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anonymous

Paperless Tiger « buckenglish - 0 views

  • Does this jettisoning of time-honored titles mean that the paperless classroom is also lacking a creator, controller and grader?  Is the paperless classroom also a teacherless paradigm?  The answer is in some regards, yes.  I have removed myself from center stage.  I have relinquished the need to control every class.  I have stopped seeing work as stagnant…completed and submitted by students and then graded by me.  I have let go of my need to pre-plan months at a time, in favor of following the path that unfolds as we learn together.  My classes are not, however, teacherless, just less about the teaching and more about the learning.  The students know that I am ready and willing to be student to their insights, that they can teach, create, control and even evaluate their own learning.  This shift has inspired a true spirit of collaboration, critical thinking, and communication in B304–it has been an amazing semester and has changed the course of my career for good!
    • Dan Rader
       
      I think this is the key to the whole post.
    • Russ Goerend
       
      Hey, those are three 21st Century skills!
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    To use the two virtual extensions - the wiki and the ning - create so many avenues for creating, discussing and viewing both instructional tools and student work. It definitely does pave the way for a whole new way of teaching and learning.
anonymous

Iowa Department of Education 21st Century Skills - 0 views

  • Friedman
    • Matt Townsley
       
      Have you read Friedman? I have a little...there's also plenty of push-back on this guy's ideas.
  • (1) critical thinking and problem solving; (2) collaboration and leadership; (3) agility and adaptability; (4) initiative and entrepreneurialism; (5) effective oral and written communication; (6) accessing and analyzing information; and (7) curiosity and imagination.
    • Matt Townsley
       
      I think these are all great...but think back to the '5 essential characteristics' and formative assessment, etc. How will we be able to "assess" these skills? It's tough to assess these soft skills, in my opinion.
    • Russ Goerend
       
      Yes, these are definitely broad topics. What underlying, assessable skills make up these survival skills?
Russell A

Educational Leadership:Informative Assessment:The Best Value in Formative Assessment - 3 views

  • Even though assessments will continue to be labeled formative or summative, how the results are used is what determines whether the assessment is formative or summative.
  • but some, by design, are better suited to summative use and others to formative use.
  • Although such assessments are sometimes intended for formative use—that is, to guide further instruction for groups or individual students—teachers' and administrators' lack of understanding of how to use the results can derail this intention
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  • however, teachers must plan and allow time for students to learn the knowledge and skills they missed on the summative assessment and to retake the assessment
  • When we try to teacher-proof the assessment process by providing a steady diet of ready-made external tests, we lose these advantages. Such tests cannot substitute for the day-to-day level of formative assessment that only assessment-literate teachers are able to conduct.
    • Russell A
       
      music instructors are said to do formative assessments every 5-10 seconds. I haven't figured out whether that's good or bad.
  • Where am I going? Give students a list of the learning targets they are responsible for mastering, written in student-friendly language. Show students anonymous strong and weak examples of the kind of product or performance they are expected to create and have them use a scoring guide to determine which one is better and why. Where am I now? Administer a nongraded quiz part-way through the learning, to help both teacher and students understand who needs to work on what. Highlight phrases on a scoring guide reflecting specific strengths and areas for improvement and staple it to student work. Have students identify their own strengths and areas for improvement using a scoring guide. Have students keep a list of learning targets for the course and periodically check off the ones they have mastered. How can I close the gap? Give students feedback and have them use it to set goals. Have students graph or describe their progress on specific learning targets. Ask students to comment on their progress: What changes have they noticed? What is easy that used to be hard? What insights into themselves as learners have they discovered? When students use feedback from the teacher to learn how to self-assess and set goals, they increase ownership of their own success. In this type of assessment environment, teachers and students collaborate in an ongoing process using assessment information to improve rather than judge learning. It all hinges on the assessment's ability to provide timely, understandable, and descriptive feedback to teachers and students.
    • Teresa Bellinghausen
       
      One of the most important features of formative assessment is that teachers and students are both actively involved in the assessment process. Students are not just passive recipients of grades, but must set learning goals and reflect on their own learning, making adjustments in strategies when needed. My guess is that in most classrooms, especially at the high school level, this will be a radical departure from the norm.
  • When teachers assess student learning for purely formative purposes, there is no final mark on the paper and no summative grade in the grade book.
  • What is formative assessment, then? First, it's not a product.
  • Assessment for learning can take many different forms in the classroom.
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    great article on what 'formative assessment' is and is not.
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    great article on what 'formative assessment' is and is not.
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    I feel that modern language teachers do many assessments during each class. This year, we tracked all the kinds of assessments that we do. I have already ended up with a huge notebook full of the different types of assessment that is used in my classroom. My question is if we should have that many or should we concentrate on ones that give us the best results on depicting a student's progress.
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    I always think back to what Doug Reeves says about the difference between formative and summative assessments. He says formative assessment is like exploratory surgery; summative assessment is like an autopsy.
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    Great description Bridgette. I love this and will use it with my college students.
Matt Townsley

Formative and Summative Assessment in the Classroom - 0 views

  • When teachers use sound instructional practice for the purpose of gathering information on student learning, they are applying this information in a formative way. In this sense, formative assessment is pedagogy and clearly cannot be separated from instruction. It is what good teachers do. The distinction lies in what teachers actually do with the information they gather. How is it being used to inform instruction? How is it being shared with and engaging students? It's not teachers just collecting information/data on student learning; it's what they do with the information they collect.
    • Matt Townsley
       
      well said. I think that putting this into practice will be a challenge. Convincing others that this mentality is where we should be going might be even more of a challenge though. Wow.
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    another great write-up on formative assessment; this one comes from a secondary (middle school) source. The driver's license analogy is worth sharing with colleagues, in my opinion.
Russ Goerend

The Edjurist - Information on School and Educational Law - Blog - Outliers = ... - 0 views

  • a mile wide and an inch deep
    • Russ Goerend
       
      I'm interested to see the opinions of those in the ICC group regarding this book. I have not read it, but I know Gladwell had one of the keynotes at NECC this year and Outliers is brought up fairly often by my colleagues. It's definitely a book I'd like to read at some point, if only for the sake of seeing what all the fuss is about.
Matt Townsley

Iowa Joins 49 States in Common Core Standards Initiative - Iowa Department of Education - 2 views

  • "Iowa is fortunate to have not only state core content standards, but also the Iowa Core Curriculum, which provides rigorous expectations for all students and gives teachers the tools to change teaching and learning in this state," Jeffrey said. "With our recently passed Iowa Core Curriculum, Iowa can easily incorporate national standards because the Core Curriculum provides more explicit guidance to reach high expectations."
    • Matt Townsley
       
      I find this whole discussion of 'common core standards' to be pretty intriguing. Not too long ago, Iowa was the only (?) state that did not have statewide standards - each district was charged was creating its own. Now we're on board with joining a coalition to create national standards. Things change quickly!
    • Gina Martin
       
      They need to be adapted to special education students that are severe and profound....we have to adapt our curriculum to meet these standards, but it would be nice if all schools in Iowa are using the same adaptations.
    • Kim Renning
       
      I find it interesting as well...We (Iowa) should be well on the way with the Iowa Core Curriculum.
  • The goal is to have a common core of state standards that states can voluntarily adopt. States may choose to include additional standards beyond the common core as long as the common core represents at least 85 percent of the state's standards in English language arts and mathematics. The second phase of this initiative is to ultimately develop common assessments aligned to the core standards developed through the process.
    • Matt Townsley
       
      moving towards national assessments?! I wonder what companies like Pearson think of this idea. Not that it really matters, but I could see some special interest groups becoming...'interested' in getting these contracts. Plan on keeping an eye on how all of this progresses.
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    I thought this was interesting...
Russ Goerend

TeachPaperless: 21st Century Skills: My Personal Mission Statement - 0 views

  • In schoolhouse lingo, I could only declare teachers and students 'absent' from the board of P21. And until that absence is rectified, the board will only symbolize the top-down old-fashioned 20th century style of management that's gotten us into so many of the problems that as a nation we currently face.
    • Russ Goerend
       
      I don't know a ton abou P21, but student centeredness is a facet of Iowa Core, and it should be for all of education in the 21st Century.
  • building collaborative partnerships between families, communities, and educators independent of any proprietary business interests.
    • Russ Goerend
       
      Collaboration is so key to the world our students will grow up in. I feel there is a mentality that collaboration = cheating with the kids I've learned with (and when I was in high school). It will be important to change the connotation of the word.
Matt Townsley

ICC beginning of year discussion/PD - 4 views

Has your school had an AEA or district rep lead a session on the Iowa Core Curriculum? If so, how was it received by your staff?

started by Matt Townsley on 22 Aug 09 no follow-up yet
Matt Townsley

Where Iowa Education Chief Jason Glass is Wrong About Race to the Top and Iow... - 2 views

  • 2.  The Iowa Core Curriculum doesn’t just set standards. Director Glass said, “On your point regarding the Iowa Core, I think it’s the state’s responsibility to set the bar for schools to achieve and then allow districts to determine how they get there.”  The problem with this is that the Iowa Core does tell districts how to get there.  Not only that, but the curriculum is problematic how it presents certain topics and what it leaves out – it is rife with bias and indoctrination. Not only that there was hardly any opportunity for educators and citizens to weigh in on its content and direction.  There is a white paper written on the subject and I would encourage Director Glass to read it.  I understand that he is new to his position, but I think he has an understanding of the Iowa Core that isn’t accurate.
    • Matt Townsley
       
      Glass reiterates his thoughts on Iowa Core. 
Matt Townsley

Ankeny teachers praise time they have to team on classwork | The Des Moines Register | ... - 1 views

  • Teachers whose areas overlap - such as all the educators in the same grade level at an elementary school, or those who teach the same subject - meet twice a week to coordinate lesson plans and review data on students' progress.
Kathy Kaldenberg

EBSCOhost: The Common Core Standards: Opportunities for Teacher-librarians to Move to ... - 2 views

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    Available via EbscoHost Iowa AEA Online. ID/password available from your school library.
Judy Boerm

Branstad-Reynolds administration's blueprint unveils vision for Iowa's education remode... - 5 views

    • Judy Boerm
       
      Governor Branstad has some good ideas on the direction that education should go, but I am wondering how some of it will be accomplished. For example, I think it's smart to reduce the principals' managerial tasks so they can use their time to lead and support great teaching, but who is going to pick up their tasks?
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    Education blueprint
Brenda Schnell

Ning's Official Blog on Social Networking Sites » Ning in the education depa... - 0 views

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    Posted by Jason Rand on August 26, 2011 - 2:15 pm As educators and students head back to school, we wanted to highlight a few ways Ning is used in the classroom as an e-learning tool.
Matt Townsley

Is REAL Formative Assessment Even Possible? - The Tempered Radical - 0 views

  • Instead, school leaders should ask that teachers meet with ONE collaborative group and one collaborative group only. Then, they should require that collaborative groups make formative assessment a priority. Meetings should focus on studying formative assessment data, creating exemplars, improving rubrics, and designing remediation and enrichment opportunities for kids. The simple truth is teachers just don’t have the time to do formative assessment correctly if their attention is divided between the kinds of traditional meetings we’ve always been required to attend.
    • Matt Townsley
       
      Yes!  In my opinion, this should be the #1 priority of every collaborative learning team. 
Matt Townsley

MoneySKILL® - 1 views

shared by Matt Townsley on 12 Nov 09 - Cached
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    financial literacy modules
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    These online modules could be used to help schools teach the financial literacy aspect of the ICC
lgarza

Documentos para la gramática en Español - 1 views

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    Great resource for Spanish Grammar.
angrichards

Science based Learning is about to become Mainstream | Disrupt Education | Big Think - 0 views

    • angrichards
       
      Using web2.0 tools to motivate students
  • the biggest enemy of effective learning can’t be taken away by applying those strategies because it’s something that is fundamental and essentially more important than having a strategy: motivation or or in other words the lack of motivation many learners experience.
  • learning in school or college was based on tradition and lesson plans and undoubtedly some well-respected methods but without real scientific evidence that the way we learn is actually the best way we could learn. It’s just the way some people decided on and we have always done it ever since.
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    Blog on motivating students to learn using web2.0 tools
Michelle Hill

Iowa Core Curriculum facing uncertain future - 1 views

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    Once a month a small group of Irving Elementary School teachers gather to talk shop. It isn't just water cooler conversation about who's causing problems in class. They are comparing literacy strategies and best teaching practices. They bring samples of teaching resources and technology.
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