Standardized Tests

To start off in this blog I am not a fan of these tests, so you will be reading something with a bias. I do not think a students intelligence level should be measured by these tests. The teachers are forced to drill this in their classrooms, and forget about other ways to nourish intelligence. Children hear how important theses tests are and feel pressured to do well most of the time causing low scores. Now in all honesty is this really fair? I have experience in one aspect: My 9 year old niece is in the third grade and is an honor student, but when these tests come she flips. Marking period tests make her nervous and now the NJASK leaves her without words. My prime example open ended questions in math? Whoa! However, I firmly believe that students will exemplify their learning and intelligence through regular classroom activities and lessons rather than these harsh tests. Students also have test anxiety, and even me as a college student still I have anxiety while taking tests so one can only imagine a young child. I think there should be other means of testing to get the point across not using these standardized tests to cause young anxiety in children. School should be an enjoyable learning experience, not a task!

Essay or Multiple Choice?

Throughout my life as a student I have always encountered this question, and at times debated with friends over the issue of essay or multiple choice. While others have their own view I view both as good forms of assessment and test giving forms. I feel giving both forms helps the student to exercise their brains. Essay allows the student to elaborate and give a sculpted idea of the topic or topics that they are addressing. I do feel that they are a bit easier for most children because it allows that "in the ballpark" median whereas multiple choice is right or wrong. Some children are better writers and others may be better at multiple choice. It doesn't hurt to try either one. Multiple choice to me when I was younger was fun! I used the process of elimination if I didn't know an answer or was unsure, and majority of the time I must say it worked. If students know how to use this process correctly they can master a multiple choice test. In my future career as a teacher I plan to use both essays and multiple choice for assessment. I feel certain topics can only be answered in multiple choice and others essay it depends. I guess with time each class will weigh out the pros and cons and help me to learn which form is best for them at the time because as we know all children learn differently! I will make sure I exercise both forms in my classroom.

Portfolios

I must say that I am quite a fan of portfolios. I think they do an excellent job as a tracker for student progress and for teacher awareness. Portfolios can benefit both the teacher and student in many ways. As said before it can act as a tracker, and if reviewed weekly by the student this can help for growth in learning for him/her. The student can reflect on past assignments and see where he/she may have been incorrect or needs to brush up, and hopefully draw a closer focus on their next assignments in that area. For a teacher portfolios can create a blueprint for assessment and knowledge of where the student is falling behind. The portfolio can help the teacher to create lessons or projects specifically designed to fit the need for that student. Portfolios also can be a fun way for students to learn. They can keep a collection of their work and keep it with them forever as they advance to higher grade levels. It can take the form of a binder, folder or book, and the students can design it and be themselves while creating their personal portfolio. This can make the student feel that it truly is theirs and not just some way a teacher will look at their work and grade it. Take the boring out of it, color it, draw on it, add some art too it, and make it fun! I would definitely use portfolios in my classroom and hope to have student feedback on them for the future. I actually still have portfolios from about 4th grade through college. Now and then when I look back at them I have a great time reading it all!

Teacher Expectation and Power Teaching

As a teacher I am well aware that I am going to have expectations of my students as they will of me. I think both the students and I should be on a level where we both understand what it is that is expected within our roles. I expect that my students would respect me that same ways that I would respect them, and abide by all of my classroom rules and assignments. I would like to have something similar to a pact that we would all sign in the beginning of the school year, and form like a family environment where the students can all be themselves. With all of this in mind I want to keep it obvious that the level of respect that I expect from my students will not decline while keeping a fun environment. The respect will create most of the comfort and gives students a better sense of trust within the classroom. This will hopefully ensure good learning because the students can then do things like elaborate and talk with one another, and approach others for help with confidence, or approach the teacher with confidence that they can receive the right help without being embarassed. As a whole every teacher has their expectations and we can remember not to keep them too high nor too low.
As far as power teaching is concerned I don't see mtself leaning towards that technique in my classroom. I feel it is not a proper environment to learn or teach in. I do not think competition is the way to go either. While these students are thinking they also know they are competing, and that defeats the purpose of having a train of thought creating less learning from taking place. This may also produce more error because of the fast pace. In the video students were actually showing a lack of thinking or loss of thought and there were quite some interrupions. This does not prove learning took place. I really do not care for it, and most likely will not use it.

Homework

Homework is something I definitely remember as a child. I can recall the nights that I had to stay up and do tedious amounts, and I can recall the times I had homework that I absolutely wanted to do. I liked homewor. I can honestly say it did not bother me, but too much of it became a problem. I feel some teachers go a little overboard on giving homework. Everything not finished in class becomes homework, and then on top of that students get the "real" homework for the day. That is incredibly overwhelming. Students have only so much attention span power to deal with the heavy amounts, and just because there's a lot does not mean they have a good teacher.

I think homework is important in other cases. I think it serves as a brush up period to keep the students mind fresh of the days learning, and as a parent informer allowing the parents to know where exactly their child is in the year. Remember to keep in mind that homework should not be used as a complete assessment because in all factuality we do not always know who completes the homework. It could be the parent for all we know doing the childs homework. This can also cause a raising of standards by the teacher because they think the student is completing this homework, or they can create biases that enhance the classroom environment calling for harder assignments or tests. Homework can sometimes have its goods and bads, but for the most part its use as a formative assessment is doing its job for now.

Rubrics

During this last module I have learned a great deal about rubrics, and I also have grown to appreciate them more than I previously did. Rubrics are a great representation of fair grading, and they give a clarity of what exactly it is that the teacher is looking for. In reading chapter 10 and exploring various websites including Rubistar I have discovered there are more ways than one to grade using a rubric including different aspects to grade on. Rubistar was an excellent website for me to use especially since it was my first time creating one. It helped guide me through exactly what it was I wanted to score in my lesson, and was also easy enough for the children to read. That is important to me because I find teacher and student communication highly important, and I want my students and I to be on the same level.
Rubrics not only clarify content for students, but they also help maintain consistency. Coordinating them is also important because you can specify if they are task based or general. Each rubric has sort of its own identity and validates the students to assure them that this is what will be graded and this is what is asked of you. In other words when the student sees the rubric they know before had what is t be done, an therefore the grading is fair. In chapter 10 it specifies something that I found extremely eye catching. I am a true fan of student-teacher and teacher-student feedback. I would love to leave an option on the bottom of my rubric for my feedback as well as the students feedback. Concluding my blog I want to say "YES" to rubrics and use number grades only when necessary. Rubrics convey more of a meaning to a grade rather than a cold solid number. It also helps the students know where exactly they made errors. I will definitely incorporate rubrics into my classroom and hope future teachers will do the same.

Learning Targets

Learning targets place a special focus on students learning as well as the skills that are intended for learning. They also focus on the teacher's instruction and assessment. Learning objectives are used to show the actual achievement of the student in grabbing the concepts, not just covering material for the students. Learning targets and goals work together in a manner that is quite interesting. Goals give direction and purpose and targets get a little bit more into detail and expect an outcome. So together the two feed off one another to produce different levels of learning, yet both are meant to have a success. Hopefully by the time the student is done learning they have gained more knowledge and can proceed to a higher level of thinking within the subject area. Learning targets may be long and tedious, or they can be very simple. I strongly feel the teacher and students should have a good relationship as to where the learning target can be known amongst them so the students are aware of what they need to do. While making a target specific a teacher should also identify key points and focus points to create an acceptable learning target. Aside from teachers having students know their learning targets the student also has a role in the learning process. Students are the role models for the learning target. They can be observed, asked to make statements, or even given an assignment to see just how well learning targets are coming along. They can help the teacher realize if the learning target may have been a bit much, or even too little. Keeping and alignment of both assessment and instruction is very crucial because without it being aligned the student will most likely be doing the wrong things. Not only that , but their are also state standards and other targets that need to be met in the entire process.