In chapter 11 of our textbook, we are covering ways to engage students in learning and self-reflection. The chapter discusses things like performance-based portfolios, student participation systems and clickers, and digital assessments and quizzes (which we use at our college frequently via SurveyMonkey). I decided, before beginning this blog post, to play around with one of the digital quiz sites called FlipQuiz to see if it was user friendly and if I liked it enough to use it again in the future. Although the quiz that I created is not ready for my future students to use, it is a finished product that works on this blog. I found the site to be extremely easy to use and pleasantly simplistic. I think that this digital tool will be something I will enjoy using in the future with my students. I could quickly design a Jeopardy-styled game, save it online, and then use it in the classroom for test reviews or for a pre-lesson assessment. This would be a much more engaging way to study with students or to help assess what they are retaining and what they are not. (quiz by Nicole Weeks on FlipQuiz.com)
Student Assessment and Student Involvement in Learning and Assessment is the first section I wanted to discuss this week. Although most students do not enjoy testing, teachers simply have to assess how students are retaining information. But tests do not all have to be pencil and paper, and they certainly do not have to be boring! Students have the ability to "show off" what they have learned in a variety of ways including digital quizzes and portfolios. In fact, students would be capable of revealing how much they know about a subject or an idea in a much more graphic and detailed way by using a portfolio versus filling in a multiple-choice bubble on a test. The Jeopardy-styled quiz that I designed on Flip Quiz would allow me to track the number of questions a student got right and assess how much they have learned from my lessons while allowing the students to feel as if they are playing a game. As I said above, this would be a great tool for extra credit, a quiz grade and participation, or simply for review purposes.
Student involvement in learning is "a powerful way to build their commitment to the school curriculum" (Maloy). I have been in classes that allow students to design questions for upcoming tests, sometimes working independently and sometimes in groups, so that the students decide what the most important points of their lessons are. I find that the diversity of interests that students have make a student-designed quiz or test to be challenging and well rounded. I also have noticed that these kinds of student-created assessments empower the students and they are careful to select their question(s) and thoughtful of the other students' abilities when doing so. Allowing students to "teach" their classmates with projects they have designed is also a great way to enhance learning. Some students do not wish to give presentations while others are thrilled to share what they have learned and created with their peers.
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Evaluating Teachers is the next section I chose to discuss this week. It is not a secret that teachers have to undergo training as well as testing in order to be certified in the field. I admit to being nervous about the testing (particularly the math sections) that are in my near future. I feel as if we are teaching students "to the test" and also teaching teachers "to the test" instead of giving them (in both cases) more real-world applicable knowledge... I know that this opinion may not be a popular one, but as I do my mandatory observation hours inside of local schools, I am only more convinced that the students I see are being taught to pass a single exam instead of being taught valuable information. I agree that teachers should have to pass certifications in order to teach, but the question (for me) remains, why can't the tests that are given be geared more towards what that individual teacher is going to be teaching? For example, if you are a going to be a Language Arts teacher, you probably do not need to be tested on advanced Geometry. If you are going to be an Algebra teacher, you probably do not need to be tested on methods of sculpting. I am a big fan of learning as many things as you can, but I also believe that a person only needs to be an expert in their field and that anything else they choose to learn is up to them.
It is also important to mention that I believe teachers should be evaluated regularly, to be sure that their knowledge and skill set are up to date with modern students. It would make no sense to have a teacher in today's world be unable to access their email or confused by Google Docs. It simply would not do for teachers in this century to not have the skills necessary to "keep up" with their tech-savy students. For this reason, I think that the idea of keeping online portfolios is a great one (if used correctly and completely). Teachers should be able to go back and look at the lessons they've taught and see what they have learned through experience and how they can improve. One of the biggest reasons that I want to become a teacher is because I will be able to learn something new every day, see a multitude of perspectives from fresh eyes, and better myself as I better others.
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| image by: Postmemes.com / Flickr.com |
Jumping into Preassessment Surveys, even though I touched on it a little in my opening paragraph, is the next logical place to go from here... I have personally been in several classes where the professor asked students to take short surveys regarding the material that will be covered in classes. I specifically remember taking a survey in my Ethics course and wondering how in the world I will do in the class because I really did not know much of anything in the opening survey! As it turns out, I did very well in the class and went on to take several other philosophical classes like that one for fun. The preassessment survey opened my eyes to what would be covered in the class, what I did know, what I did not know (and needed to focus on) as well as alerted my professor to what he needed to focus on in the class overall. So much time in a classroom is wasted with handing out papers, preparing to give lectures, and calming students down that I feel preassessment surveys are a great way to not lose more valuable time; you would know right away if you could skip the skeleton of a lesson and head right into the meat of it if your students already knew the basic material. That could save a teacher days, but more importantly, it would save the teacher from having a classroom full of disinterested students - bored because they already know what's being taught! These surveys can also be a valuable asset to the classroom because if a curriculum calls for a certain ability to be learned, but not specific to one discipline, the teacher could find the discipline that students most enjoy and base his or her lesson plan around that thing while forming the assessment or test towards growing that ability to satisfy the state requirements. For example, if I was required to teach students an argumentative essay design, a survey could be used to narrow down what the essay topic would be about so that the students were writing on a topic they were interested in instead of a random prompt that I had come up with on my own. This also allows students to have a little bit of power over their learning and I think that goes a long way with keeping students engaged.
Although I had some trouble finding a video of surveys being done by students or preassessments (that were not boring to watch) I did find a video about teachers who are doing amazing things in their classes. They do visual checks during class to be sure the students are keeping up and understanding the material. They encourage the students to feel great about themselves. These teachers are connecting with their students and according to the video, the students are learning at an amazing rate!
Video credit to Youtube.com by John Sule
Resources:
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2011). Transforming Learning with new Technolgies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
You tapped in to some valuable resources in creating your reflective post. Nice job on the FlipQuiz, too. The teacher certification general knowledge test is not that bad, but I do understand your comments. Due to the general nature of standardized tests (and all they stand for), many anxieties arise and the natural reaction is to prepare for the 'test'! Unfortunately, we then miss the major goal of learning. That's also why there is more distance between learning and schooling - hopefully, we can close that gap as we focus on trying to transform teaching and learning...and technology can help! :)
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