Accountability & Rubrics

EDUC 350

This week in 350 we learned about laws that keep us accountable to every student as teachers. One huge law that governs accountability within the school is IDEA. This is Individual with Disabilities in Education Act. This directly deals with students with disabilities, and how to include them within the classroom. We focused on the LRE during class, which is the least restrictive environment. There are 4 settings for LRE. Step one is inclusion, step two is resource, step three is self-contained, and step four is separate setting. Step one is the least to the most restrictive. Inclusion is when the student is still involved in daily activities. Then separate setting is when the student is in a completely different school that is specialized in handling children with disabilities. This directly deals with NCTCS 2- Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs. Teachers need to make sure that they are meeting the student's needs. That is the biggest thing that I took away from this week. No matter the circumstances or no matter the situation, we as teachers have to strive to meet our student's needs. I think that is so insanely important within our future classroom. 

EDUC 410 

This week in EDUC 410 we discussed how to use rubrics effectively within our classroom. We have to make sure that we are giving our students rubrics so they can effectively know what is being required of them. This also gives the student specific guidelines to follow while doing the project, assignment, or homework. Without a rubric, the student would not have clear guidance and not have concrete evidence of what they were doing wrong. Also, using a rubric allows for the teacher to have less bias while grading. It allows the teacher to double check how they are grading the assignment to make sure that the grading is being consistent throughout all of the assignments/homework. 

I found an article that discusses how when using rubrics teachers need to focus on what was actually taught. Rather than putting things in your rubric that was never taught or learned to the classroom. This article also states that rubrics help with students being able to know what the desired performance is on a specific project or assignment. I believe that both of these are important when dealing with making and assigning rubrics. 

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/112001/chapters/What-Are-Rubrics-and-Why-Are-They-Important¢.aspx

Future Classroom

It is so important within my future classroom to understand the law when it comes to having disabled students. I have to make sure that every single one of my student's needs are being met. No matter what disability, they need to have their needs met. I also want to make sure that I am using clear rubrics for assignments, projects, and any sort of homework. This way my students are aware of what is expected of them and what they are going to be graded on. I also want to make sure that my rubrics still have room for creativity. That my students still have the abiliity to put themselves inthe project and get excited about it. 

C'est La Vie and Assessment

EDUC350

In class this week we played a really neat interesting game! The game was called C'est La Vie and it was a game that gave you preexisting conditions that each individual person could not control. Some examples of this are the money that your family has, or if you are heterosexual or bisexual, or what social group you are in. These are all things that a student can not control; a student can not control if their parents are wealthy or poor. The whole point of the game was to make important decisions that would affect your life for the future. These decisions were easier to make for those in the higher classes that had more money. These families were better off when major life events happened, like a huge illness taking over. The whole point of the game was to survive and get wellness points and avoid debt and sickness. The individual who won the game was someone whose family had a lot of money. 

This game was such an eye-opener! It was so interesting to see how these conditions can really affect a child for the future. Especially when a child has no control over those certain conditions and they can make or break that child's future. This directly connects NCTCS 1 where it says teachers demonstrate leadership. Especially the point where teachers advocate for their students. As a future teacher, I am going to have to make sure that I am advocating for those students who may not come from wealthy families. 

EDUC410

This week in class we discussed what assessment more in-depth. We really looked at students having the opportunity to use self-assessment within the classroom. This way the students are understanding what they can currently do well, what they are not able to do yet, and where to go from there. I think that is something that is so important to remember. This way, the student is invested and apart of the learning process. There is an old quote that states that everyone is their own worst critic. I believe that it is SO true. When the students are explaining what they believe they did wrong, it is an amazing opportunity for the teacher to either agree with the student that they are doing something wrong or give the student praise saying they are actually doing this correctly. This is a great way to make sure that the student and the teacher are on the exact same page. I think this is something that is so crucial in our future classrooms.

For my outside research, I found an article from Edutopia. Within this article, they shared a rubric to give to each individual student that shared with the students the standards, subject matter, and how they believed to be doing in the classroom. I believe that this could be so beneficial within my future classroom! I think that is something that every teacher can utilize. It is a really neat little tool that we can use that can easily show exactly where our students are at within the assignment.

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/self-assessment-inspires-learning-lori-desautels

FUTURE CLASSROOM

In my future classroom, I want to make sure that all my students feel comfortable. I do not want my students to feel like they can not be themselves in my classroom. I want to make sure that I am advocating for all of my students. I want each one of my students to have the belief that they can achieve anything in the world that they want to. I do not want my students to feel like they are not going to graduate high school because nobody else in their family has. I also want to make sure that my students are having the opportunity to assess themselves throughout the learning process. I want to make sure that each student understands how to assess themselves and how it can be beneficial to the learning process. I am so excited to continue to dig into assessment and learning more about how diversity can affect our classroom. 

Data Assessment & Poverty In the Classroom

EDUC 350

This week in class we discussed how poverty can have a huge impact on our future classroom. Poverty can hinder the classroom in so many more ways than you originally think. Poverty can affect the classroom by having the students ill prepared for the class. This could be dealing with no pencils, paper, or other classroom materials. This is only just one of the ways poverty can affect our classroom. Another way is if a child's parents do not have the financial way to feed them, the child will not be focused on the schoolwork that is presented in front of them, because they are going to be focused on where their next meal is coming from. Another way is if they are not dressed properly for the weather conditions, the student will be distracted and more concerned about other things. These can all affect how our students are behaving, and understanding the material in class. This can be directly related to NCTCS standard 1- Teachers advocate for their school and students. As teachers, I feel like it is our responsibility to advocate for our students that may need more materials, and other help throughout the school year. We have to take a stand for our students that can not take a stand for themselves. 

In my outside research, I read  an article that discussed how poverty can affect the classroom and what we can do about it. It brought up the issue of vocabulary, and I had not even thought about that being an issue. The article discussed how students are at a huge disadvantage with vocabulary, and that leads them to have a higher risk of academic failure. This is because vocabulary is the brains "tool kit" for learning as the article states. I think this is something that is easily forgotten, but we have to remember that within our classrooms. We have to make sure that we are working with these individuals so they are not left behind and do not feel like they are left behind.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may13/vol70/num08/How-Poverty-Affects-Classroom-Engagement.aspx

EDUC410

This week in our class we discussed data and how it can be used and beneficial in our classroom. Data can come in so many different forms, but it is all so beneficial for our classroom. We use data to assess our students. We also can keep this data for information throughout the year. As teachers, we need to make sure that we are keeping track of our student's growth throughout the year. We need to make sure that our students are actually understanding the material and are growing in their learning throughout the year. Data is so much more than just numbers on a page, we have to use data to be an amazing teacher. We have to be able to take data, record it, and assess it in order to make sure our students are excelling where they should be. This data can be used for multiple things throughout the classroom. It could be used for deciding group center learning, and it could also be used for assessment documentation. The important thing I realized is that data may look different for every teacher, but it is so extremely important to take data and assess the data. After we assess the data we have to make decisions and actions based off of the data. For example, if an entire class missed the section of quotation marks on the test, but got everything else correct. That data is important to realize that I need to go back and reteach quotation marks to my classroom. This is only one way that data can be beneficial. Data directly relates to NCTCS Standard 5, when it states that teachers analyze student learning. We use data to analyze our students learning! I loved learning about this and all the different ways we can use and gather data. 

Future Classroom

In my future classroom, I am going to have to deal with students with poverty and use data within my classroom. I am going to have to make sure I am an advocate for those students who do not have enough, and my be lacking in specific areas. I am going to have to make sure that my students all have the basic needs for success while they are inside of my classroom. Also, I am going to make sure that I am assessing my students and collecting data. This will be beneficial in analyzing my students learning throughout the year. I want to make sure that my students are learning and growing throughout the year. 

Prejudices and Assessment

EDUC350

This week we are discussing the levels of prejudices and how to deal with certain circumstances within our classrooms. I think this is something that is so important, because in our world today there is so many issues within our diverse world. There is issues with prejudices that have been either the norm or passed down within a family that could brought out in our class. In class we got to role play situations and I loved being able to role play certain situations that may come up dealing with prejudices. This was a great way to show NCTCS standard 2, which is teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students. Specifically point 2 where it states "teachers embrace diversity in the school and the world." As teachers, we have to make sure that we encourage and embrace diversity within our classroom. Role playing these situations gave us an opportunity to embrace it within our classroom. Everyone has prejudices even if you don't realize it, and as teachers it is something we must be aware of. We have to create a safe learning environment for every single one of our students.

One of my favorite things said during this class was that, "As a teacher you have to have empathy with what is going on with our students." I loved this quote.  Empathy is understanding and sharing someones emotions. With being a teacher, we have to understand and connect with what is going on with our students. For my outside research for the week I wanted to pull a quote from a book I am reading. The book is called "Leaders Eat Last" by Simon Sinek. In the first chapter it discusses how leaders need empathy. It states, "empathy, is the single greatest asset he has to do his job." I think this is something that is so important to realize. Empathy can be the single greatest asset to being a leader. If you really think about that it is crazy because it isn't hard to be empathetic. It is something that can be so simple, but can be a complete game changer for how we are a leader in our classroom! 

EDUC410

This week in EDUC 410 we are going over assessment and the laws that govern assessment. I was unaware that there is so many laws that govern assessment! There are laws at the federal, state, and local level that govern assessment within schools. I really liked hearing other classmates perspectives on assessment and how their experiences on assessment were while they were in school. Every school and state is different on assessment, but it is something that is required to make sure our students are actually retaining the information. This is directly related to Standard 5 point 1- Teachers analyze student learning. This is something that is required of us as teachers, to make sure we are giving our students the best education possible.

Future Classroom

In my future classroom I want to make sure that I show empathy to every single one of my students. I want to make sure that my students and myself leave any prejudices at the door and do not bring them into my classroom. I want to make sure that all my students feel safe in my classroom. Also, I want to make sure that I am following all the laws of assessment for my students. This is going to be at all the local, state, and federal level. I want to make sure that my students are really understanding the material I am teaching them.