Good Evening Everyone,
The article I read this week was from the Blogger's beat in ISTE's current publication. It was two bloggers sharing their opinions about whether or not teachers are necessary nowadays with all the technological advances that are taking place. The premise was "some kids love school others hate it. Some teachers connect with every student, other can't."
As the first blogger wrote "a computerized test will not know why that student has not mastered that skill." The computer can give a good lesson plan for students that are not performing as well as "they should," but it misses the mark as to why a student is not performing. It could be that the student is having problems at home, has a low self esteem because of appearances, is not a native English speaker. The teacher will be able to assess the problems because she/he will personally know her/his students. If we rely too much on the computer to do the work for us "we lose the human connection that teachers provide."
On the flip side to this argument was another blogger that said "when it comes to learning, teachers are not for everyone." For this blogger she says that "school sapped her passion for learning." She continued by saying that "the reality for me is that I would have been much better off without teachers in my life weighing me down and wasting my time." Those are strong emotions and words. Obviously she did not enjoy school or even have a positive relationship with any of her teachers.
I believe that we need to find some happy medium between using technology and making it personal in a real world environment. If we rely too heavily on technology students can easily get sucked into a virtual reality. They still need to learn how to interact at a personal level. There is something to be said about human touch. Research has shown that infants without the warm loving touch of the mother do not thrive as well as babies that receive the warm and nurturance that they so desparately need. As older children and even adults we still need to know that we are loved and appreciated for who we are and not only for what we know.
See you all soon,
Sheila
Fingal, Diana. Are Teachers Even Necessary? Retrieved from ISTE's website Learning and Leading withTechnology March/April 2012 on March 23, 2012.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Why Give a Grade to a Student?
Hi Again,
As we continue on our journeys to becoming credentialed teachers, there are many things we should be thinking about as we prepare to enter the classroom. One of those is why do we even give grades to students in the first place? The article this week addresses this issue by giving three rationales for doing just this.
The first one "is to be able to label students on the basis of their performance and thus to sort them like so many potatoes. Whatever the use we make of sorting, the process itself is very different from - and often incompatible with - the goal of helping students learn."
The "second rationale for grade is to motivate students to work harder so they will receive a favorable evaluation." With this one there is discussion about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Apparently extrinsic motivators frequently undermine intrinsic motivation.
The last rationale given was "simply to provide feedback so they can learn more effectively tomorrow than they did today. Helping students to internalize and work toward meeting high standards, but that is most likely to happen when they 'experience success and failure not as reward and punishment, but as information.'"
This article goes on to give five principles for assessment. They are as follows:
1. Assessment of any kind should not be overdone.
2. The best evidence we have of whether we are succeeding as educators comes from observing children's behavior rather than from test scores or grades. We need to acknowledge the limits of measurement.
3.We must transform schools into safe, caring communities.
4. Any responsible conversation about assessment must attend to the quality of the curriculum
5. Students must be invited to participate in determining the criteria by which their work will be judge, and then play a role in weighing their work against those criteria.
And if you must give a grades to students there were also some suggestions on how to approach this as objectively as possible. These suggestions include:
1. Refrain from giving a letter or number grade for individual assignments, even if you are compelled to give one at the end of the term.
2. Never grade students while they are still learning something and, even more important, do not reward them for their performance at that point.
3. Never grade on a curve.
4. Never give a separate grade for effort.
There was much food for thought about the grading system and many good suggestions to take into consideration when we have the opportunity to participate in this process with students.
Happy reading and commenting.
Sheila
Kohn, Alfie. Grading: The Issue is not How but Why. Retrieved from http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/grading.htm on March 13, 2012
As we continue on our journeys to becoming credentialed teachers, there are many things we should be thinking about as we prepare to enter the classroom. One of those is why do we even give grades to students in the first place? The article this week addresses this issue by giving three rationales for doing just this.
The first one "is to be able to label students on the basis of their performance and thus to sort them like so many potatoes. Whatever the use we make of sorting, the process itself is very different from - and often incompatible with - the goal of helping students learn."
The "second rationale for grade is to motivate students to work harder so they will receive a favorable evaluation." With this one there is discussion about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Apparently extrinsic motivators frequently undermine intrinsic motivation.
The last rationale given was "simply to provide feedback so they can learn more effectively tomorrow than they did today. Helping students to internalize and work toward meeting high standards, but that is most likely to happen when they 'experience success and failure not as reward and punishment, but as information.'"
This article goes on to give five principles for assessment. They are as follows:
1. Assessment of any kind should not be overdone.
2. The best evidence we have of whether we are succeeding as educators comes from observing children's behavior rather than from test scores or grades. We need to acknowledge the limits of measurement.
3.We must transform schools into safe, caring communities.
4. Any responsible conversation about assessment must attend to the quality of the curriculum
5. Students must be invited to participate in determining the criteria by which their work will be judge, and then play a role in weighing their work against those criteria.
And if you must give a grades to students there were also some suggestions on how to approach this as objectively as possible. These suggestions include:
1. Refrain from giving a letter or number grade for individual assignments, even if you are compelled to give one at the end of the term.
2. Never grade students while they are still learning something and, even more important, do not reward them for their performance at that point.
3. Never grade on a curve.
4. Never give a separate grade for effort.
There was much food for thought about the grading system and many good suggestions to take into consideration when we have the opportunity to participate in this process with students.
Happy reading and commenting.
Sheila
Kohn, Alfie. Grading: The Issue is not How but Why. Retrieved from http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/grading.htm on March 13, 2012
What is a grade really worth?
Hi Everyone,
I have never really thought about what a "grade" really does to a student. I just knew "A's" were what should be achieved for because it showed you knew the material and were a "good student." "B's were pretty good. "C's" were OK, but who really wanted to be considered "average." And "D's" and "F's" definitely a no-no. After reading this article it has given me much to think about.
According to this article grades have many negative side effects. The top three listed include:
1. "Grades tend to reduce a students' interest in the learning itself." Research shows that when people are rewarded for doing something they tend to lose interest in whatever it was they were being rewarded for.
2. "Grades tend to reduce students' preference for challenging tasks." According to this concept "the more pressure to get an A, the less inclination to truly challenge oneself."
3. "Grades tend to reduce the quality of students' thinking. Given that students may lose interest in what they're learning as a result of grades, it makes sense that they're also apt to think less deeply."
The article goes on to say that "Wise educators realize that it doesn't matter how motivated students are; what matters is how students are motivated." Meaning the real motivator for students to achieve high grades should lie within themselves based on what motivates them to achieve - the how. There are countless ways to motivate people. It is as individual as the student. The article continues to say that "teachers who can give a child a better reason for studying don't need grades. When the curriculum is engaging, when it involves hands-on, interactive learning activities students who aren't graded at all perform just as well as those who are graded."
"Helping students forget about grades is the single best advice for creating a learning-oriented classroom and getting students involved in devising the criteria for excellence."
This article had some valid points and gave some good suggestions for other ways to measure a student's performance such as "writing narratives, portfolios, having student led parent teacher conferences, exhibitions and providing other opportunities for students to show what they can do."
I understand what this article is trying to convey but I do not know if I totally agree with it either. The traditional way of grading has its advantages too, but they were not even addressed in this article. No matter what way is decided to assess a student's progress there will always be pro's and con's. There is no perfect way except to try and get a good overall view of how the student is performing, which includes test scores, projects, presentations, as well as the ability to interact socially with the teacher and other students.
Thanks for reading. I always enjoy hearing your thoughts on these topics as well.
Sheila
Kohn, Alfie. From Degrading to De-Grading. Retrieved from http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/fdtd-g.htm
I have never really thought about what a "grade" really does to a student. I just knew "A's" were what should be achieved for because it showed you knew the material and were a "good student." "B's were pretty good. "C's" were OK, but who really wanted to be considered "average." And "D's" and "F's" definitely a no-no. After reading this article it has given me much to think about.
According to this article grades have many negative side effects. The top three listed include:
1. "Grades tend to reduce a students' interest in the learning itself." Research shows that when people are rewarded for doing something they tend to lose interest in whatever it was they were being rewarded for.
2. "Grades tend to reduce students' preference for challenging tasks." According to this concept "the more pressure to get an A, the less inclination to truly challenge oneself."
3. "Grades tend to reduce the quality of students' thinking. Given that students may lose interest in what they're learning as a result of grades, it makes sense that they're also apt to think less deeply."
The article goes on to say that "Wise educators realize that it doesn't matter how motivated students are; what matters is how students are motivated." Meaning the real motivator for students to achieve high grades should lie within themselves based on what motivates them to achieve - the how. There are countless ways to motivate people. It is as individual as the student. The article continues to say that "teachers who can give a child a better reason for studying don't need grades. When the curriculum is engaging, when it involves hands-on, interactive learning activities students who aren't graded at all perform just as well as those who are graded."
"Helping students forget about grades is the single best advice for creating a learning-oriented classroom and getting students involved in devising the criteria for excellence."
This article had some valid points and gave some good suggestions for other ways to measure a student's performance such as "writing narratives, portfolios, having student led parent teacher conferences, exhibitions and providing other opportunities for students to show what they can do."
I understand what this article is trying to convey but I do not know if I totally agree with it either. The traditional way of grading has its advantages too, but they were not even addressed in this article. No matter what way is decided to assess a student's progress there will always be pro's and con's. There is no perfect way except to try and get a good overall view of how the student is performing, which includes test scores, projects, presentations, as well as the ability to interact socially with the teacher and other students.
Thanks for reading. I always enjoy hearing your thoughts on these topics as well.
Sheila
Kohn, Alfie. From Degrading to De-Grading. Retrieved from http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/fdtd-g.htm
What are Assessment Rubrics?
Hi Classmates,
Rubrics sounds like a funny word to me. When I hear the word I am reminded of a rubiks cube. You the know the one - the cube with different colors on each side that when mixed up you try to twist and turn to get back together again. But according to this article rubrics are not this at all. Although one could consider them a game in grading. Instead rubrics are "an authentic assessment tool used to measure students' work." They are usually handed out in advance of the assignment so students can see what is going to be expected of them and what they will need to do in order to earn the grade they want. Rubrics can be designed creatively with the students or by the teacher. Either way these rubrics allow students control over their learning and allows them to be actively involved with the whole process.
There are 3 common features that rubrics have. They include:
1. Focus on measuring a stated objective (performance, behavior, or quality
2. Use a range to rate performance
3. Contain specific performance characteristics arranged in levels indicting the degree to which a standard has been met
There were many advantages listed in this article about the use of these rubrics. One of them that stands out to me was that they "improve student performance by clearly showing the student how their work will be evaluated and what is expected." I like this one because I am usually one of those students who likes to know exactly what is expected of me and what I need to do to get the assignment done. Something like a checklist approach.
When I looked at the various samples of rubrics you can get very creative with them by using cute signs and symbols to being more generic with specific words and phrases.
Overall I believe rubrics are a great tool for both teachers and students and would like to see them being incorporated more into the classrooms at all grade levels.
See you all soon,
Sheila
Author unknown. Retrieved from http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/rubrics.htm on March 13, 2012
Rubrics sounds like a funny word to me. When I hear the word I am reminded of a rubiks cube. You the know the one - the cube with different colors on each side that when mixed up you try to twist and turn to get back together again. But according to this article rubrics are not this at all. Although one could consider them a game in grading. Instead rubrics are "an authentic assessment tool used to measure students' work." They are usually handed out in advance of the assignment so students can see what is going to be expected of them and what they will need to do in order to earn the grade they want. Rubrics can be designed creatively with the students or by the teacher. Either way these rubrics allow students control over their learning and allows them to be actively involved with the whole process.
There are 3 common features that rubrics have. They include:
1. Focus on measuring a stated objective (performance, behavior, or quality
2. Use a range to rate performance
3. Contain specific performance characteristics arranged in levels indicting the degree to which a standard has been met
There were many advantages listed in this article about the use of these rubrics. One of them that stands out to me was that they "improve student performance by clearly showing the student how their work will be evaluated and what is expected." I like this one because I am usually one of those students who likes to know exactly what is expected of me and what I need to do to get the assignment done. Something like a checklist approach.
When I looked at the various samples of rubrics you can get very creative with them by using cute signs and symbols to being more generic with specific words and phrases.
Overall I believe rubrics are a great tool for both teachers and students and would like to see them being incorporated more into the classrooms at all grade levels.
See you all soon,
Sheila
Author unknown. Retrieved from http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/rubrics.htm on March 13, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Common Core Standards for Elementary School
Hi Classmates here is another blog about what we are learning in class:
After viewing the video and reading the articles I would have to say I am in support of the Common Core State Standards for numerous reasons. As the name of our country indicates, the "United" States of America, these standards will "unite" the educational standards across the nation: so kindergarten students in Maine will be taught the same set of standards as kindergarten students in California. This just make sense. It also makes it easier for students that move to another state to adjust to a new school setting as the requirements of what is being taught are the same. It also makes it easier for teachers that move to other states as well because they will not have to relearn what the state or school district standards are: they will already know because it is standard across the nation. This will also allow collaboration between teachers from different states to gain more ideas of how to implement these standards and be able to share ideas of what has worked and not worked for them.
After viewing the video and reading the articles I would have to say I am in support of the Common Core State Standards for numerous reasons. As the name of our country indicates, the "United" States of America, these standards will "unite" the educational standards across the nation: so kindergarten students in Maine will be taught the same set of standards as kindergarten students in California. This just make sense. It also makes it easier for students that move to another state to adjust to a new school setting as the requirements of what is being taught are the same. It also makes it easier for teachers that move to other states as well because they will not have to relearn what the state or school district standards are: they will already know because it is standard across the nation. This will also allow collaboration between teachers from different states to gain more ideas of how to implement these standards and be able to share ideas of what has worked and not worked for them.
I also like that these standards are moving away from rote memorization of facts and figures and gets the students more engaged in their own learning process. It gets the students involved with working with one another to learn a concept and present their findings. This moves students out of their virtual world realities into the real world and practical thinking. The math standards show students that in most instances there are numerous ways of coming up with the same answer and that no one way is necessarily "right." The math standards also require students to show their work and explain their answers. This allows teachers to see where the problems may be stemming from so they can help the student in the specific area of need. Currently students can guess or copy another student and the teacher would not necessarily know nor would the teacher know if the student was truly struggling and needed additional help.
As one speaker in the video stated these standards allow teachers to focus on doing fewer things in each grade so there is more time to concentrate on the needs of the students and work on areas where they may be struggling in. The domains, sequences and progressions will still build on each other at each grade level.
The English Language Arts standards also get the children moving and learning together. They have to take the evidence they find and make inferences as to what it means. They have to do more presentations as individuals and groups,which will hopefully help students overcome their fear of public speaking at a younger age in a nonthreatening and fun environment.
What I liked most about the implementation of these standards is that they provide the "what to teach" but leaves the "how to teach" up to the teachers. This will allow more creativity from the teachers and collaboration among teachers as well. As another speaker stated in the video 90% of what these standards are asking for is already occurring in the classrooms so it should not be "scary" for teachers already in the field to implement. And for us "up and coming" teachers it will be fun to be apart of something new and innovative for our future students.
I look forward to hearing you from you,
Sheila Lowe
Elementary School CCS: http://youtu.be/1IPxt794-yU
I look forward to hearing you from you,
Sheila Lowe
Elementary School CCS: http://youtu.be/1IPxt794-yU
Thursday, March 1, 2012
What is Computational Thinking?
The first things that come to mind when I hear the term computational thinking is math, science and computers, not a traditional classroom setting and teaching methods. As a K - 12 student those were not my strong subjects. Well I should say math was not my subject. Science I did well in and computers were just coming around when I graduated. So trying to understand how to incorporate this into today's K - 12 classroom is intriguing to me. The article this week talks about this type of thinking and tries to define what it is and what they are trying to accomplish by incorporating this at the K - 12 level.
So what does computational thinking have to do with the K - 12 classrooms you may ask? First of all we have to define what it is. According to the article "CT is a problem solving methodology that can be automated and transferred and applied across subjects." Their premise is "K - 12 students already learn how to think and to problem solve, but computer scientists can help teachers understand these processes as algorithmic, and identify where actual computation and manipulation of data with a computer may fit in." Their "goal is to articulate a set of key concepts within computation that can be applied across disciplines, rather than proposing a set of central concepts of computer science solely for CS curricula."
Based on this information I have to disagree with their premise that "students already learn how to think and to problem solve." Yes they can definitely think for themselves, but students at the lower levels need to be guided in the problem solving realm. At the younger levels they tend to be impulsive, self centered, very immature at negotiating and compromising, and can easily get frustrated. This is where teachers and parents need to step in and guide the students in their ability to do this in a healthy way. OK so older students and even adults can have problems doing this as well. So we all could use a good lesson in problem solving.
The article goes on to say that "'imaginative programming' is the most crucial element of computing because it closely aligns mathematics with computing and in this way brings mathematics to life." When we talk about multicultural education we talk about how it is important to make the information we teach relevant to the student so they can relate to it and understand it better. Just as the article talked about making math come to life we need to incorporate that concept across the board so all subjects come to life for the students. That way they can understand it better and incorporate it to their own lives. By incorporating this methodology in the classrooms it would be teaching students that "problems can be solved in multiple ways, have a tolerance for ambiguity and flexibility, and have reasonable expectations about the prospects of producing a working solution."
So how do we get to the point of incorporating this type of teaching methodology in the K - 12 classrooms? We first need to understand the practical approach of how this would look and work at this level. Next "resources are needed to help inform educational policy makers about the nature and importance of computational thinking, its connections to learning goals that may have already been set for students and ways it can best be integrated within the larger framework for student learning and success." And lastly gaining support for this type of educational thinking.
I watched a movie for another class called "A Smile as Big as the Moon." It was about a special education group of students that went to space camp. In preparation for this camp I believe it shows a good illustration of how this could be incorporated into the classroom. The students had to work together to problem solve numerous tasks that were going to be accomplished while at camp. It showed how students jumped in and used their special talents to work together as a team to get to where they needed to be. The teachers guided and provided them with the tools they needed and they ran with it. Even the teachers were surprised at some of the things the students came up with. If you get a chance to watch the movie it is from the Hallmark Channel and is now on DVD in the Hallmark stores.
Overall, I believe this is a good starting point to move forward with this type of approach but I also believe that it needs to be just a part of the overall picture of how students are taught and how they learn. We all have different learning and working styles and approaches to how we handle life. That is what makes us each special and unique. When it comes to teaching and educating children we need to remember that they are individuals with unique personalities, learning and working styles and we should not take that away from them by trying to put everything in a box. Instead we need to create an environment that fosters their personal growth in a way that is meaningful to them. For some students they will thrive in a computational thinking environment for others they will melt away. Teaching is no easy career when there are so many things to take into consideration when creating your lesson plan for the day but it is also rewarding when the light bulb goes on in a child's head and they finally get the concept that is being taught. Just watching them grow and learn and develop into the unique and special person they were created to be can be just as exciting and rewarding too.
I look forward to hearing from you and reading your posts as well.
"Bringing CT to K-12: What Is Involved and What Is the Role of the Computer Science Education Community?" ACM Inroads article from March 2011:Volume 2 Number 1
Friday, February 24, 2012
The Classroom Website
Hi Everyone,
As teachers and educators we need to make sure that whatever we post on a website is clear and concise and easily accessible to our students and parents. How frustrating is it for you when you go to a website that is so hard to navigate? Or you get lost because the links take you somewhere completely different than you intented? Or the color design is hard to read? Or what if your mouse dies in the middle of reading something important for school, what do you do if the site does not have a feature that allows you to continue on? These are all things that we need to keep in mind when designing our website for use in our classrooms.
This article talked about five steps to creating a website that is accessible to the whole audience including individuals accessing the site using non-traditional means such as not using a mouse, the visionally impaired and the hearing impaired.
The five steps include:
1. Organize for easier navigation - Here it talked about using "headers to identify new sections, not creating pages that are too large for the screen, avoiding red and green, and not using colors that are difficult to distinguish in grey scale."
2. Navigation without a mouse - Using the tab key allows for easier navigation around the site without a mouse. To do this one would need to "include the access key attribute in the link code." Since I am not a pro at web design I really have know idea what that means, but I do know by using the tab key allows one to move around without the mouse.
3. Text explanations for images - This is like describing something without someone actually seeing it. One needs to find a good balance though because too much information can be overwhelming for the viewer.
4. Using text that makes sense - One needs to elaborate on what it means to "click here." The reader will need to know what they are clicking here for and where it is going to take them and what information they will gain by doing so.
5. Web validators - These are individuals or companies that will look over the website and give feeback about its usefulness
By taking these steps into consideration when creating a webstie for whatever reason it will make the site more user friendly to all that come to visit.
See you all on Tuesday,
Sheila
Amundson, Lind. 5 Steps to an Accessible Classroom Website. From the ISTE website Learning and Leading with Technology Volume 37 (2009) November (No.4)
As teachers and educators we need to make sure that whatever we post on a website is clear and concise and easily accessible to our students and parents. How frustrating is it for you when you go to a website that is so hard to navigate? Or you get lost because the links take you somewhere completely different than you intented? Or the color design is hard to read? Or what if your mouse dies in the middle of reading something important for school, what do you do if the site does not have a feature that allows you to continue on? These are all things that we need to keep in mind when designing our website for use in our classrooms.
This article talked about five steps to creating a website that is accessible to the whole audience including individuals accessing the site using non-traditional means such as not using a mouse, the visionally impaired and the hearing impaired.
The five steps include:
1. Organize for easier navigation - Here it talked about using "headers to identify new sections, not creating pages that are too large for the screen, avoiding red and green, and not using colors that are difficult to distinguish in grey scale."
2. Navigation without a mouse - Using the tab key allows for easier navigation around the site without a mouse. To do this one would need to "include the access key attribute in the link code." Since I am not a pro at web design I really have know idea what that means, but I do know by using the tab key allows one to move around without the mouse.
3. Text explanations for images - This is like describing something without someone actually seeing it. One needs to find a good balance though because too much information can be overwhelming for the viewer.
4. Using text that makes sense - One needs to elaborate on what it means to "click here." The reader will need to know what they are clicking here for and where it is going to take them and what information they will gain by doing so.
5. Web validators - These are individuals or companies that will look over the website and give feeback about its usefulness
By taking these steps into consideration when creating a webstie for whatever reason it will make the site more user friendly to all that come to visit.
See you all on Tuesday,
Sheila
Amundson, Lind. 5 Steps to an Accessible Classroom Website. From the ISTE website Learning and Leading with Technology Volume 37 (2009) November (No.4)
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