Digital Blog Post #I- Chapter 4

Welcome back after a much needed break! Hope some of you were able to take a vacation, or at least enjoy the Florida sunshine. Unfortunately, I had to work the entire break... :(

All Creative Common license by Julie Frank

LESSON PLANS.... what my world will be surrounded by in (hopefully) a short amount of time. I think our class textbook (Transforming Learning with new technologies) says it best and is a great reminder on why we create lesson plans, "Developing lessons does not mean you must tightly script every interaction or rigidly adhere to a fixed plan. Effective teachers provide room for spontaneity and time to explore questions and topics that are on students minds" ( Maloy p. 74). If I choose to stick only to a lesson plan and not wander off the path a little when a student has a question or different topic they are wanting to discuss or ask questions on, then i am not being an effective teacher. I will be hindering their learning. With not letting a student explore their own thoughts I am showing that their topics and questions are not important. There are different ways technology can help teachers in creating lesson plans and help support their lessons. Websites  are available for teachers that have lesson plans already setup for teachers that are FREE!  A few of them are 

• PBS Teachers
• Annenberg Learners
• www.Planbook.com
• www.education.com
• https://kids.usa.gov
• www.Teachervision.com

Creative Commons License by Bekah

Standards-based assessments seems to be a touchy topic across the broad board of teachers. Should we have it? Should we not? Is the debate. Standards-based assessments is what students are supposed to know depending on what grade level they are at. With the test is shows what students need to improve on or what they have mastered. In my opinion we need to come up with a better system of seeing how well a student is doing. As someone that test very poorly from stress and the environment, I have sympathy for those that cannot show their true knowledge through standardized testing. Like stated in the textbook, teachers know their students and know their ability and what ways the student shows their true knowledge and understanding. It should ultimately be up to the teacher to evaluate their students, "not test writers who work for testing companies far removed from the day-to-day worlds of classroom learning" (Maloy p. 86).

Below I added part of funny video of the Simpson TV show on Standardized testing. I think some of the ideas stated are partially true. Nothingness, its a comical way to look at testing. ENJOY! 

Fight by McKenzie Rhodes from storybird

Going along with the standardized testing topic, I decided to read into new approaches to assessment. Our test makes a comment about how instead of testing approaching schools curriculum is the opposite, schools are having to bend their curriculum around what students will be tested on (Maloy p. 86). Children do not have the freedom to ask questions or explore topics (asI stated above), so the joy and excitement of learning is taken away. Also, the joy and freedom can be taken away from the teacher, knowing they need to stick to strict guidelines in order for their students to succeed on test day. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) believe that students performance should not be evaluated solely on standardized testing but also through different activities. This is where technology can come into play. There are a few different way teachers can use technology to evaluate a students performance. An example of this would be word processing, powerpoint or other computer based applications. Students are able to create presentations and share them to the class and the teacher on what they have learning while doing research on a topic. There are also digital portfolios that have examples of a students completed work.  

There are many different opinions on how students should be taught and how they should be evaluated. I still believe we need to come up with different ways to evaluate children based on how the learn or show their knowledge the best. Filling in bubbles may not be for every child, I know it was not, and still is not for me. As a future teacher I hope to take a stand for my students that I know are intelligent and find creative ways for them to express that, and i know technology will help me do that! 




References:

B. (2007, May 20). Pencil & Scantron. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from www.flickr.com

Falk, J. (2005, September 24). Working on Long Range Lesson Plans. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from www.flickr.com

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.

Rhodes McKenzie (2017, March 16). Fight. Retrieved March 16, 2017, from www.Storybird.com