This module has helped me think about self-directed learners and the role of differentiation in the following ways:
Before completing this module, I had not really thought about how learning preferences should play in the process of making educational accommodations for a student. I understood the basic means by which to accommodate a student based on disability (such as with content, process, products, and learning environment), but I had never thought about considering whether a student preferred (and performed more successfully with) visual-auditory-kinesthetic, left brain/right brain, or multiple intelligences learning styles. Basically, I'm glad that a student's preferred learning style is can be taken into consideration for accommodations in addition to what a student needs because of his or her disability.
I had also not considered how beneficial individualized computers can be for differentiating student learning before completing this module. Computers provide the necessary technology for students with disabilities, the resources necessary for English language learners, and extended resources for gifted and talented students. Before I had really only thought about computer use in the sense of projects, but I see how technology could be used for differentiation throughout instructional units.
I have already had self-direction in my mind, though, as I have been creating my instructional unit for this course. The steps for enhancing self-direction through assessments that are listed in the module, for instance, are steps that I am incorporating in unit. My students will have a clear picture of what they will be learning, they will receive continuous feedback about their progress, they will self-assess their own progress, and they will be provided with instruction for the specific steps they will be taking over the course of the unit.
I also have implemented some of the pedagogical practices for supporting the diverse needs of learners in my instructional unit. My students will be offered an example to imitate, they will have structures to monitor their own progress, and they will have a limited amount of options for the project.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Monday, March 9, 2015
Module 5 Reflection
This module has helped me think about student-centered assessment in the following ways:
The part of this module that really got me thinking was Step 2 of Activity 1. In particular, I found the questions that the module provided for readers to think about while they create their student assessments very helpful. I have always viewed rubrics as assessment tools that always follow the same formula (in an English Language Arts classroom at least). The sections that are nearly always included are mechanics, organization, and style. Rubrics show students exactly what is expected of them, but they always look so similar from what I usually see. The questions in this module, though, really got me thinking about the ways to really cater a rubric to a project one is creating.
Here are the questions:
Which of these assessments would be most important to you and your students?
What kind of information would you and your students gain by using the assessments?
How would the assessments help students become self-directed, collaborative learners?
How do the assessments assess higher-order thinking, 21st century skills, and a student’s ability to answer
the Curriculum-Framing Questions?
What instruction would your students need to use the assessments effectively?
These questions did one thing in particular for me: they helped me really think about what I needed to assess in my rubrics. I think that a lot of people are going about the rubric thing all wrong. I'm not saying that including mechanics and organization sections is wrong. Those things are important to, but I think teachers need to be thinking more about the skills that the students are learning and using as they do their project while creating a rubric. This may be harder to do for a rubric for a finished project. My rubric for the publication my students will be making, for instance, focuses on the information provided in the publication, sources, citations, and mechanics. I'm primarily looking to see if the students followed directions and if they produced quality information. I think, though, that during the middle of a project teachers could have some sort of assessment in which the 21st century skills that the students are learning are addressed. It would be an interesting to try because it's something I don't feel like I've really seen. Like I've said, most of the rubrics that I've seen in English Language Arts classrooms look very similar.
I feel like this blog has included a lot of rambling, but the point I'm trying to make here is that this module has really got me thinking about what exactly I should be assessing in my rubrics.
The part of this module that really got me thinking was Step 2 of Activity 1. In particular, I found the questions that the module provided for readers to think about while they create their student assessments very helpful. I have always viewed rubrics as assessment tools that always follow the same formula (in an English Language Arts classroom at least). The sections that are nearly always included are mechanics, organization, and style. Rubrics show students exactly what is expected of them, but they always look so similar from what I usually see. The questions in this module, though, really got me thinking about the ways to really cater a rubric to a project one is creating.
Here are the questions:
Which of these assessments would be most important to you and your students?
What kind of information would you and your students gain by using the assessments?
How would the assessments help students become self-directed, collaborative learners?
How do the assessments assess higher-order thinking, 21st century skills, and a student’s ability to answer
the Curriculum-Framing Questions?
What instruction would your students need to use the assessments effectively?
These questions did one thing in particular for me: they helped me really think about what I needed to assess in my rubrics. I think that a lot of people are going about the rubric thing all wrong. I'm not saying that including mechanics and organization sections is wrong. Those things are important to, but I think teachers need to be thinking more about the skills that the students are learning and using as they do their project while creating a rubric. This may be harder to do for a rubric for a finished project. My rubric for the publication my students will be making, for instance, focuses on the information provided in the publication, sources, citations, and mechanics. I'm primarily looking to see if the students followed directions and if they produced quality information. I think, though, that during the middle of a project teachers could have some sort of assessment in which the 21st century skills that the students are learning are addressed. It would be an interesting to try because it's something I don't feel like I've really seen. Like I've said, most of the rubrics that I've seen in English Language Arts classrooms look very similar.
I feel like this blog has included a lot of rambling, but the point I'm trying to make here is that this module has really got me thinking about what exactly I should be assessing in my rubrics.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Module 4 Reflection
How can technology be used most effectively to support and assess student learning?
The work I have started for Module 4 has assisted me a great deal in understanding the best ways to use technology to support and assess student learning in the classroom. My plan was always to have my students create some sort of publication online as part of the unit project, but creating a student sample myself has really helped me in narrowing down on exactly what I want to expect from my students as they work on the project themselves. The module has also gotten me thinking about ways that my students can enhance their publications through sounds, images, etc.
The section about helping students in project-based classrooms was also particularly helpful for me. I realized that in order for me to ensure that my students have made the progress that would satisfy me during and at the end of the unit, I would need to have manageable goals, a clear timeline, a place where the students could generate questions about their work, a way or them to work productively with others, and a way for them to reflect on their work. I will be incorporating all of these things into the project for my unit.
Planning the student sample itself has really helped me in thinking about how to most effectively use technology as well. I've been able to see where my students may run into trouble, as well as how easy it is for me to find the types of information I would expect them to incorporate into their publications. I've also been able to see how much time I should expect my students to need on each aspect of the unit based on how long it took me to do the project. It also has helped me in reevaluating the prerequisite skills that my students would need to have before starting this project and the skills that I would want to make sure they have at the end of the instructional unit. The student sample has also helped me in making sure that my curriculum framing questions are questions that my unit can address, as well as if I need to add new questions to that list.
All in all, this module has really helped me in the planning process for my instructional unit, especially where the use of technology is concerned.
The work I have started for Module 4 has assisted me a great deal in understanding the best ways to use technology to support and assess student learning in the classroom. My plan was always to have my students create some sort of publication online as part of the unit project, but creating a student sample myself has really helped me in narrowing down on exactly what I want to expect from my students as they work on the project themselves. The module has also gotten me thinking about ways that my students can enhance their publications through sounds, images, etc.
The section about helping students in project-based classrooms was also particularly helpful for me. I realized that in order for me to ensure that my students have made the progress that would satisfy me during and at the end of the unit, I would need to have manageable goals, a clear timeline, a place where the students could generate questions about their work, a way or them to work productively with others, and a way for them to reflect on their work. I will be incorporating all of these things into the project for my unit.
Planning the student sample itself has really helped me in thinking about how to most effectively use technology as well. I've been able to see where my students may run into trouble, as well as how easy it is for me to find the types of information I would expect them to incorporate into their publications. I've also been able to see how much time I should expect my students to need on each aspect of the unit based on how long it took me to do the project. It also has helped me in reevaluating the prerequisite skills that my students would need to have before starting this project and the skills that I would want to make sure they have at the end of the instructional unit. The student sample has also helped me in making sure that my curriculum framing questions are questions that my unit can address, as well as if I need to add new questions to that list.
All in all, this module has really helped me in the planning process for my instructional unit, especially where the use of technology is concerned.
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