Evaluation and Assessment

Students need to make evaluations and assessments themselves!

Teachers are not the only ones that need to evaluate and assess, students need to do it also.  They need to evaluate and assess their work and decide if it needs improvement or if they are happy with it just like it is.  One way to assess your work is to actually have your peers take a look at what you are working on and have them give you feed back.  We did this in our class and we had to reflect on each others blog.  I had a hard time trying to post my comments so they did not show up on Marc, Mario and Lauren's blogs but I did make comments on them privately.  Lauren commented on one of my blogs and I was happy to know that the work I was doing was useful to someone.

Since I did not get to present my final WOW project on our presentation date I asked he class to look at it and provide feedback.  Katrina, Dennis, and Marc were kind enough to take the time and send me constructive feedback.  It was suggested that I have more hands-on work to get the class more actively engaged rather then just treat it as a straight lecture. I agree that there should be more class participation.

I have found Literacy and Technology to be a very difficult class at times but definitely think it was worth all the time, effort, and struggling that went into learning it.  One professor said that if you do not struggle with the subject matter then you will not be able to teach it to someone. If you did not struggle then you will not understand why your students are struggling.  I have to say that I agree with this because if this class was easy for me then I would wonder why my students just didn't get it the first time.  Since they are technological natives they should have no problems.

I was very impressed with the classes WOW presentations ~ after seeing some of theirs I realized that there is a lot to learn about the resources that are available on the Internet and there are many different ways to incorporate the information.  Even though we reviewed and looked at the same topics they were all interpreted differently by all of us.  I know that I will take the information and resources that Dr. Smirnova was so kind to share with us and use some of them in my own classroom someday.

Final WOW Project

Literacy and Technology has been a challenging course but I feel that I have learned a great deal.  Some of the topics were a lot of trial and error and asking my partner a lot of questions ( which he was very willing to help and answer).  I have included the link to my final project and the culmination of information from my web page. I hope you find the idea of Project Based Learning to be an interesting topic. PBL is worked backwards from starting with the end result and then working forward from there.

http://nmarti-mathematics.weebly.com/

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0ATJY0jH8o8QAZGtwM3J4a18xMWttN3dtMmM0&hl=en&authkey=CN21_LcP

Social Networking ~ is it worth all the hype?

Are teachers social creatures?



Years ago teachers were left on their own to close their door and teach their class what they felt they needed to learn in a way that they felt best.  As long as their students were learning the material things were good.  Teachers were not always so willing to share with other teachers their ideas or teaching methods. They were doing what they felt best for their students and only their students. This is not to say that all teachers did this but back then it took a special teacher to be willing to share information.

Fast forward to today's teachers and things could not be any different. Teachers have a host of professional sites were they can share ideas and/or get ideas to help them in their classroom.  things range from classroom management ideas, lesson plans, general concerns and specific concerns.  Teachers today are so willing to help out other educators that there are a few sites that I have looked at that were very insightful and helpful.

http://groups.google.com/group/google-for-educators?pli=1  this site is specifically for educators and here is a list of a few of the topics that are covered on this site:

Google In Your Classroom, Education Resources, Current Events, Misc, Submit Your Lessons, Google Apps Education Edition, Google Docs education

http://www.classroom20.com   this is a social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and Social Media in education. You are encouraged to sign up in order to participate in the great discussions, receive event notifications, and to find and connect with colleagues.

http://www.teacherslovesmartboards.com/training/   this site is all about the smartboard and what can be done with it.  the only down side with this site is that it is a paid site and not a free one.

http://blog.diigo.com/2010/07/01/diigo-v5-0-collect-highlight-then-remember/  this site is a great site because as soon as you add contacts you have access to their library as well as one you create.

http://www.delicious.com/ this site gives you access to a number of resources

One resource to use for on-line classes or video conferencing is:

http://flashmeeting.e2bn.net/about.html  This site is used for video conferencing and has the following features:

Video and Audio broadcast over a network or internet.
No download and installation - it works in a web browser with Flash 8 (or greater) 'plugin'.
Easy to use - click the Broadcast button to start - click again to stop!
Indicate your intention to speak with a simple queuing system.
Public Text chat - chat to others while watching the broadcast.
Private Text chat - send private messages to individuals.
Share a URL - open a web page on all remote machines.
Shared whiteboard available to share text, drawing or photographs.
Vote and 'Emoticon' options - share your opinions and feelings!
Countdown timer shows time remaining.
View participants either as a list of images or names.
Simple booking procedure to manage your meetings.
Secure and private meetings.
Low-data friendly (one broadcast stream at a time).
Record the meeting for easy web replay.

To answer the question that was posted at the begining of this blog ~ yes, social networking is definetly worth all the hype and can be very usefull for todays teachers.

Assessments~Why so many?

Do students need all that assessment?



It seems that todays students are doing a lot of testing either because the state mandates them or teachers are trying to see what their students know or need to know.  With state testing there is nothing a teacher can do about that but try and get their students use to the format of the test questions and the types questions that will be on the test.

As far as the classroom testing teachers have controll as to what they need to find out (such as finding out a students prior knowledge) so they have a better understanding as to where they need to start their lessons.

There are basically three types of assessments that are used in a classroom:

1. Diagnostic Assessment:
1. This is testing that occurs before instruction. A diagnostic assessment or pre-assessment often focuses on one area or domain of knowledge. It can provide educators with information about each student's prior knowledge before beginning instruction.. Educators can use a diagnostic assessment to assist them in developing lesson plans and providing differentiated instruction to meet students' needs.
2. Formative Assessment:
1. This form of assessment is given during instruction. Formative assessment can be used to determine what needs or topics have to be addressed next with a student. An educator can use a formative assessment to find the gaps between what students have learned and where students are struggling. A formative assessment not only includes tests and homework but can also be an interactive process with the students.
3. Summative Assessment:
1. A summative assessment is typically given to students after a specific point in instruction to measure their understanding of a subject. Some examples of summative assessments include high stakes tests, standardized state exams, district or interim tests, midterms and final exams. Summative assessments can also be used to check students' mastery of a subject every few weeks or months.

It is important to remember that they should be used as a framework to inform the instruction process. Ultimately, the knowledge gleaned from assessment should be used to reach individual students and support them in their learning process.

The above information was compiled from the web site:

http://blog.learningtoday.com/blog/bid/20323/Diagnostic-Formative-Summative-Assessments-What-s-the-difference

Another form of assessment can be the use of posters, book reports, productions, debates and a whole host of other ideas.  The only thing with these types of assessments the students should be given a rubric in which they will know exactly what they need to include in their project and what they will be graded on.  There are a number of pre-made rubrics that can be found on the internet or there are sites in which you can create your own.

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/assess.html This site has over 100 rubric sites to choose from.  There were rubrics for specific subjects, ideas and grade levels. If you need a rubric this is the site to check out for all your rubric needs.

(New) Tools of the Trade

Paper & Pencil Record Keeping

~Not so much any more~

Ask any older teachers what there preferred method of record keeping is and some if not a lot of them would tell you that they like having a hard copy pencil and paper grade book.  They like to be able to show the students if they are missing an assignment, a test, a quiz, homework or if they were absent.  Students like to know how they are doing at times so it is easier to walk up to a student with book in hand and they can see for themselves.

Ask a new and upcoming teacher what their preferred method of record keeping is and they are more then likely to tell you that they like the electronic system.  An electronic system also does everything a pencil and grade book can do but it can do a whole lot more.  The electronic version can calculate a students average for homework's, quizzes and tests, it can show their attendance, the teacher can also post homework and have students submit them electronically, and students can have discussions with the teacher and/or other students.

One source that can be used for grading is the following site:
Flubaroo for grading.
 I did find that the site was a little hard to use and never did get the hang of it.

The following site can be used for grading and also quick exit tickets, short answer questions and multiple choice questions.
http://www.socrative.com/
Unfortunately I was unable to sigh up to give this site a try. 

There are many on-line tools that are at a teachers disposal and it will take using a certain program to get comfortable with it and learning all the possible benefits it has to offer.  Some school districts tell teachers the program that they have to use so your choice may be limited by the district you work in.

Story Telling in a whole new way

Digital Story telling exactly what is it?

If you ask a young child what is story telling and they are more than likely going to tell you that they sit in a semi-circle on a rug in front of their teacher and she/he reads them a story.  As an older student what story telling is and you may get a completely different explanation.  They may tell you that story telling a long time ago was when the elders of a group would gather around and tell the next generation the history of their family verbally.  Later on things may have been written down and passed on from one generation to the next so that family histories would not be lost.  People would have to worry about loosing written records in natural disasters or family members bot wanting to hold on to them.

Today's form of story telling can be done in a completely different way.  It only takes one person telling a family story or recording any type of information that they would like to pass down from one generation to the next using a computer.  I made a picture storytelling just by using Windows live movie maker that came with my computer but can be downloaded for free.  It was very easy to use and I really had a lot of fun doing the class assignment.  I know that I will create more for my family to be able to actually see all the pictures that I have taken over the years.  This way everyone will have access to the pictures and they can all enjoy them without having to flip through photo albums or get copies made so everyone has the pictures.

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About It!!!

Classroom Newsletters

 ~ to have or not to have ~

 that is the question?

Having a classroom newsletter can be very useful to help keep parents/guardians up-to-date on the happenings for either the month or marking period, depending on the grade level it is being designed for.  If the newsletter is being designed or used for the elementary level the teacher has a better chance of their students bringing it home for their parents/guardians to see and read.  Having a classroom newsletter in the junior high or high school may have a tendency to be left right on the desk as soon as the bell rings for class to be over.

Instead of an actual paper classroom newsletter the teacher may create a virtual newsletter with both students and parents can have access to.  One such program that can be used is Letterpop which comes with pre-designed layouts and backgrounds.  They have general designs or holiday designs if you choose to use them.

The following link is a classroom newsletter that was created to help keep students safe when using the internet.

http://letterpop.com/newsletters/?id=188663-fc6166

Classroom newsletters can be used for a number of different reasons, such as the one mentioned above, also for helping students learn about different tools that they may be able to use to help in their school work such as learning about Google Docs.

 http://letterpop.com/newsletters/?id=188669-bfed21 is an example of a newsletter explaining what Google Docs is and the advantages of using it.

Again, I feel that creating and using a classroom newsletter can be beneficial for everyone involved and can be a very powerful tool when implemented at the appropriate level.

Traditional Classroom Teaching vs. Constructivism Classroom Teaching

There are a number of differences between the traditional classroom and a constructivism classroom.  Listed below are excerpts from a power point presentation that was prepared for a class assignment that explains the pros and cons and differences between the two types of classrooms.

 

 

traditional vs constructivist classroom

http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/finalprojects/eitankaplan/pages/classroom.htm

 Traditional Classroom

•  Student primarily work alone
• Curriculum is presented part to whole, with emphasis on basic skills
• Strict adherence to a fixed curriculum
• Curricular activities rely heavily on textbooks of data and manipulative materials
• Students are viewed as "blank slates"
• Teachers generally behave in a didactic manner,
• Teachers seek the correct answers to validate student lessons.
• Assessment of student learning is viewed as separate from teaching and occurs almost entirely through testing.

 

Constructivist Classroom 

• Students primarily work in groups
• Curriculum is presented whole to part with emphasis on the big concept
• Pursuit of student questions is highly valued.
• Students are viewed as thinkers with emerging theories about the world
• Teachers generally behave as facilitators
• Teachers seek the student's point of view in order to understand student learning for use later on
• Assessment of student learning is interwoven with teaching and occurs through teacher observation of students at work and through exhibitions and portfolios.

10 basic guiding principles of constructivist thinking that educators must keep in mind:

  

1. It takes time to learn
2. Learning is an active process in which the student constructs meaning out of
3. People learn to learn 
4. Learning involves language
5. Learning is a social activity
6. Learning is contextual
7. The act of constructing meaning is mental
8. Every one needs knowledge to learn
9. Learning is not the passive acceptance of knowledge it takes work
10. Motivation is a major aspect of learning

http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/finalprojects/eitankaplan/pages/principles.htm 

 

Pros & Cons of Constructivism

Pros

 

• students often like when they are part of the decision making process
•  a higher level of thinking occures
• students like hands-on activities
•  students feel a sense of ownership when hand-on learning occures rather then just being told something

Cons

 

• belief that learning is based on the students ability to discover new knowledge 
• teachers may not take responsibility for poor learning
• may lead students to take a majority rules attitude rather then an individual approach to decision making 

The idea of teaching in a constructavist manner is great in theory but may be difficult to impliment in practice

Instead of Footprints in the sand how about Footprints with technology

Every one hears about leaving their carbon footprints upon earth but how many people actually thing about the footprints that they leave digitally?

What are digital footprints anyway?

Web definitions

• are traces left behind by someones activity in a digital environment. These traces can be analysed by a network manager or the police.
http://www.schools.sa.gov.au/speced2/a8_publish/modules/publish/content.asp

According to http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/digital_footprint.html - digital footprints is defined as:

On the Internet a digital footprint is the word used to describe the trail, traces or "footprints" that people leave online. This is information transmitted online, such as forum registration, e-mails and attachments, uploading videos or digital images and any other form of transmission of information — all of which leaves traces of personal information about yourself available to others online.
Since one of our assignments was to find our digital footprint I was happy to find that it was hard to find out thing that were my digital footprint. I also checked on my children's digital footprints and was happy to find very little if nothing at all.  Once something is posted on the internet it stays in cyber space even if it is deleted off of computer or site.  People can copy it to their computer or it can be archived someplace without you even knowing it.  Things have been known to resurface at the most inopportune time.  It is important to know what you put out on the internet so every once in a while it is a good idea to do a search on yourself or your children just to see what is out there.

Internet Safety - No problem I've got that covered!

With today's technological ways of sharing information young children and tweens/teens do not realize that making a casual comment may in fact put them in danger. 

Children have a tendency to post

• their e-mail address
• home address/home town
• cell phone number

Children need to be made aware that with  just this amount of information someone may be able to locate them.  They feel that if the "Talk to a friend" on line then they are their friend. 

 

Parents need to be aware of what sites their children go on.  The safest place for the computer to be with children is in a room where it can be viewed by a parent/guardian or other adult. If they are on a questionable site they can be directed to close that site and find one more suitable for their age.

 

There are certain things as parents that we can do to help make sure that our children stay safe:

 

•  take advantage of strict privacy settings
•  make sure that any pictures or videos that they want to post have your permission to do so
•  do not respond to anyone that request them as friends if they do not know them personally
• remind them that their password is to be shared with no one other then their parents
• keep the lines of communication open so that they know they can come talk to you if they need to
•  do not respond to any unknown friend requests and any request asking for personal information
• they are to understand that under any circumstance they are  NOT to make arrangements to meet up with someone that they have met on line
•  they may need to be reminded that what they put out on the internet stays on the internet even if they delete it off of their computer.

As far as internet safety is concerned there is no substitute for parental involvement!

Google is so much more than a search engine!

Google is definitely more powerful than just a search engine.  Google has a number of features that can be very useful to teachers as well as students alike.  Google has iGoogle, Google maps, google translator, google earth, and google educator.  Within google educator is google doc which is a very powerful tool for teachers.  There is a section for classroom activities, classroom printable posters, spreadsheets and google documents that can be either viewed by some or everyone or edited by the owner or certain people.  Allowing people to edit certain documents makes it easier to keep only an updated version of a document rather than constantly e-mailing changes and loosing track of which is the most updated version.  Having attempted to use google doc with a power point presentation with a group of 3 other people allowed to edit was easier then I thought it would be.  I created the power point on just a plain background but another person in my group changed the slide background to look like a chalkboard.  Since he was able to make the changes and save the document there was no duplication of the power point to try and figure out which one to use the next time we wanted to add slides.
Google docs can be useful for teachers as they can have their students have access to the document and read anything the teacher feels is important.  It may contain the homework assignment for that night, announcements of upcoming events or just general reminders. After using iGoogle and google docs I feel that I will use both in the classroom to help make sure that I stay connected to my students in the fashion that they feel more comfortable with.  Since the students of today are technological savvy and are very comfortable using it, it seems the best approach to use.

The following link will give you an overall view as to how to use google docs in the classroom:
https://docs.google.com/View?docid=dcdn7mjg_72nh25vq

Characteristics of Good Technology

There are 9 rules to good technology according to Stephen Downes:

1) Good technology is always available - as the cost of technology and equipment goes down it will be  available to more people;
2) Good technology is always on - if it is not on it can be turned on with a flip of a switch or a few key strokes;
3) Good technology is always connected - in more and more classrooms there are computers that are connected to the internet for the teachers use at any time (of course school districts may limit the use of certain sites they deem unsuitable for classroom use);
4) Good technology is standardized - with standardization everything will work on every type of system;
5) Good technology is simple - it should not require you to read a manual to get it started, a program should do just what you want it to;
6) Good technology does not require parts - programs which use complicated start-up commands are not as good as those which start with a single command;
7) Good technology is personalized - technology that lets you not have to fit into certain requirements is what is considered good technology;
8) Good technology is modular - technology that is made up of distinct parts which can be arranged into a different configurations without a lot of effort; and
9) Good technology does what you want it to - this will differ from person to person so it is very personalized.


This is just one persons opinion, (with some of my own comments thrown in) as to what good technology is.  Each person may have their own thoughts on what they think good technology is based on thier own personal experiences and familiartiy with computers.  A person that is a computer immigrant may not have the same perception as a computer native.  Either way technology is an every changing field and will continue to grow and change and be ever present in all aspects of out lives.

Stephen Downes also has a video which describes his views on personal learning environments or PLE.  His video states that we learn thru communities as we connect with other people and share information.  Learning is not just learning facts but also how one feels and an immersion in the environment around you.  I was not really following a lot of what he was saying in his video but if anyone wants to watch and learn what is PLE I have added the link http://www.downes.ca/presentation/245

The Future of Teaching

Today teachers and students are learning in traditional classrooms as well as using technology in the learning process.  In the not so far away future, classrooms may be virtually everywhere and the use of technology will be a constant.  Students as well as teachers will be digital natives and not a combination of digital natives and immigrants.  The following chart shows one view of; where we were, where we are, and where we will be in the future.

Moving beyond Education 2.0

By John Moravec | 2/15/2008 | Filed under: Featured, General

There’s a lot of talk about mov­ing to “Ed­u­ca­tion 2.0″ –but, what would Ed­u­ca­tion 3.0 look like?

Here’s my take on the Ed­u­ca­tion 1.0 – 3.0 spec­trum:

	Ed­u­ca­tion 1.0	Ed­u­ca­tion 2.0	Ed­u­ca­tion 3.0
Mean­ing is…	Dic­tated	So­cially con­structed	So­cially con­structed and con­tex­tu­ally rein­vented
Tech­nol­ogy is…	Con­fis­cated at the class­room door (dig­i­tal refugees)	Cau­tiously adopted (dig­i­tal im­mi­grants)	Every­where (dig­i­tal uni­verse)
Teach­ing is done …	Teacher to stu­dent	Teacher to stu­dent and stu­dent to stu­dent (pro­gres­sivism)	Teacher to stu­dent, stu­dent to stu­dent, stu­dent to teacher, peo­ple-tech­nol­ogy-peo­ple (co-con­struc­tivism)
Schools are lo­cated…	In a build­ing (brick)	In a build­ing or on­line (brick and click)	Every­where (thor­oughly in­fused into so­ci­ety: cafes, bowl­ing al­leys, bars, work­places, etc.)
Par­ents view schools as…	Day­care	Day­care	A place for them to learn, too
Teach­ers are…	Li­censed pro­fes­sion­als	Li­censed pro­fes­sion­als	Every­body, every­where
Hard­ware and soft­ware in schools…	Are pur­chased at great cost and ig­nored	Are open source and avail­able at lower cost	Are avail­able at low cost and are used pur­po­sively
In­dus­try views grad­u­ates as…	As­sem­bly line work­ers	As ill-pre­pared as­sem­bly line work­ers in a knowl­edge econ­omy	As co-work­ers or en­tre­pre­neurs

   With this idea of what education will look like in the future there are also changes in the standards that will need to be followed.  One standard for math that will most likely be the one most easily implemented is Standard 3.  Standard 3 is research and information fluency.  This encompasses students to apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.  Students will have to apply strategies to guide questions, locate, organize, analyze, evaluate and use information from a variety of sources.

The new era of teaching our youth

Looking back at how students learn in the 20th century and looking forward to how students learn in the 21st century; there is a world of difference. Students today are more aware of what is going on in the world around them and are more interested in a hands on approach to learning rather than a passive learning format. The link below compares the 20th century teaching to the 21st century teaching. 

http://www.schooltube.com/video/87a0b98a330c4b77a29c/20th-vs-21st-Century-Education

Teachers today need to know the difference between computer literacy, information literacy and integration literacy.  Students today are computer literate because they understand and know how to use computers because they are computer natives.  Teachers are information literate and need to make sure that their students know how to gather, analyze, sort/organize and select information that is relevant and use that information from a number of sources.


 

Today's students are technology natives and use technology outside of the school setting so we, as teachers,  need to embrace and incorporate this form of learning in our teachings.

Saying alot without saying a word!

I was rather surprised at some of the questions that were asked on the Computer Genuis Game. As you can tell by more score technology is not one of my strong points.  I am trying to learn but so far it has been a challenge.

I am still trying to figure out how to work this blog site and be creative. I would like to have columns and add pictures but so far I have not been able to do that.  The most I have been able to do is change the background color.

I really enjoyed the video "Digital Students". It showed a very powerful message without anyone saying a word.  The 3 "R"'s are being replaced with the 3 "W"'s; learning whatever, wherever, and whenever represented by www.  This is also reflected of the digital learning on the world wide web.  The same thing can be said for students in the classroom by; they may not say anything but by looking at their body language you may be able to tell if they are bored, engaged, or simply do not understand what is being taught.  I can tell alot by watching my own children and their body language.

Students today are in such a hurry to get information and results that they do not necessarily take the time to check the validity of a site, or have a clear understanding of what  they are looking for.  They need to learn to organize thier information, analyze their findings and be able to clearly express it to others either verbally or in written form.

Hello Everyone!

Hello Everyone;
Just a little bit about me. I am in my last semester here at the Mount and will be student teaching in the fall. I hope to find a teaching job in the secondary level in my concentration of math. I have 5 children; 2 boys and 3 girls, so dealing with adolescents and the challenges that they bring will be nothing new to me.

So far I have found Literacy and Technology to be a very challenging class. My team got together on-line last week and we created our digital card. We chose the team name 3 Blind Mice. It felt like the blind leading the blind leading the blind.  We struggled through the assignment but in the end we were able to get it done.  Our motto is "working together to encourage students to enhance their learning experience by embracing the technological resources available to them"

I chose my blog title due to the fact that as a whole the United States is falling behind other countries where math and science are concerned.  I hope that this course will give me the confidence to incorporate technology into the classroom, more then just calculators.