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Week 7 This reading is discussing the use of rewards in teaching and education. It discusses the effects on motivation and if the behavior being rewarded will continue if the reward is removed. Depending on how you interpret this article, you can use rewards in the most effective way to change the targeted behavior or remind yourself that that you can aid students in discovering self motivation by rewarding them with praise.

Teachers often offer rewards for good work, but Willingham speaks of their potential dangers. Rewards must be used with care, only if necessary, for a specific reason, not as a constant. In an attempt to encourage desired behaviors, they could produce the opposite effect if an expected reward is outside of reach. Rewarding a student for the act of producing rather than for producing a quality product, can also lead to lack of motivation and interest in learning. The system can also backfire is the offered incentive is not a desired reward. Though it seems intuitive and effective short term to offer rewards, this article presents some great points for the thoughtful educator in pointing out that rewards can be used effectively, but may also be more trouble than they are worth.

I like the idea presented in the article that grades can be construed as rewards for students. At first I sort of rolled my eyes (internally) at the idea, but the way the article described rewards actually made it meaningful to me. The article says that rewards (when used) should be "Desirable, Certain, and Prompt" to be effective. For grades to motivate students, they should be desirable (i.e. the intrinsic reward of good grades should already be ingrained), the grades need to be Certain (that is, the students need to have clear ideas of what it takes to earn an "A" or "B" etc) and must be Prompt (students tend to fail to see the correlation between effort and grades if they are given feedback on work days or weeks after the assignment is performed). The idea of promptness really stood out to me because contractually, I am required to update grades for students every 2 weeks. I always found that to be woefully inadequate for students to learn from their assessed work. I want students to be able to learn from mistakes they make on their assignments, but often seeing a grade value weeks after the attempt is made is similar to the 'ice cream' example in the article. Having a grade with feedback a day after they make an attempt will make the student feel more 'attached' to that grade and be more likely to fix it. For a graded assignment that was done long ago, students may see it as a more detached product and less likely to care about making corrections.

This seems very similar to Project Based Learning and I like how many examples they give of how to use this in specific classroom settings! Great resource! Thanks!

PBS producer David Bolt explores ways to bridge the technology access gap.

PBS producer David Bolt explores ways to bridge the technology access gap.

Good article on how involving parents in the school community can lead to better student achievement and attendence.

"Parent involvement can make a difference in a child's education." I know this is true in my school. I know for a fact that my students who have parents that are involved do better academically. This does not mean that the parent necessarily has to have a high level of education. I have had students really succeed because their parents check their agenda and homework each night when they come home. Sometimes, just knowing or having a parent that cares and that is there to push you is enough.

I agree wholeheartedly with the quote that states "Parent involvement can make a difference in a child's education." Once I read this line, I was intrigued with the rest of the article. I am a very driven individual when it comes to education, and I want that for my son as well. My wife and I are constantly coaching our son on the importance of education, and making sure that he completes his work on time and correctly. I have seen first hand in my two years of teaching what parent involvement can do for a students school work. I have seen students whose parents are actively involved in their school careers, and the students performed on a much higher level than those of students whose parents did not seem to be involved.

Automatically Populated when I entered URL...Former senior producer at Edutopia Beaverton School District secondary literacy specialist Credit: Grace Rubenstein Janet Fortier had her educational epiphany two years ago, when she started bumping into teachers with their arms full of easy reading assignments. "I'm running off articles because my kids can't read the textbook," they told her. Article is relevant to closing the instructional gap to help improve reading levels.

(Week 7: Ruchel and Beth) This journal article is accessible through the link given above by accessing the UMUC library. This journal article discuss practical strategies to help with teaching the alphabet. The importance of the alphabet for early literacy skills is discussed in the article. The article stresses the flaw with the popular "letter of the week" way of teaching the alphabet including the fact that this method takes 26 weeks just to cover the alphabet as well as the fact that if students know a number of letters those weeks are a waste of valuable class time. Teachers can use this article to further their instructional practices in the early childhood classroom by focusing on EAK (Enhanced Alphabet Knowledge Instruction) which "emphasizes identifying the letter name and sound, recognizing the letter in text, and producing the letter form, through flexible, distributed cycles of review based on factors that influence acquisition of alphabet knowledge" (Jones, Clark & Reutzel, 2013). "Rather than the traditional method of one cycle of massed instruction, EAK instruction advocates teaching letters through multiple, distributed instructional cycles which allows for letters to be introduced, practiced, and revisited several times, as needed, during the school year" (Jones et al., 2013). References Jones, C., Clark, S., & Reutzel, D. (2013). Enhancing Alphabet Knowledge Instruction: Research Implications and Practical Strategies for Early Childhood Educators. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41(2), 81-89. doi:10.1007/s10643-012-0534-9

This article addresses the impact of praise on students. It is most often considered motivational and effective, but depending on its use, can do more harm than good. Willingham writes of several stipulations for effective praise. It should be sincere and spontaneous, earned, and focus on process, not ability. Several studies are described to demonstrate a link between praise and motivation. It can produce greater interest in an activity, which may be quickly lost if praise is no longer present. As students mature, they are more likely to consider the implications of praise. If it is given for a menial task, or a task in which the student has not done quality work, they tend to feel that the teacher requires or expects less of them, which speaks to their perception of potential personal success. Willingham writes, "by not criticizing substandard work, the teacher implicitly says, "i believe that you are not capable of anything better". The effects of praise are also affected by student resilience. If a student believes that his current ability can not be improved, then a failure to solicit praise is corroboration of his lack of intelligence. A student who believes abilities can be strengthened, may see it as a sign that he should keep working. In considering how motivation impacts assessment grades, we must keep in mind that it is possible for motivation to transcend the activity itself. Praise and other teacher interactions can play an important role in shaping the learning attitudes of students as well.

This is an AWESOME article for our group! Motivation is a key element in our exploratory question and praise can play an important role. What I found interesting is that praise can be good or bad for student motivation purely based on how and when it is used. Some of the situations were fairly obvious, such as being sincere with the praise especially with the older kids. I know my students know when they put forth effort so it would be damaging to praise them when they have not. The element that I found to be surprising was the suggestion to complement the "process, not ability." I have been guilty of praising finished products rather than how the work was done.

A research article on academic ability and how this can be developed in students of various backgrounds, race, and socioeconomic status.

A comprehensive mission of public schools is to produce students who are intellectually competent and prepared for postsecondary education and the increasingly competitive workforce. However, differences in educational outcomes of students indicate that the impact of our current public school system is limited.

EDTC615 Fall2018 Group1 This is my smart goal: By the end of 1st quarter 75% of the LSN Government students will be able to analyze political cartoons with 75% accuracy for historical content and meaning for the LSN FAST 2 test. My students will not be able to perform well if I can not use effective questioning skills in order to assist them in inquiry-based learning to "seek" the answers they must know in Historical context. The article uncovers the use of questioning, the types of questions asked, and how to effective use questioning to assist in the learning process. Questions are asked in the classroom environment on a daily basis but often times not effectively or correctly. Most times questions are asked in such a random manner that often times leave the student in a state of confusion. Teachers can use this article to assist in their instructional practices by learning how to effectively ask questions with the use of Bloom's taxonomy of learning, the types of nonhierarchical questions as teaching tools (convergent or divergent questions), classification of questions based on knowledge dimensions, and several other different methods/components that used together effectively will produce relevant and effective questioning techniques for teachers and students

This article appeared in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education so at first I was worried that it would not be applicable; however, I quickly found that it is a fantastic resource for teachers of all ages. My goal is to learn more instructional strategies to facilitate an increase in the frequency of higher-level questioning that I use in the classroom to support the learning gaps that I have identified with my students. This article highlights very important concepts related to my search. I have learned that questioning strategies and using various levels should be done with appropriate timing, as it relates to the depth of instruction, to avoid confusion or discouraging students. It was also emphasized that all levels of questioning should be incorporated into learning situations, but suggested questioning methods to ensure that all levels are utilized. The article provides great detail about facilitating the Socratic method, Question Circles, and Student-generated questions. All of these methods will produce higher-level questioning opportunities to increase student exposure to critical thinking tasks. I would highly recommend this article for review for all levels of educators. I am now hoping to learn more about the Socratic method to incorporate this into my own classroom.

This article looks at the importance of technology use in the classrooms in the 21st century and how this technology can be used to help close learning gaps. It specifically looks at students who are "at-risk". This article addresses great points but also cautions that in order for technology to be effective, it needs to be accompanied by professional development.

This article highlights a report completed by the Alliance for Excellent Education and the Staford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education in 2014. The article notes that students can make significant increases in learning and engagement through the use of technology. However, students from poor socio economic backgrounds may not have the same instruction or access to technology as those from more affluent neighborhoods. The auther then presents a list of solutions.

I like that this article encourages a blended learning approach with technology. I think that tech is a powerful tool that needs to be paired with hands on activities for the early learners.

WEEK 8 - (Chris Baugher, Patricia Bankis and A. Burns) Assessment is the key to good instruction. It shows us what students know and allows us to adjust our instruction. Assessment is tied to learning goals and standards, but students must own the assessment process as well, as they must be able to articulate what and how they are being assessed -- and its value.

This article provides five useful strategies to help students improve and to improve assessments. There are two key factors in this article which ring true for me. The first is "formative assessment and feedback along the way" (Miller 2015) where students are given specific feedback on their assessment on how to improve and continue forward (Miller 2015). "Formative assessment allowed students to experiment and, yes, sometimes fail. However, they were given the tools, both through feedback and instruction, to improve and move forward to success." (Miller 2015). What this entails if differentiated instruction; something my district and school are pushing for. The second is "student ownership of assessment process" (Miller 2015). Giving students choice, options, and freedom allows students to take ownership and responsibility for doing something all while doing their best on it. In addition, students will know more about what is being asked of them or what they're supposed to do in order to earn a higher grade or preform the task more effectively. "These methods mean that assessment is no longer done to students, but with them, putting the focus on the student and learning" (Miller 2015). Hopefully with these implementations and integration, students can feel the focus from assessment scores to learning content and gaining understanding.

This article is useful when considering big picture assessment objectives. In my own experiences, I have touched upon each of these strategies when conducting an assessment, but I've never built each of them into one assessment. The (5) strategies mentioned in this article include: Aligning Essential questions at the beginning of a unit to standars, building in written assessment components for students to describe/explain in writing, creating performance and project-based assessments to demonstrate understanding and application of concepts taught, regular and on-going formative assessments and feeback to help teachers to better tailor instruction to meet each learner's needs, and involving students in the decision-making process when choosing activities and when determining diagnostic measurement tools. As a World Language teacher, I think that these tasks which are challenging in themselves to build into curriculum, become extremely difficult in the L2 setting. I'm wondering how L2 instructors find themselves doing each of these things on a regular basis. Do they conduct all of it in L2, as it is suggested that L2 teachers do, or does some of this end up being done in English?

This resource provides a list of 10 strategies to support English Language Learners (ELLs) in math. The best practices which stood out most to me are eliciting nonverbal responses when students need to demonstrate understanding, such as a simple thumbs up or thumbs down. This allows students to answer questions without having to produce the language. In addition, this resource supports my SMART target learning goal to support students with explaining how to solve for an unknown in an equation. The resource suggests using sentence frames so students can better participate in discussions, which also provides structure as students explain their mathematical thinking.

This article discusses the need for implementation of student-involved classroom assessment to aid in closing the achievement gap. The authors discuss how motivation occurs at both ends of the spectrum for learners; high achieving learners are motivated by their continued success while low achieving learners are motivated to give up as they have had few to little successful experiences in the classroom. The article goes on to discuss three methods of embedding students into the learning process that will prove to help them take ownership of their learning experience. The first is student involved classroom assessment. This tool allows students, "under the careful management of their teachers," to give input into how they will be assessed in the classroom. The second is student-involved record keeping. Here students are responsible for tracking their progress, allowing them to see and take charge of their personal growth in the classroom. Finally, student-involved communication is discussed. Students have the opportunity to advocate for themselves in setting such as parent/teacher conferences. The article also discusses four conditions that are necessary, in the opinion of the authors, to assist in closing the achievement gap.

I enjoyed this article, Jason, especially the premise that essentially enforcing the idea that students are underachieving as a whole by a set of arbitrary test scores can, consequently in some empirical cases, produce negative self-fulfilling prophecies in students' beliefs. This promotion of subconscious failing, if replicated and shown to be universally significant, holds dramatic implications. Looking back on my own experiences, Jason, I can remember the pride that I constantly felt in elementary school because we were known to be the leaders in our county; conversely though, if that were not the cause, I think it would be fair to conjecture that a pall of hopelessness may have replaced my academic banner of proverbial pride and high morale.