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Assessing for Learning: Reflection

As we became engaged in our EDUC 6714 resources, with our colleagues, and into the discovery of UDL; I found a solid philosophy for instruction that I feel I can stand behind and communicate to others. Over the years, many trends or buzz words have been identified in the field of education, some stay, most don’t. Universal Design for Learning is an approach that, in my opinion, is timeless and can be an asset to students in any classroom. Since UDL is an instructional approach that opens learning opportunities for all students, (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009c), all educators can find benefit in differentiating student learning according to readiness, interest, or learning profiles. Each teacher who reflects on their instructional lessons and is open to improvement can see that there are ways within their own classroom to modify curriculum for their specific students in either the product, process, or content that they are teaching. I, for example plan to look at my current and upcoming lessons and take more time to focus on what student interest and readiness is for the topic. I often begin the year pre-assessing my students and then, as the year continues, have moved on to the thought that they must have acquired the building blocks of knowledge they need for the next lab, from engaging in the previous labs. This idea is not only untrue but also very narrow minded for me to not address multiple style learners, and to access the prior background knowledge or lack of knowledge that my students actually have.

One of the resources from my Differentiation Station Group that I will be using in my classroom is www.surveymonkey.com. This tool is a quick way for which I can tailor my pre-assessments, interest surveys, or lesson reflections. In using this tool to create more open communication between my students and myself, I hope to be able to know them better and therefore make better decisions regarding their instruction. I also have high hopes of setting up an investigative or focus group of students in my Lion Time period so that I can gain real feedback for some of the tools such as http://www.word2word.com/, www.naturalreaders.com, http://www.techsmith.com/, that I would like to integrate into classroom lessons. Planning to include technology in my classroom and instructional process and to differentiate within each lesson, will allow me to engage my students in respectful and meaningful tasks, flexible grouping, a sense of community, and a consistent system of assessment (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a). I hope to make learning through technology fun, and to create opportunities where students actively produce and contribute to their classroom, reaching a level of personal experience with the content, and a level of connection with the real-world on a more global level, (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009b).

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009a). Program Fourteen: Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology [DVD]. Introduction to differentiated instruction. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009b). Program One: Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology [DVD]. Introduction: Reaching and engaging all learners through technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009c). Program Twelve: Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology [DVD]. Universal design for learning. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Calling all Liberty Middle School Teachers...You need to know about Universal Design Learning

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Final Reflection for Course 6713

It is true that by setting goals, having a plan, monitoring progress, and engaging in reflection; we can create a technology rich environment and help to prepare our students for future tasks, jobs, and life situations, (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2010). As we began the process of our GAME plan, I found it to be a great tool for organization, goal setting, and accountability. I still believe that we must place careful thought into how we approach and document these tasks; but after having monitored my GAME plan throughout the duration of this course, I realize that this can be done in a number of specific ways. Originally, to achieve my first goal, to become more “proficient and confident in promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information,” (NETS-T, 2008); I had stated that I would engage in proper training for technology tools, increase the number of opportunities that my students had to utilize technology, and to model and scaffold the idea of proper etiquette and responsible social interactions related to technology use. I even had the idea of developing class guidelines for use with each individual class that I engaged. While this is a great starting point; creating lesson plans that helped to clarify what proper use is and isn’t, using teacher think-alouds, and helping my students focus on my own thoughts of how to use technology responsibly becomes a piece of that support. Ideas continued to develop and lead my vision to be further detailed with pedagogy and specificity. The idea of incorporating Problem Based Learning Lessons that promote in-depth understanding of subject-area content while simultaneously developing student’s higher-order thinking skills (Ertmer & Simons, 2006), became a reality. Anticipating my students becoming self-directed learners, learning to collaborate with others in an effective and productive manner, and to have confidence in my students and the technology that I have taught them to use to solve problems which may not have a concrete solution became a larger part of my focused approach. Online collaboration is a piece of my plan that allows for social group work and improves the amount or frequency of feedback that a student receives. Assessing students and providing feedback using a checklist or rubric allows for me to facilitate learning and to record when students shared data, analyzed data, and completed writing tasks to communicate their findings.

The second goal that I aspired to of being able to “exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others,” (NETS-T, 2008) is one that did not necessarily change throughout my GAME Plan revision, but one that became a goal that I could see more clearly as the course and our knowledge evolved. Now, a few weeks before the new school year, I am again reminded that no matter what subject we teach or how much experience we have, that there are people out there in the same position, trying to take risks, increase rigor, and infuse technology in their classrooms. This fact drives me to keep open lines of communication with neighboring middle schools and to share resources and knowledge that we develop. Even more so, it invests me in the idea of supporting the new teachers we have at our middle school. With my dissemination of information relating to the NSTE-S and NSTE-T, and the inspiring help of my colleagues; we can and will develop activities, assessments, rubrics, and guidelines for strengthening reading, writing, literacy, and technology skills.


References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (Spring 2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 40-54. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

The NETS-S and the NETS-T are inter-related in such a way that the focus or objectives for technology use, literacy skills, global networking, and digital citizenship overlap with each other; the student standards simply require an active role of participation in the activity, whereas the teacher standards employ a creative and developmental nature of how we can help students achieve these goals and be successful in the activities. My goal of becoming more “proficient and confident in promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information,” (NETS-T, 2008); fits directly with the goals that are set for students themselves. By analyzing practices already in place and then engaging with appropriate resources, I can create experiences where students work responsibly and creatively to solve problems, interact with others around the world, and regardless of content area, can learn more, and retain it because they are satisfied with the experience, (Hargis, & Wilcox, 2008). Instructional practices such as PBL, online collaboration, and digital storytelling, for example, provide a forum for both teacher and student standards to be addressed. In a different forum, I can engage my students in using computer based assessment tools and work towards furthering goals such as, “students demonstrating a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations,” (NETS-S, 2008). The use of probeware to collect data in science experiments, having students blog about their lab reflections rather then just writing the report in their lab book, and enlisting administration to support our progress; all works towards the ideals for which the NSTE Standards were created. I honestly, look forward to my students becoming more comfortable with new standards and processes; to them becoming self-directed learners. I see nothing wrong with having them develop their own GAME plan for certain tasks or goals. With my dissemination of information relating to the NSTE-S and NSTE-T, and the help of my colleagues to develop activities, assessments, rubrics, and guidelines for strengthening reading, writing, literacy, and technology skills; the sky will truly be our limit.



References:

Hargis, J., & Wilcox, S. M. (2008, October). Ubiquitous, free, and efficient online collaboration tools for teaching and learning. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 9(4), 9–17.

National Education Standards for Students (NETS-S) located at
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Revising Your GAME Plan for NETS-T

My first goal is still to become more “proficient and confident in promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information,” (NETS-T, 2008). After engaging in the resources throughout this Walden class I have learned that I will not only need to become proficient in how to use these tools, but also in how to creatively incorporate them into my already existing curriculum. I am convinced that by doing so I can create experiences where regardless of the content or subject area being taught in a classroom, my students can work collaboratively in small groups, learn more, and retain it because they are satisfied with the experience, (Hargis, & Wilcox, 2008). Online collaboration allows for this social group work and improves the amount or frequency of feedback that a student receives. I plan to incorporate a number of Problem Based Learning Lessons that reflect the use on online collaboration and promote in-depth understanding of subject-area content while simultaneously developing student’s higher-order thinking skills (Ertmer & Simons, 2006). I am looking forward to my students becoming more comfortable with this process and therefore being self-directed learners.


Additionally, I have learned that student participation can easily be assessed using a checklist to record when students shared data, analyzed data, and completed writing tasks, (Trundle, Willmore, & Smith, 2006); and plan to enlist the help of my colleagues to develop such checklists and assessments for the projects that we create. I really do believe that, together we can overcome some of the challenges we face when deviating from traditional instruction and standards for which students are tested at the end of the year. A new goal that I am now working towards is to “use my knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments,” (NETS-T, 2008). When engaged in online learning, the primary means of communication is to read and write to interact with others on the same network. This, in itself, promotes the strengthening of reading and writing skills, the participation in authentic experiences with others, and the idea that we can learn from one another,” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). Creativity and asynchronous teamwork will need to be a large part of achieving this goal, as well as the continued revision of already created lessons.


References:

Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (Spring 2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 40-54. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl.

Hargis, J., & Wilcox, S. M. (2008, October). Ubiquitous, free, and efficient online collaboration tools for teaching and learning. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 9(4), 9–17.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program Ten. Spotlight on Technology: Social Networking and Online Collaboration , Part One [Motion picture]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.

Trundle, K. C., Willmore, S., & Smith, W. S. (2006, March). The MOON project. Science and Children, 43(6), 52–55.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Evaluating Your GAME Plan Progress for NETS-T

While it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of my GAME plan, while on summer break in Fairfax County; I have found that by engaging with each week’s resources, I have gained insight into what I would like to apply in my classroom during the 2010-2011 school year, as well as how I may have to modify this plan once put into practice. I had said that to achieve my first goal, of becoming more “proficient and confident in promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information,” (NETS-T, 2008); I would need to secure the Netbooks for each student in my classroom during the 2010-2011 school year. While the application has been completed and reviewed, it seems that the technology will be placed in a colleagues’ classroom, rather than my own. Certainly, this decision is a bit disappointing and a tad discouraging, but having this new knowledge now has simply challenged me to create different opportunities for my students to use technology and the information that it provides.

I am most recently motivated to incorporate Problem Based Learning Lessons that promote in-depth understanding of subject-area content while simultaneously developing student’s higher-order thinking skills (Ertmer & Simons, 2006). This concept is one for which I most certainly can promote and gain confidence in. The student benefit for such activities is inspiring and exciting. I am now anticipating my students becoming self-directed learners, learning to collaborate with others in an effective and productive manner, to solve problems which may not have a certain answer, and to apply their learning to new and authentic situations, (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). Additionally, to “exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others,” (NETS-T, 2008); I plan to involve my fellow PLC members in the idea that honestly, I believe they would buy into or see benefit in. Together we can overcome some of the challenges we face when deviating from traditional instruction and standards for which students are tested at the end of each year.

My GAME plan will still include students becoming familiar with blogging, the use of a wiki, to know the difference in how to utilize the variety of technology tools that are available, and to be able to communicate with their peers about technology on an academic level; though most of this will now need to be accomplished during scheduled time in the computer lab or by securing the mobile laptop carts that my school has available. I still plan monitor the proper use of technology and insure that students are using the tools responsibly, by logging into Black Board on a weekly basis and verifying that students have posted appropriate responses to the blog assignments; as well as to provide formative and summative assessments in electronic formats, taking the data back to PLC to analyze and further drive instruction. Newly created rubrics and assessments for the PBL Lessons that we develop will aide in this portion of my GAME plan, and though I will not have each student with access to a computer in my daily classroom, we can focus on collaborative discussion and think-alouds to involve everyone in our new experiences. Through this group reflection, and the reflection that my colleagues and I engage in during PLC; I hope that we will be able to develop our own strategies for managing problems within our school and even more so, within our classrooms.

References:

Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (Spring 2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 40-54. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program Eight. Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning, Part One [Motion picture]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.