Wrapping up
Learning experiences are those things that you either gain or think about in order to become a more effective person, or to do a more effective job. In my opinion, I have learned something whenever I have gained something more than I had when I started out.
In this class, I have learned a lot about technology. I have learned this through Brian's podcast (and his emails to help me figure something out) and through the various postings and projects of my classmates. Reading all of the postings have given me a lot to think about. It was also very interesting to read about what goes on within your class and on the job. Sometimes we get to be so busy that we don't realize that there are others out there facing similar dilemmas of there own.
I enjoyed this class so much. I like the online aspect of this class because sometimes I don't have the time or energy to attend class, but with it being online, I have the ability to ho online to check for any updates that I may need to do or just to have the freedom to do my assignment at my convenience, without pressure.
Activities for the week of 3/11/07
Downloaded podcast and listened to it, developed a new website to post my projects on for succesful viewing, checked email for Brian's response to my projects, emailed Brian about new website, read classmates blogs, developed my response to this weeks popdcast, responded to blogs of classmates
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Session 9
Professional Development (PD)
Professional development, aka, training... Whatever they are known as, we hate to hear that we have to attend them. I have attended many professional development seminars, for the most part I have to say that they have been pretty good, but there are those that just seem to be pointless.
I once attended a PD that was mandatory at one of our staff development days. The speaker had been paid a lot of money to come out and basically tell us that in order to reach our students, we need to develop a relationship with them. The irony was in the fact that he was an African American male and he was speaking to a Mostly African American audience and he felt that we African American teachers could not effectively teach our students because we had no idea how to relate to them on racial issues. I personally was upset by the implications that were made to the staff of our school and appalled at the fact that the district paid someone to come and talk about teaching to such issues when in fact, our students of all races have scored very well on standardized tests and those whom seem to be having problems are not having problems because of racial issues, but because they choose the actions that they are being cited about.
I guess I was so frustrated because the seminar was supposed to be on how to effectively use the data from your assessments and I was excited about finally getting some direction.
On the other hand, the PD seminars that I have had a chance to sign up for have been very informative and beneficial to me. This is not to say that everything that I have seen and heard during said seminars have been useful to me, but I have walked away with a wealth of information.
I think if we are interested in the topic at hand then it will be more of an interest to us and we can see more clearly what we needed to see from the presentation.
Activities for the week of 3/4/07
Downloaded the podcast and listened to it, read some of the posts of classmates, finished working on project focus 3, searched the web for other Acceptable Use Policies (AUP), responded to classmates blogs, responded to podcast and posted my assignment
Project 3
Professional development, aka, training... Whatever they are known as, we hate to hear that we have to attend them. I have attended many professional development seminars, for the most part I have to say that they have been pretty good, but there are those that just seem to be pointless.
I once attended a PD that was mandatory at one of our staff development days. The speaker had been paid a lot of money to come out and basically tell us that in order to reach our students, we need to develop a relationship with them. The irony was in the fact that he was an African American male and he was speaking to a Mostly African American audience and he felt that we African American teachers could not effectively teach our students because we had no idea how to relate to them on racial issues. I personally was upset by the implications that were made to the staff of our school and appalled at the fact that the district paid someone to come and talk about teaching to such issues when in fact, our students of all races have scored very well on standardized tests and those whom seem to be having problems are not having problems because of racial issues, but because they choose the actions that they are being cited about.
I guess I was so frustrated because the seminar was supposed to be on how to effectively use the data from your assessments and I was excited about finally getting some direction.
On the other hand, the PD seminars that I have had a chance to sign up for have been very informative and beneficial to me. This is not to say that everything that I have seen and heard during said seminars have been useful to me, but I have walked away with a wealth of information.
I think if we are interested in the topic at hand then it will be more of an interest to us and we can see more clearly what we needed to see from the presentation.
Activities for the week of 3/4/07
Downloaded the podcast and listened to it, read some of the posts of classmates, finished working on project focus 3, searched the web for other Acceptable Use Policies (AUP), responded to classmates blogs, responded to podcast and posted my assignment
Project 3
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Session 8
Session 8
Data Driven Decision Making
It is a necessity to make decisions that are data driven in today's classroom. With all of the federal mandates that are being handed down, teachers of all levels are pretty much forced to make decisions in this manner. I use data driven decisions in my classroom daily. My grading system is computerized and it provides me with immediate feedback on how well my students did on a certain test. The grading system that i use called "GradeQuick", also gives me the students averages, individually and collectively. Gradequick also allows me to do lesson plans within the gradebook, where I can list the objectives, goals and standards for the lesson. I am then able to see what goal or objective a large number of students failed so that I can re-teach it.
In addition to the grade book, my district requires the use of a tool called "Data Director". Data Director is a computerized program that provides immediate feedback on the various standards that are taught during the school year. The way that the program works is to input the students responses to test questions and the program lets you know where the student either understood or misunderstood the concept.
On the flip side, there can be such a thing as too much data!! All I hear about from the higher-ups is how we are to use the various tools for data collection. Tools such as Accelerated Math, STAR Math, Accelerated Reading, STAR Reading, and numerous other benchmarks and assessments. The amount of time required to look at all of the results derived from these sources is difficult to find, let alone using them adequately.
Activities for the week of 2/26/07
Still trying to post my session 7 assignment to my site, posted my project 2, began work on project 3, read blogs of classmates and responded.
Project Focus 2
Data Driven Decision Making
It is a necessity to make decisions that are data driven in today's classroom. With all of the federal mandates that are being handed down, teachers of all levels are pretty much forced to make decisions in this manner. I use data driven decisions in my classroom daily. My grading system is computerized and it provides me with immediate feedback on how well my students did on a certain test. The grading system that i use called "GradeQuick", also gives me the students averages, individually and collectively. Gradequick also allows me to do lesson plans within the gradebook, where I can list the objectives, goals and standards for the lesson. I am then able to see what goal or objective a large number of students failed so that I can re-teach it.
In addition to the grade book, my district requires the use of a tool called "Data Director". Data Director is a computerized program that provides immediate feedback on the various standards that are taught during the school year. The way that the program works is to input the students responses to test questions and the program lets you know where the student either understood or misunderstood the concept.
On the flip side, there can be such a thing as too much data!! All I hear about from the higher-ups is how we are to use the various tools for data collection. Tools such as Accelerated Math, STAR Math, Accelerated Reading, STAR Reading, and numerous other benchmarks and assessments. The amount of time required to look at all of the results derived from these sources is difficult to find, let alone using them adequately.
Activities for the week of 2/26/07
Still trying to post my session 7 assignment to my site, posted my project 2, began work on project 3, read blogs of classmates and responded.
Project Focus 2
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