Feedback, Feedback, Feedback...

I really enjoyed reading the article, Feedback That Fits.  As I read through it, I was pleased to identify situations where I can remember using some of these techniques.  However, I was really excited to read about how else I could be implementing some of the other feedback strategies that were shared.  I feel as though I had great instruction on giving feedback during my practicums during college (by cooperating teacher and the college instructor/observer).  I also feel that having numerous students with special needs in my classroom throughout the years has also lent itself to having strong feedback skills.  Often, when you have students who have special needs, you need to be prepared to let them share their thoughts and handle a correct or incorrect answer.  The same thought process on giving feedback needs to be the same no matter who the student or what the needs are.  Keep them encouraged and keep them thinking!

Advanced Organizers & Nonlinguistic Representation

This week's chapters and discussions brought out a few fun ideas that I would like to incorporate into the upcoming school year.  Our team is about half way through "creating" a reading/language arts curriculum based off of the new Common Core standards and about to start thinking about what we want our assessments to look like.  There is a big interest to do more project-based assessments because it results in  a much higher interest level and in turn, produces a much better product.  However, with testing being such  a highly regarded measure of comprehension and understanding, we will have to included standard assessments simply to give the students practice at completing them.  As I was reading through the chapters and thinking about some answers to the group response questions, I got some really fun ideas for assessment options.  I would really like to find an opportunity for our students to create a board game, produce a digital summary (digital storytelling) of a topic or story, and even make a scrapbook.

Using advanced organizers is also something that I know I use, but feel that I will be making a more concerted effort to focus on and use on purpose.  I wasn't aware of the wide variety of materials that were seen as, and can be used as, an organizer.  There are a lot of ways to edit and alter already created materials to fit the purpose of an organizer, and would produce a much stronger lesson and understanding by the student(s).

Good Reminders

This week's readings on the Internet had some great information about some of the best ways to teach students.  While reading the information, I found myself being reminded of some great teaching strategies that I will want to remember as the start of a new school year quickly approaches.  Making sure that instruction has several components to it (whole group, small/individual group, and projects) that are all focused around achieving student success and comprehension of material.

I definitely enjoyed reading "What Works In Classroom Instruction" much more than the reading on theory and analysis of research.  I found it hard to follow and stay focused on it, most-likely because of interest level of the two pieces.

I am interested in what this course has to offer and think that it fits in well to be taking it early in the school year so that new ideas can be implemented during the year.

Copyright and Safety

This week's topics brought a few interesting things to the surface that I was happy to be reminded or informed of.  The first is that even though I am working with a younger group of students and on school computers with filters and blockers, I still need to share some of the safety and privacy information with my students so they really understand why they need to be careful while they are on the Internet.  Since most of our activities in the lab are guided and focused, it doesn't take much for them to end up somewhere else.  

I also found it interesting to learn a little more about copyright.  This can be quite an in-depth topic and one that I don't know much about.  One point that I really found interesting was that most creators don't necessarily want the full and complete protection that copyright can give them.  They want overall credit and control, but also want to share their work with others and allow them to use it in appropriate ways and even for some modification to be allowed in certain circumstances.  

Exploring Tools

This week gave me another opportunity to explore some of the many tools that are available out on the web.  These tools are all great options for bringing in creative choices and alternative options for assessments and project based learning.  Many of the sites provided can be used with a variety of age levels.  There are a few that seem to be more appropriate for students who have had more computer experience or to be used in very small groups so that students don't get frustrated when needing help.  I am already planning on using Comic Life in my classroom for a variety of activities this year and am excited to see how the student react and feel about using programs like those we have looked at to show what they know.

I am also continuing to explore using the forms applications to create tests.  I have thrown the idea out to a teammate and will be putting together a few sample tests this week to share with my team.

Another thing to try

This week, the thing that I found myself most interested in happened more by chance than anything else.  As I was looking at a few of the already submitted website evaluations, I noticed that most of the other evaluations had been created with Google Forms (initiated by Zac).  I have to admit that at first I was a little hesitant to even look into doing it that way since we hadn't gone through any instruction on it, but it was super easy and user-friendly!  I instantly thought of how great this could be for saving paper at school and having students complete tests using Google Forms.  All the answers would end up on one spreadsheet, making scoring much quicker which would allow the teacher to spend more time on things that will benefit students.  Seeing scores that way will also allow the teacher to quickly see how students did on particular problems and if there is a need for reteaching or further instruction.

A New Beginning

With each new class that starts, I continue to feel a little more comfort and confidence with understanding and handling the work.  Now that we are into the 4th course of the program, it is becoming more and more obvious on how they build on each other.  Seeing the connections and having more background knowledge with concepts than I had with some of the other courses or topics makes it easier and easier to start applying the ideas to my own classroom and life.  Some of the topics that we will be covering this course will be really helpful with my younger age students.