2201 Double Journal Entry # 10

Quote:


"Even students who perform well in school are often unprepared for the challenges that they encounter after graduation, in their work lives as well as their personal lives ( Resnick 2007)."

Response:


The reason I chose this quote is because I see this as a problem within our education system today. With the advancements in technology coming at such a quick pace it is hard to get students prepared for their future. The problem is that with technology advancing so fast how do you prepare a student for the future when you don't even know what the future will look like in five years. that is why we are trying to make our students creative thinkers so they can adjust to a unknown future.  

Here is a great video about creative thinking and technology.

References:


Resnick, M.  (2007). Sowing the seeds of a more creative society.Retrieved from http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Learning-Leading-final.pdf


Dr Geary. (2008). Thinking creatively: Teachers as designers of content, technology and pedagogy part1. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNoijjIrPT8

3351 Double Journal Entry #11

What is formative assessment?
Formative assessment is the feedback from teachers, peers, and even the student themselves. This type of assessment is for learning because it helps the students understand their own work.

What is the CENTRAL purpose of formative assessment?
Student learning is the central point of formative assessment.

Connect a best practice in formative assessment to one in research-based strategy.
Providing feedback is the research-based strategy that I see connected most to formative assessment. I see this because is formative assessment not mainly about feedback?

Give an example of how a specific assessment can be used formatively and summatively.
An example of this is using a rubric to formatively show a student what needs to be done.Then the same rubric can be used to give them a grade summatively.

Give an example from your field placement related to formative assessment and timing.
The only thing that comes to mind as far as formative assessment that I have seen in my field placement is the use of rubrics. I also have seen were the host teacher will ask the students a question about something on channel one news before they view it and tell them to think about it while they view it. After they view the news then he will hold a classroom discussion about the topic getting their answers on how they felt about the subject.

What are some strategies to help formative assessment be more effective when providing students with feedback?
First of talk about their strengths in the work they have done. Also do not overwhelm them with information.

Name two advantages to high quality formative assessment.
It shows the teachers students who are struggling and what they are struggling with. Also it keeps the students motivated.

What are some challenges to implementing high quality formative assessment?
The first challenge is that teachers do not know how to implement formative assessment. The next challenge is getting the teachers the support they need.

2201 Scratch Tutorial

2201 Scratch Post

Garden of Times

The first thing schools could learn from playing this game is interaction. By going to your neighbors garden you gain points in this game. The next thing schools could learn is customization. Everybody gets to build their gardens the way they want to. They could also learn the cycle of expertise. In this game you have to gain a certain level to unlock more stuff. One huge thing that they could learn is context. As your playing this game pop ups appear instructing you what to do therefore giving you the context at the time you need it. The last thing they could learn is exploring. In this game you can search for stuff to buy, go look at your neighbors gardens, and of course find hidden objects.

2201 Double Journal Entry #9

Quote: 

"Therefore it can be argued that in video games, failure is good as it helps facilitate alternate solutions to problems."

Response:


This quote is fount under risk taking in our reading. I chose this quote because I find this not only interesting but also very true. I had not thought about video games in this way but I do see the connection. When my kids play games and can't get by a certain level they will not just give up but will try several different things to get by that level. By doing this they are learning to find alternate solutions to problems and this is a skill that they really do need to learn. They are learning skills just by playing games that previous research said was rotting their brains, kind of ironic isn't it.


Here is a great video I found on YouTube about video games being used to teach students.

Resources:


10 things schools can learn from video games.(2012 January 20). Retrieved from http://www.learningingaming.com/10-things-schools-can-learn-from-video-games/

"Games and Education Scholar James Paul Gee on Video Games, Learning, and Literacy" Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNfPdaKYOPI

3351 Double Journal Entry #10

In every content area the type of writing is going to be different. The way a student writes in Social Studies is going to be different then the way they write in subjects such as math and science. If a teacher is not teaching how to write for their given subject then the student could easily get confused. By all teachers taking on the responsibility to teach writing skills this will greatly increase the students knowledge of the content being taught. I don't see why there should be a problem with this because as a teacher are you not being payed to teach?

4 Research Based Strategies


Low stakes writing assignments: In this strategy the teacher does not give the students long essays to do but instead assigns them to write short summaries on things such as the key concept of a reading or just having them do outlines. This method is basically short and to the point but it does help them with understanding the course content.

Provide multiple forms of feedback: This strategy involves not only teacher feedback but also peer reviews and even classroom discussion on the writing a student has done. By doing this you can take some of the pressure off of the teacher while still helping the student.

Sustained and intensive professional development: This is basically teaching the teachers how to teach these methods effectively.

Collaboration in professional development: This is teachers learning in a community or just by helping each other. By doing this they can learn the best ways to implement these practices.