Teaching Goals, Methods, and Procedures (How to Teach)- While reading this section of the chapter, I thought how hard it must be when you first become a teacher. To know the right procedures in order for your students to learn things successfully must be hard to do at the beginning. I have had the experience of having a first year teacher as my teacher my freshman year in high school. He did seem a little confused at what exactly we were suppose to do, then at almost the end of the school year I did notice how much he grew as a teacher and his experienced. Then I have had teachers who have taught for over 20 years which "what to teach" was easy for them, or well it seemed like it. I guess as time passes by things get a lot easier and that is when you start including more technology as part as your lesson of the day. Good thing is that I have learned of quite a few in this class, which will be beneficial for me in the future.
Learning Assessments (Knowing What Students Have Learned)- In my opinion, I really do think this is so important. It is important to get your students feedback because that is when you find out how good they retained what you just taught. Most of the time online surveys, digital portfolios, or student response systems are the best way to get feedback. Some students are bad at taking tests and quizzes period. So why affect their grade while their is other ways of testing their learning. For example in this class we do so many assignments that includes us reading the book, when we do our blogs our professor is able to see our understanding. Other things such as in class discussions and online discussions, are able to be used. I am not against tests and quizzes at all, but there are definitely variety of ways, also fun ways to know what students have learned. Once again this class has done a pretty good job at showing us a lot. Thank You !
Using technology in Lesson Planning- This has actually been the purpose of this whole class. We have learned about all the technology and softwares we are able to use and include in our lesson plans. There are so many out there for us, and when I become a teacher I am sure that there will be a lot more. Technology allows us to be creative while we also allow our students to be creative and learn in a fun interacting method. Technology allows us to do many different things and using it in lesson plans is what every teacher should be doing especially teaching the 21st century students which are more likely to learn faster using it. There are so many engaging free educational websites, also apps that support lesson planning. Overall technology does a pretty good job at supporting lesson development.
Resources: Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2011).Transforming learning with new technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
You really do get a barometer reading on your students' learning by incorporating a variety of assessments. Like you, I'm not opposed to tests and quizzes, but if I can assess the knowledge/skill another (and more relevant) way, I find that much more valuable. These alternative assessments, though, can be quite time consuming to formally assess. In so many ways, I wish we could separate grading from assessing as they can often mean two different things. It is good to know that you have appreciated the variety of assessment tools for this class - and think of how many creative assessment tools you have already practiced in the form of Voki, Prezi etc that just need a grading rubric! :)
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