IDI/UBD: Chapter 5

The fifth chapter of Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understand by Design focuses on different ways of assessing student learning. The idea of differentiated instruction demands that assessment of the understanding of content and skills should also be differentiated and tailored in a way that offers students a chance to really show what they know, as opposed to what they've memorized. It emphasizes that a teacher can best do this by having a clearly stated goal for the standard they are trying to reach, so that they and the student can be on the same page as to what it means to understand the content they are working on. This chapter also cites the importance of frequent assessment, to make sure that you are properly guiding the class toward this goal, and providing opportunities for assessment that may lie outside of standard testing practices.
I, personally, haven't really thought about assessing students before, but the chapter provided a lot of interesting information. I do think that it is very important to give students alternative ways to exhibit their understanding, especially students that learn in differentiated ways would definitely have a lot to gain from choosing and in a way hand crafting evidence of their understanding and skill. Providing students chances to share their understanding through projects and other alternative assessments, in my experience, keeps them more interested and invested than just answering multiple choice questions. I also would gladly implement frequent assessments, as I never before realized how important it is to properly leading a classroom toward your goal.