My student experience today

Visited William R. De Avila School in Haight. Sat the four hour CBEST - California Basic Educator Skills test. This was a great way to see the focus on English teaching - comprehension is tested through inference, understanding of structuring of ideas and persuasive language techniques. Writing is assessed through sequencing of ideas, clarity, depth, accuracy and vocabulary. I heard myself in my head saying to check through all answers if time allowed and to read the questions to identify key words. It's harder to do it when you are feeling under pressure! I'll definitely teach exam literacy more explicitly at home now. Noted that grammar and spelling is not assessed explicitly and forms perhaps one fifth of the overall criteria for marking. Sitting the test on the computer made time go very quickly.