Digital Blog Post #J-Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Engaging Students in Performance Assessment and Reflective Learning

Throughout this chapter a large focus was placed on the Digital Portfolios, and rightfully so, I think that Digital Portfolios are so interesting. When I went through school I loved the classes that made us keep portfolios, it kept me more organized, I knew exactly what I needed for my binder, and it was personal to me. I wanted my portfolio to look nice, because it reflected who I was as a student and I took pride in it. In the chapter, when talking about introducing the digital portfolio to a class, it said,  "A new spirit of involvement in learning emerged. Everyone, even those she thought might complain about the amount of time and effort necessary, welcomed the opportunity to assemble a personal portfolio" (Maloy). I personally love the idea of keeping a Digital Portfolio, I know as a future teacher it will be beneficial to me, and for my future students it will be very beneficial.

"Failure to give students a voice in educational decision-making is an opportunity lost" (Maloy). This is a profound statement, students should have a voice, and it's very important for me to help students find their voice. I loved when the book started talking about the clicker system. It would be amazing to witness the class discussions and learning opportunities in a classroom that puts this into use. The greatest part about using the clickers is that "...The process of voting leads to a discussion of key ideas rather than to 'I got it right; you got it wrong' contest" (Maloy). I only ever used clickers once and it was in the fourth grade when we were given the chance to play a review game of Jeopardy. I remember wishing my other classes had used them.

Branching off of giving the students a voice, it is so important to encourage class discussions; giving students a choice and a voice. I work at a youth group every week at my church and I am the sixth grade girl's mentor and leader. I feel that it is so important to have them talk and really listen to what they're saying, their joys and their struggles. I feel that often times their little voices are stifled, but they have thoughts and opinions too, and by giving them a chance to just be heard is so beneficial to them, plus it build trust and camaraderie between our group. I believe the same thing can happen in the classroom, I've watched it happen in the classroom. Listening to others and hearing what they have to say takes us deeper than just surface level relationships.  Through class discussions we get to know one another, whether its student to student or student to teacher relationships, we start to understand more about who they are as a person, I also believe that it encourages respect for one another.

(Edward)

As far as the challenge point I think I will gravitate toward portfolios, whether digital or physical, because I enjoy making them and I enjoy looking at them. I feel that they are a great assessment tool, but I also need to remember that there are other ways of assessing students and although portfolios might be my favorite, they might not be the best for certain students. I need to remember to always put the students education first, and help them learn.

Reference:

 Edward, A. (2015, November 5). Login - Register at ToonDoo - World's fastest way to create cartoons! Retrieved November 6, 2015.

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. 

Digital Blog Post #I - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Designing Lessons and Developing Curriculum with Technology

Within Chapter 4 it emphasized the importance of creating lesson plans and using technology to our advantage as educators. This reminded me of growing up and how I had to do countless projects, presentation, and speeches, I know that if I plan ahead, rehearse and know my content fully I can present a well thought out presentation. I also know that if I "wing it" it's not always the case. In the first section of the chapter it had a little story of how a new teacher couldn't just "wing it" for her lessons, she needed a "concrete instructional plan and regular assessments of her students" (Maloy). Her mentor gave her some advice that you can use educational websites to help develop lesson plans. I am so thankful that I live in a world where we have the internet at our disposal. The possibilities are endless. As a future educator I have access to lesson plans, activities, blogs, and so much more. I can pull up youtube videos to show my students, or presentation apps. I can use interactive apps for my students to use, and learn. It's a very exciting time to be a teacher. What I also love is that as far as making lesson plans, the book talked about how just a few decades ago, teachers had to do so much to develop well thought out lesson plans, now I can just go online and quickly develop my own.

Prior to reading this chapter I didn't realize that the assessments were part of the actual lesson plan. It makes total sense, I just never put two and two together before. I also found it interesting the different ideas on assessment and how there are two main types of assessments; Norm-Reference test and Criterion-Reference test. As a student I never liked tests, I've always preferred doing projects to show I grasp the content, personally I believe that I learn best when I do projects, but this might also be because I'm a tactile learner. I understand though that we need both Norm-Reference test and Criterion-Reference tests. After reading about the assessments I realized that I can teach all I want, but I need to know my students are learning, and to do that I need to assess them. When I start teaching I want my students to learn, I don't want to just give them one type of assessment. This chapter has started turning the wheels in my head as I start to think about assessments. The classrooms that I was apart of throughout school worked the best when the teacher used multiple assessments to see where we stood in their classrooms. I believe that providing a combination of multiple choice test, written test, and projects might work out the best, I won't know for sure though until I start teaching.

The part of the chapter that struck me was when it talked about standardized tests. Growing up as a student in Florida I partook in the FCAT from 3rd to 10th or 11th grade. My thoughts on standardized test vary. I believe that we should have them, but I believe that they should be ran differently. Maybe the new tests are different, but in elementary school most of my learning was geared toward passing a test. I don't believe thats right. I think that we should educate our students to be learners not just test takers. I remember the teachers who would be so stressed out because they wanted their students to pass, because if the majority of their students passed they got a bonus. Also, a student should not have to be held back because of one test, I think thats ridiculous. If a child is having a bad day, or outside things are affecting them, then their test could be affected by that. One test grade cannot reflect who that student is. I also think that we should test our students differently by testing them on knowledge that every student should know across America on a whole, what they should know about their state as a whole, and academically what the average student of their grade should know. Whether those ideas should come through standardized tests or Core Curriculum I'm unsure of.

My last thoughts on assessment through lesson plans is that I will test my students on what we learn, I don't want to trick them, or confuse them, I want to be as straight forward with my assessments as I can be.

After listening to my Podcast I want to clarify that I am not against standardized test, I am against teaching to the test. I believe that we should inspire our students to be life long learners.


References:

Edward, A. (2015, November 5). Standardized Test Song. Retrieved November 5, 2015.

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Digital Blog Post #H

Chapter 9 Expressing Creativity with Multimedia Technology brought up a few points that inspired me. I love reading through this text book Transforming Learning with New Technologies because I feel that after every chapter I'm inspired to integrate different technology strategies into my future curriculum.

The first point that I read about that struck me was all the information about PowerPoint. I found it interesting that the book went so in depth about it, I guess I found this curious though because I've been using PowerPoint since elementary school. The book explained positive and negative effects of using PowerPoint, but one negative effect that it didn't address was one that I've witnessed time after time. I believe one of the biggest negative attributes of PowerPoint or Prezi, or any visual slide show is the tendency to read word for word what is on the screen. I believe that more students and educators need to be taught that technology tools such as PowerPoint should be used as visual tools that aids to a presentation or project. In my experience the strongest presenters are the individuals who put key points and pictures on their slideshows and further explain what we're looking at in their own words. The only time I feel that it is acceptable to have paragraphs on PowerPoint is when a teacher is having students copy notes. Overall though I enjoy using PowerPoint as a tech tool, although I love Prezi, I personally believe that Prezi is visually more appealing then PowerPoint.

The Second point I was interested in was the concept of using video recorders in the classroom. I thought this was such a fun idea, not only are students able to learn with it, but they are also given the chance to be creative and work as a team. "...Making videos had not only helped the students learn history, but also promoted a spirit of participation and teamwork that lasted long after these skits were completed" (Maloy). This past week I was given the chance to observe a seventh grade science teacher at Oasis Middle School. The day I observed her students had been divided into groups and created volcano models that they would later fill with baking soda and vinegar. I loved the effort that the groups put into each unique volcano and all of their excitement as they were able to watch their volcanic creations erupt. The teacher allowed her students to use their phones to record the eruptions, and the kids were so excited. After reading this chapter I would've loved to have seen what the students would have done if they had to make a video depicting the volcanic eruption of Pompeii or Mount Hellena. As a future teacher the only part I would be worried about is if the problem arises where a student is not allowed to be recorded or photographed. I guess I will deal with that though if the problem arises.

The third and final point I enjoyed reading about was the concept books. Just another outlet that gives students the chance to be creative, which I love. "Staging the photographs reinforces the meaning of the vocabulary and the concepts for students, particularly those learning English as a new language" (Maloy). The concept book was suggested for young students such as kindergarteners or first graders, but older students could even use concepts books especially if they needed to learn their vocabulary words.

Within the textbook it talked about a website called "Glogster" I decided to use it as my tech tool, its basically a website that helps you make interactive posters to share with your class.




 (Edward) (Learning) (Mali)



Resources:

Edward, A. (n.d.). My First Glog. Retrieved November 2, 2015.

Learning Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2015.

Mali, T. (2013, February 10). Miracle Worker by Taylor Mali. Retrieved November 2, 2015.

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.