Hi all,
Here is the link for the meeting place tonight. See all of you there!
http://www.eganandsons.com/
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Just a reminder
We will have class face to face tomorrow evening. All you need to bring is your philosophy statement, which is due at the beginning of class, and your books. I think they will be useful for you in what we do during class.
Looking forward to it!
Looking forward to it!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Technology and Literacy
After reading and watching the podcast Robert says "The reading material and video clip on new technologies impacting literacy is very accurate and makes me think of my own education and teaching experiences as it relates to literacy. Admittedly, I always thought of literacy as reading and writing, now however I am aware that literacy is much, much more. I now know that literacy is reading, writing, and communicating through various other meduims such as pictures, videos, hand signals, gestures, etc.". I agree with Robert as far as thinking of literacy as reading and writing. Currently technology is being infused into this subject.
I think that being able to access millions of websites can encourage us to think more about what we see, but it can also encourage us not to think. There are many websites found on the internet that have already done the work that we are being asked to do or ask our students to do. There are many times that students just copy what they see and see this as an easy way out. However, if used appropriately it can allow us to research and find out answers to questions we might have.
The internet is an incalculable source of available information that makes knowledge and data on virtually any topic accessible for student use. Current and ever advancing technology in word processing and assistive technology make reading, writing, and communicating easier and possible to students that were having difficulties or unable in the past. Video games and text messaging are thought to increase dexterity and give students practice writing in a fun context. Video photo technology and video story-telling, blogs, on-line chat rooms, and even "myspace", all provide students with multiple ways to communicate, learn, and share information. With these things in mind, I definitely believe the world has become more "literate".
If we base how literate one can be we have to be specific in the content area. One can have difficulty reading text in a book, but might find it easier to communicate with technology. This brings me to the point that being literate does not only mean being able to read and write. It encompasses much more.
I think that being able to access millions of websites can encourage us to think more about what we see, but it can also encourage us not to think. There are many websites found on the internet that have already done the work that we are being asked to do or ask our students to do. There are many times that students just copy what they see and see this as an easy way out. However, if used appropriately it can allow us to research and find out answers to questions we might have.
The internet is an incalculable source of available information that makes knowledge and data on virtually any topic accessible for student use. Current and ever advancing technology in word processing and assistive technology make reading, writing, and communicating easier and possible to students that were having difficulties or unable in the past. Video games and text messaging are thought to increase dexterity and give students practice writing in a fun context. Video photo technology and video story-telling, blogs, on-line chat rooms, and even "myspace", all provide students with multiple ways to communicate, learn, and share information. With these things in mind, I definitely believe the world has become more "literate".
If we base how literate one can be we have to be specific in the content area. One can have difficulty reading text in a book, but might find it easier to communicate with technology. This brings me to the point that being literate does not only mean being able to read and write. It encompasses much more.
Well done!
Really nice summaries, everyone. As you can tell (yes, I was a co-author on the long piece, but that probably means you should be more critical of it if anything), this is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. New technologies have given us lots of tools and opportunities, but they also raise the concerns some of you mention -- about interpersonal communication, for example.
The funny thing is that these technologies can also facilitate that kind of communication. I know more about each of you and your learning by doing this class as a hybrid than I would in a traditional format, for example. You each tell me so much through your blogs, and you spend time reading each others' writing, which you might not have been exposed to ordinarily. I see a deeper level of interaction with the ideas, in many ways, as well as a trail that I can go back to throughout the course of the semester and draw on. But it's more work, no doubt about it, and it's taken time for everyone to get used to these kinds of media and all their quirks.
I think the key is not to think of technology as entirely positive or negative -- it just isn't that simple. Like literacy, the ways in which we use technology depend on access and context, expertise and possibly age : ). There's so much to think about -- and computers are no magic bullet for education.
The funny thing is that these technologies can also facilitate that kind of communication. I know more about each of you and your learning by doing this class as a hybrid than I would in a traditional format, for example. You each tell me so much through your blogs, and you spend time reading each others' writing, which you might not have been exposed to ordinarily. I see a deeper level of interaction with the ideas, in many ways, as well as a trail that I can go back to throughout the course of the semester and draw on. But it's more work, no doubt about it, and it's taken time for everyone to get used to these kinds of media and all their quirks.
I think the key is not to think of technology as entirely positive or negative -- it just isn't that simple. Like literacy, the ways in which we use technology depend on access and context, expertise and possibly age : ). There's so much to think about -- and computers are no magic bullet for education.
Tecnology (Sheila, Lauren, Marcie & Samantha)
The main point I had to make was that technology has changed the world around us at an expotential rate. Education needs to progress with the way the world communicates in order to prepare the next generation.
Lauren said "I embrace these new literacy’s. They still teach children to speak and sound out letters. It puts a creative twist on the English language. Its creative and children still learn the correct ways to speak and write in school. It’s more like children are learning a language for themselves.
"Marcie felt "the main idea here is to keep in mind that these advancements are not here to replace the older ways of literacy, they are here to keep up with the times and advance the knowledge of those today. Without our prior knowledge to read and write all of these new technologies would be obsolete. I think it is important to expose students at a young age to the technologies in literacy so it does not get misused."
Samantha wrote "Everything is happening so fast that it will be hard to stay current on every single thing. However, if teachers try to keep up with the changing world, then they can best serve their students. I feel the concept of literacy will remain the same: being able to function in society. It is the society that is changing…"
Lauren said "I embrace these new literacy’s. They still teach children to speak and sound out letters. It puts a creative twist on the English language. Its creative and children still learn the correct ways to speak and write in school. It’s more like children are learning a language for themselves.
"Marcie felt "the main idea here is to keep in mind that these advancements are not here to replace the older ways of literacy, they are here to keep up with the times and advance the knowledge of those today. Without our prior knowledge to read and write all of these new technologies would be obsolete. I think it is important to expose students at a young age to the technologies in literacy so it does not get misused."
Samantha wrote "Everything is happening so fast that it will be hard to stay current on every single thing. However, if teachers try to keep up with the changing world, then they can best serve their students. I feel the concept of literacy will remain the same: being able to function in society. It is the society that is changing…"
New Literacy Summary- Alexandra, Rachel D., Kelly K, and Amanda
After reading the article on new literacies (co-authored by our very own Dr. Dana), we all saw the increase in technology a danger for interpersonal communication in the classroom and in the world.
While Alexandra wonders how the decrease in face-to-face, verbal communication will impact collaboration in the classroom, she also observes that kids are more prolific than ever, even though most of their writing is over the internet. She also wonders if traditional, paper-based skills will become obsolete in the wake of technology.
Kelly K. thinks that because technology is omnipresent, literacy has become that much more vital. Also, because kids are so enthusiastic about new technologies, they are reading that much more over the internet and reading to find out more about video games. Additionally, Kelly observes that kids have developed a new language for quick text messaging, however at the risk of it compromising their writing skills. Like all of us, Kelly thinks that human contact suffers at the hands of technology.
Like Kelly, Rachel thinks the internet is great for kids that are reading online while unaware of it. She worries, however, that students' spelling, careful editing, and reading of books will suffer because of programs on computers and text on the internet. She also fears that students won't challenge their online resources and will buy into everything they are reading as fact.
I found a huge discrepancy for how the state assesses students in the old linear, read, question, answer format of reading comprehension, while the very nature of thinking has changed because the information-age. This brought to mind a student of mine who struggles very much in language arts, but whole goes home and writes prolifically on his My Space page. I struggle with the fact that while he doesn't meet my (the state's) standards for being completely literate in the classroom, he's more literate than I am on the internet. Therefore, who am I to assess him? I also appreciated the definition of literacy in the article and found it to be very Darwinian. If you can't adapt to the changing technology, you won't be technologically literate. (period)
One more thing- I find it humorous that as fast as technology changes and adapts, language changes faster. On my attempt to spell check, "literacies" is not recognized by this program. Also, Mr. Spellcheck is telling me that "internet" is a proper noun, which I'm pretty sure at this point it is not. Food for thought:)
While Alexandra wonders how the decrease in face-to-face, verbal communication will impact collaboration in the classroom, she also observes that kids are more prolific than ever, even though most of their writing is over the internet. She also wonders if traditional, paper-based skills will become obsolete in the wake of technology.
Kelly K. thinks that because technology is omnipresent, literacy has become that much more vital. Also, because kids are so enthusiastic about new technologies, they are reading that much more over the internet and reading to find out more about video games. Additionally, Kelly observes that kids have developed a new language for quick text messaging, however at the risk of it compromising their writing skills. Like all of us, Kelly thinks that human contact suffers at the hands of technology.
Like Kelly, Rachel thinks the internet is great for kids that are reading online while unaware of it. She worries, however, that students' spelling, careful editing, and reading of books will suffer because of programs on computers and text on the internet. She also fears that students won't challenge their online resources and will buy into everything they are reading as fact.
I found a huge discrepancy for how the state assesses students in the old linear, read, question, answer format of reading comprehension, while the very nature of thinking has changed because the information-age. This brought to mind a student of mine who struggles very much in language arts, but whole goes home and writes prolifically on his My Space page. I struggle with the fact that while he doesn't meet my (the state's) standards for being completely literate in the classroom, he's more literate than I am on the internet. Therefore, who am I to assess him? I also appreciated the definition of literacy in the article and found it to be very Darwinian. If you can't adapt to the changing technology, you won't be technologically literate. (period)
One more thing- I find it humorous that as fast as technology changes and adapts, language changes faster. On my attempt to spell check, "literacies" is not recognized by this program. Also, Mr. Spellcheck is telling me that "internet" is a proper noun, which I'm pretty sure at this point it is not. Food for thought:)
New Literacies by Shane, Dan, and Nadine
Technology is changing how literacy is defined. I think this is universally agreed upon by all. We all understand that literacy today means more than just reading and writing text. Nowadays you must computer literate. Shane and I mentioned how in the past we were both looking for information through countless books. That seems absurd now. Using the internet is both faster and offers more information. Shane wrote: “In comparison, today I can sit at home on my computer and with a few clicks of the mouse have an infamous amount of information. At times I feel that I was cheated by not have the internet my entire life. It has been around a short time and has only gotten better with time. But, I also feel fortunate that I had the opportunity to value a book and understand the importance of a library.”
But we must not forget about the traditional forms of literacy. From Dan: “The push for technology though still should not supersede the traditional forms of reading and writing. Being able to read and write words is still more important that using the computer. Learning technology and learning the basics of literacy are not mutually exclusive. It is very possible to teach someone to read and write using technology.” From Shane: “A student that had difficulty in reading had few options. Now, a student can put on headphones and work with an interactive book on the computer. They have a super modern, customized Sesame Street. They can go online or play interactive reading games to help improve and enhance their reading skills.”
Therefore, our responsibilities as teachers are to incorporate the entirety of literacy, both the traditional forms, the current forms, and whatever else may come our way. Dan wrote: “Teaching students how to search for a certain piece of information and using email is all part of literacy. Because of the vast size of the web, being able to find that piece of information that you are looking for is sometimes tricky.” Shane added: “Once reading was the only concern but today education demands a lot more from each student. As teachers we must help them shuffle through the infamous amount of information and guide them to success.”
Nadine focused on on the inequities and access issues of technology. She wrote: "The authors argued the impact of technology on our society in the book Toward a Theory of New Literacies. They declared, "We believe that the appearance of the Internet in the workplace as well as in home and school contexts is one of the most powerful social revolutions taking place today. At the heart of this revolution are the new literacy skills and strategies demanded by the Internet and other ITCs" (pg. 1579). Research has proven that technology has given all types of families' access to information that was once not accessible. Technology has "redefine[d] literacy practices," that many Americans take part in on a daily basis, replacing once traditional practices such as printed materials and the use of paper and pencil. Technology has also required us to adopt new ways to communicate.
Although technology has brought new opportunities for many families, it has also contributed to issues of inequity and access for minorities and lower economic groups. Even though the number of families with computers and internet access are doubling each year, economic disparities between racial groups limit the educational opportunities acquired through the use of the Internet and other ITCs. More specifically, the extent of these economic disadvantages continues to affect the educational experiences and outcomes of African Americans and Latino children at school and in the workplace. Because African American and Latino students are less likely than other racial groups (such as Caucasian and Asian Americans) to own a computer or have access to the internet, they are also less likely to have the same educational opportunities that technology has provided.
Technology's revolutionary affect has the power to improve professional development of teachers, increase parent and teacher communication, increase student achievement, and prepare students for the future by equipping them with a resource prevalent in today's job market. Like the achievement gap in American, some students and teachers will not have the same opportunities as those with access."
Thoughts on New Literacies (Allie W., Susan W., and Rachel M.)
Rachel said:
I believe that technology has definitely changed the world we live in today. Even when thinking about my own experience in undergrad, I am able to think back to the older technology I used to be accustomed to, and now, I am using all different technologies for entertainment and to communicate. The advances are extremely rapid and constantly changing, as it said in the article. I definitely feel that our students need to be taught to use the new technology in order to be fully functioning and literate members in our society. We need to, as teachers, also develop ourselves in order to help them to learn and assist them in their own journeys. They need to be taught many different skills in order to navigate on the Internet. They must become skeptical thinkers and decipher which information is truthful, they must be able to research and extract information from what they find and they must understand the way various web pages work and the complexity of it all. It is a lot to handle and it takes work but in order to survive in the world around us, we need to all put in the effort to insure our children's and our own futures.
Susan said:
Today’s economy is a global one. Companies from one country to another need to communicate with one another. Traditional ways to communicate include talking face to face, talking via a telephone or more recently e-mailing one another. However, more recently there are additional means of communication such as text messages, Blackberry units and instant messages for example. According to the article, “literacy and literacy instruction are being defined by change in even more profound ways as new technologies require new literacies to effectively exploit their potential. These include technologies such as gaming software, video technologies and the Internet.” One of the points here is that technology is becoming part of the mainstream methods to communicate in a classroom or in a boardroom. While, not too long ago, these expanded uses of technology were not considered part of typical literacy instruction, it is more of an accepted way to communicate. If the world is going to continue communicating in a variety of ways, then children should be taught at an early age that literacy means more than reading, writing, comprehending and communicating. In today’s world there are so many ways to communicate to one person or more than one person at a time. The important point from a school and learning perspective is to teach the students is that it is acceptable to communicate in a particular way in certain venues, but not in other venues. Communication with friends tends to be more relaxed and informal. In a business setting, the communication is expected to be more formal. The new literacies that are referred to above, may indicate that informal communication with friends may be acceptable in certain instances where previously it was unacceptable.
Technologies are changing literacy in a number of ways. First, as stated above, there are many more acceptable ways to communicate than there formerly were. However, it is very important to make sure that students understand different venues will accept different types of communication and literacy. I find there are times when students do not understand this difference. Even in the high school classroom where students use slang, personally, I would prefer that they not use slang. However, I understand that it is part of there culture and as long as they are not using a term or terms that I understand to be derogatory, I may let it go.
Allie said:
The first sentence of the article we read put it right, "The essence of both reading and reading instruction is change." Everything we know about reading tells us that we are not the same person when we finish a book that we were when we started. The same goes for technology. We are not the same world we were before the Internet. I remember how much my own literacy has changed throughout the years as technology became more pervasive. It began with the original floppy disks (they were actually floppy) on Apple computers and has continued to evolve ever since, just as it will for our students. The statistics in the article proved that computers are present at work, home and school and children need to be taught how to be literate so that they may use these new technologies to communicate. As teachers, it is our job to prepare students for the "real world" which will inevitably include using some form of technology. I think there is only one NJCCCS that is based on technology and it is Media Literacy. It is only a matter of time before more of the standards for education become focused on technology. Students will require explicit lessons on how to find information, evaluate the sources, use the information to answer questions, and then communicate the information collected.
I believe that technology has definitely changed the world we live in today. Even when thinking about my own experience in undergrad, I am able to think back to the older technology I used to be accustomed to, and now, I am using all different technologies for entertainment and to communicate. The advances are extremely rapid and constantly changing, as it said in the article. I definitely feel that our students need to be taught to use the new technology in order to be fully functioning and literate members in our society. We need to, as teachers, also develop ourselves in order to help them to learn and assist them in their own journeys. They need to be taught many different skills in order to navigate on the Internet. They must become skeptical thinkers and decipher which information is truthful, they must be able to research and extract information from what they find and they must understand the way various web pages work and the complexity of it all. It is a lot to handle and it takes work but in order to survive in the world around us, we need to all put in the effort to insure our children's and our own futures.
Susan said:
Today’s economy is a global one. Companies from one country to another need to communicate with one another. Traditional ways to communicate include talking face to face, talking via a telephone or more recently e-mailing one another. However, more recently there are additional means of communication such as text messages, Blackberry units and instant messages for example. According to the article, “literacy and literacy instruction are being defined by change in even more profound ways as new technologies require new literacies to effectively exploit their potential. These include technologies such as gaming software, video technologies and the Internet.” One of the points here is that technology is becoming part of the mainstream methods to communicate in a classroom or in a boardroom. While, not too long ago, these expanded uses of technology were not considered part of typical literacy instruction, it is more of an accepted way to communicate. If the world is going to continue communicating in a variety of ways, then children should be taught at an early age that literacy means more than reading, writing, comprehending and communicating. In today’s world there are so many ways to communicate to one person or more than one person at a time. The important point from a school and learning perspective is to teach the students is that it is acceptable to communicate in a particular way in certain venues, but not in other venues. Communication with friends tends to be more relaxed and informal. In a business setting, the communication is expected to be more formal. The new literacies that are referred to above, may indicate that informal communication with friends may be acceptable in certain instances where previously it was unacceptable.
Technologies are changing literacy in a number of ways. First, as stated above, there are many more acceptable ways to communicate than there formerly were. However, it is very important to make sure that students understand different venues will accept different types of communication and literacy. I find there are times when students do not understand this difference. Even in the high school classroom where students use slang, personally, I would prefer that they not use slang. However, I understand that it is part of there culture and as long as they are not using a term or terms that I understand to be derogatory, I may let it go.
Allie said:
The first sentence of the article we read put it right, "The essence of both reading and reading instruction is change." Everything we know about reading tells us that we are not the same person when we finish a book that we were when we started. The same goes for technology. We are not the same world we were before the Internet. I remember how much my own literacy has changed throughout the years as technology became more pervasive. It began with the original floppy disks (they were actually floppy) on Apple computers and has continued to evolve ever since, just as it will for our students. The statistics in the article proved that computers are present at work, home and school and children need to be taught how to be literate so that they may use these new technologies to communicate. As teachers, it is our job to prepare students for the "real world" which will inevitably include using some form of technology. I think there is only one NJCCCS that is based on technology and it is Media Literacy. It is only a matter of time before more of the standards for education become focused on technology. Students will require explicit lessons on how to find information, evaluate the sources, use the information to answer questions, and then communicate the information collected.
I'm working on it
Hi all --
Just wanted to let you know that I am working my way through all of your submissions of part II of the case study. I should have them done and back to you by the end of the week, and of course you can go ahead and work on the part III at any point.
Dr. D
Just wanted to let you know that I am working my way through all of your submissions of part II of the case study. I should have them done and back to you by the end of the week, and of course you can go ahead and work on the part III at any point.
Dr. D
Technology - Summary Post (Rosemarie, Nurdan, Elizabeth, Dwayne and Vanessa)
"Technology is a changing literacy". Tying technology with literacy, it "expands it's contextual lanscapes", "quickly finds information", and "enhances the way we communitcate". Rosemarie admitted she has become a computer and gadget freak. Technology somehow captures our interests, especially children.
We need to keep up with the children. They quickly grasp technology as it becomes more sophicated. Elizabeth's son figured out the features on his cell phone that she has yet to discover out hers. Knowing technology interests children, we need find ways to use it in the class. "We as educatores need to figure out ways to embrace and incorporate it." Elizabeth had her 6th grade class work on a great project that required them to use the Internet. They enjoyed working on the project. Elizabeth, however, felt nervous while her students were on the Internet because they can open inappropriate sites. She had to find appropriate sites for her students to use.
Some teachers are discouraged in using Internet in their lessons because of the inappropriate sites. They have to take the time to look at the Internet before the lesson. Some teachers also are not up to date with technology so it is not used often in the classroom. Vanessa believes technology workshops should be offered for teachers because they can become open minded and feel less afraid in using technology in the classroom. She doesn't want to be looked as an "old school teacher" when her time comes. "Old school teachers" uses other resources besides the computers in their lessons.
It is still important to use other resources (i.e. books, magazines, newpapers, etc.). These resources are still major tools in literacy. Children shouldn't be dependent with their computers. They need to be exposed in going to the library, interacting face to face with people and read an actual paper material. Rosemarie enjoys "laying down with a book and getting lost in the world of written pages for a few hours, that being said, I'm picking up my new Harry Potter and eading for the lounge chair." To conclude this LAST SUMMARY POST, Dwayne's comment will be used, "Becoming literate in the aforementioned technological mediums involves learning new skills that impact our technological literacy. However, the essence of literacy hasn't changed because regardless of the context, literacy involves the ability to comprehend written, oral, and auditory information."
Everyone have a wonderful summer!!!!!
We need to keep up with the children. They quickly grasp technology as it becomes more sophicated. Elizabeth's son figured out the features on his cell phone that she has yet to discover out hers. Knowing technology interests children, we need find ways to use it in the class. "We as educatores need to figure out ways to embrace and incorporate it." Elizabeth had her 6th grade class work on a great project that required them to use the Internet. They enjoyed working on the project. Elizabeth, however, felt nervous while her students were on the Internet because they can open inappropriate sites. She had to find appropriate sites for her students to use.
Some teachers are discouraged in using Internet in their lessons because of the inappropriate sites. They have to take the time to look at the Internet before the lesson. Some teachers also are not up to date with technology so it is not used often in the classroom. Vanessa believes technology workshops should be offered for teachers because they can become open minded and feel less afraid in using technology in the classroom. She doesn't want to be looked as an "old school teacher" when her time comes. "Old school teachers" uses other resources besides the computers in their lessons.
It is still important to use other resources (i.e. books, magazines, newpapers, etc.). These resources are still major tools in literacy. Children shouldn't be dependent with their computers. They need to be exposed in going to the library, interacting face to face with people and read an actual paper material. Rosemarie enjoys "laying down with a book and getting lost in the world of written pages for a few hours, that being said, I'm picking up my new Harry Potter and eading for the lounge chair." To conclude this LAST SUMMARY POST, Dwayne's comment will be used, "Becoming literate in the aforementioned technological mediums involves learning new skills that impact our technological literacy. However, the essence of literacy hasn't changed because regardless of the context, literacy involves the ability to comprehend written, oral, and auditory information."
Everyone have a wonderful summer!!!!!
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
New Literacies Summary: Patricia D., Kelly D, Asheley, and Emily
Patricia D's Summary:
The YouTube video on Web 2.0 was profound because now I realize that we are the web because we are all communicating and collaborating on the internet. These new ways to communicate are our new literacies, and we
The article touched on the social forces that effect literacy such as our global economy, the internet, and competition for achievement. Government policy is attempting to prepare for the challenges that we are facing in the world community, and they are raising the literacy standards in order to compete in the world economy. With all of these changes, the definition of literacy needs to be changed to include technology.
I enjoyed the section that discussed the social learning aspects of new literacies. Students can draw on their strengths to help each other with technology to research and create their projects. This will have an impact on learning theories and classroom situations. The web is a collaborative entity, and education will need to be seen as a more collaborative in nature. We need to be open to new ways of educating our students as technology changes and transforms the way we communicate in an ever changing world.
A good example of new literacies is our graduate class because we communicate with each other through posting, reading, and responding to one another's blog posts. Technology and new literacies are impacting literature instruction in classrooms from preschool through graduate school. We can't continue to teach reading how it's been taught in the past decade if we want our students to succeed in our technologically-advancing world. Even NCLB has an entire section devoted to technology, demanding that all students will be technologically literate by the end of the 8th grade, regardless of their race, gender, etc. It will be nearly impossible to acquire a job if you aren't computer and technologically literate--it's become a necessity to communicate.
For the most part, Kelly thinks technology is great. She can't imagine not having a computer with Internet access at my fingertips. However, after teaching 8th grade language arts, she has seen some downfalls of technology such as many of her students have become grammatically lazy. It worries her that we will have a society that doesn't know how to write properly because they rely so heavily on slang language.
She believes that we need to make sure that are children are prepared to interact using new technologies especially in the world today with the popularity of the internet. There is a huge gap between the wealthy and poor's access to technology. She feels that every classroom should have at least one computer with Internet access. The article mentioned that schools without technology are only "partially literate". We need to prepare our youth to have skills in "new" literacies so that they can enter the working world and be successful. There was a consensus from the blog posts that a student-center social learning environment was a good environment that was conducive students learning from each other.
Teachers need to have continuous training to keep up with the changes in technology. She is an avid reader and hopes that authentic literature never goes out of style and that children will always enjoy a really good book. I couldn't agree more with her.
Technology: Allison, Rachel, Laurel, Pat
TECHNOLOGY…
Pat had made some key points that I have copied here for all to read: "Now I am being asked to consider technology’s impact on literacy, and it finally dawned on me just how the internet, combined with a word processing program is more reflective of the way we think and write then just pen and paper or a typewriter. What brought this home to me was watching the video, which featured a hand writing the statement “technology is linear” then correcting the sentence to read “technology is unilinear.” What I found interesting about this statement is that the word “unilinear” does not even appear in my Random House College Dictionary, which was published in 2000. Nor does is appear in my computer word bank. It keeps appearing as a misspelled word, underlined in red. However, the prefix “uni” has the meaning of “one”, and linear refers to “line”. Perhaps, in relationship to technology and literacy, this means that technology reflects the way we actually think, how we actual contemplate, in that we do not necessarily think in one direction at a time, but that our synapses branch out in all directions, simultaneously, until we come to one solid thought, supported by a plethora of information. Technology now helps us to do this visually in that we can now insert graphs, pictures, links, as well as other supportive resources into our body of work – by way of the internet."
I find it quite interesting what Pat has said about the word unilinear...so what does it really mean.
I feel technology has become an essential part of my life. This class being a huge example of how we are using technology today. I would never imagine that I would be taking a class that is mostly online. I think that it is amazing that I am engaging in conversations with people from this each. I write something and they can read it right here on the Internet.
The You Tube video is an example of how we are always reading things on the computer. We can access email, news, TV shows, videos, research, and the list goes on. I have a sister that lives in another country six hours ahead of me. I think it is truly amazing that I have a conversation via email everyday with her. Once a week we chat, face to face via a computer screen. She sends news articles regarding what is going on in the Netherlands and I send her new articles about what is going on in the states.
“Many graduates started their school career with the literacies of paper, pencil, and book technologies but will finish having encountered the literacies demanded by a wide variety of information and communication technologies (ICTs): Web logs (blogs), word processors, video editors, World Wide Web browsers, Web editors, e-mail, spreadsheets, presentation software, instant messaging, plug-ins for Web resources, listservs, bulletin boards, avatars, virtual worlds, and many others.”
I feel like I am that student that started off with pen and paper, then began taking typing lessons, and then started using a computer to type all of my papers for school. Today I couldn’t imagine sitting down and actually writing a paper instead of typing it. One major reason, I hate my handwriting.
The article points out that literacy has always been influenced by the demands of life. In ancient times literacy was used mainly to record business transactions, record taxes and spread religious dogma. In many countries however, governments denied the citizens the chance to become literate as a means of subduing them. They thought that literacy would influence the people to disobedience and heresy. Democracy has changed all that. True democracy requires literate citizenry who can make informed and intelligent decisions. Globalization and economic competition and the emergence of the internet have forced governments to put provisions in place to better prepare the citizens for the future challenges.
Pat had made some key points that I have copied here for all to read: "Now I am being asked to consider technology’s impact on literacy, and it finally dawned on me just how the internet, combined with a word processing program is more reflective of the way we think and write then just pen and paper or a typewriter. What brought this home to me was watching the video, which featured a hand writing the statement “technology is linear” then correcting the sentence to read “technology is unilinear.” What I found interesting about this statement is that the word “unilinear” does not even appear in my Random House College Dictionary, which was published in 2000. Nor does is appear in my computer word bank. It keeps appearing as a misspelled word, underlined in red. However, the prefix “uni” has the meaning of “one”, and linear refers to “line”. Perhaps, in relationship to technology and literacy, this means that technology reflects the way we actually think, how we actual contemplate, in that we do not necessarily think in one direction at a time, but that our synapses branch out in all directions, simultaneously, until we come to one solid thought, supported by a plethora of information. Technology now helps us to do this visually in that we can now insert graphs, pictures, links, as well as other supportive resources into our body of work – by way of the internet."
I find it quite interesting what Pat has said about the word unilinear...so what does it really mean.
I feel technology has become an essential part of my life. This class being a huge example of how we are using technology today. I would never imagine that I would be taking a class that is mostly online. I think that it is amazing that I am engaging in conversations with people from this each. I write something and they can read it right here on the Internet.
The You Tube video is an example of how we are always reading things on the computer. We can access email, news, TV shows, videos, research, and the list goes on. I have a sister that lives in another country six hours ahead of me. I think it is truly amazing that I have a conversation via email everyday with her. Once a week we chat, face to face via a computer screen. She sends news articles regarding what is going on in the Netherlands and I send her new articles about what is going on in the states.
“Many graduates started their school career with the literacies of paper, pencil, and book technologies but will finish having encountered the literacies demanded by a wide variety of information and communication technologies (ICTs): Web logs (blogs), word processors, video editors, World Wide Web browsers, Web editors, e-mail, spreadsheets, presentation software, instant messaging, plug-ins for Web resources, listservs, bulletin boards, avatars, virtual worlds, and many others.”
I feel like I am that student that started off with pen and paper, then began taking typing lessons, and then started using a computer to type all of my papers for school. Today I couldn’t imagine sitting down and actually writing a paper instead of typing it. One major reason, I hate my handwriting.
The article points out that literacy has always been influenced by the demands of life. In ancient times literacy was used mainly to record business transactions, record taxes and spread religious dogma. In many countries however, governments denied the citizens the chance to become literate as a means of subduing them. They thought that literacy would influence the people to disobedience and heresy. Democracy has changed all that. True democracy requires literate citizenry who can make informed and intelligent decisions. Globalization and economic competition and the emergence of the internet have forced governments to put provisions in place to better prepare the citizens for the future challenges.
Part III
OK, here's the deal. For part III, you need to write four lesson plans for your case study student as a part of a theoretical class. In other words, you are writing lesson plans that are designed to help your student's strengths and weaknesses but also for an entire class, since you won't be teaching just one student at a time. So if your student is going into Kindergarten, you're going to pretend that you are a Kindergarten teacher.
You need to have at least one individual lesson plan (for just your student), one small group, and one whole class. The fourth can be whatever you choose. The lesson plans can be in plan format, but they need to have each of the things outlined in the wiki page on the case study assignment (i.e. a title, objectives, etc). To find the standards for your lessons, just Google "New Jersey Language Arts standards" and the grade of your child. You can refer to the standards in the lesson plan by number and letter (i.e. Second grade standard #2 b) rather than writing it all out.
At the end of the part III, you need to have a paragraph that ties together the entire case study assignment. What did you learn from doing this assignment? Challenges, questions? You know.
Other questions? Please post.
You need to have at least one individual lesson plan (for just your student), one small group, and one whole class. The fourth can be whatever you choose. The lesson plans can be in plan format, but they need to have each of the things outlined in the wiki page on the case study assignment (i.e. a title, objectives, etc). To find the standards for your lessons, just Google "New Jersey Language Arts standards" and the grade of your child. You can refer to the standards in the lesson plan by number and letter (i.e. Second grade standard #2 b) rather than writing it all out.
At the end of the part III, you need to have a paragraph that ties together the entire case study assignment. What did you learn from doing this assignment? Challenges, questions? You know.
Other questions? Please post.
Monday, July 23, 2007
question about part III
does anyone have a good graps on part III. I am little confused about the last part of the case study???
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Reading Rockets website and more
Nice job in class last night, everyone. I really appreciated your questions and your interest, even through 2+ hours on a humid summer night. Feel free to email me questions as you have them and not to worry, this is a practice for you in assessing a child's (or teenager's) reading -- not a project where I am looking for a particular right answer.
Here is the link I promised to the Reading Rockets website: www.readingrockets.org
I will post more information about part III of the case study as we get closer but in the meantime, read through the project description again. It's pretty complete.
Have a great weekend!
Here is the link I promised to the Reading Rockets website: www.readingrockets.org
I will post more information about part III of the case study as we get closer but in the meantime, read through the project description again. It's pretty complete.
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
ICT Sheila, Lauren, Marcie & Sam
The main point I had to make was that technology has changed the world around us at an expotential rate. Education needs to progress with the way the world communicates in order to prepare the next generation.
Lauren said "I embrace these new literacy’s. They still teach children to speak and sound out letters. It puts a creative twist on the English language. Its creative and children still learn the correct ways to speak and write in school. It’s more like children are learning a language for themselves."
Marcie felt "the main idea here is to keep in mind that these advancements are not here to replace the older ways of literacy, they are here to keep up with the times and advance the knowledge of those today. Without our prior knowledge to read and write all of these new technologies would be obsolete. I think it is important to expose students at a young age to the technologies in literacy so it does not get misused."
Samantha wrote "Everything is happening so fast that it will be hard to stay current on every single thing. However, if teachers try to keep up with the changing world, then they can best serve their students. I feel the concept of literacy will remain the same: being able to function in society. It is the society that is changing…"
Lauren said "I embrace these new literacy’s. They still teach children to speak and sound out letters. It puts a creative twist on the English language. Its creative and children still learn the correct ways to speak and write in school. It’s more like children are learning a language for themselves."
Marcie felt "the main idea here is to keep in mind that these advancements are not here to replace the older ways of literacy, they are here to keep up with the times and advance the knowledge of those today. Without our prior knowledge to read and write all of these new technologies would be obsolete. I think it is important to expose students at a young age to the technologies in literacy so it does not get misused."
Samantha wrote "Everything is happening so fast that it will be hard to stay current on every single thing. However, if teachers try to keep up with the changing world, then they can best serve their students. I feel the concept of literacy will remain the same: being able to function in society. It is the society that is changing…"
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Amanda, Alexandra, Rachel and Kelly’s thoughts on NCLB
Before I begin, I take full responsibility for this blog summary being late. While I did post on my personal blog early, I confused my day to post to the mother blog (which is indicative of where my head has been lately). So without further a do…
Both Alexandra and Kelly agree that No Child Left Behind is a good idea in theory. Alexandra especially likes the setting of high goals and expectations for all students; however she believes the practice has strayed from its purpose. In particular, she feels that the act denies necessary resources and influences the cutting of other programs in order to teach to the test. Ultimately, Alexandra struggles with whether standardized testing is a necessity or evil, or even possibly a necessary evil?
Kelly questions how there can be a national standard when standards among states differ. She also grapples with the fairness of testing ESL kids and kids with special needs with the same standards as the mainstream students. That said, Kelly is in agreement with the fact that teachers should have accountability and acknowledges that we are all here advancing our careers for that purpose.
Rachel wonders how NCLB assists students in reading, especially when the test is taken in the Scantron format. She finds that the act puts too much pressure on students, teachers and schools, which she ultimately finds ineffective. Rachel also finds it sad that the assessment of students is so politically driven and that it’s become so corrupt.
I agree with all of these questions and criticisms of No Child Left Behind. Having been influenced to teach to the test myself, I see that it comes at the cost of deeper comprehension for the students. My co-teacher and I made the choice to use a period a week for test prep, while simultaneously being short of time for the students to read independently. Although my class on the whole was mostly “proficient” they are not impassioned readers, illustrating that in the long run we made the choice for a quick fix. The other thing I found appalling about NCLB was that it opened the door for military recruiters. I wonder if the scores of these tests influence where they do the most solicitation and if it’s not just a way for our dear president to recruit more students who are struggling.
Both Alexandra and Kelly agree that No Child Left Behind is a good idea in theory. Alexandra especially likes the setting of high goals and expectations for all students; however she believes the practice has strayed from its purpose. In particular, she feels that the act denies necessary resources and influences the cutting of other programs in order to teach to the test. Ultimately, Alexandra struggles with whether standardized testing is a necessity or evil, or even possibly a necessary evil?
Kelly questions how there can be a national standard when standards among states differ. She also grapples with the fairness of testing ESL kids and kids with special needs with the same standards as the mainstream students. That said, Kelly is in agreement with the fact that teachers should have accountability and acknowledges that we are all here advancing our careers for that purpose.
Rachel wonders how NCLB assists students in reading, especially when the test is taken in the Scantron format. She finds that the act puts too much pressure on students, teachers and schools, which she ultimately finds ineffective. Rachel also finds it sad that the assessment of students is so politically driven and that it’s become so corrupt.
I agree with all of these questions and criticisms of No Child Left Behind. Having been influenced to teach to the test myself, I see that it comes at the cost of deeper comprehension for the students. My co-teacher and I made the choice to use a period a week for test prep, while simultaneously being short of time for the students to read independently. Although my class on the whole was mostly “proficient” they are not impassioned readers, illustrating that in the long run we made the choice for a quick fix. The other thing I found appalling about NCLB was that it opened the door for military recruiters. I wonder if the scores of these tests influence where they do the most solicitation and if it’s not just a way for our dear president to recruit more students who are struggling.
NCLB Summary post
It appears that there is a consensus among our group that the NCLB act is a great idea in theory but not in practice. The idea is great because as Elizabeth points out, "NCLB aims at improving students' performance, holds schools accountable and allows parents more options when choosing schools for their children." Roe also mentioned the NCLB as being a good idea because, "every child in the United States should be able to read and write by a certain grade level. I also mentioned on my blog site that "from a theoretical point of view, legislative educational reforms at a national level ( e.g. NCLB) are necessary due to economic reasons. As our economy becomes more of a "Global Village", children from our country will be competing with the children of foreign countries for jobs. Because of the latter it is imperative that the US government makes a concentrated effort to ensure that our children will be equipped with the educational resources necessary to effectively compete and survive in the global economy."
However, the implementation of the NCLB act has been gravely flawed. Because of the provisions directed at teacher accountability, the NCLB act impacts the manner in which an educator teaches. Elizabeth expressed, " In order to improve student performance, many teachers have to accommodate their schedules by dropping other subjects and concentrate on math and reading (and sometimes science) which are the areas tested. Elizabeth also admitted having to rearrange plans in order to fit more math and language art practice months before the NJ ASK. Vanessa cited similar experiences from teachers that she has been acquainted with. One such experience involved a teacher in an urban school district that has English Language Learning students. In addition to preparing her students for the district English language assessment, she also has to follow a block schedule (120 minutes of reading and 60 minutes of math). The schedule undoubtedly limits her time to teach other subjects. According to Nur, strict schedules may prevent the teachers' to use their own skills of generating environments with their own imagination for the sake of students. Teachers should have a time to show their teaching abilities without the borders of explicit curriculum. Another fateful flaw of the NCLB act is the lack of federal funding. Vanessa mentioned that as a result of the lack of funding to carry out the NCLB initiatives, "many districts are avoiding to hire 1st year teachers with a masters. Colleagues of mine are having a tough time getting hired in a school district because they are qualified to be under the master level pay scale and the district doesn't have the money." Roe stated, " It is easy for the federal government to pass acts when they do not have to worry where the money to cover these programs is going to come from." As it relates to funding, Elizabeth summarized our view on subject, "fully funding this act is what should have been the first priority before imposing such high expectations on schools. Without it, many children are being left behind!"
However, the implementation of the NCLB act has been gravely flawed. Because of the provisions directed at teacher accountability, the NCLB act impacts the manner in which an educator teaches. Elizabeth expressed, " In order to improve student performance, many teachers have to accommodate their schedules by dropping other subjects and concentrate on math and reading (and sometimes science) which are the areas tested. Elizabeth also admitted having to rearrange plans in order to fit more math and language art practice months before the NJ ASK. Vanessa cited similar experiences from teachers that she has been acquainted with. One such experience involved a teacher in an urban school district that has English Language Learning students. In addition to preparing her students for the district English language assessment, she also has to follow a block schedule (120 minutes of reading and 60 minutes of math). The schedule undoubtedly limits her time to teach other subjects. According to Nur, strict schedules may prevent the teachers' to use their own skills of generating environments with their own imagination for the sake of students. Teachers should have a time to show their teaching abilities without the borders of explicit curriculum. Another fateful flaw of the NCLB act is the lack of federal funding. Vanessa mentioned that as a result of the lack of funding to carry out the NCLB initiatives, "many districts are avoiding to hire 1st year teachers with a masters. Colleagues of mine are having a tough time getting hired in a school district because they are qualified to be under the master level pay scale and the district doesn't have the money." Roe stated, " It is easy for the federal government to pass acts when they do not have to worry where the money to cover these programs is going to come from." As it relates to funding, Elizabeth summarized our view on subject, "fully funding this act is what should have been the first priority before imposing such high expectations on schools. Without it, many children are being left behind!"
some thoughts
Hi everyone --
Good class last night -- I appreciated all your questions and participation, especially around tough issues like funding and equity. The article that I passed out talks more deeply about the current controversy in reading instruction -- and keeps reminding me that there is no single best way of teaching reading, but an array of pedagogies and ideas that we can use in teaching our kids. What matters most is what you know and believe about how children use language, learn, and learn to read.
There is no blog post due for class tomorrow, just take a well-earned break. I will update the class wiki with a link to more information about the philosophy statement today. Let me know if there's anything else you want to know, or post.
Good class last night -- I appreciated all your questions and participation, especially around tough issues like funding and equity. The article that I passed out talks more deeply about the current controversy in reading instruction -- and keeps reminding me that there is no single best way of teaching reading, but an array of pedagogies and ideas that we can use in teaching our kids. What matters most is what you know and believe about how children use language, learn, and learn to read.
There is no blog post due for class tomorrow, just take a well-earned break. I will update the class wiki with a link to more information about the philosophy statement today. Let me know if there's anything else you want to know, or post.
NCLB (Shane, Daniel & Nadine)
As the three of us have completed our first year of teaching we all had very strong opinions about NCLB. We all agree that NCLB was desgined with the best intentions in mind, but the execution has fallen short.
Shane said: (whatshanethinks.blogspot.com)
It appears that the government passed a law knowing the amount of funds necessary to allow the Act to be effective. But since 2001 they have contributed very little to the necessary funds. Instead, the government found an excessive amount of money to fund a war. NCLB has been ridiculed by many in the education field because they are asked to abide by the Act, while the government does not. It is difficult to support NCLB because it is apparent the government does not feel it’s a priority. Utah has realized this flaw and requests that they receive full funding otherwise they will not implement NCLB. It seems that all states should follow suit and force the government to make a decision on funding.
As the Bush era comes to a close, we must find the candidate that realizes changes must be made. Once that individual is voted in, we must make sure that they follow through on their promises. Otherwise we will have at least four more years of children not receiving a proper education. Another four years of stringent testing and undue stress of making sure children pass their statewide assessment tests. A slogan we can use, is that from MTV, “Rock The Vote.”
Daniel said: (danielclu.blogspot.com)
Working in a district that failed to meet AYP for many years, I have seen first hand of what standardized testing has done to the school. Because success of testing determine funds given to the school, the entire school (administration, teachers, students) gear toward this test (NJASK) for the entire year. Administrators determine success of the teacher by the success that of the test. This leads to teachers being moved around constantly from grade to grade or subject to subject. I have heard of excellent teachers who move their children in literacy more than 2 grade levels in a year be seen as failures because not enough students pass the test. Therefore, they either are moved from their position or leave the school due to their frustrations with the school. The turnover rate for teachers in my own school is incredibly high. Who can blame them? The first half of the year is stressful since we have to make sure that all aspects of the test are covered and after the test we are stressed to get back our results. Teachers are basically forced to teach to the test. For example, reading is now taught as reading a passage and completing a comprehension worksheet. The joy of teaching is stripped away due to these pressures. Students are then unmotivated to learn because of the bland nature of the classroom which result in more disruptive behaviors that the teacher has to endure. Taking reading as an example, the joy of reading a book is gone because all we focus on in class is comprehension. Students never develop a love for reading which in turn causes them to read less and less affecting their reading skills and lowering test scores. Teachers then push more comprehension worksheets to make up for their lack of skill and the cycle repeats again. The joy of teaching and learning is gone from school. Results are all that matter.
Nadine said: (blogofqueennadine.blogspot.com)
(Under construction.)
Monday, July 16, 2007
Here some video
hey guys.
I don't know if anyone is interested but here are some awesome videos that give so many different views on NCLB and also Standardized Testing.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/30/notebook/main2867441.shtml
also...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/03/eveningnews/main1467643.shtml?source=search_story
Kelly :)
I don't know if anyone is interested but here are some awesome videos that give so many different views on NCLB and also Standardized Testing.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/30/notebook/main2867441.shtml
also...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/03/eveningnews/main1467643.shtml?source=search_story
Kelly :)
Summary Post Re: NCLB (Elizabeth, Nurdan, Roe, Vanessa)
It appears that there is a consensus among our group that the NCLB act is a great idea in theory but not in practice. The idea is great because as Elizabeth points out, “NCLB aims at improving students' performance, holds schools accountable and allows parents more options when choosing schools for their children.” Roe also mentioned the NCLB as being a good idea because, “every child in the United States should be able to read and write by a certain grade level. I also mentioned on my blog site that “from a theoretical point of view, legislative educational reforms at a national level (e.g. NCLB) are necessary due to economic reasons. As our economy becomes more of a “Global Village”, children from our country will be competing with the children of foreign countries for jobs. Because of the latter it is imperative that the US government makes a concentrated effort to ensure that our children will be equipped with the educational resources necessary to effectively compete and survive in the global economy.”
However, the implementation of the NCLB act has been gravely flawed. Because of the provisions directed at teacher accountability, the NCLB act impacts the manner in which an educator teaches. Elizabeth expressed, “In order to improve student performance, many teachers have to accommodate their schedules by dropping other subjects and concentrate on math and reading (and sometimes science) which are the areas tested. Elizabeth also admitted having to rearrange plans in order to fit more math and language art practice months before the NJ ASK. Vanessa cited similar experiences from teachers that she has been acquainted with. One such experience involved a teacher in an urban school district that has English Language Learning students. In addition to preparing her students for the district English language assessment, she also has to follow a block schedule (120 minutes of reading and 60 minutes of math). The schedule undoubtedly limits her time to teach other subjects.
Another fateful flaw of the NCLB act is the lack of federal funding. Vanessa mentioned that as a result of the lack of funding to carry out the NCLB initiatives, “many districts are avoiding to hire 1st year teachers with a masters. Colleagues of mine are having a tough time getting hired in a school district because they are qualified to be under the master level pay scale and the district doesn’t have the money.” Roe stated, “It is easy for the federal government to pass acts when they do not have to worry where the money to cover these programs is going to come from.” As it relates to funding, Elizabeth summarized our view on subject, “fully funding this act is what should have been the first priority before imposing such high expectations on schools. Without it, many children are being left behind!”
However, the implementation of the NCLB act has been gravely flawed. Because of the provisions directed at teacher accountability, the NCLB act impacts the manner in which an educator teaches. Elizabeth expressed, “In order to improve student performance, many teachers have to accommodate their schedules by dropping other subjects and concentrate on math and reading (and sometimes science) which are the areas tested. Elizabeth also admitted having to rearrange plans in order to fit more math and language art practice months before the NJ ASK. Vanessa cited similar experiences from teachers that she has been acquainted with. One such experience involved a teacher in an urban school district that has English Language Learning students. In addition to preparing her students for the district English language assessment, she also has to follow a block schedule (120 minutes of reading and 60 minutes of math). The schedule undoubtedly limits her time to teach other subjects.
Another fateful flaw of the NCLB act is the lack of federal funding. Vanessa mentioned that as a result of the lack of funding to carry out the NCLB initiatives, “many districts are avoiding to hire 1st year teachers with a masters. Colleagues of mine are having a tough time getting hired in a school district because they are qualified to be under the master level pay scale and the district doesn’t have the money.” Roe stated, “It is easy for the federal government to pass acts when they do not have to worry where the money to cover these programs is going to come from.” As it relates to funding, Elizabeth summarized our view on subject, “fully funding this act is what should have been the first priority before imposing such high expectations on schools. Without it, many children are being left behind!”
NCLB Summary: Asheley, Kelly D, Pat D, Emily L
It appears that my group has a somewhat well rounded opinion on the No Child Left Behind act. Asheley, Kelly, and I found that the theories and ideas behind NCLB to be valid, however, the unrealistic goals and requirements caused the act to become flawed as it became implemented within the schools it was meant to serve. While the three of us focused on what was wrong with the act, Patti looked on the positive side, researching school districts that made the program work. I will break down the summary by our individual thoughts.
Asheley: Believes that NCLB was based on good ideas but that everything cannot be measured by standardized testing. Some students test well while others do not. After reading about assessment, we have come to learn that there are so many other ways to assess students’ growth and progress. She also believes that the tests are not geared towards an equal percentage of the population. The tests are not made for students who have special needs, are from different cultures and ethnicities, or who are non-native English speakers. What good is extra time if a student doesn’t understand the question or know how to fill in a scantron? Most of the questions are geared toward the white middle class students. Another aspect of NCLB that she does not agree with is that students with special needs or lower grades are encouraged to be absent on the days that tests are given. She questions where the funding is going and who is keeping track of it; she believes that education is political and teachers need to be involved.
Kelly D: She is a first year teacher and is already feeling pressure from the NCLB act. She also believes that it started out with good intentions but somehow went bad. Kelly thinks that NCLB should be done away with or completely revised. She agrees that, “Teachers SHOULD be an expert in their specific field so they can give their students the best education available. The problem though: Where does the funding come from to allow current teachers to become highly qualified if they aren’t?” She thinks that NCLB and standardized tests puts too much pressure on the students, the teachers, the administration, and others who are involved. Also, she doesn’t think that these tests truly assess student ability and they cannot possibly measure a student’s love or enthusiasm for reading. What good is a high test score in reading if the student hates to read? She wishes that teachers were given more freedom to teach a love and appreciation for reading, not just drill work so their students will score high on the tests. Another reason why she doesn’t agree with this act is because some schools lower their standards so that more students can perform well, such as teaching students how to manipulate multiple-choice questions instead of teaching the real material. Kelly also believes that teachers, who are the real experts and professionals, should have more say in how NCLB looks in the future.
Patti D: This law has not affected Patti in the current district where she works in Bergen County, although she did have to prove that she was a highly qualified teacher and fill out some forms. She thinks that in theory, NCLB is a wonderful idea and gives examples of schools that have succeeded under this program. Patti researched some school districts and found one in particular in Denver that sounds like a great program. It’s called Denver’s Summer Scholars and it is a program in reading and writing that is offered for a six-week session. This program helps disadvantaged students move forward in the areas of reading and writing in small group instruction that takes place during the mornings. The afternoon is reserved for fun activities such as swimming. This program also offers a family literacy program that helps parents learn English and improve their computer skills. Patti believes that children can and will succeed if they are given or offered the proper help and instruction. In the previous school district where Patti worked, Union City, there were many before and after school programs available, including Saturday mornings. Patti would like to know, “What needs to be done so that we can make it an attainable and equitable goal… that children will receive an education where they are proficient in reading, writing, and math?”
Emily L: My thoughts on NCLB are mostly on the negative side. I would like to believe that it could work, however, everyone I speak with has nothing good to say about it. And I can see why. There are a couple of points that I disagree with. First of all, I would like to say that I agree with most of the points mentioned above having to do with the unfair testing procedures and the inequality associated with the tests. I also have a problem with the fact that every student’s name, address, and phone number is given to military recruiters unless a parent says otherwise. I bet most parents don’t even know that this is happening or that they have a right to opt out. I also have a problem with the violation of church and state. According to the wikipedia article, President Bush has allowed “faith-based” groups to serve as private tutors, receiving public money, in public schools under the act. Sounds fishy to me. I also wonder about the teaching materials. Where do they come from? Oh, a division of the U.S. Dept. of Ed provides them. Who’s making the money on that deal? If these scripted reading programs don’t allow for any creativity within the classroom, I don’t think it’s the students who are winning here. Another problem I have with this whole thing is the element of creativity, imagination, and innovation lost to memorization and cramming information into students. Knowing a bunch of vocabulary words and how to add fractions is important but what about inventiveness? What about learning how to use one’s mind? If everyone is learning the same things the same way, with no room for spontaneity within the classroom, are we turning our students into robots who just memorize facts?
Blog Summary: NCLB
Blog Summary: NCLB
Pat H., Rachel R., Allison P. & Laurel
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was implemented to increase the accountability of states, school districts and schools, thus improving the performance of students in primary and secondary schools nationwide. This was in fact a federal intervention, implying that the local authorities had failed the students. The act also gives parents the option to choose which school they want their children to attend. Embedded in the Act is the belief that “high expectations and setting of goals will result in success for all students”. Therefore, greater emphasis is placed on standardized testing, the need for “highly qualified” teachers and the use of “scientifically based research” strategies in classrooms.
Alison’s blog focuses on the pros of the NCLB Act. She states that, NCLB “supports early literacy through the Early Reading First initiative.” She reiterates that the importance of teaching reading at a young age is supported by many theories. Another one of the pros is that NCLB requires schools and districts to focus their attention on the academic achievement of traditionally under-served groups of children, such as those from low socio-economic backgrounds, students with disabilities, and Blacks and Latinos. She stresses that it is important that all students receive the same quality education regardless of the state, county, or town in which they live.
Although NCLB, as proposed, is a laudable program, it has many cons. The federal government has failed to allocate enough money to fund the program; however, is holding the local authorities accountable for producing successful results. Schools that fail to meet the testing targets are penalized. The pressure generated by the NCLB mandate creates a domino effect in the entire school system. The school district places pressure on to the local schools and they in turn pressure the teachers. The teachers are then forced to “teach to the test” rather than expose the students to broad based learning experiences. Also, the instructional time dedicated to reading, writing and mathematics has increased considerably to the detriment of the other subject areas. Another con has to do with the fairness, validity and reliability of the state tests mandated by NCLB. All students sit the same tests however; they are not all exposed to similar levels and quality of educational experiences. For example, ESL students in most states are tested in the English Language in spite of the Act’s provision for them to be tested in their native language for the first three years. Research has shown that it takes approximately eight years for individuals to become proficient in another language; therefore an English Language assessment, even after three years, cannot produce results that are valid or reliable.
Pat’s blog gives a synopsis of the way NCLB is played out at her school. She writes, “What I have seen of this law in action has caused me to be concerned for the students it is intended to help, then relief that NCLB exists. To be specific, the existence of this law has never been discussed in my presences, by administrators, as something positive. Instead it is referred to with annoyance. The testing, which is supposed to measure the progress of students, which the government sees as reflective of teaching skills, has taken center stage to education. Teaching the test is a reality. Teaching the test undermines constructive learning. For exceptional children, the test produces even greater stress than it does for general education students. Standardized testing is not authentic testing and not necessarily suitable for students that have already proven to be below grade level. What it has done is to validate what they do not know; instead of measuring what they do know.”
I will conclude this summery with some of Rachel’s thoughts. She too believes that the NCLB concept is a good one. It forces teachers to upgrade their skills and become highly qualified. It is also responsible for the creation of a number of alternate route teacher certification programs, of which some of us are a part. However, she thinks that NCLB could benefit from some fine tuning. Special provisions ought to be made re the testing requirements for the population of students who are classified as having special needs. Also, the choice of reading programs should be geared to the students’ best interests rather than filling the coffers of the bookmaking industry. Presently it seems like many of our children are still being left behind despite the NCLB Act.
Pat H., Rachel R., Allison P. & Laurel
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was implemented to increase the accountability of states, school districts and schools, thus improving the performance of students in primary and secondary schools nationwide. This was in fact a federal intervention, implying that the local authorities had failed the students. The act also gives parents the option to choose which school they want their children to attend. Embedded in the Act is the belief that “high expectations and setting of goals will result in success for all students”. Therefore, greater emphasis is placed on standardized testing, the need for “highly qualified” teachers and the use of “scientifically based research” strategies in classrooms.
Alison’s blog focuses on the pros of the NCLB Act. She states that, NCLB “supports early literacy through the Early Reading First initiative.” She reiterates that the importance of teaching reading at a young age is supported by many theories. Another one of the pros is that NCLB requires schools and districts to focus their attention on the academic achievement of traditionally under-served groups of children, such as those from low socio-economic backgrounds, students with disabilities, and Blacks and Latinos. She stresses that it is important that all students receive the same quality education regardless of the state, county, or town in which they live.
Although NCLB, as proposed, is a laudable program, it has many cons. The federal government has failed to allocate enough money to fund the program; however, is holding the local authorities accountable for producing successful results. Schools that fail to meet the testing targets are penalized. The pressure generated by the NCLB mandate creates a domino effect in the entire school system. The school district places pressure on to the local schools and they in turn pressure the teachers. The teachers are then forced to “teach to the test” rather than expose the students to broad based learning experiences. Also, the instructional time dedicated to reading, writing and mathematics has increased considerably to the detriment of the other subject areas. Another con has to do with the fairness, validity and reliability of the state tests mandated by NCLB. All students sit the same tests however; they are not all exposed to similar levels and quality of educational experiences. For example, ESL students in most states are tested in the English Language in spite of the Act’s provision for them to be tested in their native language for the first three years. Research has shown that it takes approximately eight years for individuals to become proficient in another language; therefore an English Language assessment, even after three years, cannot produce results that are valid or reliable.
Pat’s blog gives a synopsis of the way NCLB is played out at her school. She writes, “What I have seen of this law in action has caused me to be concerned for the students it is intended to help, then relief that NCLB exists. To be specific, the existence of this law has never been discussed in my presences, by administrators, as something positive. Instead it is referred to with annoyance. The testing, which is supposed to measure the progress of students, which the government sees as reflective of teaching skills, has taken center stage to education. Teaching the test is a reality. Teaching the test undermines constructive learning. For exceptional children, the test produces even greater stress than it does for general education students. Standardized testing is not authentic testing and not necessarily suitable for students that have already proven to be below grade level. What it has done is to validate what they do not know; instead of measuring what they do know.”
I will conclude this summery with some of Rachel’s thoughts. She too believes that the NCLB concept is a good one. It forces teachers to upgrade their skills and become highly qualified. It is also responsible for the creation of a number of alternate route teacher certification programs, of which some of us are a part. However, she thinks that NCLB could benefit from some fine tuning. Special provisions ought to be made re the testing requirements for the population of students who are classified as having special needs. Also, the choice of reading programs should be geared to the students’ best interests rather than filling the coffers of the bookmaking industry. Presently it seems like many of our children are still being left behind despite the NCLB Act.
NCLB (Lauren, Marcie, Sheila, Sam)
When it comes to NCLB, we all seem to be in agreement that while it looks good on paper, it fails to come together in practice. Many things that were promised are missing, such as funding for schools that need assistance. We also seem to agree that keeping educators current on teaching methods and practices is a necessity. Marcie stated that, “I feel as though if one is an educator, the should be well on top of education themselves.” Sheila came into contact with this part of the act first hand when she had to go back to school to get her certification to teach Pre-K. She wrote that her students got a kick out of the fact that she was in school also. This promotes education in the classroom by modeling. As far as professional development goes, Marcie and I both felt it should be the job of the district to provide this for its teachers.
NCLB tries to unify the diversity that is present within schools. Lauren makes a good point with regard to this by noting that the language spoken in school is not always the same as that spoken at home. Therefore, what is taught at school might not be carried over in the home if they are speaking different languages. Marcie agreed and discussed the fact that NCLB doesn’t really take ELL students or those with special needs into consideration. Lauren summed this up by saying, “NCLB wants all children to be the same, when in theory it is impossible to compare children from different backgrounds.”
Basically, we seem to agree that NCLB is in need of lots of reforms to make it more beneficial. All students need to be considered, not just the “average” students the act seemed to target. Afterall, what does average really mean?
NCLB tries to unify the diversity that is present within schools. Lauren makes a good point with regard to this by noting that the language spoken in school is not always the same as that spoken at home. Therefore, what is taught at school might not be carried over in the home if they are speaking different languages. Marcie agreed and discussed the fact that NCLB doesn’t really take ELL students or those with special needs into consideration. Lauren summed this up by saying, “NCLB wants all children to be the same, when in theory it is impossible to compare children from different backgrounds.”
Basically, we seem to agree that NCLB is in need of lots of reforms to make it more beneficial. All students need to be considered, not just the “average” students the act seemed to target. Afterall, what does average really mean?
Summary on NCLB, Arlenia, Michelle, Robert, and Czar
After reading everyones thoughts on the NCLB articles it seems that we are all share similar viewpoints on the issues the current version of NCLB is causing in school districts. Arlenia and I are currently teachers of subjects tested by standardized testing while Michelle and Czar are teachers of are soon to be teachers of physical education and it is interesting to see that we are seeing the effects of NCLB from these two angles.
We all see the effects of teaching to the test. We agree that teachers are guided to put heavy emphasis on math, science, and literacy while as Michelle has pointed out subjects like physical education has their time periods taken away at the schools discretion to put in more time for math, science, and literacy. Michelle also pointed out the importance physical fitness is to the overall well being of a students and its positive impact on test scores.
We all are also in agreement that life skills taught in subjects like physical education, health, and music and art are oftime put on the back burner and the students go lacking in these areas. We notice how students are either unjustly retained or passed depending on school test scores and student performance at certain grade levels. We all also note the importance of teaching to the whole student as issue if the student is to be successful in passing from grade to grade.
Arlenia and I both agree how NCLB's intent, the way it looked on paper, was a good attempt to balance the educational playing field but it missed the boat so to speak in its implementation. We all also agree that we believe that a uniform test should be developed for all states and that these tests be developed with all ethnic and diverse backgrounds in mind.
We all see the effects of teaching to the test. We agree that teachers are guided to put heavy emphasis on math, science, and literacy while as Michelle has pointed out subjects like physical education has their time periods taken away at the schools discretion to put in more time for math, science, and literacy. Michelle also pointed out the importance physical fitness is to the overall well being of a students and its positive impact on test scores.
We all are also in agreement that life skills taught in subjects like physical education, health, and music and art are oftime put on the back burner and the students go lacking in these areas. We notice how students are either unjustly retained or passed depending on school test scores and student performance at certain grade levels. We all also note the importance of teaching to the whole student as issue if the student is to be successful in passing from grade to grade.
Arlenia and I both agree how NCLB's intent, the way it looked on paper, was a good attempt to balance the educational playing field but it missed the boat so to speak in its implementation. We all also agree that we believe that a uniform test should be developed for all states and that these tests be developed with all ethnic and diverse backgrounds in mind.
Thoughts on NCLB and the Politics of Education (Allie W., Susan W., Rachel M., and Mary R.)
No Child Left behind is something that most educators feel very strongly about. Most are either for or against it, and are passionate either way.
Everyone in our group agreed that there needs to be some accountability for what is going on in schools. Mary used a quote to sum up her thoughts, “It takes a village to raise a child,” and she continued by saying that all people who are part of raising a child need to be held accountable including administration, faculty, students themselves and parents. Rachel feels that schools indeed need to be held accountable but the way the government in measuring accountability is flawed. Susan noted that since this law, there has been a change in test scores as noted on the New Jersey report card saying that there seems to be some closing of the gap between black and white achievement and Hispanic and white achievement. However, she wonders whether this is due to NCLB or in spite or NCLB. Allie agrees that accountability is needed but, like Rachel said, there is a faulty way of evaluating and assigning it. She also says that the standardized tests used to measure Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) can be different throughout all the states so when we are comparing progress, its like comparing apples to oranges. Different states are testing different standards, yet we are holding everyone accountable for the same thing.
It seems as if all members of this group had a problem with standardized testing. Rachel thought it was useless to use only a test to determine the amount of learning. Allie agreed that it was unfair to use this single tool to assess all the work that a child was doing throughout the year. The time during the year that the test was given is also a problem because it attempts to assess children on the knowledge gained in a whole year before the year is over. Along with standardized testing comes the risk of “teaching to the test” says Allie. A lot of times in urban schools, teachers spend a lot of time preparing children for the one week of testing and the students miss out on other important and enriching parts of their education. Mary agrees and adds an anecdote about a school in Newark she observed in. She saw a lot of this test preparation going on. She said that teaching test preparation was responsible for taking away from other activities. However, in the particular school she was in, she said that the staff was extremely creative and dedicated to making this tedious task enjoyable for their students.
To the testing discussion, Rachel adds that there might not even be as much improvement as most people think. It may be a result of tweaking the scores. She adds that “teaching to the test” provides children with no useful information to apply in the real world. Susan is a business education teacher so she doesn’t have a particular test to teach to(and she is thrilled about it!) but often observes her colleagues preparing the students in their math, English and science classes. She also comments on the meaningfulness of test preparation activities in comparison to the real-life skills that she can impart to her students in business education classes.
Mary disagrees with the idea that teachers need to use teaching techniques that are based on “scientifically based research” saying that it takes away from the “teachable moments” that teachers look forward to. It also takes away from a teacher’s individualized style if he/she can’t try things in a classroom that have been tested and proven to be “good teaching.”
It is also agreed that funding is a problem. Susan says that it is not fair to hold schools responsible for a new law that was implemented but then not provide the funding needed to make it work. Rachel finds it scary that the funds could be withheld at any time if a school decides not to cooperate. Mary also says that if the government wants teachers to continue their education then their needs to be funding to help. Allie agrees that it is best to model for a student the importance of education by being lifelong learners ourselves and continuing our education.
It is evident through this legislation that politics are a part of education. Allie believes that political policies will probably become more pervasive as time goes on and pressure from the higher officials trickles down. Mary is wary of the progress being reported saying that the government can play with the numbers and reflect what they want to.
In general, this group thought that NCLB was a good model in theory. However, it was not very well thought/planned out and there are many gaps in it. Susan hopes that politicians will have a reason to go back and rework the plan in an attempt to fix the problems with it. Until then, we will do the best we can with what we have and work our very hardest to help every child achieve their personal best.
Everyone in our group agreed that there needs to be some accountability for what is going on in schools. Mary used a quote to sum up her thoughts, “It takes a village to raise a child,” and she continued by saying that all people who are part of raising a child need to be held accountable including administration, faculty, students themselves and parents. Rachel feels that schools indeed need to be held accountable but the way the government in measuring accountability is flawed. Susan noted that since this law, there has been a change in test scores as noted on the New Jersey report card saying that there seems to be some closing of the gap between black and white achievement and Hispanic and white achievement. However, she wonders whether this is due to NCLB or in spite or NCLB. Allie agrees that accountability is needed but, like Rachel said, there is a faulty way of evaluating and assigning it. She also says that the standardized tests used to measure Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) can be different throughout all the states so when we are comparing progress, its like comparing apples to oranges. Different states are testing different standards, yet we are holding everyone accountable for the same thing.
It seems as if all members of this group had a problem with standardized testing. Rachel thought it was useless to use only a test to determine the amount of learning. Allie agreed that it was unfair to use this single tool to assess all the work that a child was doing throughout the year. The time during the year that the test was given is also a problem because it attempts to assess children on the knowledge gained in a whole year before the year is over. Along with standardized testing comes the risk of “teaching to the test” says Allie. A lot of times in urban schools, teachers spend a lot of time preparing children for the one week of testing and the students miss out on other important and enriching parts of their education. Mary agrees and adds an anecdote about a school in Newark she observed in. She saw a lot of this test preparation going on. She said that teaching test preparation was responsible for taking away from other activities. However, in the particular school she was in, she said that the staff was extremely creative and dedicated to making this tedious task enjoyable for their students.
To the testing discussion, Rachel adds that there might not even be as much improvement as most people think. It may be a result of tweaking the scores. She adds that “teaching to the test” provides children with no useful information to apply in the real world. Susan is a business education teacher so she doesn’t have a particular test to teach to(and she is thrilled about it!) but often observes her colleagues preparing the students in their math, English and science classes. She also comments on the meaningfulness of test preparation activities in comparison to the real-life skills that she can impart to her students in business education classes.
Mary disagrees with the idea that teachers need to use teaching techniques that are based on “scientifically based research” saying that it takes away from the “teachable moments” that teachers look forward to. It also takes away from a teacher’s individualized style if he/she can’t try things in a classroom that have been tested and proven to be “good teaching.”
It is also agreed that funding is a problem. Susan says that it is not fair to hold schools responsible for a new law that was implemented but then not provide the funding needed to make it work. Rachel finds it scary that the funds could be withheld at any time if a school decides not to cooperate. Mary also says that if the government wants teachers to continue their education then their needs to be funding to help. Allie agrees that it is best to model for a student the importance of education by being lifelong learners ourselves and continuing our education.
It is evident through this legislation that politics are a part of education. Allie believes that political policies will probably become more pervasive as time goes on and pressure from the higher officials trickles down. Mary is wary of the progress being reported saying that the government can play with the numbers and reflect what they want to.
In general, this group thought that NCLB was a good model in theory. However, it was not very well thought/planned out and there are many gaps in it. Susan hopes that politicians will have a reason to go back and rework the plan in an attempt to fix the problems with it. Until then, we will do the best we can with what we have and work our very hardest to help every child achieve their personal best.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
new podcast!
Happy Friday the 13th! I just posted a new podcast on early reading and ch. 4 of the Routman to the podcast page at:
http://web.mac.com/drdana33/iWeb/Site%202/Podcast/Podcast.html
Also, there are some links on the topic you may want to check out on the links page of the wiki under early reading. Have a great weekend~!
http://web.mac.com/drdana33/iWeb/Site%202/Podcast/Podcast.html
Also, there are some links on the topic you may want to check out on the links page of the wiki under early reading. Have a great weekend~!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Summary Blog for Rachel M., Mary R., Allie W. and Susan W.
Summary Blog for Rachel M., Mary R, Allie W. & Susan W.
Allie W., Rachel M, Mary R. and Susan W’s Blog SummaryIt seems as if everyone was in agreement with assessment. While Rachel felt it is important for children to be assessed in order to determine their progress and achievements in various areas, we all felt that a test at a given period of time was not the only was to accomplish accurate assessment. Allie stated that even as a student she thought it was unfair to spend so long learning something and only have one chance to prove her knowledge on the big test that came at the end of the unit. As a student, she would have much preferred the new form of assessment which combines both formal and informal techniques. Routman says it best: "Assessment must promote learning, not just measure it". According to Rachel, some students might do well on test but some students might need to express themselves differently. They might need to draw a picture, participate in a role play situation, work on a group project that has various roles and responsibilities, etc. Rachel also stated that, we cannot just teach students and have them spit out exactly what we want them to know. She is right as this is not how the real world works. It is great to know all of these facts for a Trival Pursuit game, but not in real life. One of Susan’s personal favorite ways to assess one of her classes (Introduction to Business) is when the students spend the better part of six weeks putting together a mini business plan for a restaurant. They work in groups of five or six and they have to decide roles and responsibilities. They are all held accountable to each other. They have to be creative, good with numbers, logical. Not everyone is good at all of these things. Therefore, they must work together and figure out who is good at what. They can look at previous models, but they still must come up with their own creation. When it comes time for assessment, they all have input as well me. Generally the kids are honest with who did what and who did a good job and who didn’t hold up their end of their responsibilities. Lastly, Mary spoke about the need for assessment to be meaningful. She felt that it might be easier to accomplish a joint assessment with older children than with the younger ones. There may certainly be truth to that.Moving onto portfolios, everyone thought that was a good idea. Mary stated that how unrealistic is it to assess the child without seeing any of their work in front of me and basically only going on my most recent encounter with the child to write an assessment. She thought the idea of having an ongoing portfolio is new to her, but could be a wonderful idea as this could prove to act as the assessment because the student’s work would always be in front of her. Susan stated that the portfolios would give the students a chance to look back on their work themselves and see how far they have gotten. Allie stated that Routman loved the idea of portfolios so that the teachers can assess the students’ progress as the year went on. Routman discusses the idea of giving the child much of the responsibility and freedom of choice. As stated above in the restaurant project, if students are given some freedom to choose what they want to do and how they plan to accomplish it, generally they are more motivated. Rachel agrees that teachers should not be the only ones assessing students. For it to be of better value, students should share in this task.Susan discussed the value of rubrics. Routman stated that “well-constructed rubrics are one way to help kids understand what is meant by quality and guide learners to assess and improve their work.” So it is another vehicle to help the students with self assessment – similar but different than a portfolio.Mary feels that standards and standardized tests are here to stay. We all felt that we didn’t necessarily like the standardized tests. Allie agreed with Routman who felt that standardized tests are rarely supported by all the wonderful things that go on in a classroom such as self-assessment, observation, portfolios and open-ended responses. Rachel felt that testing was being shoved down our throats and the student’s throats without much benefit.Lastly, Mary also liked the idea of joint conferences. She felt the idea of everyone joining in made it much more meaningful. This was discussed in the Ms. Rodriquez article. By utilizing the portfolios, Ms. Rodriquez’s students were able to use the portfolios to learn and to show the parents at the time of the conferences. They could discuss their work with the parents and show them their progress at the same time. The student’s use of the portfolios allowed the students to take joint accountability for the outcome.Overall, this was a very valuable chapter and set of articles. It seemed to confirm some of what we already knew, however, gave some good new ideas such as the portfolios.
Posted by Baseball Fan at 8:59 AM 0 comments
Allie W., Rachel M, Mary R. and Susan W’s Blog SummaryIt seems as if everyone was in agreement with assessment. While Rachel felt it is important for children to be assessed in order to determine their progress and achievements in various areas, we all felt that a test at a given period of time was not the only was to accomplish accurate assessment. Allie stated that even as a student she thought it was unfair to spend so long learning something and only have one chance to prove her knowledge on the big test that came at the end of the unit. As a student, she would have much preferred the new form of assessment which combines both formal and informal techniques. Routman says it best: "Assessment must promote learning, not just measure it". According to Rachel, some students might do well on test but some students might need to express themselves differently. They might need to draw a picture, participate in a role play situation, work on a group project that has various roles and responsibilities, etc. Rachel also stated that, we cannot just teach students and have them spit out exactly what we want them to know. She is right as this is not how the real world works. It is great to know all of these facts for a Trival Pursuit game, but not in real life. One of Susan’s personal favorite ways to assess one of her classes (Introduction to Business) is when the students spend the better part of six weeks putting together a mini business plan for a restaurant. They work in groups of five or six and they have to decide roles and responsibilities. They are all held accountable to each other. They have to be creative, good with numbers, logical. Not everyone is good at all of these things. Therefore, they must work together and figure out who is good at what. They can look at previous models, but they still must come up with their own creation. When it comes time for assessment, they all have input as well me. Generally the kids are honest with who did what and who did a good job and who didn’t hold up their end of their responsibilities. Lastly, Mary spoke about the need for assessment to be meaningful. She felt that it might be easier to accomplish a joint assessment with older children than with the younger ones. There may certainly be truth to that.Moving onto portfolios, everyone thought that was a good idea. Mary stated that how unrealistic is it to assess the child without seeing any of their work in front of me and basically only going on my most recent encounter with the child to write an assessment. She thought the idea of having an ongoing portfolio is new to her, but could be a wonderful idea as this could prove to act as the assessment because the student’s work would always be in front of her. Susan stated that the portfolios would give the students a chance to look back on their work themselves and see how far they have gotten. Allie stated that Routman loved the idea of portfolios so that the teachers can assess the students’ progress as the year went on. Routman discusses the idea of giving the child much of the responsibility and freedom of choice. As stated above in the restaurant project, if students are given some freedom to choose what they want to do and how they plan to accomplish it, generally they are more motivated. Rachel agrees that teachers should not be the only ones assessing students. For it to be of better value, students should share in this task.Susan discussed the value of rubrics. Routman stated that “well-constructed rubrics are one way to help kids understand what is meant by quality and guide learners to assess and improve their work.” So it is another vehicle to help the students with self assessment – similar but different than a portfolio.Mary feels that standards and standardized tests are here to stay. We all felt that we didn’t necessarily like the standardized tests. Allie agreed with Routman who felt that standardized tests are rarely supported by all the wonderful things that go on in a classroom such as self-assessment, observation, portfolios and open-ended responses. Rachel felt that testing was being shoved down our throats and the student’s throats without much benefit.Lastly, Mary also liked the idea of joint conferences. She felt the idea of everyone joining in made it much more meaningful. This was discussed in the Ms. Rodriquez article. By utilizing the portfolios, Ms. Rodriquez’s students were able to use the portfolios to learn and to show the parents at the time of the conferences. They could discuss their work with the parents and show them their progress at the same time. The student’s use of the portfolios allowed the students to take joint accountability for the outcome.Overall, this was a very valuable chapter and set of articles. It seemed to confirm some of what we already knew, however, gave some good new ideas such as the portfolios.
Posted by Baseball Fan at 8:59 AM 0 comments
Assessments
The reading of the articles on Assessment and the Routman text took my mind back over my past year as a teacher and the effective assessment process(es) I learned that fit best for my classroom. Yes, as the readings points out, there are two main types of assessments, formal and informal, and it has been my experience that if you want to be effective as an educator, you have to find a balance of both.
The formal assessments, basically, the standardized test that are now administered at every grade level for grades 3 and above, are a "necessary evil" so to speak as they not only give state educational agencies data on student acheivement based on "determined" norms or standards, but also provides data on teacher, school, and district performance. They also indirectly affect fiscal outlays for districts deemed needy. At least thats how it works in theory. These test also have an impact on the curriculum, and how it is taught, we use to teach our students as some districts steer teachers to teach students the subject matter necessary to pass standardized test moreso than teaching them what is necesary to go successfully from grade to grade. As part of the balance I mentioned earlier, I used informal assessments to prepare my students for the formal ones.
I used various informal assessments in my classroom to thoroughly prepare my students for all aspects of the required curriculum. I preferred the flexibility and adaptability of creating assessments that measured skills after I taught them. I was able to determine the needs of individual students and I was able to pinpoint material I needed to re-teach or teach another way. Examples of some of the informal assessment types I used were projects, group and individual, oral presentations, student teacher-student evaluator. I found that these types of assessments thoroughly prepared my students as I was able to fill in missing gaps in their educational skills as I went along and was able to get feed back from the students. I also used some of the strategies suggested from the assigned readings such as "interest inventories" and "student-class collaboration" in designing outlines for assessing a unit or subject. I am proud to say that the results from my balancing the various assessment techniques was having a high percentage of my special needs students do well on the standardized test this past year.
The formal assessments, basically, the standardized test that are now administered at every grade level for grades 3 and above, are a "necessary evil" so to speak as they not only give state educational agencies data on student acheivement based on "determined" norms or standards, but also provides data on teacher, school, and district performance. They also indirectly affect fiscal outlays for districts deemed needy. At least thats how it works in theory. These test also have an impact on the curriculum, and how it is taught, we use to teach our students as some districts steer teachers to teach students the subject matter necessary to pass standardized test moreso than teaching them what is necesary to go successfully from grade to grade. As part of the balance I mentioned earlier, I used informal assessments to prepare my students for the formal ones.
I used various informal assessments in my classroom to thoroughly prepare my students for all aspects of the required curriculum. I preferred the flexibility and adaptability of creating assessments that measured skills after I taught them. I was able to determine the needs of individual students and I was able to pinpoint material I needed to re-teach or teach another way. Examples of some of the informal assessment types I used were projects, group and individual, oral presentations, student teacher-student evaluator. I found that these types of assessments thoroughly prepared my students as I was able to fill in missing gaps in their educational skills as I went along and was able to get feed back from the students. I also used some of the strategies suggested from the assigned readings such as "interest inventories" and "student-class collaboration" in designing outlines for assessing a unit or subject. I am proud to say that the results from my balancing the various assessment techniques was having a high percentage of my special needs students do well on the standardized test this past year.
Lauren, Marcie, Sheila, and Sam's views on assessments
After reading through everyones views it seems as though we are all on the same page. For starters Shelia and I both work with the same assessment, ELAS (early learning assessment system). I spoke more on the focus on how ELAS is provided by the state and does not really give you time to teach, just makes sure you are documenting evidence to meet the age by age requirements. As Lauren mentioned Routman in her view she quoted him stating, "assessment promotes learning." I agree with this statement, but unfortunately i would have to say i do not think that ELAS leaves room for that. After going on a tangent about not having time to 'teach' i realized i failed to mention the accuracy of this assessment, but when i read Sheila's i saw she made mention of this.
Sheila mentioned how she received a student from a different school in her district and after going over the scores that were given to this student from the other teacher she realized she did not agree with the other teacher. The problem here is the other teacher might have scored this little girl on what she knows she can do rather then what the evidence proves. With ELAS there is no right or wrong answer its based upon the age by age accomplishment so what one teacher might think is a 3 the other might think they are a 4. Which is exactly what happened in Sheila's case.
I myself was in a year long case study this past school year to see just how accurate this assessment is. Not only was I in this case study this past school year, I was also in it the previous year in another Abbott district. This study is based on a group of teachers who are being trained (yet again) and those who are not (control group). Over the summer the state then goes over all these scores to see who was better off, the study group or the control group. So my question here is if so many teachers are questioning this assessment and now so many authorities from the state are questioning this assessment, why do we continue to use it?
Where as Sheila and myself are constantly assessing throughout the day Sam feels as though she does most of her assessing closer to the conference time with the parents other then that she states that her school "does not do very formal assessments." Her school uses portfolios as a way of assessment. This is where a student has the opportunity to to place his/her work at his/her own will. The teachers also have the right to add to the child's portfolio. This portfolio stays with the child as they pass to the next school year.
Sam and I agree on the teacher's assessment with working with the parents. Having the parent's involvement creates a positive outlook, which in return creates positive feedback from both parents and students. This also give the students the opportunity to work with their parents and involve their parents in their school community.
To sum it up i think Lauren said it best when she said, "assessment is important to monitor students development. It helps to keep a record of students progress." These are very important to keep in mind while assessing this way you don't loose track of what you are doing, and what you are doing is 'teaching.'
Sheila mentioned how she received a student from a different school in her district and after going over the scores that were given to this student from the other teacher she realized she did not agree with the other teacher. The problem here is the other teacher might have scored this little girl on what she knows she can do rather then what the evidence proves. With ELAS there is no right or wrong answer its based upon the age by age accomplishment so what one teacher might think is a 3 the other might think they are a 4. Which is exactly what happened in Sheila's case.
I myself was in a year long case study this past school year to see just how accurate this assessment is. Not only was I in this case study this past school year, I was also in it the previous year in another Abbott district. This study is based on a group of teachers who are being trained (yet again) and those who are not (control group). Over the summer the state then goes over all these scores to see who was better off, the study group or the control group. So my question here is if so many teachers are questioning this assessment and now so many authorities from the state are questioning this assessment, why do we continue to use it?
Where as Sheila and myself are constantly assessing throughout the day Sam feels as though she does most of her assessing closer to the conference time with the parents other then that she states that her school "does not do very formal assessments." Her school uses portfolios as a way of assessment. This is where a student has the opportunity to to place his/her work at his/her own will. The teachers also have the right to add to the child's portfolio. This portfolio stays with the child as they pass to the next school year.
Sam and I agree on the teacher's assessment with working with the parents. Having the parent's involvement creates a positive outlook, which in return creates positive feedback from both parents and students. This also give the students the opportunity to work with their parents and involve their parents in their school community.
To sum it up i think Lauren said it best when she said, "assessment is important to monitor students development. It helps to keep a record of students progress." These are very important to keep in mind while assessing this way you don't loose track of what you are doing, and what you are doing is 'teaching.'
Summary Blog on Assessments
Chapter 15 on assessments and evaluations served as an educator’s guide to starting discourse around aspects of the “teacher” position that can be overwhelming, frustrating, challenging, yet rewarding. The bloggers of this group, Shane, Daniel, and Nadine all wrote of real life experiences positive and negative regarding assessments, evaluations, and standards.” All agreed that assessments have been more of a “one size fits all” approach that has been hindering teacher and student learning and performance because it is something that is “simply used”.
In addition, this chapter helped the group members better understand why conversations about assessments, evaluations, and standards are currently not something to have a conversation about. The group members felt confident about taking information from this chapter to make changes to the way they approach assessments, evaluations, and standards in the fall. They have decided to take something that has a negative connotation and turn into something positive by using assessments, evaluations, and standards to promote teacher and student learning and to begin to support conversations and other discourse about these topics.
Quotes from the Group:
Nadine writes, I asked myself, “How can I be a catalyst for change in my school, district, and the state?” Ultimately, I know this journey is going to be a difficult one, but I am confident that change can begin in my classroom…. I have learned that in order to change any issue in our society, we must first be willing to have a conversation about such issues. ”
Daniel writes, “Ok, enough of the school bashing, let’s focus more on what can be done. While standardized testing is part of school, I think there are many forms of assessment that can be used to drive instruction……Assessment is used to drive instruction. That is the main reason why it is done. We need to remember this so that it doesn’t get lost when times get tough.”
Shane writes, “Assessment is an ongoing process that will always be correlated with teaching as long as there are students. As teachers we implement assessment in a variety of ways. We may use portfolios, observations, or even tests but the reason should be the same. Assessment is a gauging tool to allow us to know how well we are doing as teachers. If the entire class did poorly on an assignment, it most likely means the teacher failed in the execution of the lesson. No one should be penalized, just evaluate the situation and move on. …. Allow assessment to promote growth not stagnation.”
In addition, this chapter helped the group members better understand why conversations about assessments, evaluations, and standards are currently not something to have a conversation about. The group members felt confident about taking information from this chapter to make changes to the way they approach assessments, evaluations, and standards in the fall. They have decided to take something that has a negative connotation and turn into something positive by using assessments, evaluations, and standards to promote teacher and student learning and to begin to support conversations and other discourse about these topics.
Quotes from the Group:
Nadine writes, I asked myself, “How can I be a catalyst for change in my school, district, and the state?” Ultimately, I know this journey is going to be a difficult one, but I am confident that change can begin in my classroom…. I have learned that in order to change any issue in our society, we must first be willing to have a conversation about such issues. ”
Daniel writes, “Ok, enough of the school bashing, let’s focus more on what can be done. While standardized testing is part of school, I think there are many forms of assessment that can be used to drive instruction……Assessment is used to drive instruction. That is the main reason why it is done. We need to remember this so that it doesn’t get lost when times get tough.”
Shane writes, “Assessment is an ongoing process that will always be correlated with teaching as long as there are students. As teachers we implement assessment in a variety of ways. We may use portfolios, observations, or even tests but the reason should be the same. Assessment is a gauging tool to allow us to know how well we are doing as teachers. If the entire class did poorly on an assignment, it most likely means the teacher failed in the execution of the lesson. No one should be penalized, just evaluate the situation and move on. …. Allow assessment to promote growth not stagnation.”
Assessment - Patricia, Kelly, Emily, & Asheley
Kelly and Patricia both have had experience with different forms of assessment in school. Patricia has taught in different schools in different districts while Kelly just completed her first year of teaching. On the other hand, I have had no real experiences with assessments. Therefore reading their blogs helped me to bring my thoughts on assessment into a new perspective.
To begin, Kelly and I both found it interesting that the word assessment came from a Latin word that meant sitting beside and observing someone. With today's focus on testing as the primary form of assessment, we wondered why the oldest meaning of the word assessment was now ignored. I also agree with Kelly when she said, "I truly agree with the text that without evaluating assessment & applying it to future instruction, assessment is pointless".
All of us agreed that portfolios have many merits. Patricia has her 4th grade students keep a portfolio so she can share the work with her students and their parents. She also conferences with her students throughout the year to review their strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, her district does not require portfolios and no one else really uses them as an assessment tool in her school.
Continuing, self-assessment is viewed as a vital tool becuase it helps students take responsibility of their learning and it helps them to understand and reflect upon their work. Patricia notes that for self-assessment to be truly effective an action plan is needed.
In addition, we thought that the "Me Box" was a good way to build community in the classroom and help students connect to each other. Patricia plans to assign this for her class in September. I had some concerns with the "me box". The biggest challenge would be to know if all of your students had things to bring from home or even a box to put them in. I would not want some of my students to come to class with boxes full of wonderful trinkets while others do not even have a spare box let alone things to fill it with.
Finally we come to the heated topic of standarized testing. I think that we all agree that testing needs to be in supplement to other forms of assessment and that assessment needs to guide instruction. Patricia put a valid quote from the text on her blog: "The true measure of wether or not standards are any good is wether or not kids are learning more" (pg. 585). In addition, Kelly's experiences concure with the text. She was locked into teaching "GEPA prep" strategies and then at the end of the yeard she was not even able to see the test scores. This left her wondering if her instruction was even benefical to her students.
With regard to standards, I felt that Patricia made a great point when she said, "In New Jersey, each district is so different; we don't have standards on how to use the standards from one place to another". She worked in a school where the standards had to be highlighted in a lesson and now works in a school where they are hardly mentioned.
In a country so focused on standards and testing, we agree with Routman when she says in the summary, "Fostering a love of learning and desire to continue learning must not be hampered by testing" (pg. 599).
To begin, Kelly and I both found it interesting that the word assessment came from a Latin word that meant sitting beside and observing someone. With today's focus on testing as the primary form of assessment, we wondered why the oldest meaning of the word assessment was now ignored. I also agree with Kelly when she said, "I truly agree with the text that without evaluating assessment & applying it to future instruction, assessment is pointless".
All of us agreed that portfolios have many merits. Patricia has her 4th grade students keep a portfolio so she can share the work with her students and their parents. She also conferences with her students throughout the year to review their strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, her district does not require portfolios and no one else really uses them as an assessment tool in her school.
Continuing, self-assessment is viewed as a vital tool becuase it helps students take responsibility of their learning and it helps them to understand and reflect upon their work. Patricia notes that for self-assessment to be truly effective an action plan is needed.
In addition, we thought that the "Me Box" was a good way to build community in the classroom and help students connect to each other. Patricia plans to assign this for her class in September. I had some concerns with the "me box". The biggest challenge would be to know if all of your students had things to bring from home or even a box to put them in. I would not want some of my students to come to class with boxes full of wonderful trinkets while others do not even have a spare box let alone things to fill it with.
Finally we come to the heated topic of standarized testing. I think that we all agree that testing needs to be in supplement to other forms of assessment and that assessment needs to guide instruction. Patricia put a valid quote from the text on her blog: "The true measure of wether or not standards are any good is wether or not kids are learning more" (pg. 585). In addition, Kelly's experiences concure with the text. She was locked into teaching "GEPA prep" strategies and then at the end of the yeard she was not even able to see the test scores. This left her wondering if her instruction was even benefical to her students.
With regard to standards, I felt that Patricia made a great point when she said, "In New Jersey, each district is so different; we don't have standards on how to use the standards from one place to another". She worked in a school where the standards had to be highlighted in a lesson and now works in a school where they are hardly mentioned.
In a country so focused on standards and testing, we agree with Routman when she says in the summary, "Fostering a love of learning and desire to continue learning must not be hampered by testing" (pg. 599).
Group Summary- ASSESSMENT, Rachel Reed, Allison, Laurel, and Pat
Rachel-
My blog detailed different kinds of assessments like informal and formal assessments in general. I then talked in more detail about literacy assessments, especially the ones I had to perform last year. I spoke of the DRA (developmental reading assessment) which is done fully twice a year and then is followed up every month with a running record to see how your students are improving in reading. This assessment will tell you what grade level your student is reading at.
Briefly, some other assessments are the Slosson which measures verbal cognitive recognition, writing assessments, word walls, and novel assessments.
Overall, I stated that assessment drives instruction. It tells us whether the students are "getting it" and if they aren't we change our instruct around so they do understand better. Assessment is also a great way to make sure your students are making progress and will also tell you what areas extra help is needed in. Without assessment, teaching would be lost.
Allison-
Allison touched on a good point. I will quote from her blog:
"One quote that I thought was very important and thought it really explained a lot was "Assessment must promote learning, not just measure it." pg 559. I think that is really important to remember that we often do assessments just to measure or compare students, but the important thing is to make sure that students are learning. It shouldn't just be the numbers."
Allison also liked the idea of the portfolio and the student led conferences. She also related to her own experiences and said she loved back to school night where was proud to show her Mom all the work she had done. She also said that she loved the concept of rubrics because it tells the kids what is expected of them but that her school does not use them because it is a school for children with autism.
Laurel-
Laurel starts off her blog stating:
"assessment - the process through which educators collect data about their students’ progress. This data, if used correctly, will inform instructions, as the students’ strengths and weaknesses are revealed as well as the effectiveness of the teacher’s method of instructions. Assessment is an ongoing process and may be conducted formally or informally."
She goes on to mention that the NJASK and GEPA are relied on heavily but that urban school do have the financial backing to instruct efficiently to achieve the desired results. Laurel then says that teaching to test can have it's positives if it is followed up by other assessments such as, " portfolios, performance based assessments, open-ended questions, teacher observations, and self-assessments that are based on work samples, interests, motivation and attitudes about learning (p. 559)."
Pat-
Pat started her blog saying that the chapter on assessment was pretty much the same as the class she already took on assessment but that there was on added benefit. In her words,
"What I particularly appreciated about Evaluations as Part of Teaching was the information on portfolios as a tool that, when used correctly, could assist teacher and parents, as well as serve to drive the self–assessment need in students."
Pat fortunately gets many parents that come in with their sons/daughters on back to school night and that next year she is going to use the portfolio idea. She feels that the portfolio will help her students succeed better because all her students have some form of learning disability and the portfolio will be a way to assess their learning and at the same time provide her with a tool to drive instruction.
Pat ends her blog by stating:
"Because the creating of portfolios is so personal, it will continue to allow me to sit beside (Routman p. 557) my students and really have an opportunity to give authentic assessment."
My blog detailed different kinds of assessments like informal and formal assessments in general. I then talked in more detail about literacy assessments, especially the ones I had to perform last year. I spoke of the DRA (developmental reading assessment) which is done fully twice a year and then is followed up every month with a running record to see how your students are improving in reading. This assessment will tell you what grade level your student is reading at.
Briefly, some other assessments are the Slosson which measures verbal cognitive recognition, writing assessments, word walls, and novel assessments.
Overall, I stated that assessment drives instruction. It tells us whether the students are "getting it" and if they aren't we change our instruct around so they do understand better. Assessment is also a great way to make sure your students are making progress and will also tell you what areas extra help is needed in. Without assessment, teaching would be lost.
Allison-
Allison touched on a good point. I will quote from her blog:
"One quote that I thought was very important and thought it really explained a lot was "Assessment must promote learning, not just measure it." pg 559. I think that is really important to remember that we often do assessments just to measure or compare students, but the important thing is to make sure that students are learning. It shouldn't just be the numbers."
Allison also liked the idea of the portfolio and the student led conferences. She also related to her own experiences and said she loved back to school night where was proud to show her Mom all the work she had done. She also said that she loved the concept of rubrics because it tells the kids what is expected of them but that her school does not use them because it is a school for children with autism.
Laurel-
Laurel starts off her blog stating:
"assessment - the process through which educators collect data about their students’ progress. This data, if used correctly, will inform instructions, as the students’ strengths and weaknesses are revealed as well as the effectiveness of the teacher’s method of instructions. Assessment is an ongoing process and may be conducted formally or informally."
She goes on to mention that the NJASK and GEPA are relied on heavily but that urban school do have the financial backing to instruct efficiently to achieve the desired results. Laurel then says that teaching to test can have it's positives if it is followed up by other assessments such as, " portfolios, performance based assessments, open-ended questions, teacher observations, and self-assessments that are based on work samples, interests, motivation and attitudes about learning (p. 559)."
Pat-
Pat started her blog saying that the chapter on assessment was pretty much the same as the class she already took on assessment but that there was on added benefit. In her words,
"What I particularly appreciated about Evaluations as Part of Teaching was the information on portfolios as a tool that, when used correctly, could assist teacher and parents, as well as serve to drive the self–assessment need in students."
Pat fortunately gets many parents that come in with their sons/daughters on back to school night and that next year she is going to use the portfolio idea. She feels that the portfolio will help her students succeed better because all her students have some form of learning disability and the portfolio will be a way to assess their learning and at the same time provide her with a tool to drive instruction.
Pat ends her blog by stating:
"Because the creating of portfolios is so personal, it will continue to allow me to sit beside (Routman p. 557) my students and really have an opportunity to give authentic assessment."
Group Summary on Assessments: Czar, Michelle, Arlenia, Robert
As A group Arlenia, Michelle, Czar, and Robert two out of the four have real life experience with assessment. The two are Arlenia and Robert. We all as future or right now teachers think that assessment is important for both the student and teacher. When we assess, we are given back so sort of data. Whether it be test results from a test or quiz or just by watching our students read out loud in the classroom. As teachers we have to ask ourselves “What do I do with this data, how do I evaluate all this data?” Arlenia and Robert are teachers and Arlenia states that “What I usually do after giving a test is an item analysis. This is when I list every question and list the students that had it correct or incorrect. With this information I am able to see where we are as a class and if there are specific skills that the students had difficulty with or easily mastered. I then use this to drive my instruction in whatever area I am focused on.” I feel that this is a great way to exam both the student and you as a teacher. You get to see the results of your teachings and see if the class as a whole is learning from you. We all as a group agree upon that children do learn in different stages and modalities. So sometimes we should let the students evaluate themselves, so they will have the ability to know what they comprehend and clearly understand. We all feel that a teacher should always keep up to date with their subject matter. Teachers should always take the time to evaluate their lessons and units for the class. See if they need to make any corrections to help their students out in any way possible. Since all students learn at different rates and levels. We as teachers should use all different types of assessments not just one to judge the class or a child. If you give several different assessment to evaluate, yes it might be more work for the teacher, but in the end you are helping every child in your classroom. The key here with assessment is that you have to know what to do with the information or data given to you as a teacher. You have to have reason behind your assessments and this will make you a much better teacher once you evaluate your self and your students.
Group Summary on Assessments (Roe, Vanessa, Dwayne, Nurdan & Elizabeth)
We all agreed on the importance of using a variety of assessment tools (retelling, portfolios, rubrics, tests, etc.) to assess our students and direct our teaching practices. Portfolios was viewed as one of the better assessment tools. As Vanessa wrote, "Having the student select pieces of their portfolio for parent conferences will let them see their progress throughout the year." Roe wrote in her blog, "I also believe that portfolios are one of the best ways of evaluating, I believe that you put the best of your best into a portfolio. You can then reflect on what you've learned and your parents can see your accomplishments." I, however, have a problem with portfolios that only showcase students' best works. In my blog I wrote, "I think if you let students pick out what they want in their portfolios after they see their grade, of course they are going to pick out the work they really did well on." I think a portfolio should contain students' best works and not-so-great works. I think this would depict a more realistic picture of the learner.
Dwayne had a lot of interesting thoughts concerning standardized testing. He wrote in his blog, "The ability to perform on standardized testing is becoming increasingly important because schools and the employment market are moving intensely towards more means of standardization as opposed to moving away from it." He also went on mention an article he read by Nakonia Hayes entitled "Like It or Not, We are a Test Driven Society" to further emphasize the move towards standardization. It's a real eye-opener. Check it out on his blog. You have to read what some schools plan on doing with the scores. One school plans to require students to pass the state assessment test in order to graduate. We try to calm students and parents by telling them, "Don't worry about the test" but look at what some schools are doing with the scores. Dwayne also wrote, "The aforementioned examples will eventually serve to ostracize those that do not have the test taking skills necessary to compete with those that do. It is not my contention to advocate a move towards more standardization in assessment but to merely acknowledge the consequences that will be evident as a result. Ultimately, if students do not improve their test taking abilities then it will be difficult for them to gain entry into post-secondary education, participate as active members in the employment market, and consequently pursue their dreams."
I will end with something Roe wrote in her blog, "I believe that assessments can be a great tool if used properly. I think self assessing a lesson at the end of the day, is a great way to improve yourself. You can look at what went right and why but more importantly what did not work and why and then how can you fix that."
Dwayne had a lot of interesting thoughts concerning standardized testing. He wrote in his blog, "The ability to perform on standardized testing is becoming increasingly important because schools and the employment market are moving intensely towards more means of standardization as opposed to moving away from it." He also went on mention an article he read by Nakonia Hayes entitled "Like It or Not, We are a Test Driven Society" to further emphasize the move towards standardization. It's a real eye-opener. Check it out on his blog. You have to read what some schools plan on doing with the scores. One school plans to require students to pass the state assessment test in order to graduate. We try to calm students and parents by telling them, "Don't worry about the test" but look at what some schools are doing with the scores. Dwayne also wrote, "The aforementioned examples will eventually serve to ostracize those that do not have the test taking skills necessary to compete with those that do. It is not my contention to advocate a move towards more standardization in assessment but to merely acknowledge the consequences that will be evident as a result. Ultimately, if students do not improve their test taking abilities then it will be difficult for them to gain entry into post-secondary education, participate as active members in the employment market, and consequently pursue their dreams."
I will end with something Roe wrote in her blog, "I believe that assessments can be a great tool if used properly. I think self assessing a lesson at the end of the day, is a great way to improve yourself. You can look at what went right and why but more importantly what did not work and why and then how can you fix that."
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Chatper 15 Summary Post
Kelly K., Rachel D., Amanda B., Alexandra A.:
Alexandra, Rachel and I have absolutely no experience with assessment. So, reading the assessment material is something we all have been looking forward too. Alexandra first thought assessment would include testing, quizzes, homework, questioning them during the lesson, reading their expressions, participation, and interest. Teachers use qualitative tools such as observation, consultation, self or peer assessment, and focused analysis as defined in the book. Alexandra also feels by observing the way in which a child writes, listens, reads, and even speaks, can tell a teacher a lot. She stated that thinks assessments should be after reading the text. But does not really know what they really, specifically, are or how to put them into practice.
I basically focused on the different ways in which I thought assessment could be carried out. I thought the textbook gave great insight into how assessment helps not only the students’ but also the teacher learn more about her students’. I was intrigued by the quote in the text, “assessment must promote learning, not just measure it. (559).” I feel this is an important factor in assessment, especially in todays’ classroom. There is so much focus on passing tests and measure your skills that we kind of forget all the good things our students are capable of. For example, I have a student who is a wonderful reading but never let him know that because he does not do well in his math tests. I also thought the “Me Box” was a wonderful idea. I love being creative and making projects so I think this was a great for the kids to express themselves creatively using art, writing, and reading.
As for Amanda she had so much to say about chapter 15. If anyone is really interested you should check out her blog. She is a teacher so she mentions that in reading chapter 15 she found herself coming up short in her own self-assessment. She feels one quote can summarize her whole past year teaching. "Unless we match our beliefs with useful and developmentally appropriate practices, we are just going through the motions." She found herself giving “meaningless” observations out of habit because she never questioned their purpose. She touches on her own experiences how she keeps records of tests for back up against parents have complaints. I thought when she spoke on Parent Communication her example was at her own school as well. She has to write narratives on the students' report cards. Some parents have confessed that they don't read them, and the students' teachers in the higher grades confess they don't read them to inform their practice. She feels writing these narratives are a waste of time because some parents do not even take the time to read them. (HER POST WAS SO INTESTING, you should read)
Monday, July 9, 2007
Summary for Mary, Rachel M., Allison W. and Susan
SORRY THIS IS LATE. WE DID IT LAST FRIDAY BUT I WAS JUST ABLE TO POST TO MOTHER BLOG.
It seems that both Susan, Rachel and I all were interested in the Maturation Theory and obviously in disagreement with it as most educators would be.Both Rachel and Allison seem to be able to draw and web together what some of the theories in these chapters state along with what they have learned in their child psychology courses. More specifically, Allison speaks about how she realizes that she is currently employing the Classical Conditioning theory in her own class as she teaches in a sequential order. Similar but different, Susan and I seem to be reflecting on our experiences with our own children in relation to these theories.
Allison brings up an intersting point as she dicusses Piaget's theories on the importance of play and how children learn through their direct experiences and social interactions with peers. The point she raises is that his research was done decades ago yet when you think about it his findings were the basis for what we still attempt to achieve today through pre-school education. Allison also points out that Piaget's theory regarding cognitive development is still useful today in helping teachers determine "age appropriate" activities. Susan touches on this same point as she relates a story about her daughter's experience in pre-school and the teacher's expectations for the class based on what she thought was age appropriate, even though Susan was skeptical. Susan was pleasantly surprised when the teacher turned out to be correct in determining what the class would be capable of achieving that year.
We all agreed strongly with The Theory of Literacy Development and Family Literacy Development. Rachel summed it up well when she said she that she felt there was a strong connection between home and school life and that children need to be exposed to reading and other forms of literacy at home as well as in school. Allison felt that in terms of these theories, "parents are not only needed to model fluency, but they should also model the practice of reading so that it becomes a habit to the child." Allison also liked the idea of giving a family survey so she could better understand where a child was coming from in terms of their literary exposure.
Rachel had some interesting comments on the Emergent Literacy Theory in that she said, "it makes sense that children who tend to be good listeners and speakers will be advanced when it comes to reading." She further added that "if they already have a strong foundation on a language, then being able to decode the written word will be easier because they can search their memory baks for words that they are already familiar with.
Vygotsky's Social COnstuctivism seemed to grab most of us in we all could relate as teachers or parents to understanding the "zone of prosimal development. Allison pointed out that this theory she feels is currently in the spotlight and I agree that in a system that is currently trying to become all inclusive, and understanding of Vygotsky's theory is critical. Allison pointed out that this is qute the challenge as a teacher being able to sucessfully differetiate instruction. I think we all concur with this point. Susan elaborated on this theory from another angle in relating how she as a teacher encourages group work in which she is able to act more as a facilitator and the students are able to assist each other or so to speak provide the scaffolding necessary when acknowledging the zone of procimal development. Allison stated that scafolding is part of her everyday teachin method, and Rachel believes that these practices take place even when you are not aware of them taking place.
Rachel, and Allison definitely agreed with the ideathat the process of decoding often bogs down the process of comprehension and ultimately the ability to improve reading skills. Susan complimented this with her comments on choosing texts as teachers that are neither to easy or too difficult, so that they are able to benefit the most from the content and have a pleasant reading experience, and ultimately that is what all these theories we have studies lead us to examine more, how do we make the reading process a most pleasant experience. I think we agree that it takes a mixture of a number of the ideas presented in these theories along with the collabrative efforts of educators, peers, and parents and all that interact with children.
It seems that both Susan, Rachel and I all were interested in the Maturation Theory and obviously in disagreement with it as most educators would be.Both Rachel and Allison seem to be able to draw and web together what some of the theories in these chapters state along with what they have learned in their child psychology courses. More specifically, Allison speaks about how she realizes that she is currently employing the Classical Conditioning theory in her own class as she teaches in a sequential order. Similar but different, Susan and I seem to be reflecting on our experiences with our own children in relation to these theories.
Allison brings up an intersting point as she dicusses Piaget's theories on the importance of play and how children learn through their direct experiences and social interactions with peers. The point she raises is that his research was done decades ago yet when you think about it his findings were the basis for what we still attempt to achieve today through pre-school education. Allison also points out that Piaget's theory regarding cognitive development is still useful today in helping teachers determine "age appropriate" activities. Susan touches on this same point as she relates a story about her daughter's experience in pre-school and the teacher's expectations for the class based on what she thought was age appropriate, even though Susan was skeptical. Susan was pleasantly surprised when the teacher turned out to be correct in determining what the class would be capable of achieving that year.
We all agreed strongly with The Theory of Literacy Development and Family Literacy Development. Rachel summed it up well when she said she that she felt there was a strong connection between home and school life and that children need to be exposed to reading and other forms of literacy at home as well as in school. Allison felt that in terms of these theories, "parents are not only needed to model fluency, but they should also model the practice of reading so that it becomes a habit to the child." Allison also liked the idea of giving a family survey so she could better understand where a child was coming from in terms of their literary exposure.
Rachel had some interesting comments on the Emergent Literacy Theory in that she said, "it makes sense that children who tend to be good listeners and speakers will be advanced when it comes to reading." She further added that "if they already have a strong foundation on a language, then being able to decode the written word will be easier because they can search their memory baks for words that they are already familiar with.
Vygotsky's Social COnstuctivism seemed to grab most of us in we all could relate as teachers or parents to understanding the "zone of prosimal development. Allison pointed out that this theory she feels is currently in the spotlight and I agree that in a system that is currently trying to become all inclusive, and understanding of Vygotsky's theory is critical. Allison pointed out that this is qute the challenge as a teacher being able to sucessfully differetiate instruction. I think we all concur with this point. Susan elaborated on this theory from another angle in relating how she as a teacher encourages group work in which she is able to act more as a facilitator and the students are able to assist each other or so to speak provide the scaffolding necessary when acknowledging the zone of procimal development. Allison stated that scafolding is part of her everyday teachin method, and Rachel believes that these practices take place even when you are not aware of them taking place.
Rachel, and Allison definitely agreed with the ideathat the process of decoding often bogs down the process of comprehension and ultimately the ability to improve reading skills. Susan complimented this with her comments on choosing texts as teachers that are neither to easy or too difficult, so that they are able to benefit the most from the content and have a pleasant reading experience, and ultimately that is what all these theories we have studies lead us to examine more, how do we make the reading process a most pleasant experience. I think we agree that it takes a mixture of a number of the ideas presented in these theories along with the collabrative efforts of educators, peers, and parents and all that interact with children.
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