In all honestly, after reviewing the National Education Standards for Teacher, I realized that all of the indicators (a, b, c, d) for the second standard (Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments) are all areas that I feel I need improvement. However, if I needed to choose two, I would choose indicators (c) and (d):
c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.
d. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
My GAME Plan:
Goal(s): Change 1-2 unit plans that include personalize learning activities and varied formative and summative assessments
Action(s): Participate in a PLC that could guide me through updating and incorporating the above into my lessons.
Monitor: NEED HELP WITH THIS AREA, but I am thinking that at the end of each lesson, I could keep a journal to reflect and reevaluate each lesson.
Evaluate/Extend: Give students a survey.
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I like your emphasis on taking part in a professional learning community (PLC) to help you reach your goals. I have found that the input of others can be crucial to success. While we all have good ideas, there's no way any one of us can have ALL of the good ideas. Sometimes, a colleague will think of something that never even crossed your mind.
ReplyDeleteI would suggest attempting to incorporate teachers from one or two other schools within your district in your PLC as well. Sometimes, teachers from the same school wind up with very similar ideas based on the environment they are in. By opening your PLC sessions up to others, you will gain perspective from teachers who are in different environments. This could be helpful.
Good luck!
Hi Tania.
ReplyDeleteI also chose 2c as one of the indicators that I need improvement in. I like the fact that you plan to adjust 1-2 unit plans at a time. I think it is a good idea to take it slow and not become overwhelmed with the process; because, if you become overwhelmed it may result in you not wanting to attempt adjust other units in the future. Also, I think participating in a PLC would be a great idea when working through creating and implementing the lessons into your classroom. It would be good to have people in your school to form the PLC with; perhaps you can find 1-2 other teachers who would like to work on adjusting 1-2 units as well? It would be worth investigating and asking colleagues, don’t you think? If you cannot find other local teachers to work with, perhaps you could search online educational communities and create a “virtual” PLC team. Just some ideas.
In reference to monitoring, I think a journal is a good idea. Maybe you could even use an online grading program that you to track student achievement and see how the new lessons helped student achievement (?). Also, if you do form a PLC team, perhaps the group members could meet periodically to discuss progress and decided upon successes and improvements.
Good ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Tonya Todd
Hello Tania,
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Tonya that you could monitor the progress of your goal through your PLC meetings. My district is just starting the PLC process and we are finding it to be very valuable. I think journaling and data collection from your assessments will be a great place to start your discussions on monitoring. You might want to consider keeping the information electronically in your computer so that it is easy to access the following year. As Dr. Cennamo pointed out, it is easy to forget what was successful and what was not when an entire year passes by. We teach a lot in a school year and every group of students is different. If you have a log of some sort to reference it may help you have better lessons and assessments over time.
Also for evaluation, you could do an online survey for your students. There are many out there that collect the data for you. They might like it better than the usual paper and pencil survey and it uses technology. One that my district uses frequently is http://www.zoomerang.com/. You will also want to evaluate the effectiveness of your journaling and PLC meetings. Through the process you might discover other ideas to explore.
Shonda
Tonya & Shonda,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comments, suggestions and words of encouragement. Next school year we are going to be asked to create our own PLC's and I am hoping to have this be the topic of my PLC. I am confident that I will be able to find other teachers that want the same. I absolutely agree that recording student achievement electronically is most likely the most effect way of assessing their success.
Thanks again,
Tania
Tania,
ReplyDeleteI wonder if having students create Learning Portfolios online through a Wiki or blog might help you monitor their learning. By facilitating their own GAME process they will be able to select a goal (pre-established by the unit they will be studying) then proceed through the unit using the tools you present them. Then to help you in your Monitoring stage you can have them reflect and evaluate how well they met the goals of the unit based on a artifact they choose from the unit. They can post the artifact online and follow a reflection criteria provided by you.
Cheers,
Chris
Tania,
ReplyDeleteThere are many things you can focus on in PLC meetings next year. Your focus may change throughout the school year. At my school we have started by meeting in PLC teams by grade level. We have discussed assessments, but first had to create and agree upon what assessments to use. Once we came up with universal assessments for the areas we wanted to focus on, then we could compare the results after they were given to our students. We did this many times throughout the year. This is the first year we have done this and I really enjoyed it. I felt that all the teachers were on the same page for our unit objectives and assessments. This was especially helpful for me since it is my first year teaching third grade. It is just another way to ensure that we are teaching to the best of our ability to our students. Good luck with PLC meetings next year. They can be very beneficial, but do take some patience.
Shonda