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Week 7&8

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Over these two weeks we learned about tracking and reading scores from student assessments. Some important standardized assessment terms we learned are, Population -the entire group of people for whom typical performance is estimated by the instrument Sample -the group of people actually included in the testing/study Norming -refers to the process of constructing norms or the typical performance of a group of individuals on achievement assessment Norm referenced Tests -test results compared to the results of a similar group of people and testers are ranked in relation to other testers Criterion referenced Tests -test results are compared to a set standard or predetermined criteria and testers are ranked in relation to the body of tested knowledge Mean -averaging (add them then divide by how many are on the list) Median -MIDDLE number  Mode -refers to the number in a list that occurs most often Range -the difference between smallest and largest number Normal Curve -bell shaped curve...
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Week 6

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 Wednesday's Class: This class and this lesson was extremely informative.  We learned about about how to build strong lesson objectives.  I have learned that lesson planning is extremely difficult, but working backwards and building a strong objective will make the lesson planning a bit easier.  A good format to use to build an objective is the ABCD formula.  The "A" stands for the audience, who is the target of the objective.  The "B" stands for the behavior, what the measurable behavior that demonstrates .  The "C" stands for conditions, meaning how the behavior will be performed.  The "D" stands for degree, meaning making the criterion known. The main thing I took from this day was that the standards, objectives, and assessments all need to be aligned. The above picture is something I found very interesting.  It really makes you think.  If there is no purpose to a lesson or if the standards, assessments, and objectives do not align th...
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Week 5

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 This week we learned about the ABCD method to writing learning objectives.  A learning objective is "a statement that describes exactly what students will be able to do at the end of a lesson as a result of instruction."  Developing learning objectives is important because it guides the lesson entirely.  It is the foundation for your lesson, laying out what you want students to be able to do (student-centered), how they will achieve your goals (actionable), and how you will be able to see that the student has mastered said goal (measurable). The ABCD formula for developing learning objects is a tool used to ensure a teacher's learning objectives give a clear picture as to what the instruction will look like and how each student's success will be determined.                                                     ...
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Week 4

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 Bloom's Taxonomy is a hierarchical ordering of cognitive skills.  The diagram is in the shape of a pyramid, moving upwards from simple to complex ways of thinking.  Each level is labeled with a verb which describes what we as teachers want the students to be able to do cognitively in this level. Webb's Depth of Knowledge, or DOK, shows the process in which we think.  DOK is depicted in the form of stairs, moving upward to show the development of thinking.  In contrast to Bloom's Taxonomy, DOK is not a hierarchy.   *NOTE*  To the right I have inserted a picture of DOK and Bloom's Taxonomy compared side by side from this week's powerpoint.  I thought it was helpful to include how the two look in comparison to one another. I think these two ideas can help my future instruction in the classroom because it is what makes the most sense.  When you think about it, these ideas can be used in almost all aspects in life.  When you are learnin...
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Week 3

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 This week we learned about the different ways to dynamically track a child's progress.  One of the main forms of documentation that stuck out to me were portfolios.  I love the idea of a child having some sort of folder or electronic portfolio of their work over time.  It is a great way to visually see the progress overtime.  My parents had something similar for my brother and I growing up.  Because my brother and I went to the same elementary school, a lot of our projects were either the same or similar.  We each had a notebook that would document our grade, favorite color, favorite food, friends, our teacher, our signature, etc.  For each grade there was also a corresponding pocket for us to store our work from that year.  It is nice to flip through now and see how different my handwriting changed over the years, the different assignments, my hobbies, etc.  We did notice, however, as we got older the portfolio became less full and les...
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Week 2

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 This week we went over the different types of observation techniques.  Observations are the foundation of all assessments and are extremely important for a teacher to utilize.  A few reasons we observe are to see patterns in learning and behavior, remember what the children know and can do, plan instructional activities, and see what's in the child's mind.  Observations can be quite difficult, however, because they need to be completely objective.  In order for an observation to be accurate, it must be fact based, quantifiable, and measurable.  There may not include any influence by personal emotions, opinions, or personal feelings. I want to use observations quite frequently in my future classroom.  I feel like it is pointless to bounce from one topic to another if the class has not grasped onto the original topic.  This would just be an endless cycle of learning information for the end test and forgetting it the next week when we begin learning...
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Week 1

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 This week we learned about the different types of assessments.  We learned that all assessments are either formal or informal and used in either a formative or summative manner.  Formal assessments are based off of empirical research and data.  Informal assessments are teacher created, which can be in the form of observations, rubrics, checklists, rating scales, etc.  Formative assessments are used to provide information to both students and teachers on how to improve the learning process.  This information can be in the form of a brief written summary, a student/teacher conference, or a quiz.  This assessment type is used to demonstrate what you are learning.   Summative assessments are higher stakes than formative assessments.  They are used to "measure the mastery of the learning standards."  These types of assessments occur only a few times over the course of a school year, some examples being semester/end of term final, en...
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