CEDO 525 - Week 2

Our first assignment for this week was to read the article Feedback That Fits.  When I was reading through this article I realized how little thought I put into the feedback I give my students.  As a classroom teacher you constantly give students feedback.  Sometimes that feedback may be an oral comment to the class, a grade on a paper, a written note to the student, or a comment left on an assignment.  Giving feedback is a natural thing to do, but I didn't realize that the feedback I am giving could hinder the students' outcomes.

One of the take aways I took from the article was to Ask the students to evaluate their own work by asking them questions such as... What did you notice?....Why did you decide to do it this way???  By doing this, the students are evaluating their work as well.  I also realized how often I use general praises, such as, Good Job.  The article stated that general praises are really not effective for students.  Finally, I liked how they said you should always note improvements in your students' work even if they didn't meet the outcome desired.  This is something I need to work more on.  Overall, I enjoyed the article and will use a few of the points when I am giving feedback to my students this year.

Our next assignment was to look at a few online rubric and evaluation tools.  I have used RubiStar and Quia before, but I tend to forget to use them.  I like how easy RubiStar is to use and how you can use one of their already made rubrics or develop your own.  I like to use Quia for Chapter/Unit reviews on the smartboard.  The kids seem to really enjoy them because they get to play them on a big screen!!  For this assignment I looked a little more at Quia and realized there are a lot more features that I don't currently use.  Maybe I will try some of them this year!

***  I am not exaclty sure what we were supposed to do for this part of our blog, but I gave it a try :-)***

What is the purpose of asking students to set objectives.  I believe the purpose is to have students take responsibility in their own work.  If they have a goal they want to achieve they will more than likely work harder to achieve it.  Also, if they set the goal it is something they think they can attain versus the teacher setting a goal and the students getting frustrated  because they don't think they can complete it.

I can think of a time I asked students to set objectives and I was pleased with the results.  I have asked students to set a goal of what point value they would like to attain when using our Accelerated Reader tests.  The students each had an individual goal that they felt they could attain.  I liked that they were in control of their own success. Some students were reading lots of books and taking AR tests every week to obtain their goals. 

I can think of a time that I asked student to  Set Objectives  and I was not pleased with the results.  I have asked the students to set a goal of how many minutes they would like to read each week during I love to read month.  Some students set realistic goals.  Goals that were attainable, but not too easy.  While other students set goals that they could easily attain in a few days.  I need to find ways to encourage students to challenge themselves without stressing themselves out.

What types of technologies can I use to help students set objectives.  Students can set their own goals using Accelerated Reader programs.  They could also use spreadsheets to keep track of their progress.

CEDO 525 - Week 1

On to the next class.... I am ready to get going on our next class, but I have a feeling this class is going to be more like college courses I took years ago rather than the classes we have taken so far in this Cohort. 

One of our first assignments was to take a look at the Principles of Teaching and Learning.  I have looked at these before, awhile ago, but at the time I was thinking of them in relation to a reading/social studies curriculum.  Today when I read though the principles I was thinking about how they would affect my technology curriculum.   I think all of these principles should be used in planning a technology lesson as well.

One of the Learning principles that stood out to me was Students' Prior Knowledge can Help or Hinder Learning.  I think this one is especially true in a technology driven classroom.  Students use technology all of the time and most of them have learned how to use it incorrectly (examples: keyboarding, Internet safety issues, how to search the web etc.).  Some students might have a hard time learning the correct way to use computers.  On the other hand, because students do use technology so frequently their additional learning at school should be able to build on what they already know. 

All of the Effective Teaching principles seem to directly correlate it with technology.  When planning a lesson you need to make sure you have learning objectives and assessments.  It is also important that you adjust your plans to meet your students needs.  Some students might not have computer access and therefore you can't anticipate any prior learning,

Some of the points I found extremely interesting in the Meta-Analysis were the fact that students learn better when using technology in small groups versus on their own.  I would've thought that having their own one-on-one time with the computer would've been more effective.  I was also surprised at how much higher her Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Outcomes were when using technology.

I think this class is going to help me plan effective technology lessons, but I do think I am going to miss playing around with new technologies!!!