Week 7 and 8 Reflection

During week 7, we discussed concepts in measurement. This includes how we use statistics in the classroom, as well as display and analyze data. We also talked about criterion vs. norm- referenced assessments and what the differences are between the two. We discussed population sampling, validity and reliability, as well as average, mean, median, mode, and range. These terms are important because they contribute to calculating and analyzing data. Therefore, it is important to be familiar with these terms and  understand what they mean in students' data. 

During week 8, we discussed how we use data to drive instruction. Data can tell us a lot about our students: including their earning needs, how well an assignment was understood, which students may need more interventions, and which students are high flyers. Data can even serve as a reference for the teacher as to how well students are being taught. The excel practice allowed us to graph fake students' scores and  analyze what their scores mean. By analyzing, even though these were fake students, I was able to come up with ways to help these students make the appropriate academic gains. In areas where students collectively seemed to struggle, the data served as an indicator that maybe these are areas that need to be re- taught or revisited. Data can show patterns in learning as well as provide feedback as to what improvements you would like to make as the teacher. It is important to always reflect on the data in a holistic way. Use the data to make decisions but also recognize that sometimes, data isn't always accurate and can be biased. When we look at data with a holistic view, we are looking at it both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitatively means that we look at the numbers, and qualitatively means that background information is considered. 

In my future classroom, I plan to use data to drive my instruction. It is important to analyze the students' work in order to determine what practices to use in the classroom. For example, if multiple students score low on a test, small group instruction with these students would be beneficial. At the same time, the other students would also benefit by learning things differentiated to their individual needs. Also, it is important to evaluate kids in multiple ways. Don't just look at test or quiz scores. Analyze how the children are doing in a holistic way by analyzing classwork, tests, projects, questioning, and other formative methods. Quantitative data isn't everything and can be biased. When using norm referenced tests such as the PSSA, it is important to understand and analyze these scores, but also to recognize how these scores can be discriminatory or biased. Overall, measurement and data are two very important concepts to understand and implement as a teacher. 

Week 6 Reflection

 This week in ELEC 316, my learning has continued to grow. On Monday, we were able to hear from Ms. Wagner. Her presentation was very informative regarding several aspects of assessment. She shared her perspective on being a teacher and how she uses grades and assessments in her classroom. One big take away I had from the presentation was on how often to grade. Ms. Wagner stated that it is hard to choose what to grade because the students do so much work every week. However, she suggested picking one material per subject each week to grade and to have a balanced scope of what you are grading, so it is not just tests or quizzes. Another aspect of the presentation that was very beneficial was how Ms. Wagner gave examples of assessments for each of the core subjects. These assessments included best practice and were fun, interactive, hands- on learning experiences for students.  Ms. Wagner also discussed how she uses the 4-3-2-1 approach and how this allows her to reflect on each individual student and what they know and how to get them where they need to go. This also helps you as a teacher because it allows you to reflect on how well the students are picking up what is being put down. 

On Wednesday, we learned about DAP, which is developmentally appropriate practices. DAP is important because when lesson planning, the students' needs are at the center, and the lesson plan should be aligning to the children's needs. One way that we make lessons developmentally appropriate is by aligning our objectives to the standards, which are given by the state. However, when lesson planning, it is important to use the ABCD formula: audience, behavior, condition, and degree. A great lesson plan always involves all 4 of those measures. The objectives should be geared towards the student, what behavior you would like to occur and under what condition/ circumstance, and what accuracy you would like. When structuring a lesson plan, it is important to think of what you want the outcome or desired result to be and then culminate a plan and how you want to assess students. Then, you can plan instruction and what experiences you want students to have. There must be alignment between objectives, instructional practices, and assessments. Learning objectives should always be developmentally appropriate to the backgrounds of the students and should promote learning across all domains to be most effective! 

Lastly, on Friday we focused on assessment measures. This aspect was very important because it is critical to implement best practice in your classroom. Assignments/ assessments should have a clear purpose and should include multimodes. Drilling kids with worksheets or tests is not best practice. It is important to incorporate formative assessment practices like exit tickets and think pair share, along with things like portfolios and project- based learning. Also, using small group time to teach to the individual needs of students is very beneficial. It is important to always be taking observations of children in the process! 

Week 5 Reflection

 Learning objectives are important because they drive what goes on inside your classroom! An objective is a target, or what we want the students to know or be able to do in a given period of time. As a result, we plan our instruction around what our objectives are. This helps us as teachers design more effective instruction, activities, assessments, and planning. We want our students to reach their learning goals!

The ABCD formula stands for "Audience, Behavior, Condition, and Degree." ABCD is how we measure learning outcomes and write objectives that are straightforward and measurable. When using the ABCD format, it is important to clearly state objectives and not to use ambiguous language. An example of an objective using the ABCD format would be, "When given a multiple choice quiz on geometry, the students will be able to answer the questions with at least 80% accuracy. " When writing objectives, it is important to take into consideration the standards to which you are aligning your objective to and to also consider where the students are currently at with their knowledge and what they already do or do not know. 

Ms. Lauren's talk was a very beneficial one, and I learned new information about assessments! I enjoyed hearing about how she implements assessment techniques in her classroom. I learned how she uses the 4 to 1 scale to assess students learning! It is like a continuum and flows from one number to the next- -> up and down. A big take away from Ms. Lauren is to pick one piece of work per subject to formally grade every week for the students. This is so that you are not over grading your students' work!

Reading Reflection

    Assessments in the classroom are critical. As a teacher, you will use both formal and informal assessment methods on a daily basis in the classroom. When designing assessments, it is critical to ensure that the assessment is developmentally appropriate, meaning that the goals for the students are aligned to their strengths and where they are at in their development. 

    One way that teachers develop developmentally appropriate assessments is using standards. The academic standards are given by the state, and we must teach these standards. The standards ensure that children are meeting grade- level criteria and gaining the necessary skills. The steps to ensuring that assessments are developmentally appropriate are...

1) Decide what you want the children to know--> Choose the top priority content from the standards and think of what the end goal is for the students. What do you want them to learn and take away?

2) Decide how to measure essential outcomes--> Think of the different tasks or goals that you have for students and how you want to measure these outcomes

3) Organize the information you collect --> The information should be presented in a way that makes sense to you and that you can explain. You should also be taking lots of observations of the children. 

4) Collect information across time--> Collect information on the children's progress throughout time. Record what went well and what didn't. 

5) Interpret the assessment results -- > Share results with families! Reflect on what the children have learned and then assess where to go next.

    From the article, I learned that there are seven assessment skills that educators need. The skills include: define learning goals, use a variety of assessment types, analyze the data and act on it, adapt your instruction, engage and captivate children's engagement, and enhance learning environment. These skills are important because they provide the best learning environment for children. These factors work together to provide a rich learning experience for children.   The information from these documents will help me in the future to plan assessments that are developmentally appropriate and aligned to standards. Also, my knowledge of Bloom's Taxonomy and Webb's Depth of Knowledge will help me to add depth into my assessments and challenge students. 

    

Week 3 Reflection

This week, my learning has continued to grow with the concept of documentation. Documentation is a dynamic record of a child's progress. Documentation and observation are closely tied together. Teachers who are intentional use both elements to plan instruction and set up an engaging learning environment for their students. Documentation is important to evaluate a child's progress throughout a period of time, and it can be used as a communication tool with families. Documentation can also serve the teacher, so that he or she can evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching methods. 

I learned that documentation is unique and can include...

- photos of the child's work

- comments from the teacher

- graphs or data from assessments

- pictures, webs, or artistic expressions 

One method of documentation is the portfolio method! I really like this method because children can truly see their progress as the year progresses. When I was in kindergarten through 6th grade, my school did portfolios. Your portfolio would get passed through all the grades! At the end of the year, we had portfolio day, and our families were invited into the classroom! They would help us pick which work to select for our portfolio, and we were able to select 3 pieces. It was cool to see all of our work from the year and sort through everything. We would write a brief reflection on the piece and why we chose it! It is was amazing at the end of 6th grade to see how I progressed since kindergarten. This is definitely something that I want to implement in my future classroom! 

Conventional vs. Reggio Emilia Styles of Documentation- 

- Both methods of documentation are useful but different from the next! They are similar because they are both methods of documentation that are used to assess and monitor a child's progress. 

- Conventional methods are usually summative, meaning that they are usually high stakes, graded, and determine whether students have met overall goals. Summative assessments usually include tests, benchmarks, or standardized tests. Children are usually compared by their scores to a group of students. 

- The Reggio Emilia style is formative, meaning that these methods "inform" the instructional methods of the teacher. They are used as an assessment tool for learning and are usually low- stakes and apart of everyday life in the classroom. The Reggio Emilia approach tends to view collaboration as a group and project based learning as critical components! 

The knowledge that I learned this week regarding documentation will greatly shape the practices in my future classroom! The portfolio assessment is definitely something I want to implement because it allows children to feel a sense of pride in their growth and development. Also, I love the concept of project based learning because children can really take charge of their individual learning. Although I will have to use conventional methods to some extent, it is important to mix in some elements of the Reggio Emilia approach because they are so beneficial! 

Week 2 Reflection

 One major concept that I learned this week was observation. Observations are so important when it comes to being a teacher because you do it everyday, sometimes without even realizing. There are many reasons for why we observe children and many techniques to do so! It is important to remember to also keep observations bias free and centered on the child. I will use these techniques to monitor the students' progress so that I can be aware of any issues in the classroom, but also what could be happening before or after the behavior. 

For example, if children were playing at recess, I would observe how they are interacting with each other and use an anecdotal record, event record, or time sampling. If a child is struggling in math, I would use an event record or just dot down some informal notes to build into a running record. All of the observation techniques have different purposes, pros, and cons, so it is important to recognize how the technique can fit certain scenarios!

When developing an analytic rubric, I found that the hardest part was not using vague language and being clear about expectations. The benefit to an analytic rubric is that students have the criteria for the assignment in front of them before they complete the assignment. It also provides detailed feedback for the student to review and feedback for each portion instead of just one holistic score. A con is that the students may not understand the rubric depending on their age, or they might not care to review the feedback. Another hard part of constructing the rubric was being able to use it to evaluate the butterfly samples. It is important to be able to justify your grading decisions based on the criteria you have put in the rubric. In the future, I will be sure to avoid ambiguous language like "some" and "a few" and more clearly state the grading criteria. As a student, I also liked when I got a rubric so that I knew what my expectations would be. However, I think it is also critical to give young children assignments where they can be very creative on! 

Week 1 Reflection

 Week one assessment: throughout the first week of ELEC 316, I have already learned so much new information about assessments and the means in which we assess children. I have also learned ways in which to translate these assessments to my future classroom. I especially got to learn a lot about norm- referenced testing since I had this assessment for the jigsaw puzzle. I learned that norm- referenced tests are standardized tests like the PSSA and SAT, and that test takers scores are compared to the "norming" group. I feel that all the class discussions have really helped me to learn because I have heard so many unique perspectives. Also, the creating a rubric project helped me to get creative and brainstorm like a teacher would. Also, I learned the differences between assessment, measurement, and evaluation. 

I would like to use assessment in my classroom in many different ways. Not all students learn the same way, so one assessment type will not work for everyone. I love the informal assessments and how low- stakes, and low- stress they are because many kids have test anxiety. I strongly believe in project based learning as well as group work and in- class assignments. When formal assignments are necessary, I want to involve families in their child's learning. Providing lots of assessment types is my plan!

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