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“Why should teachers utilize various methods of assessments, particularly alternative and authentic forms, in the classroom?”

           I think teachers should utilize more the various methods of assessments because it is another key for teachers to motivate learners and for assessing broader range of skills. Using alternative and authentic assessments are easier ways and for teachers to check if their goals met the instructional needs. With different methods of assessment, teachers are able to evaluate in process with the aim to provide criticism for developing better instruction.

Based from the interview with Ma’am Jessa Esporlas, the things that we decide for the lesson plan and assessment sometimes cannot be applied in the real classroom setting. Even the idea of having technology and such that learners can be attentive and participative during the lesson, teachers are still going back to the traditional ways where they use pen and paper. It cannot be removed from the teachers to use the traditional materials and assessment in the classroom setting. But of course, the most important is when the teacher considers the learning styles of the students. We teachers should have a background of the learners to make sure that we can give them their needs in learning especially in assessing them. The background of the learners can make assessment easier to teachers. It can provide feedbacks to improve the teaching style of the teacher and to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of each student. Though sometimes it is time consuming, we should be patient enough to wait and see how the student learns. The use of different types of exam can also help the teachers to see how the student learns from the discussion. Another thing that the teachers need to consider is the topic and competencies. The learning objectives and competencies should be aligned with each other to see if it is attainable and achievable by the students. The use of proper assessment method will make the task of the teacher easier to measure and evaluate the learner’s progress.

**START

Babette: So good afternoon po, ako po si Babette Armea, 4th year Bachelor of Elementary Education major in Early Childhood Education. Tas ano po, requirement po ito sa Assessment 2 namin na subject. Nabasa niyo naman na po ata yung questions tapos lima lang naman po yun. So ano po ang pangalan niyo?

Teacher: Ako po si Jessa Esporlas, uhm.. graduate ng elementary education sa Ateneo de Naga University batch 2013. So I’ve been teaching for 5 years already; first two years ko sa Saint Joseph School and then yung other three years dito sa Ateneo de Naga Grade School. So I’ve been teaching Mapeh for the five years.

Babette: Anong grade po kayo nag..

Teacher: Uhm I started with Grade 5 and 6 pero ngayon Grades 1 hanggang 6. So lahat na ‘yon.

Babette: Lahat po ng section…

Teacher: Level. Lahat ng section, lahat ng level.

Babette: Kayo lang po mag-isa?

Teacher: Uhm hindi, hati-hati kami pero uhm may particular components lang.

Babette: Hindi naman po masyadong mahirap?

Teacher: Hmm medyo mahirap at first pero pag nakasa-… nasanay ka na eh, okay na eh.

Babette: Dun sa Saint Jo po anong grade kayo nagturo?

Teacher: Uhm sa Saint Jo, 5 and 6 tapos lahat yun Music, Arts, P.E, Health. Dun ako medyo nahirapan kasi first time teaching tapos yun agad ang binigay sa’yo. Pero okay naman.

Babette: Magsstart na po tayo?

Teacher: Oh sige.

Babette: How do you design your assessment to make sure that you fill the gaps in learning?

Teacher: Ah okay, so how do I design assessment… so first of, I focus on the topic itself. Hindi ako yung nagru-run around the bush tapos papa-identify sa bata kung ano ‘yon. Kasi may mga teachers na  ganon eh. Yung may mga story story tapos… yung parang papa-isipin pa yung bata eh usually kapag hindi mo inano yung learning capability nung bata malilito sila. So aside from the topic itself, I’m also analyzing what kind of learners I have. So yun…

Babette: Next na po, what are the things that you consider in deciding what kind of assessment to administer?

Teacher: Okay , designing assessment requires.. aside from knowing.. knowing your learners… syempre may competencies yung topics. So pinaka-importante yung, ano yung competencies natin, what are the objectives of your lessons. Dapat kasama din yun sa assessment mo. And then third, the topic itself. So yun…

Babette: Itong number 3 po, okay lang?

Teacher: Osige..

Babette: Okay po, how does the type of assessment differ to those who are academically challenged?

Teacher: Okay, academically challenged… actually… although maa-identify natin talaga siya inside the classroom, so… in some cases na ‘pag ganon, halimbawa sa formative assessment palang, before you give summative assessment kasi diba dapat may formative ka. So formative pa lang if nakita mo nang “ay Mahihirapan si ganito…”. More.. I give more. I give more activities for that student hanggang sa makuha niya tas saka kami magus-summative assessment.

Babette: Edi kung… alin po yung… halimbawa sa ano… sa hindi mabilis maka-ano… matuto agad. Iba po yung binibigay niyong assessment sa kanila?

Teacher: Pagdating sa summative assessment, hindi. It’s the same. But for formative assessments, we add more like more worksheets, more activities especially in Math. So nagdadagdag talaga sila and then merong ding remediation na nagaganap.

Babette: Hindi naman po parang masyadong ano.. time consuming?

Teacher: Actually yes it is pero for the learners naman, we give time. And then we ask the parents if they’re willing naman. May.. may binibigay kaming notice to parents na, “yung kid mo po kailangan ng remediation, kailangan po maghabol.” so pag ganon, pag pumayag yung parent, edi additional time for us para matutukan yung bata.

Babette: Next po, how do you balance the kind of assessment techniques you provide considering that you have diverse learners?

Teacher: Okay, for balancing… meron baga tayong iba’t-ibang test items… so yung different test items can also consider the different learners that we have. Like for example, if merong creative na bata… dun siya sa mga pa-drawings, yung creating… creating stories… dun siya. Pero pag may iba rin na learners na like kines… kinesthetic talaga siya so we have other kind of assessments like mga practical tests. So yun…

Babette: Yung parang ano po… performance…

Teacher: Oo. Performance based na mga assessments.

Babette: Pero kadalasan po, anong klaseng assessment yung ginagamit niyo?

Teacher: Uhm yung sa akin, since MAPEH… more on performance kami kasi 60% skills talaga. So yung performance task mas malaki yung bearing sa grade compared sa written works. So yun…

Babette: Okay, last na po. What changes in your teaching style after you interpret your assessment results?

Teacher: Changes… ‘pag halimbawa… meron kasi kaming finafollow na kapag halimbawa sa test assessments… ay pagdating sa assessment tapos yung results ng mga bata hindi umabot ng 60%, they’re going to reteach; kailangan talaga mag-reteach. Whether you like it or not you have to reteach. Kasi kailangan nila makuha yung topic mo and maabot nila yung competencies. So yun yung nagiging changes. Pagdating naman sa teaching style, hindi na kami magfofollow sa lesson plan na original. We do again the lesson plan and then more examples, more activity sheets, and then simplier yung mga uhm… parang binibigay namin na activities.

Babette: Pero ano naman po siya… hindi rin po siya time consuming?

Teacher: Time consuming sya. Eh meron pating subject matter na pagbubudget, so usually kapag nangyayari yung ganon we have to adjust and winiwish naming lagi na sana hindi, sana lahat makuha.

Babette: Pero nakukuha naman po ng lahat ng students?

Teacher: Oo, sa akin oo naman. Yun lang.

Introduction

In a period of six weeks, I will be looking to create a series of assets to demonstrate my understanding and skill developed from using 3D modelling and texturing software’s such as Maya, Photoshop and Substance Painter. The assets will consist of a variety of objects leading from props to buildings and will be solely focusing on the visuals rather than gameplay or mechanics to showcase my artistic ability. They will consist of a theme which I will gather from research and in the same style. Ultimately, at the end of the project I would like to have at least 4 assets that are fully modelled and textured and is presented professionally.

Role Choice

By choosing to take this approach to the project, it will support me to become a Games Artist. Since I have a background of artistic skills, I believe that this role is my desired profession. I am also very attracted to creating characters and assets as I like to produce something from my own creation. Maya is also one of my confident software and by the end of the course I would like to gain the experience that will enable me to create models at a professional level as well as improving my texturing abilities. Another option leading from this is Level Design, which focuses on the environments and architecture rather than assets and single characters.

 How I will achieve this

In order to achieve my desired results, I will research on a variety of artists to give me inspirations on themes and objects. Researching multiple art styles will enable me to learn how to make adaptations of objects in a range of manners. Diving into games will also help to spark ideas as there will be existing styles and assets that will help me to decide on a theme. Games such as crash Bandicoot, Mario, Little Nightmares and resident evil have an array of styles to choose from and could potentially be the start of my research.

Although I do not have many problems with the use of Maya I am less confident about texturing therefore practice is also required to reach the outcome. I will practice with the tools inside substance painter to enable realistic textures and in order to make seams less visible as this is one of my main problems.

I will also look up tutorials on substance painter since I have a lack of experience on that software. This will allow me to gain more knowledge on the tools inside and how to use them properly to give the effects that I will need for my 3D model.

 Possible Ideas

At the moment I was planning on using a traditional Japanese theme and creating ancient assets such as shrines and temples or something of the Japanese tradition. This is because the objects and buildings made the Japan displays a calm and warm atmosphere which I find astounding.

Dark/horror theme is also an interesting take towards this project as I could research on terrifying objects to model such as graves and haunted houses. These creepy assets can be created with a range of techniques which can showcase my skills with 3D modelling.

Gaining an understanding of themes and how to generate the visuals to emit different vibes such as producing the same model in several conditions; one being calm and peaceful (Traditional Japanese), one creepy and worn out (Halloween themed) and one in a frozen/winter atmosphere.

 List of possible Assets

- Shrines (old, mossy, peaceful, a bit creepy)

- Graves (old, dark, haunted, creepy)

- Temple (traditional)

- Bonsai (immersive)

- Haunted House (dull)

- Door (Japanese or haunted)

- Statue (Japanese or haunted)

  Priorities

Priority Green – Asset 1,2,3,4 Modelling

Priority Green – Asset 1,2,3,4 Unwrapping

Priority Green – Asset 1,2,3,4 Texturing

Priority Green – Blog/Assessment of project

Priority Amber – Asset 1,2,3,4 Presented

Priority Red – Polishing up asset 1,2,3,4