My favorite assessment

During high school one of my favorite teachers was my 11th and 12th grade English teacher. While I always thought that I would want to teach English she increased my interest and helped me realize that it was something that I truly wanted to pursue.

One of the best assessments that she had us do during my senior year was an alternative assessment for Hamlet. Instead of the typical assignments of a test or essay we were given a group assignment and together had to come up with our own way to show our understanding of the play.

Although the assessment was broad the class was small in number so the teacher was able to work closely with each of the groups preventing confusion or loss of focus. I think that the style of assessment worked well for the class because it allowed for us as students to gain multiple perspectives on the play. I remember that one group wrote a longer poem that focused on the debatable madness of Hamlet which incorporated numerous facts from the story that coincided with their argument. My group chose to interpret the play in a modern why. We made a video and selected key scenes from the play— Hamlet’s conversation with his father’s ghost, Ophelia’s demise into madness, and the dual of Hamlet and Laertes. We made it modern by changing the words into modern language and using contemporary music in the background. This showed not only our literal understating of the old English language but also that we understood what type of tone was trying to be conveyed.

I found this assessment to be very effective. It allowed for us as students to be creative but while still obtaining a sense of comprehension of the play. It allowed each group to explore the play at a deeper level and also see how others viewed important aspects of the play. Using a group setting allowed for a collaborative dynamic which I found to be beneficial. In a larger class such a format may prove to be ineffective but for the specific situation is was successful.