Opt-Out Movement

The Opt-Out Movement. Have you heard of it? I hadn't until I found an article on Twitter addressing the meaning of formative assessments. As hesitant as I was to Twitter and social media, I found it to be a huge learning resource. There are articles after articles addressing various learning techniques and educational issues.

We have been taught what formative assessments are, but the real question is 'what do we do with the assessment?'. The article begins by talking about the issues that teachers and students are facing. We have been partaking in end-of-year testing for quite sometime. Many people feel that these assessments aren't serving their purpose or helping develop student education. Many teachers don't receive test scores back until the following year. This means that teachers aren't able to look at student progress and help students go in the right direction that is needed. Due to all of the problems with this kind of assessment, teachers are joining the Opt-Out Movement and looking more to formative assessments. This allows teachers to have developing, on-going assessments throughout the year.

After formative assessments have been given, there are 3 main questions that we need to address.
1. Where are my students going?
2. Where are my students now?
3. How do I close my gap?

Basically, these questions help us determine where are students need to be, how far do they have to get there, and how can we help them reach that point? Before planning lessons we need to decide what exactly we expect our students to know. If we can determine where the students already are, we can then determine the steps that need to be taken to reach the end product. This allows teachers to collaborate, reflect, and redirect.

I feel that this especially applies to future teachers. I think that more and more teachers are becoming aware of end-of-year testing. The hope is that there will be change in our near future. We need to be aware of the alternative assessments and how they can help us. I feel that in my future classroom, formative assessments will be my most valuable tool. This will allows me to evaluate not only my students, but also myself.

This all, of course, connects to standard 5 of the teaching standards. Teachers are to reflect on their practice and analyze student learning. This allows teachers to grow and help their students grow.

Look up 'Opt-Out Movement' to find out more
Click on the link below to learn more about formative assessments:

http://www.mentoringminds.com/blog/infographic-assessment-for-learning/

Are You Ready to Flip?

Flipped classrooms. The new rage. I found the course we completed quite interesting. I struggled at first to come up with an idea and then implement it, but I think I finally got the hand of it. I think that flipped classrooms can be a great tool. I feel that flipping the classroom would be amazing for high school classrooms. I think that many middle school classrooms could really benefit from this too! I understand the purpose behind the concept and what it looks like, I just find it difficult to imagine myself implementing this in an elementary classroom. First of all, no student is guaranteed to have internet or computer access at home. Some teachers make arrangements for students to come in before school or stay after. That could be a good alternative, but there are students that this isn't possible for either. Other teachers make DVD's to send home with their students. Once again, you don't know every students home life and situation. In the county that I live in have students without power. 

Forget being able to access the videos or resources. I still have to consider that these are elementary age students. They need the one-on-one contact in the classroom. They need the conversation and discussion. They need to truly be learning and taking in the content being taught. 

This week, I found an article on edutopia that discusses an alternative to the flipped classroom. This method is called the "In-Class Flip". Basically this involves still recording and making a video lecture. Once in the classroom, students are split up into groups. Watching the video becomes one of many stations that students will rotate through. Other stations include group work, individual work, and other activities related to the lesson. This gives students the opportunity to quickly watch the lesson and take turns discussing and practicing what they've learned. 

There are some advantages to this technique and also some disadvantages. 

A few of the advantages include the teacher is able to monitor student participation, the lecture has a better chance to sink in, and hardware is safer. Disadvantages include more preparation required, you don't "gain" class time like you would in the flipped classroom, and it is difficult to implement in one-period classrooms. 

Overall, I feel that this technique would apply much easier in my own future classroom. I want my students to be able to succeed and learn as much as possible. I fear that it could be difficult to flip the classroom in many situations. This gives teachers the opportunity to practice a certain version of this. 

This subject could apply to all areas of standard 4 of the teaching standards. Teachers need to facilitate learning for their students. Practicing a technique like this would show that appropriate measures are being taken to meet students needs but they are being challenged and encouraged to learn. 

Read the article to find out more about the "In-Class Flip":

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-in-class-version-jennifer-gonzalez

Teacher Leadership

The days seem to be flying by. January came and went, and now February is quickly passing us by. Before we know it, we will be student teaching and shortly after (hopefully), we will have our own classroom. At this point, we are all probably still scared and overwhelmed. I have no doubt that when the time comes, we will step up and be the teachers we all hope to be.

I want to always make sure that I am challenging myself and looking for ways to become the best teacher I can be when I finally have my own classroom. I look at the standards that will be there for us to follow. The very first standard tells us that we are to be demonstrating leadership. From currently being a pre-k teacher, I have found that leading in the classroom comes naturally to me. Beyond leading in the classroom though, I want to be sure that I am leading in the teaching profession.

NEAToday published an article yesterday talking about the recent meeting between various education organizations and current teachers. The meeting was held to discuss improving and embedding leadership in the teaching profession. At first, when I heard the term "leadership in the teaching profession", I immediately thought of becoming an administrator. However, Deborah Hollis tells us that this isn't the case.

"Hollis explained the being a teacher leader doesn't mean you have to leave the classroom and become an administrator. Leading the profession could be sharing with other educators something that is working well in your classroom and inviting them to observe-"that's a teacher leader," explained Hollis, who has been in the teaching profession for 14 years."

That gave me a whole new perspective about leadership. There are simple but effective ways that we can lead in our own profession. This should challenge us to come up with new ways to do this. The first step to doing this would be to be strong and confident your teaching philosophy. Step two involves being caught up on current issues and ideas in the education world. From there you can come up with new ideas to make change or help other educators.

Educators are already starting to take action together. There are many times that new policies and initiatives are put into place in the schools. However, classroom teachers were not there to give any input or advice. These are the ones that should be making new suggestions. Classroom teachers know what works best, what their students need, and what needs to be changed. These are the people that see it and deal with it every day, and these are the ones that will continue to implement these new policies. Current educators are in the process of creating a council that will help make more decisions. This will give teachers more leadership, but also lead to more efficient policies in the school systems.


Check out the full article!!
http://neatoday.org/2016/02/10/teacher-leadership-summit/

A Significant Month

February. The month of love. The month of showing friendship and kindness to others. February can be a lot of fun in a classroom! I know that as a preschool teacher I am having a blast with it! It's okay to talk about Valentine's Day in the classroom, but there is soooo much more to February.

Can anyone think of what else February means?   Black History Month!

This is such a special time for social studies loving teachers especially! Teachers are able to teach their students about so much during this month. A few concepts that could focused on are change, freedom, and human rights.

As a future teacher, I want to make sure that I am teaching this subject in an appropriate way so that my students are learning the important ideas, information, and concepts. I want my students to receive everything they should from my lessons. Edutopia had a blog called "6 Teaching Tools for Black History". This blog listed several resources to use when teaching and planning these lessons. The blog mentioned Pat Russo would wrote an article called "Do's and Don'ts of Teaching Black History". He mentions several methods for teachers when teaching this subject. His very first Do stated, "Incorporate black-history year round, not just in February. Use the month of February to dig deeper into history and make connections in the past." This basically said to me that students should already be familiar with what this subject means. Students should be familiar with the Human Rights Movement, the Civil War, and slavery. This should just be an opportunity to really study the details of what was happening during these times. Russo also tells teachers to make sure that students know that ""black" history is American history". I felt that this was a great statement. Students should know that regardless of their culture or background, this subject is always relevant to them. Along with some great do's, Russo gives some interesting don'ts. He states that teachers shouldn't be afraid to talk about the controversial issues. Students need to be aware of what was happening and what is still happening. This may be harder for younger grades to understand and comprehend. Luckily, I see that many young students don't see color and they don't understand the issue. However, with upper grades, this is an excellent way to reach students.

Russo gives specific do's and don'ts that can be great guidelines and tools for teachers. I feel that they would help me in my own classroom. I want to develop great lessons for my students. I also want to develop great performance tasks. We have learned how important it is to not create activities, but performance tasks. Creating great performance tasks connects to standard 3 of the teaching standards. Teachers need to align their teaching with the NCSCS. Creating grate performance tasks related to black history relates to standard 2 of the teaching standards. Teachers should always be embracing diversity. Showing students how important diversity and culture is can make a huge impact.

As a future teacher, make sure that you start making February a significant month.



http://www.edutopia.org/blog/black-history-month-teaching-resources-matthew-davis

Read Pat Russo's article to learn more!!!
http://www.tolerance.org/article/dos-and-donts-teaching-black-history