ALL things Assessment

The two main categories of assessment are informal and formal assessment. During informal assessment, the teacher simply observes and listens to students as they engage in discussions with their peers. Informal assessment does not result in a grade being awarded and happens during learning. Informal assessment is where the teacher analyzes each student's understanding to determine who is in need of additional instruction. During formal assessment, the students are tested on their knowledge of a particular topic and a grade is assigned. Formal assessment takes place after learning and is comprehensive. Both informal and formal assessment have another type of assessment that falls under them. Formative and Summative assessment are their subcategories.

         Formative assessment falls under informal assessment and summative assessment falls under formal assessment. In formative assessment, the teacher observes students and provides feedback. There are many options for formative assessments that teachers can administer, such as, exit tickets, think-pair-share, journal entries, and active learning strategies, like 4 Corners. Summative assessment is a more extensive process. Summative assessments include end of chapter/unit tests, presentations, midterms/finals, or term papers. Formative assessment is a process and summative assessment is a product. Formative assessment is used to determine how effective the instruction is (for teachers and students), and summative assessment is used to determine what/if the students learned. Formative assessment is used to make learning better, while summative assessment is the end goal of instruction.

            Paper assessments offer several advantages; they are easy to access and allow the teacher the ability to provide immediate feedback. Paper assessments are typically used to test memorized knowledge and lower levels of understanding. Paper assessments can be given as pre-tests, so that the teacher can gain an understanding of where students stand before beginning the lesson. This allows the teacher to determine what the bulk of instruction should focus on.

            Performance based assessment goes hand in hand with project based learning. It goes beyond your standard pencil to paper assessment and gives students the opportunity to create something that represents their learning. Performance based assessment can be used in the classroom by creating a poster display on a topic the student has researched. Performance based assessment could also be done by constructing a 3D model of a plant cell. Good performance based learning objectives use Bloom’s Taxonomy verbs such as construct, draw, build, write, represent and many others. Checklists and rubrics are excellent tools for teachers to use when evaluating performance based assessments.

            Technology also offers several alternatives to assessments such as, Kahoot, FlipGrid, Prodigy, and Formative. These resources are best suited for formative assessment. They can be used for activities like quizzes, pre-tests, and exit slips. Teachers can create homework assignments for students in Formative and the teacher will be able to respond to and give them live feedback. Flipgrid is an excellent formative assessment tool. It is the perfect resource to use as an exit slip. In my future classroom, I would have students create a video after class to share 3 takeaways that they have from the lesson.

            I know that assessment is an essential part of the learning process and it should take place before, during, and after learning. One of the most important things that I have learned is that formative assessment is not only for students, but also for teachers. This is where we see if our instruction is effective or if we need to switch things up. We as teachers need to break down the stigma that students have attached with the word assessment. Assessments are not something to be feared, but a tool that is put in place to enhance their education.

Active Learning Strategies

Active learning allows students to be engaged in the learning process. Students are encouraged to think critically, creatively, and actively participate in the lesson being taught. Active learning strategies can be incorporated into all content areas, grade levels, and used for a multitude of reasons. For example, they can be used to gather pre-assessment data, access prior knowledge, discover misconceptions, and check understanding.

            One of my favorite and most used active learning strategies is Think-Pair-Share. In Think-Pair-Share the teacher poses a question, has the students to think quietly about their answer for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then has the students pair with a partner to discuss their answers for 2-3 minutes. This strategy is excellent because it increases the level of student participation and interaction. It also naturally builds wait time into the lesson and provides teachers an opportunity to check for student understanding.

            Another one of my favorite active learning strategies is Graffiti. This strategy is perfect for gathering pre-assessment data and accessing students’ prior knowledge. Graffiti also works wonderfully as a summarizing strategy. Graffiti works best when students are paired into groups. Each group will be assigned a color marker and a piece of chart paper. The different colored markers make it so that the teacher knows which responses belong to which groups. The teacher will pose a question or topic and the students will work together within their group to formulate responses.  Once each group has finished their responses, the class will discuss all of the posters and the teacher will provide feedback.

            In my future classroom I would love to implement Interactive Notebooks. These are a great tool for keeping students engaged in the lesson and also providing them an opportunity to be creative. The students are able to be prideful and take ownership of their learning. Interactive Notebooks make learning fun and give students an easily accessible and organized study tool. My favorite thing about active learning strategies by far is that they are completely free! These strategies make such a huge impact on student learning and will really vamp up your instruction. I think all teachers can agree that when our students are having fun and are engaged in the lesson, it makes the whole process better for everybody involved.

ALL Things Differentiation

Differentiation can simply be described as meeting students where they are at and providing a personalized instruction. Each student still has the same final destination; some students just need to take a different path to reach it. It is our job as teachers to guide students toward the end goal and provide them with the support that they need to get there. Differentiation should be provided for mental, physical, or emotional needs.

            Students at different academic levels require different forms of differentiation. Low preforming students may need to have certain lessons pre-taught in order to build schema, which will result in a better understanding of the material being taught. One-on-one instruction time is crucial for low preforming students’ differentiation. This not only gives the students a more personalized instruction, but also allows the teacher to better and more quickly identify misconceptions and provide feedback. Low preforming students may also benefit from explicit instruction, anchor chats, and teacher think alouds.

            Middle preforming students may need specialized instruction that focuses on addressing misconceptions and closing gaps in learning. It is important for teachers to keep these students in mind when planning and executing their instruction because they often overlooked due to their gradual progression. Middle preforming students should be encouraged to express their ideas freely and take ownership of their work.

            High preforming students need to be challenged. The most important thing to consider when planning differentiation for high preforming students is that we are not giving them more work and labeling it as differentiation. The challenge that we provide our high flyers should inspire creativity and require them to think critically. One way to apply differentiation to high preforming students is to allow them to create a poster or PowerPoint to showcase what they have learned. Other strategies include: passion projects, choice boards, and class newspapers.

            Unmotivated students can present a challenge to teachers. As teachers we are tasked with creating engaging lessons for our students. We should promote a growth mindset over a fixed mindset, meaning that we should praise students for their efforts over their ability. Teachers should also develop meaningful and respectful relationships with their students. When students feel that you genuinely care about them they are more likely to perform. Another strategy to motivate students is to form a caring community of learners in your classroom. This encourages respectful collaboration between students and teachers. Expectations for all students should also be set high and be made clear. Ambiguous and vague instructions should be avoided, we should remain clean and concise. Teachers should also be inspirational to their students, we should model and share our successes and failures with them.

            English Language Learners will also benefit from all of the strategies listed above. In addition to the differentiation strategies previously mentioned, ELL students also need visual representations. Charts, diagrams, pictures, and explicit step-by-step teacher modeling of instruction. ELL students learn best when they are immersed in a group of English speaking peers. This exposes them to the language and social cues. Extended wait time is also a crucial strategy for ELL students. These students need time to process the information in their native language before formulating an answer to give in English.

            In my future classroom, I will be sure to incorporate all of the previously mentioned strategies. I know the importance of providing individualized instruction that is tailored to each student. I love the idea of allowing high flying students the opportunity to participate in passion projects that showcase their learning. In the future, I will be sure that all of my students receive the best personalized instruction that I have to offer. I hope to encourage my students to express themselves without fear of judgement.

Social Emotional Learning and Conscious Discipline

Social Emotional Learning is the concept of the teaching students what emotions are, how to regulate their emotions, and how to deal with the emotions of others in a healthy way. Social Emotional Learning is most effective when implemented and taught to children at an early age. Social Emotional Learning encourages children to manage their own emotions and solve problems which can lead to building/maintaining healthy relationships. Social Emotional Learning teaches students a four step process for when something is causing them emotional distress. First, they should stop. Stopping allows the students to distance themselves from whatever is causing them stress. Second, they should take a deep breath. Breathing allows students to get a clear mind and begin to destress. Third, they should think. Students should think about their situation. What kind of reaction does it deserve? Is this just a “sticks and stones” situation? Finally, the student should act on the situation in a healthy way.

 In the classroom, aspects of Social Emotional Learning can be seen by implementing daily check-ins, and morning greater boards. Daily check-ins provide students the opportunity to express any emotions, their highs/lows, or anything that they may have experienced during the week. This is a great way for teachers to build relationships with their students and create a sense of trust with them. Daily check-ins give teachers the chance to really know what is going on in their student’s lives. Morning Greeting Boards provide teachers the chance to personally greet each student at the door with a high-five, hug, fist bump, or smile. This seemingly simple activity provides a personal interaction with each students which shows them that they are valued and cared for.

Conscious Discipline ties in perfectly with Social Emotional Learning. Contradictory to its name, Conscious Discipline is not discipline at all. The goal of Conscious Discipline is to teach children to self-regulate their emotions. One of the central focuses of Conscious Discipline is keeping children safe, both physically and emotionally. The best way to keep children safe is to provide them with a plethora of strategies and tools that they know how to utilize for when they feel upset, scared, overwhelmed, or any other emotion that may provoke a negative outcome. A few examples of Conscious Discipline are empathy, choice, encouragement, assertiveness, and composure. We must keep in mind that it is import that children regulate their emotions in a healthy way that makes them feel comfortable. When we give students control over their actions it builds a sense of trust which may make them more likely to come to you when they need assistance.

One way to make students feel safe is to implement a designated safe space into your classroom. The safe space should be in an area away from peers. In the safe space students can decompress in a healthy, positive way. Your safe space can include things like stuffed animals, posters that illustrate breathing exercises, or coloring books. “I love you rituals” and breathing exercises are also great Conscious Discipline strategies to equip students with.

Social Emotional Learning and Conscious Discipline are amazing strategies to implement in any classroom. Teaching students how to gain control over their emotions allows for more positive interactions with others and promotes a greater sense of self-regulation. Students will be able to better handle confrontation because they will know problem-solving strategies. Social Emotional Learning and Conscious Discipline prepare students to become successful members of society by learning how to digest their and other’s emotions.

English Language Learners

English Language Learners, or ELL’s, are students are students who are cannot communicate fluently or learn effectively in English. These students also often come from homes or backgrounds where English is not spoken. ELL students are provided accommodations and differentiation throughout all academic curriculum.

As teachers, we can make ELL students more comfortable by building relationships with them and being culturally responsive. When we build a meaningful personal relationship with ELL students it shows them that they are loved, valued, and cared for. When we integrate their culture into the classroom, it helps to make the student feel appreciated and comfortable in what may have previously been an uncomfortable setting.

One of the most important thing a teacher can do for ELL students is to teach language skills across the curriculum. ELL students should be applying what they are learning about the English Language to every area. This can be accomplished very simply, if you are teaching math then teach the language of math and so on. It is also crucial for teachers to incorporate ELL students’ native language and culture into the curriculum and classroom. There are many tools and resources to aid in this task. YouTube videos can be shown to the class that to share different aspects of the ELL students culture, books that contain characters that look like your ELL student can be read aloud and added to the classroom library, and Google Translate can be utilized in the classroom to help strengthen communication.

There are numerous differentiation strategies that benefit ELL students. One of the simplest, yet most effective, strategy is to increase the wait time by 5-7 seconds. This strategy is beneficial to ELL students because they think in their native language. By extending the wait time it will give the ELL students the chance to process and translate the information which will increase their comprehension. ELL students also benefit from explicit, systematic, teacher led instruction. Teachers should enunciate and speak slowly so that ELL students have time to process what is being said. ELL students should also be encouraged to participate in group discussions. This can be achieved by planning a lot of partner/group work into lessons. ELL students learn so much by simply interacting with their peers, this is where they pick up on social cues and break out of their comfort zone.

In my future classroom, I will incorporate all of the different learning styles not only for my ELL students, but for all of my students. Every child learns differently and it is our job as teachers to find out what type of learning best suits a child, and then to provide them with it. Learning styles that I may encounter are musical, visual-spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, logical-mathematical, verbal-linguistic, and bodily-kinesthetic. By meeting the unique learning requirements of each student I will be providing them a personalized education that is engaging to them; therefore, more likely to be remembered.

Sensory Integration in the Classroom, Orton Gillingham, Maria Montesorri

Everybody knows about the five senses: sight, touch, smell, hear, and taste, but what many people do not know is that we actually have two more senses: vestibular and proprioceptive. Vestibular sense is the sense of body position, balance, and movement. Everybody experiences vestibular sense in a different way and some people do not like it. For example, some people love the fast spinning motions that they experience on roller coasters, while other people get sick while simply riding in a car. The proprioceptive sense processes information caused from stretching your muscles, bending, straightening, pulling, or compressing joints between bones. These types of motions and actions help us to focus and relax.

 

            The Orton-Gillingham approach is an action- based learning style. There is a constant interaction between the teacher and students; speaking, listening, reading, and writing are intertwined throughout all aspects of instruction to reinforce learning. Maria Montessori is another advocate for sensory integration. She believes that students learn best when their senses are activated. Montessori also believes that students should take control of their learning and that is the teachers job to facilitate, not dictate the learning. She believed that a child centered classroom is the ideal learning environment; she states that children should have the opportunity to walk around and work independently on activities that interest them. A Montessori classroom should be calm, organized, and chaos free. The materials should be child sized and children should be taught to put their materials away. Montessori also believed that children should interact with nature and not be confined to the indoors. There should be live plants and animals included in the classroom as well as shells, stones, and nests for the children to examine.

 

            In my future classroom, I will have an open layout that is free of clutter. An open layout allows students to work in groups easier and gives them plenty of space. An organized, clutter free room eliminates many distractions for students. I also love the idea of flexible seating and having a sensory spot. Flexible seating involves having chairs, stools, and floor seating, with a variety of textures, heights, and levels of firmness. By having different textured and comfortable seating the students are more comfortable, so they will be more focused . The sensory spot provides students a safe outlet for their stress and frustration. If students get overwhelmed and need a moment to decompress, it is the perfect place for them to go.

Coding and Robotics

Coding and Robotics sounds intimidating, but it can be easily integrated across all content areas. One of the most important things to do when introducing coding is to allow students some time to play and get familiar with the coding materials before jumping into the lesson. This allows students to be more focused when the lesson starts because their curiosity has been satisfied. Coding also includes many of the elements of STEAM. There are many free coding resources available. Other resources, such as BeeBots, can be purchased online. Beebots are small robots that students can code to follow patterns. They can be seamlessly implemented into literacy, science, math, and social studies. In literacy, students can use coding and Beebots to retell a story using sequence of events or show letter-sound correspondence. In math, Beebots can be used to demonstrate add/subtraction or multiplication/division. In science, students can code Beebots to show the life cycle of the butterfly, and can be used to show location on a map in Social Studies. Coding and robotics are essential skills that students will need for jobs of the future. Coding and robotics teach students to think critically, problem solve, be creative, and work as a team.

            I was so impressed when I learned that many Pre-K and Kindergarten students are proficient in coding. These students are using coding to identify colors, shapes, letters, and numbers. By starting coding and robotics at a young age it has a hand in preventing gender roles from being assigned. It shows that girls can enjoy science, engineering, and programming. Coding and Robotics also prepares students for failure, it teaches them the process of trial and error. It is the teachers job to normalize less than perfect outcomes so that students can begin to learn from their mistakes.

            Coding is also an excellent differentiation strategy for gifted learners. Students could be allowed to take what they have learned and design a grid along with coding instructions to represent their learning. I cannot wait to use coding and robotics in my future classroom. There is a way to make coding and robotics fit every age and content area.