers to remove a screw can understand. Similarly, a certain test might work quite well for one purpose, but not so well for something else. Some tools are poorly made, and are not useful for much of anything; so are some tests, particularly those that are random collections of questions thrown together without any planning. Likewise, some tools are well made, but are highly specialized; in the same way, a given test might be intended for a particular purpose, such as assessing the English-speaking ability of air traffic controllers, and it might do a wonderful job performing that task, but it might not be a good indicator of a doctor’s ability to converse with nurses and patients. Often, there may be several options available for a tool, some high-priced and some cheap, but one of the cheaper alternatives may do the job quite well enough, and while the more expensive options might work even better, they may not be better enough to justify the extra expense. Finally, to draw the tool analogy to a close, we should always keep in mind that nobody asks whether someone has a good tool that they can borrow. If someone needs a hammer, they ask for one, not for a screwdriver or wrench! In spite of this, though, it is an all-too-common occurrence for a teacher to ask colleagues if they know any good tests that can be used. Keeping this firmly in mind, we will next consider some of the purposes we use tests for, and some of the ways we look at test results.

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Test Purposes and Types

As Brown (1995) points out, language tests are normally used to help make decisions, and there are a number of types of decisions that they can be used for. We generally refer to tests, in fact, by the type of decision they are used to make. I think it is useful to divide these test and decision types into two broad categories: those that are closely related to a teaching or learning curriculum, and those that are not. I use this distinction because curriculum-related tests all have a specific domain—the curriculum—to which we can refer when planning and writing these tests. In contrast, when a test is not based on a particular curriculum, we have the burden or freedom (depending on one’s point of view) of deciding what specifically

These types of tests are summarized in Table 1.1. Brief consideration, of course, will show that many tests are used for more than one purpose; I will refer to several common types of overlap in the following discussion. This is not necessarily problematic.  it should be based on.

Furthermore, as will become evident shortly, the dividing line between one type of test and another is not always as clear and sharp as we might pretend. Nevertheless, there are several clearly identifiable types of decisions that are informed by testing, for which some sort of classification system is useful. Because the actual use of a test may change from what was originally planned, it is important to think in terms of types of decisions more so than types of tests p er se; however, it is common in actual usage to refer to types of tests as a convenient shorthand.

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Curriculum-Related Tests

The first type of curriculum-related test that a new student might encounter is an admission test, which is used to decide whether a student should be admitted to the program at all; this could of course be viewed as a screening test for a language program (see below), illustrating that, as noted earlier, the lines between categories can often be rather fuzzy. A related type of test is a placement test, which is used to decide at which level in the language program a student should study. The student then gets “placed” into that level—hence the name. In many cases, a single test might be used for both purposes: to decide whether a students language ability is adequate for even the lowest level in the program (admission decisions), and if they pass that threshold, to decide which level is most appropriate for them (placement decisions).

Diagnostic tests are used to identify learners’ areas of strength and weakness. Sometimes diagnostic information is obtained from placement (or admissions) tests, but sometimes diagnostic tests are administered separately once students have already been placed into the appropriate levels. Some language programs also use diagnostic tests to confirm that students were placed accurately. This can be a good idea, especially if a program is not highly confident in its placement procedures, but it is debatable whether this is actually a diagnostic purpose p er se. Diagnostic information can be used to help teachers plan what points to cover in class, to help them identify what areas a student may need extra help with, or to help students know which areas they need to focus on in their learning.

Once students are placed appropriately, teachers may wish to find out whether or how well their students are learning what is being taught. Progress tests assess how well students are doing in terms of mastering course content and meeting course objectives. This is done from the point of view that the learning is still ongoing—that is, that students are not expected to have mastered the material yet. Many progress decisions in the classroom do not involve testing, however, but are made informally, in the midst of teaching (see, for example, Leung 2004). This is often referred to as monitoring, or “just paying attention,” and is assumed to be a fundamental part of teaching, but this does not make it any less a form of assessment. More formally, we often refer to smaller progress assessments as quizzes. However, to the extent that we are using these assessments—quizzes, tests, or whatever—to grade students, we are assessing something other than progress. Achievement tests are those that are used to identify how well students have met course objectives or mastered course content. To a large extent, the question ofwhether a particular test or quiz is an achievement or progress test depends upon how it is being used. To the extent that the test is used to make decisions about what or how fast to teach, it is a progress test, and to the extent that it is used to make decisions about how individual students have learned what they were supposed to, it is an achievement test.

For example, imagine that a test is given in the middle of a course. It is used to assign grades for how well students have learned the material in the first half of the course, but it is also used by the teacher to decide whether any of those points need to be reviewed in class. In such a case, the test is both a progress and an achievement test. As a second example, consider a test given at the very end of a course. This test is used to assign grades to students—to make decisions about how much learning they have achieved in the course—so it is purely an achievement test. In considering whether a test is actually serving as an assessment of progress, achievement, or both—regardless of what it is being called by a teacher or program—the key is to think in terms of the type(s) of decisions being made. This is especially important when the actual use of a test has changed from what was intended when it was originally designed.

Moving beyond the level of an individual course, achievement tests can also be used at the level of the school or language program for decisions about whether to promote students to the next level or tier of levels, or for program exit or graduation decisions. Often, of course, practicality dictates that achievement testing for such purposes be combined with end-of-course achievement testing. Finally, there are two additional types of test-based decisions that closely relate to language curricula and programs, but which do not involve their “own” types of tests. The first involves program evaluation—one source of evidence to use when evaluating a programs effectiveness is tests. While we may want to consider the results of placement tests—and how good a job of placing students they seem to be doing—we may also want to examine achievement test results. In particular, if achievement tests are used at the end of a course, or for graduation, and if these tests are clearly tied to the goals and objectives (Brown 1995) of the course or program, then student performance on those tests should tell us something about how well the program is working.

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Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Testing

One major way in which test results can be interpreted from different perspectives involves the distinction between norm- and criterion-referenced testing, two different frames of reference that we can use to interpret test scores. As Thorndike and Hagen (1969) point out, a test score, especially just the number of questions answered correctly, “taken by itself, has no meaning. It gets meaning only by comparison with some reference” (Thorndike and Hagen: 241). That comparison may be with other students, or it might be with some pre-established standard or criterion, and the difference between norm- and criterion-referenced tests derives from which of these types of criterion is being used.

Norm-referenced tests (NRTs) are tests on which an examinees results are interpreted by comparing them to how well others did on the test. NRT scores are often reported in terms of test takers’ percentile scores, that is, the percentage of other examinees who scored below them. (Naturally, percentiles are most commonly used in large-scale testing; otherwise, it does not make much sense to divide test takers into 100 groups!). Those others may be all the other examinees who took the test, or, in the context of large-scale testing, they may be the norming sample—a representative group that took the test before it entered operational use, and whose scores were used for purposes such as estimating item (i.e. test question) difficulty and establishing the correspondence between test scores and percentiles. The norming sample needs to be large enough to ensure that the results are not due to chance—for example, if we administer a test to only 10 people, that is too few for us to make any kind of trustworthy generalizations about test difficulty. In practical terms, this means that most norm-referenced tests have norming samples of several hundred or even several thousand; the number depends in part on how many people are likely to take the test after it becomes operational.

The major drawback of norm-referenced tests is that they tell test users how a particular examinee performed with respect to other examinees, not how well that person did in absolute terms. In other words, we do not know how much ability or knowledge they demonstrated, except that it was more or less than a certain percentage of other test takers. That limitation is why criterion-referenced tests are so important, because we usually want to know more about students than that. “About average,” “a little below average,” and “better than most of the others by themselves do not tell teachers much about a learner s ability p er se. On the other hand, criterion-referenced tests (CRTs) assess language ability in terms of how much learners know in “absolute ’ terms, that is, in relation to one or more standards, objectives, or other criteria, and not with respect to how much other learners know. When students take a CRT, we are interested in how much ability or knowledge they are demonstrating with reference to an external standard of performance, rather than with reference to how anyone else performed. CRT scores are generally reported in terms of the percentage correct, not percentile. Thus, it is possible for all of the examinees taking a test to pass it on a CRT; in fact, this is generally desirable in criterion-referenced achievement tests, since most teachers hope that all their students have mastered the course content.

Note also that besides being reported in terms of percentage correct, scores may also be reported in terms of a scoring rubric or a rating scale, particularly in the case of speaking or writing tests. When this is done with a CRT, however, the score bands are not defined in terms of below or above “average'5 or “most students,’ but rather in terms of how well the student performed—that is, how much ability he or she demonstrated. A rubric that defined score bands in terms of the “average,” “usual,” or “most students,” for example, would be norm-referenced. 

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pembaharuan baru

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asal usul terminologi of kata dancuk

etimologi

Menurut Kamus Online Universitas Gadjah Mada , istilah “jancuk, jancok, diancuk, diancok, cuk, atau cok” didefinisikan sebagai “sialan, keparat, brengsek (ungkapan berupa perkataan umpatan untuk mengekspresikan kekecewaan atau bisa juga digunakan untuk mengungkapkan ekspresi keheranan atas suatu hal yang luar biasa)”.

Kata ini memiliki sejarah yang masih rancu. Kemunculannya banyak ditafsirkan karena adanya pelesetan oleh orang-orang terdulunya yang salah tangkap dalam pemaknaannya, dimana versi-versi ini muncul dari beberapa negara tetangga yang orang-orangnya mengucapkan kata yang memiliki intonasi berbeda namun fon-nya hampir sama. Dikarenakan orang-orang dari beberapa negara tetangga tersebut mengucapkan kata yang hampir mirip kata jancok itu dengan ekspresi marah atau geram dan semacamnya, orang-orang Jawa dulu mengartikan kata jancok (menurut lidah orang Jawa) adalah kata makian.

Setidaknya terdapat empat versi asal-mula kata Jancok.

1.Versi kedatangan Arab

Salah satu versi asal-mula kata “Jancuk” berasal dari kata Da’Suk. Da’ artinya “meninggalkanlah kamu”, dan assyu’a artinya “kejelekan”, digabung menjadi Da’Suk yang artinya “tinggalkanlah keburukan”. Kata tersebut diucapkan dalam logat Surabaya menjadi “Jancok”.

2.Versi penjajahan Belanda

Menurut Edi Samson, seorang anggota Cagar Budaya di Surabaya, istilah Jancok atau Dancok berasal dari bahasa Belanda “yantye ook” yang memiliki arti “kamu juga”. Istilah tersebut popular di kalangan Indo-Belanda sekitar tahun 1930-an. Istilah tersebut diplesetkan oleh para remaja Surabaya untuk mencemooh warga Belanda atau keturunan Belanda dan mengejanya menjadi “yanty ok” dan terdengar seperti “yantcook”. Sekarang, kata tersebut berubah menjadi “Jancok” atau “Dancok”. 

3.Versi penjajahan Jepang

Kata “Jancok” berasal dari kata Sudanco berasal dari zaman romusha yang artinya “Ayo Cepat”. Karena kekesalan pemuda Surabaya pada saat itu, kata perintah tersebut diplesetkan menjadi “Dancok”.

4. Versi umpatan

Warga Kampung Palemahan di Surabaya memiliki sejarah oral bahwa kata “Jancok” merupakan akronim dari “Marijan ngencuk” (“Marijan berhubungan badan”). Kata encuk merupakan bahasa Jawa yang memiliki arti “berhubungan badan”^[4], terutama yang dilakukan di luar nikah. Versi lain menyebutkan bahwa kata “Jancuk” berasal dari kata kerja “diencuk”. Kata tersebut akhirnya berubah menjadi “Dancuk” dan terakhir berubah menjadi “Jancuk” atau “Jancok”


Kata “Jancok” merupakan kata yang tabu digunakan oleh masyarakat Pulau Jawa secara umum karena memiliki konotasi negatif. Namun, penduduk Surabaya dan Malang menggunakan kata tersebut sebagai identitas komunitas mereka^[1] sehingga kata “Jancok” memiliki perubahan makna ameliorasi (perubahan makna ke arah positif).
Sujiwo Tedjo mengatakan:[

“Jancuk” itu ibarat sebilah pisau. Fungsi pisau sangat tergantung dari user-nya dan suasana psikologis si user. Kalau digunakan oleh penjahat, bisa jadi senjata pembunuh. Kalau digunakan oleh seorang istri yang berbakti pada keluarganya, bisa jadi alat memasak. Kalau dipegang oleh orang yang sedang dipenuhi dendam, bisa jadi alat penghilang nyawa manusia. Kalau dipegang orang yang dipenuhi rasa cinta pada keluarganya bisa dipakai menjadi perkakas untuk menghasilkan penghilang lapar manusia. Begitupun “jancuk”, bila diucapkan dengan niat tak tulus, penuh amarah, dan penuh dendam maka akan dapat menyakiti. Tetapi bila diucapkan dengan kehendak untuk akrab, kehendak untuk hangat sekaligus cair dalam menggalang pergaulan, “jancuk” laksana pisau bagi orang yang sedang memasak. “Jancuk” dapat mengolah bahan-bahan menjadi jamuan pengantar perbincangan dan tawa-tiwi di meja makan.(Sujiwo Tedjo, 2012, halaman x)

Jancuk merupakan simbol keakraban. Simbol kehangatan. Simbol kesantaian. Lebih-lebih di tengah khalayak ramai yang kian munafik, keakraban dan kehangatan serta santainya “jancuk” kian diperlukan untuk menggeledah sekaligus membongkar kemunafikan itu. (Sujiwo Tejo. 2012 : 397)

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Seven Principles of Effective Public Speaking

When we watch celebrities, politicians, or business leaders speak on television or in public, they seem so at ease that we may wonder:  are great speakers made, or are they just born that way? While it is true that some individuals are definitely born with this gift, the overwhelming majority of effective speakers have trained themselves to be so. Either they have received formal media training or they have delivered so many speeches that over time they’ve learned what works for them. So what is the true secret to effective public speaking?

Here are seven principles of public speaking that I’ve developed in my role as a media coach.  Keep them in mind the next time you find yourself presenting before a group.

1. Perception: Stop trying to be a great “public” speaker.People want to listen to someone who is interesting, relaxed, and comfortable.  In the routine conversations we have every day, we have no problem being ourselves.  Yet too often, when we stand up to give a speech, something changes.  We focus on the “public” at the expense of the “speaking.”  To become an effective public speaker, you must do just the opposite: focus on the speaking and let go of the “public.”  Think of it as a conversation between you and the audience. If you can carry on a relaxed conversation with one or two people, you can give a great speech.  Whether your audience consists of two people or two thousand and whether you’re talking about the latest medical breakthrough or what you did today at work, be yourself; talk directly to people and make a connection with them.

2. Perfection: When you make a mistake, no one cares but you. Even the most accomplished public speaker will make a mistake at some point.  Just keep in mind that you’ll notice more than anyone in your audience.  The most important thing a speaker can do after making a mistake is to keep going.  Don’t stop and—unless the mistake was truly earth shattering—never apologize to the audience for a minor slip.  Unless they are reading the speech during your delivery, the audience won’t know if you left out a word, said the wrong name, or skipped a page.  Because “to err is human,” a mistake can actually work for you, because it allows you to connect with your audience.  People don’t want to hear from someone who is “perfect;” they will relate much more easily to someone who is real.

3. Visualization: If you can see it, you can speak it.Winners in all aspects of life have this in common:  they practice visualization to achieve their goals.  Sales people envision themselves closing the deal; executives picture themselves developing new ventures; athletes close their eyes and imagine themselves making that basket, hitting that home run, or breaking that record.  The same is true in public speaking.  The best way to fight anxiety and to become a more comfortable speaker is to practice in the one place where no one else can see you—your mind. If you visualize on a consistent basis, your mind will become used to the prospect of speaking in public, and pretty soon you’ll conquer any feelings of anxiety.

4. Discipline: Practice makes perfectly good.Your goal is not to be a perfect public speaker.  There is no such thing.  Your goal is to be an effective public speaker.  Like anything else in life, it takes practice.  We too often take communication for granted because we speak to people everyday. But when your prosperity is directly linked to how well you perform in front a group, you need to give the task the same attention as if you were a professional athlete. Remember, even world champion athletes practice every day.  Try taking a class where you practice giving speeches.

5. Description: Make it personal.Whatever the topic, audiences respond best when speakers personalize their communication. Take every opportunity to put a face on the facts of your presentation.  People like to hear about other people’s experiences—the triumphs, tragedies, and everyday humorous anecdotes that make up their lives.  Tell stories.  Whenever possible, insert a personal-interest element in your public speaking.  Not only will it make your listeners warm up to you, but it will also do wonders at putting you at ease. After all, on what subject is your expertise greater than on the subject of you?

6. Inspiration: Speak to serve.For a twist that is sure to take much of the fear out of public speaking, take the focus off of yourself and shift it to your audience. After all, the objective is not to benefit the speaker but to benefit the audience, through teaching, motivation, or entertainment. So in all of your preparation and presentation, you should think about your purpose.  How can you help your audience members achieve their goals?

7. Anticipation: Always leave ‘em wanting more.One of the most valuable lessons I have learned in my years in communications is that when it comes to public speaking, less is usually more. I don’t think I’ve ever left a gathering and heard someone say, “I wish that speaker had spoken longer.” On the other hand, I imagine that you probably can’t count the times that you’ve thought, “I’m glad that speech is over. It seemed to go on forever!” So surprise your audience.  Always make your presentation just a bit shorter than anticipated.  If you’ve followed the first six principles outlined here you already have their attention and interest, and it’s better to leave your listeners wishing you had spoken for just a few more minutes than squirming in their seats waiting for your speech finally to end.

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How to be a better reader

The importance of reading Reading is an extremely important skill. It is by reading that you learn much of what you need to know for your different school subjects. Reading is also an excellent way to improve your general English. You can only learn from reading, however, if what you read is not too difficult. For this reason, it is important to know what makes texts difficult and how you can improve your chances of understanding them. What makes texts difficult to understand Most of your reading difficulties will be caused by a problem on the list below. Of course, when two or more of these problems happen together, your chances of understanding will be even smaller. the text has many unknown words the text has long, complicated sentences the text is about a topic you know nothing about the text is about a topic you find boring the text has small print, long paragraphs, no pictures the text has been badly written you are feeling tired you are distracted you don't know the important cohesion markers you don't know why you have been asked to read the text How to understand more of what you read You can do nothing about some of the reading difficulties: for example, you can’t change the print in a book or make poor writing better.

 But there are many things you can do that will give you a better chance of understanding what you read. Here are some suggestions:

 1. Know your reading purpose - 

The way you read a book or a text depends very much on your reasons for reading it. This is why it is so important to know your reading purpose. You should read a question in your math exam differently from an entry in an encyclopaedia which you are looking at quickly to find out the date of an event. The kind of reading you do in class or for your homework is different from how you read a novel for pleasure in the summer vacation. If you know your reading purpose - perhaps by looking first at the questions you must answer after reading - you can choose the best reading method. If your teacher gives you something to read and doesn't tell you what you need to find out from the text or what you will do after the reading, ask her (or him)!

 2. Choose the appropriate reading speed -

ESL students often take a long time to do their work because they read everything slowly and carefully. Often, however, one of the following speedreading methods will be the best choice: Skimming - this is reading a text quickly to find out what information it contains. You should skim when, for example, you want to check if a text has the information you need to answer some questions or write a project. It is often enough to look at the first (and last) sentences in each paragraph. Scanning - this is reading quickly to find a specific piece of information. You should scan when, for example, you are looking for the answer to a question which you know is in the text. In general, students should be trying to increase their reading speed. (Click to do some speed reading practice.)

3. Get background information -

Find something out about the topic you have to read. The more background information you have, the easier it will be to understand the text. You can get this background information background in your own language. For example, if you are studying the Italian Renaissance, you could read an encyclopaedia or textbook in your own language to find out the most important details about this historical period. Your parents may also be able to give you useful background information. Talk to them in your language. You can sometimes get background information from the text itself. Many writers include a conclusion or summary; if you read this first, it may give you a good start.

 4. Use all the information in the book -

Good textbooks are well-organised, with titles, sub-titles, introductions, summaries or conclusions. Many books also have pictures with captions. Look at all these first before starting to read. Another aspect of good writing is that each paragraph has a topic sentence. A topic sentence is a sentence, usually the first one in a paragraph, that contains the main idea of the paragraph. If you concentrate on understanding the topic sentence, this may help you to understand what comes next.

 5. Increase your vocabulary -

Of course, reading itself is an excellent way to improve your vocabulary, but there are many other things you can do. (More advice on learning vocabulary.) The better your vocabulary, the easier you will find your reading.

6. Use your dictionary sensibly -

 A common mistake of ESL students is to look up each unknown word in the texts they are given to read. Occasionally this is necessary - for example, when reading examination questions. But it takes a long time and can be very boring. It can even make understanding more difficult because by the time you reach the end of the paragraph you have forgotten what you read at the beginning! (Advice on how and when to use your dictionary.)

7. Learn the important words that organise text -

When you read texts in your science or history books, you will find that most good writers organise their writing with cohesion markers (also called transition words). These are words that connect different parts of the writing and help writers structure their thoughts. If you learn the important cohesion markers, you will find it easier to understand the text. Here are some important cohesion markers: also, therefore, except, unless, however, instead, (al)though, furthermore, moreover, nevertheless, on the other hand, as a result, despite, in conclusion.

 8. Choose the right place to read -

You can’t really expect to understand a difficult book if you are trying to read in the same room with the television on and your little brother distracting you. The same goes for reading in the bus on the way to school. You also can’t expect to read a textbook and listen to music at the same time. Try to find a quiet and comfortable place with good light, and your dictionaries and other materials nearby.

 9. Choose the right time to read -

If you have a difficult text to read for homework, it’s probably best to do this first. If you leave it until last when you are tired, you will find it even more difficult. Important: If you have tried the advice above and you still cannot understand a text, then it is simply too hard for you. Stop reading and ask someone to help you (your ESL teacher, for example!). Nobody likes to give up, but you will just be wasting your time if you continue to work at a text that is beyond you. What to read Most of the time you have to read what your teachers tell you to read. But as you know, reading is an excellent way to improve your English, and so you should try to do some extra reading each week. Here is some advice on how to choose what to read: Try not to read something too difficult - There should be no more than about

6-10 new words per page; reading for pleasure should not be hard work! Reading easy books is good for you -You will improve your reading skills even if you read simple books, as long as you read lots of them. (But you may find you don't really enjoy stories written in English that has been over-simplified.) Try to read some non-fiction - Reading non-fiction books or magazines will help you learn some of the words you need to do well in your subject classes. There are millions of pages of non-fiction on the world wide web! Choose something that is interesting to you - This is clear. In fact, if you are really interested in a topic, you will probably be able to understand texts that would normally be too difficult for you. Surf the internet - You can learn a lot of English just by surfing around on the websites that interest you. This is particularly true if the webpages contain pictures that help you understand the writing.

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Identifying Good Reader Behaviors and Areas of Weakness

Peter led Bridget into the waiting room.

 What did you do as you read this sentence? I am certain that you are primarily conscious of a mental picture of Peter and Bridget. But before you could form this picture, you performed a variety of other actions. You recognized the individual words, and you assigned some form of meaning to each one. You did this accurately and very quickly. In addition to constructing an image of Peter and Bridget, you probably made some inferences, predicting perhaps that the waiting room was in a doctor’s office or maybe a bus station. How could you do this? You have some prior knowledge of waiting rooms, and you used this to make this prediction. You may have also predicted that you are reading a story. If the first sentence had been “There are a variety of ways in which viruses differ from cells,” you would have predicted a nonfiction passage. You can do this because you have a sense of text structure and of how narratives differ from expository selections. You no doubt have questions. How old were Peter and Bridget? Why was he leading her? What could happen next? These questions lead you to read on to find answers.

He realized that she was extremely nervous, so he gently
suggested that she sit down.

You did the same things with this sentence, but in addition, you connected it to the first sentence. Good readers synthesize information as they read. Perhaps the fact that Bridget was nervous confirmed your prediction that they were in a doctor’s office. If you had originally thought that they were in the waiting room of a bus station, perhaps the word nervous led you to think of another possibility, such as a dentist’s office. You have added to your visual image, and I suspect you are feeling quite positive toward Peter and his gentle ways. Developing emotions toward a character or situation is an important component of the reading process.

Bridget ignored him and began to pace frantically

You have more questions than you did before, and you are using your prior knowledge and the clues in the text to predict possible answers. You are monitoring your comprehension. You are aware of your questions. You know what you are unsure of. Why did Bridget ignore Peter? Could they have had an argument? She was nervous, and nervous people might pace, but why was her pacing so frantic? You are probably considering several possible reasons—and, I might add, enjoying the suspense. Why do we stay up way past bedtime reading a book? It is because we have many questions about what will happen, and we want to find the answers. Otherwise, we know that sleep will elude us!


The other patients watched her warily, and several also
began pacing.


Perhaps one of your inferences was confirmed. The setting was a doctor’s or dentist’s office. As a good reader, you matched your knowledge of waiting rooms to the clue patients and arrived at an answer. Perhaps you are unsure of the exact meaning of warily. What did you do? I doubt that you reached for a dictionary. Caught up with the story action, you probably used the context of the story to assign a temporary meaning, such as carefully or suspiciously. You then read on, eager to find out what will happen next.

As a scream rang out from the inner office, Peter angrily forced
Bridget to sit down.

The plot has thickened! Do you like the angry Peter quite as much as the gentle Peter? Who was screaming and why? What did this scream have to do with Bridget? You are not conscious of identifying words and assigning meanings. You are caught up with what is happening! You are very aware of what you understand and of the questions you have. You want answers! You are probably
even impatient with my comments, which are interrupting the account of Peter and Bridget. So let’s move on.

Bridget moved closer to Peter, who leaned down and tenderly
scratched her ears.

Were you surprised? And if you were, wasn’t it fun? Had you considered the possibility that Bridget was a dog? Had a vet’s office even entered your list of waiting room possibilities? If you are a dog owner, I’ll bet the facts that Peter led Bridget into the room and that the other patients copied her pacing were powerful clues. Let’s summarize. What did you do as you read these few short sentences? First, you identified individual words. Most (if not all) were familiar to you, and you did not need to match letters and sounds. The words were what we call sight words—words that are recognized immediately without analysis. Warily may have been unfamiliar, but as a good reader, you were able to sound it out and pronounce it even though you had never seen it in print before. You assigned appropriate meanings to the words you identified. You connected the things you knew about waiting rooms, patients, and ear scratching with the information in the text. You made inferences and predictions based on your knowledge and the clues in the text. You asked questions and located their answers. You constructed visual images. You monitored your own comprehension or lack of it. In short, you were extremely active, and your sole focus was upon constructing meaning and finding out what was going on.





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Self-Motivated

At the college level, students who succeed are normally self-motivated. They are in school because they choose to be, not necessarily because their parents expect them to be. Self-motivated students don't need as much hand-holding from instructors and peers to show up to class, listen and complete homework. They consistently come ready to learn, take good notes, study for tests and turn in work on time.

Organized

Students often balance school with work, family and personal time. To effectively navigate each area of life, you need good organizational skills. Good students commonly keep daily and weekly calenders that include days and times for tests, project deadlines as well as scheduled study time. Closely related, good students possess the discipline to generally stick to their schedules and avoid the regular calls from friends for parties and social outings.

Good Communicators

Effective one-on-one, small group and large group communication skills greatly enhance a student's opportunity for success. Dutiful students take the time to visit with instructors to develop rapport and ask about assignment or project questions. They also build connections with peers and other school staff. In classes, team activities are common, and students who can communicate well within a group learn more and perform better. Class presentations are assigned in some classes, as well, so public speaking skills are especially valuable.

Curious

In some cases, students earn good grades through a combination of intelligence and positive study habits. However, students with curious minds and a desire to grow personally often learn and retain more from their classes. Curious students get engaged in classes through listening, taking notes and sharing ideas. They also complete reading assignments, homework and projects with enthusiasm. Full commitment to classes and learning typically leads to better long-term benefits from the educational experience.

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characteristics of good teacher

A good teacher is determined. Determined – Finding any means necessary to reach all students no matter the challenge. Teachers must be willing to do anything to ensure that all students receive the education they need. A good teacher is empathetic. Empathetic– Being sensitive to a student’s struggles even though you may not personally be able to relate to them. A teacher must put themselves in the student’s shoes and see it from their perspective. This approach is often transcending in how to help the child succeed. A good teacher is engaging. Engaging – The ability to grab the attention of a classroom full of students and to maintain their attention throughout the entirety of class. A teacher must create lessons that are fun, fresh, and energetic. You want your student to walk out of your class each day looking forward to the next. A good teacher is evolving. Evolving – A continuous process of year over year improvement and growth. A teacher must continuously look for ways to improve themselves as well as individual lessons or components of lessons. A good teacher is fearless. Fearless – Trying a new approach that may be outside the norm and may receive criticism or scrutiny. A teacher must be willing to try anything within the parameters of school policy to reach their students. They must also be ready to defend their approach to criticism. A good teacher is forgiving. Forgiving – Quickly putting incidents with student, parents, or other teachers behind you so that it does not impact your teaching. Teachers must be able to get past hurtful actions or accusations quickly. They must not hold it against any student or let it impact how they teach in the classroom. A good teacher is generous. Generous – Volunteering for extra assignments and/or giving money out of your own pocket for classroom needs or individual student needs. Teachers do not make enough money, but most teachers are willing to donate time and/or money to help out in areas where a need is recognized. A good teacher has grit. Grit – The determination to overcome any obstacle in the way of obtaining a long term goal. A teacher must possess the grit necessary to make the personal sacrifices necessary to ensure that every goal is reached every year. A good teacher is inspirational. Inspirational – The ability of a teacher to get their students to buy into, believe in, and to be motivated to become life long learners. A teacher should make a lasting inspirational impact that follows a student throughout their life. A good teacher is joyful. Joyful – Coming to class each day in a good mood, excited, and enthusiastic about doing your job. If the teacher has a lousy attitude, the students are going to have lousy attitudes. If the teacher is joyful, the students are going to be joyful. A good teacher is kind. Kind – The ability of a teacher to say and do things that uplifts, motivates, and inspires. Kindness should be innate in all teachers. A mean spirit will turn students off, but a kind spirit is invaluable. A good teacher is organized. Organized – The ability to keep things neat and in order allowing teachers to access materials quickly and to make efficient transitions. Organization is a necessary quality for every teacher. Teaching encompasses so much that those who are unorganized will be overwhelmed and swallowed up. A good teacher is passionate. Passionate – Teaching with enthusiasm and exuberance on a daily basis because you love the content and your students. A passionate teacher connects with their curriculum and their students which maximizes learning. A good teacher is patient. Patient – The ability to see the whole picture and to understand that the school year is a marathon, not a sprint. A teacher must never give up on a student. They should continuously try new strategies understanding that eventually something will work. A good teacher is resilient. Resilient – Not allowing adversity to stop you from accomplishing your goals. A teacher must be resilient in overcoming the many obstacles that will present themselves over the course of a year. A good teacher is resourceful. Resourceful – Finding a way to make things happen. A teacher must be able to figure out how to get supplies and materials for their classroom when the funding is not available and to reach a student who has no interest in learning. A good teacher is trustworthy. Trustworthy – The ability to get others around you to believe in you and what you are doing. A teacher must gain the trust of both their students and parents. Any distrust will negatively impact the classroom. A good teacher is vulnerable. Vulnerable – Allowing your students to gain insight into your life without revealing a lot. Vulnerability allows students to relate to their teachers as they share in common interests such as sports, television, etc.

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