Diversifying Assessments

Technology can really lend a hand in diversifying assessments. I love using projects in my language classes because they ultimately feel more organic; our goal as language teachers is communication on many levels (verbal, written, interpretive and more), so the traditional paper and pencil assessments only take one so far. Enter a project, and a student has more than one way to get to the finish line. For example, my last vocabulary quiz was a Google Slide presentation that had basic requirements: include at least 15 new words and simply prove that they knew the vocab. Some students made simple sentences on each slide - 'this is a table', 'this is a patio'. Their slides numbered 15 or so. Other students wrote more complex sentences such as 'there is a bed in the bedroom' - a fewer amount of slides - and then there were a few students who have realized their Spanish 1 capabilities and wrote complex sentences which resulted in more vocab words on each slide.
The challenge would be to push each child to their own maximum without pushing them so far they become discouraged - and get those kids who want to take the easy way out to rise to the occasion. And of course, Google Slides is just one of the tools to diversify assessments - one needs time to find the right kind of resources to put project-based technology infused assessments in to the curriculum.