Module 5b Reflection

This module has helped me think about self-directed learners and the role of differentiation in the following ways…

It makes sense to differentiate when you teach students. No two people are alike, therefore they don’t learn alike. Everyone has different strengths and different ways they process information. I have to read or experience something for myself to really get it. You can lecture to me all day, but if I don’t write down what I hear, there is little chance of it sticking in my head. You can tell me how to do something, but until I try it for myself, I won’t have a really good grasp on it. Conversely, my youngest son learns best when he listens, or when he reads information aloud to himself.

Using differentiation in the classroom is definitely the way to go. I’m still a little iffy on the implementation, though. You can’t teach 5 different ways at one time. I guess the best way to handle it is to present the material in multiple ways, giving each student a chance to learn and practice it in the way he learns best. This might require a bit of change each year as the makeup of a classroom changes and the students have a different set of learning styles. This is definitely something to think about and plan for.

This leads well into self-directed learning. Living and working in the real world requires independence and the ability to work on your own, and often the need to assess whether the results of your work are up to standard. Students need to learn self-assessment from an early age, gaining practice and more sophisticated techniques as they advance in school. Appealing to the students’ strengths and learning styles will help them learn how they will best function in the real world. Allowing them to be an active part of their instruction rather than a passive part will help them as well. Teaching them to assess each other and themselves is a skill they will need in most job situations.

I love that these modules keep coming back to real world application. I feel very strongly that part of our job as teachers is to prepare students for life after school.

Module 5a Reflection

 This module has helped me think about student-centered assessment in the following ways…

Student centered assessment is something I have only recently encountered. Most of my experience in the classroom has been as a student. At the time, I only considered tests or graded assignments to be assessment. I now realize there was so much more going on. I suppose every little thing that happened in a classroom was probably some form of assessment. I have learned that simply observing your students as they work on an assignment is a form of assessment, as well as so many other things.

The more I learn about teaching the more I see how important it is that the student is involved in their own learning process, including assessment. If they know exactly what is expected during an assignment, they can easily tell if they are doing it right, or including enough information, etc. One example of self-assessment is a rubric. I like rubrics. A rubric gives a student very clear expectations for each step of an assignment. The student knows what type of grade they will receive for the level of work they do.

A side effect of student centered assessment is a sense of pride in their work. If they know what to expect, and they know they have worked hard to attain it, they will know they earned that grade. There will be a sense of ownership that they did this and did it well. If using some form of peer assessment, they are given a chance to work with other students to evaluate their work. This reinforces cooperation between students.

Student centered assessment offers the opportunity to practice skills that will be needed in the real world. Students learn to take pride in their work. Self-assessment is needed in the workplace. No one will hold your hand to make sure you do your job right, but it will be expected that you do it right nonetheless. There are opportunities to learn about collaboration with classmates, which will translate into collaboration with colleagues.

Ultimately, I believe student centered assessment will be a valuable tool in teaching my students not only about math, but about life in the real world.

Module 4 Reflection

How can the creation of a student sample help me clarify my unit expectations and improve my instructional design?

Creating a student sample will help me clarify my unit expectations by giving me a chance to see if my plan works. By working through the activities I want my students to do, I will be able to determine their effectiveness in addressing the objectives and standards I wish to teach. It will allow me to test each step of the project to ensure everything has been covered. I will also be able to see what doesn’t work so that I can make changes to my instructional design if necessary. I can make sure it all fits together logically to present the standards in the best order to maximize my students’ learning potential. As I worked through the exercises to plan my student sample, I found myself completely revising the standards I want to address. The ones I have now chosen fit much better into the unit plan I am developing. I believe this will make my unit plan a more effective teaching tool.

As I read the information in Module 4, it reaffirmed that I am on the right track. All along, I have wanted to show students that math is useful and fun outside the classroom, and the discussion of real world scenarios helped me bring that into focus. I now have some concrete ideas that I think will make my project even more applicable to the real world. I want to equip my students with the skills they will need in the real world in today’s society, such as critical thinking and problem solving, and communication and collaboration. My essential question ties right into all of this. It is, “How can math help us have fun in the real world?” I am confident that my students will have a new appreciation of math and how they can use it to make life easier so they can enjoy life to the fullest.

How can I ensure students will achieve the learning objectives when creating their student projects?

Since my project has elements outside of the standards I wish to teach, I will need to be careful to design activities that include all of the objectives. Since this is a project for a math class, I will need to ensure that the students have ample time to practice equations. As they blog about their experiences during the project they will be required to show examples of the equations they use while planning their budget. I will also give them random problems to solve on exit slips to be certain they understand the material. While my student sample will focus on the blog, the students’ final presentation will include charts and budget worksheets that they will work on throughout the project.