I found this course to be highly useful in showing me new ways to present information to students using technology. Many of the projects required me to use websites that I had never used before, so it was good to break new ground and experiment with what's out there! This course definitely changed my perspective of technology in the classroom. I have always felt like I have struggled with technology, especially with new tools/websites/etc that I haven't had experience using. This class has made me much more comfortable in learning how to use new technology tools and implementing them into a classroom.
Throughout the semester I have found almost every technology tool to be useful, however I would say that the Prezi and the Screencastify stand out to me in particular. The Prezi is a much more creative way to create a PowerPoint, and its all online for students to access at their leisure. Screencastify could be quite useful to create videos for students to watch at home, or perhaps for students that miss class. If a teacher was feeling particularly evil they could create a Screencastify video from home and have their students watch it for 'homework' during a snowday. What I like about both is the potential for accessability to students. I would be most excited about making a screencast for students to listen to for instructions while I prepare an activity or something like that. I could definitely see this being implemented into my classroom, my CT is very tech-savy and is always trying new/different things in his classroom.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Final Project
For my final project I am in an 8th grade US history classroom on the tail end of the Civil War unit. My lesson plan focuses on a three day project in which I will have students break into groups of four to research different battles from the Civil War that we have not specifically learned about in class. Students will have different components of the battles to research (major leaders, troop movements, batlefield statistics, and significance of the battle) and will collaborate to form the information they gather into a presentation, which will be given in front of the class on the third day. For the technology piece, students will be expected to effectively use Google Slides/Weebly/something else creative and a SmartBoard to create an interactive presentation for the audience. As a formative assessment I plan on askikng students to give a short layout of the information they have gathered in bulletpoint form on the second day, just to make sure everyone is researching the assigned battle and gathering the appropriate information. The summative assessment will be the group presentation in front of the class on the third day.
Gifted Learners
One thing that I found surprising about the videos was the ability for gifted students to be several ages at once. Besides their actual physical age, gifted students are generally several years ahead cognitively yet several years behind emotionally; often leading to a misdiagnosis of aspergers or ADHD. I also found it interesting how gifted students are generally not very social, but I suppose that would come along with the under developed emotional mindset and the different sense of humor. I like the idea of the 'new normal' for gifted learners. It's good to recognize the fact that they don't always need a lot of friends or don't need tons of social interaction in their daily lives.
I think the 'symptoms' of giftedness are what I will be looking out for in a classroom. If a student is quite brilliant yet struggles socially, that may be a cue to a teacher of a gifted student. Using technology to help gifted students, using programs such as Google Slides could help a student who prefers to work alone, yet is a part of a group project. The videos mentioned that students may be more open to talking/discussing things online as opposed to in person. Using an anonymous chatroom for the class could be another way to incorporate technology to make gifted students feel more included and comfortable in the classroom discussion.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Identity Theft
The term 'Identity Theft' was first used in 1964, and is defined as, "The deliberate use of someone elses identity to gain some sort of advantage, financial or otherwise."
Identity theft is quite a large problem in the United States, with approximately 17 million people getting their identity stolen annually. 85% of all identity theft occurs from the misuse of 'sensitive information' such as credit card numbers, ID cards, personal information, etc., showing that irresponsible use of sensitive information is the leading reason for identity theft. Even worse, almost half (45%) of the people with stolen identities don't notice until they are contacted by an outside institution of some kind, such as a bank. After finding out that their identity was stolen, it took 52% of victims to 24 hours or less to fix the situation, while it took 9% of victims over one month to completely resolve the issue.
I would try to implement a small lesson about this in the classroom through our "TrueSuccess" program. Every Tuesday and Thursday we spend about 10 minutes of class discussing charactor traits to develop good thinking and eventually, good habits. I would bring up tips for being careful with sensitive information, especially if it is a parent or guardian's information, and the importance of watching what you post/publish online.
Identity theft is quite a large problem in the United States, with approximately 17 million people getting their identity stolen annually. 85% of all identity theft occurs from the misuse of 'sensitive information' such as credit card numbers, ID cards, personal information, etc., showing that irresponsible use of sensitive information is the leading reason for identity theft. Even worse, almost half (45%) of the people with stolen identities don't notice until they are contacted by an outside institution of some kind, such as a bank. After finding out that their identity was stolen, it took 52% of victims to 24 hours or less to fix the situation, while it took 9% of victims over one month to completely resolve the issue.
I would try to implement a small lesson about this in the classroom through our "TrueSuccess" program. Every Tuesday and Thursday we spend about 10 minutes of class discussing charactor traits to develop good thinking and eventually, good habits. I would bring up tips for being careful with sensitive information, especially if it is a parent or guardian's information, and the importance of watching what you post/publish online.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Which is a better indicator of intelligence, ACT/SAT scores or GPA?
This is an age-old question regarding which scale is better to measure a student's intelligence from, an ACT/SAT score or GPA? There are arguments for/against both sides. ACT/SAT scores are rigorous tests taken over several mentally-depleting hours, and may not accurately represent a student's knowledge base. While a student's GPA is a long-term measurement of consistency and dedication to class work. Counter to these arguments, ACT/SAT scores are the only real measurement of a student's intelligence because that is the nature of a test, to test what students know. GPA only shows effort in the classroom, and not necessarily the level of intelligence for a student. So which arguments are right or wrong? Which one is a better measure of a student's intelligence? We can attempt to answer this question by looking at what both of these measures are typically used for; admittance to college.
My four sources all focused around the use of ACT/SAT and GPA scores in college applications, and how much weight they bear in importance to admission. Three of the sources compared and contrasted pros and cons of the ACT/SAT and GPA measurements while the fourth source listed cons for using standardized testing. The three comparative sources all agreed that standardized test scores are the main factor for accepting/denying students to a college or university. The leading reason for this is because GPA scores are generally inconsistent from school district to school district. A 4.0 from a poorer school district may be comparable to a 2.5 from a high-class school district. This is because wealthier school districts can generally offer more rigorous courses, such as upper-level math and science classes as well as AP courses. These will be more intellectually challenging courses and will typically weigh down on a student's GPA. With no real way of knowing whether a student's 4.0 GPA is a 'real' 4.0, colleges like to rely on standardized test scores because they are consistent across the board for everyone.
However, the Dean of Admissions at Bates College, William Hiss, claims that GPA is the primary indicator of intelligence. Hiss conducted a study of his own, and tracked the graduation rates of students who submitted their standardized test scores to universities vs those that did not. He found that there was virtually no difference between the two groups, showing that academic success was not necessarily linked to a test score.
“The human mind is simply so complex and so multifaceted and fluid, that trying to find a single measurement tool that will be reliable across the enormous populations of American students is simply a trip up a blind alley. I would never say the SATs and ACTs have no predictive value for anybody; they have predictive value for some people. We just don’t find them reliable cross populations,” says Hiss.
I personally believe that both GPA and ACT/SAT scores should have equal weight when applying for college. Standardized testing isn't for everyone, and is certainly not an accurate measuring tool for those that struggle with that type of environment. However, if those types of students are consistently completing classroom work requirements they will have a boosted GPA and be more competitive when applying for college.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/nail-biting-standardized-testing-may-miss-mark-college-students/
https://www.powerscore.com/act/help/act-vs-gpa.cfm
http://education.seattlepi.com/test-scores-vs-gpa-getting-elite-schools-2804.html
http://classroom.synonym.com/college-admissions-gpa-weight-vs-standardized-test-10825.html
My four sources all focused around the use of ACT/SAT and GPA scores in college applications, and how much weight they bear in importance to admission. Three of the sources compared and contrasted pros and cons of the ACT/SAT and GPA measurements while the fourth source listed cons for using standardized testing. The three comparative sources all agreed that standardized test scores are the main factor for accepting/denying students to a college or university. The leading reason for this is because GPA scores are generally inconsistent from school district to school district. A 4.0 from a poorer school district may be comparable to a 2.5 from a high-class school district. This is because wealthier school districts can generally offer more rigorous courses, such as upper-level math and science classes as well as AP courses. These will be more intellectually challenging courses and will typically weigh down on a student's GPA. With no real way of knowing whether a student's 4.0 GPA is a 'real' 4.0, colleges like to rely on standardized test scores because they are consistent across the board for everyone.
However, the Dean of Admissions at Bates College, William Hiss, claims that GPA is the primary indicator of intelligence. Hiss conducted a study of his own, and tracked the graduation rates of students who submitted their standardized test scores to universities vs those that did not. He found that there was virtually no difference between the two groups, showing that academic success was not necessarily linked to a test score.
“The human mind is simply so complex and so multifaceted and fluid, that trying to find a single measurement tool that will be reliable across the enormous populations of American students is simply a trip up a blind alley. I would never say the SATs and ACTs have no predictive value for anybody; they have predictive value for some people. We just don’t find them reliable cross populations,” says Hiss.
I personally believe that both GPA and ACT/SAT scores should have equal weight when applying for college. Standardized testing isn't for everyone, and is certainly not an accurate measuring tool for those that struggle with that type of environment. However, if those types of students are consistently completing classroom work requirements they will have a boosted GPA and be more competitive when applying for college.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/nail-biting-standardized-testing-may-miss-mark-college-students/
https://www.powerscore.com/act/help/act-vs-gpa.cfm
http://education.seattlepi.com/test-scores-vs-gpa-getting-elite-schools-2804.html
http://classroom.synonym.com/college-admissions-gpa-weight-vs-standardized-test-10825.html
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Blogs in a Classroom
I could see blogging being useful for many things in a classroom. First is ease of access to it. Assuming a student has internet access at home or on their phone, they would be able to access a blog anywhere without having to carry around a journal or notebook. A blog would also make it very easy for students to share their information, and view information from other students. The third thing I can see a blog being useful for is the easy review of previous information. You don't have to flip through pages or notebooks, but simply scroll through the page to find previous posts.
I can already think of an easy way to incorporate blogging into the classroom I'm assisting in. We start every class with a five minute warm-up writing. A prompt is put on the screen (relating to information covered in the last class) and students record their answers on a printed outline given out at the start of every week. With a blog, students could record all of their answers online to allow them to review their work after it has been submitted. It would also allow any students absent from class to get online and still be included in that assignment.
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