The assessment that I implemented in class was relatively simple.

I wanted to have the

students talk about two of their classes in terms of what hour of the day it was, who was the
teacher, how was the class, and what grade they had and wanted. I did this because it hit all of
the points in the chapter that I wanted to test the students on. After looking at the powerpoint
and thinking more about authentic assessment, I want to change to assignment around to
match a real world situation that involves them performing some kind of task.
My original Assessment:
Talk about TWO of your classes- the classes you have, what hour it is, how the teacher is (not
who), how the class is, how much homework you have, how your grade is, and what kind of
grade you want. Use the following questions to guide your answers.
(What class(es) are you taking?)
(What class period is it?)
(How is the teacher?)
(How is the class)
(Do you have a lot/little homework?)
(How is your grade?)
(What grade would you like to have)
The assignment is very contrived, just asking the students to put answer the questions
and say and record their responses so that I may look at them later. This is entirely constructed
by me as a way to see (albeit not as well) what they have learned over the course of the
chapter. It was partially due to the fact that I felt behind in teaching that I wanted to wrap up the
chapter this way. My mentor teacher prefers to have the oral where each student sits in front of
him either individually or in pairs to get the assignment done. I like the idea, but it takes several
days to complete, and I think that those days could be better spent constructing a dialogue that
they would perform for a camera and I can watch it and give feedback while we move on to the
next chapter. In addition to watching the video, I can construct a rubric that would allow me and
my students to know exactly what we will be striving for. My students wont be in the dark about
what they will be graded on, but instead can work towards getting the highest score possible. I
wont just use discrete grammar points, but will also allow a little bit of leeway that allows the
students to successfully get their point across during the allotted time period. By doing the oral
assessment in this way, more student centered and constructed, there will be direct evidence
that they have internalized some of the concepts that they learned through the chapter.
Additionally, it helps them see the connection to real world scenarios that might take place
within a school setting. My modification to this assessment would be the following scenario:

You are an exchange student at a college in Japan, and you have been in the country
for several weeks. You just realized that your schedule has two classes that you did not sign up
for, and you need to see an advisor in order to switch the classes around. You and your partner
will construct a dialogue between the student and the advisor to touch on the following things:
1. What problem you are having with your advisor (IE, which
classes)
2. What hours of the day are the issue
3. Why you want to switch classes
4. Which alternative classes you want to take
5. What kind of teacher you would like to have
The dialogue will be memorized, videotaped and uploaded with a typed script. You will also be
graded on using the polite form with the advisor.
I believe that this adaptation to the original makes it that much more authentic, because
it takes a real life situation that many students have had experience with (talking with a school
counselor/advisor in order to change their schedule) and applies it to the target language. Prior
to the assessment there can be a discussion about the differences between scheduling classes
in high school vs. college, and in the US vs Japan. This may or may not hit on all of the skills,
but it indeed utilizes them in one way or another. Since they are constructing a dialogue it is
interpersonal, until they are in front of a camera performing it, then it shifts to presentational.
The students will have to write a script and perform it, they will have to listen to each other for
the correct prompts, and also when they are discussing they will indeed use all of the skills
necessary to complete the assignment. This will enhance the students engagement in the
activities instead of just answering a series of questions, they will be given a scenario that they
have to work through. I have not done anything like this in my classroom, and I think by taking
the frame of mind of building a scenario in each of my assessments, I can make them much
more authentic and applicable to their lives.