I am glad to have been of service in acting as a sounding board. I only wish I had more experience to offer and to collaborate more on a professional level.
I remember a variety of formats for testing when I was in school. I was much more comfortable with the "repeat what you read or hear" than I was with the creative answers but I eventually grew to be comfortable with both.
Having only experienced being a student and not a teacher, I really am starting from scratch when it comes to using assessments. But taking a stab at it, I will say that I like the "word test" for several reasons. It's flexible, it forces the student to be creative and at the same time allows the student to respond in his or her own language which is incredibly important as Dr. Britton said several times in his speech.
Looking at "collaborative test making", I was always afraid that I would make the questions too hard and the other kids would be mad at me. But incorporating "test prepartion" with the creation of questions would make this a much more socially agreeable option without dumbing down the questions.
As for "creative assessments", I always found that music is a great focal point and can help bring together new information with something already familiar. Again this would be brilliant idea because it is an opportunity to blend learning and schoolwork with something deeply personal to the students like their favorite music.
My favorite of the outlined assessments is the "reaction or response to a story". I am always curious to know how other people react to important themes or classic stories. It is an indirect way to find out about their inner selves and hopefully find out a better way to incentivise learning for that individual.
I have learned a lot of the jargon (but still missed so much) that is associated with being a professional teacher. In the future, I hope to incorporate my fledgling understanding into new paradigms for what it means to be a teacher and part of the education system. Thank you for allowing me to be your student as well as a learning partner.
- Shannon
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tchundi ch. 13 INSPIRATION
So, I am very excited and inspired after reading ch. 13 of Exploring and Teaching ELA. I appreciate this textbook for this class because it is not only filled with theory but also with practical classroom application and alternative assessments. While reading this chapter I scribbled down pages of notes/ideas concerning my current unit of study: The Outsiders.
My favorite alternate assessment ideas included the Word Test, Collaborative Test Making and requirements for creative assignments. I would like to share some ideas I drafted after reading this chapter. I would appreciate any comments/suggestions you have :) (pg. 364-365)
For Collabortaive Test Making I thought I would take this a step further and incorporate test preparation along with this alternate assessment. I like to explicitly teach my students the three levels of questioning used on standard tests such as the 8th grade EOG and I thought it would be great to gave my students' Outsider Book Groups create tests incorporating the three levels of questions learned and practiced. Then I could rotate the students' tests (after checking them of course) among Book Groups.
Creative Assessments: One activity I thought of for a Tic-Tac-Toe assessment could be for student Book Clubs to create a CD Soundtrack and cover for The Outsiders. Either me or my students would choose 4 essential scenes from the book (maybe reflecting various conflicts) and each group member would have to link a song they know/like that would adequately represent the scene's mood, conflict, importance and characterization. Then as a group they could conduct their CD Cover and we could burn these CDs and rotate them amongst Book Groups or even classes on different teams.
Thank you for listening to my ideas... I was inspired and motivated after reading this chapter and I thought this Blog was a great place to bounce ideas off on you. I appreciate it :)
My favorite alternate assessment ideas included the Word Test, Collaborative Test Making and requirements for creative assignments. I would like to share some ideas I drafted after reading this chapter. I would appreciate any comments/suggestions you have :) (pg. 364-365)
For Collabortaive Test Making I thought I would take this a step further and incorporate test preparation along with this alternate assessment. I like to explicitly teach my students the three levels of questioning used on standard tests such as the 8th grade EOG and I thought it would be great to gave my students' Outsider Book Groups create tests incorporating the three levels of questions learned and practiced. Then I could rotate the students' tests (after checking them of course) among Book Groups.
Creative Assessments: One activity I thought of for a Tic-Tac-Toe assessment could be for student Book Clubs to create a CD Soundtrack and cover for The Outsiders. Either me or my students would choose 4 essential scenes from the book (maybe reflecting various conflicts) and each group member would have to link a song they know/like that would adequately represent the scene's mood, conflict, importance and characterization. Then as a group they could conduct their CD Cover and we could burn these CDs and rotate them amongst Book Groups or even classes on different teams.
Thank you for listening to my ideas... I was inspired and motivated after reading this chapter and I thought this Blog was a great place to bounce ideas off on you. I appreciate it :)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Writing, Dialect and Social Status
I spend more time now in my 4th year of teaching allowing students to share more of their writing with one another than ever before. After attending the Capital Area Writing Project (CAWP) I was reminded about how important it is for students to have an audience. Without an audience a students is a writer; with an audience the student is suddenly transformed into an author. Your discussion of chapter 9 in Tchundi caused me to question the role that language and dialect plays in student writing.
Slang and informal language is so dominant in my students’ lives it has become ingrained in them. My students literally do not realize that they are grammatically incorrect when they say “he go to the bathroom.” This lack of standard English usage obviously is prominent in their writing in addition to their speech. I am hesitant (and was more so in my first years teaching) to have students share unpolished work at times because of the dialect and language they use. Tschundi’s discussion on dialect as identity reminds me that even “non-standard” writing needs to be shared and embraced. This is not to say “proper” grammar and usage should be ignored, but in order flourish in our writing we need to share and be exposed to each others’ writing. In order to truly build a community of writers we need to allow students to be in a position of author.
Tsundi brings up that many see Ebonics and divergent dialects as “broken” and “lower-class” dialects. (295) It is difficult for me to teach “proper” grammar and usage to students who are unaccustomed to hearing it throughout their day. Like Lisa brought up in class last week, it is our job to expose students to this language and explicitly teach them HOW to use this language and WHY, “The motivation behind this instruction has been to provide students with access to higher social levels.” Yes, it is our job as English Language Arts teachers to teach students to be critical readers, competent writers and well-presented. It is also our job to urge and expose students to as much mobility as possible.
At our school in Durham we have to attend “Poverty-Training” professional development sessions dealing with how our population of students does not necessarily reflect the middle-class values and structure we teach to. Our middle school is a middle-class setting. There is much discussion about how oral language and body language are all intertwined in this middle class environment. If you are interested here are the titles to these books we read for our sessions. It all links with dialect discussions we have been discussing in class:
1 A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby K. Payne
2 Learning Structures/ Understanding Learning (workbooks) by Payne
Slang and informal language is so dominant in my students’ lives it has become ingrained in them. My students literally do not realize that they are grammatically incorrect when they say “he go to the bathroom.” This lack of standard English usage obviously is prominent in their writing in addition to their speech. I am hesitant (and was more so in my first years teaching) to have students share unpolished work at times because of the dialect and language they use. Tschundi’s discussion on dialect as identity reminds me that even “non-standard” writing needs to be shared and embraced. This is not to say “proper” grammar and usage should be ignored, but in order flourish in our writing we need to share and be exposed to each others’ writing. In order to truly build a community of writers we need to allow students to be in a position of author.
Tsundi brings up that many see Ebonics and divergent dialects as “broken” and “lower-class” dialects. (295) It is difficult for me to teach “proper” grammar and usage to students who are unaccustomed to hearing it throughout their day. Like Lisa brought up in class last week, it is our job to expose students to this language and explicitly teach them HOW to use this language and WHY, “The motivation behind this instruction has been to provide students with access to higher social levels.” Yes, it is our job as English Language Arts teachers to teach students to be critical readers, competent writers and well-presented. It is also our job to urge and expose students to as much mobility as possible.
At our school in Durham we have to attend “Poverty-Training” professional development sessions dealing with how our population of students does not necessarily reflect the middle-class values and structure we teach to. Our middle school is a middle-class setting. There is much discussion about how oral language and body language are all intertwined in this middle class environment. If you are interested here are the titles to these books we read for our sessions. It all links with dialect discussions we have been discussing in class:
1 A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby K. Payne
2 Learning Structures/ Understanding Learning (workbooks) by Payne
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tchudi - Ch 9 Thoughts
Shannon said...
I believe it is important that students who are at an intellectual level to do so should be taught to accept that there are many faces that each individual presents to the world and themselves. A person can be their own audience or write for a certain aspect of the public. The fact that "writers need audiences" was illustrated by John S. Hart, a significant figure in language arts education of the 19th century and his support of many student publications at his high school. This is true to the point that if a writer does not have an audience, they will cease to produce quality matterial or even stop writing completely.
"Freedom of the press belongs to the person who owns one." This used to be a statement saying that there was limited access to the machinery needed to publish written communication. But, with our modern computer networks that span the whole world, everyone with a computer at home or even access to a library computer can become a published writer.
But, what does this mean for the quality of work that these new writers offer? The quantity of publications has increased exponentially but the vetting process that winnowed out libelist, biased or just plain bad writing has been circumvented. How do we as consumers of internet as well as traditional print publications choose the wheat among the chafe?
Our role as classroom teachers is to encourage the students to be discerning readers and not believe everything they read and to be thoughtful writers whose products contribute to world dialogue of artists, writers and journalists and their followers.
I believe it is important that students who are at an intellectual level to do so should be taught to accept that there are many faces that each individual presents to the world and themselves. A person can be their own audience or write for a certain aspect of the public. The fact that "writers need audiences" was illustrated by John S. Hart, a significant figure in language arts education of the 19th century and his support of many student publications at his high school. This is true to the point that if a writer does not have an audience, they will cease to produce quality matterial or even stop writing completely.
"Freedom of the press belongs to the person who owns one." This used to be a statement saying that there was limited access to the machinery needed to publish written communication. But, with our modern computer networks that span the whole world, everyone with a computer at home or even access to a library computer can become a published writer.
But, what does this mean for the quality of work that these new writers offer? The quantity of publications has increased exponentially but the vetting process that winnowed out libelist, biased or just plain bad writing has been circumvented. How do we as consumers of internet as well as traditional print publications choose the wheat among the chafe?
Our role as classroom teachers is to encourage the students to be discerning readers and not believe everything they read and to be thoughtful writers whose products contribute to world dialogue of artists, writers and journalists and their followers.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Being Critical Readers
It is important that students are critical readers... this does not mean that they can look at an End of Grade test (EOG) and be able to answer a few questions based on what they've read. I agree with you-- movies as "texts" help students to use certain strategies they have learned and apply them outside the confines of the 4 walls of a classroom. Students must be critical readers of their society and surroundings.
When students are asked to make "text-text" connections as readers I tell them that they can use a movie/TV Show as a "text". Students look at me confused but seem surprised that many of the reading strategies they use to aid in comprehension can be applied to the visual arts... for instance: With a film you can still...
A) Question B) Make Predictions C) Make text-connections D) Infer E) Visualize
F) Clarify G) Provide support for opinions H) Evaluate and I) Summarize
In my class when students watch a film version of a book or a film that suits a unit thematically, we analyze how music and color affects the mood of the film. We READ body language. There are so many skills that can be applied to films. Teachers need to stop using FILM DAYS as a means of catching up on some grading and use it as a teaching experience.
When students are asked to make "text-text" connections as readers I tell them that they can use a movie/TV Show as a "text". Students look at me confused but seem surprised that many of the reading strategies they use to aid in comprehension can be applied to the visual arts... for instance: With a film you can still...
A) Question B) Make Predictions C) Make text-connections D) Infer E) Visualize
F) Clarify G) Provide support for opinions H) Evaluate and I) Summarize
In my class when students watch a film version of a book or a film that suits a unit thematically, we analyze how music and color affects the mood of the film. We READ body language. There are so many skills that can be applied to films. Teachers need to stop using FILM DAYS as a means of catching up on some grading and use it as a teaching experience.
I tried to post this 2 weeks ago but kept getting error
“Until they become integrated, current school reform movements will remain stuck in their own inertia, like other such movements of the past.”
–Wolf & Antinarella (Deciding to Lead, Ch. 5)
In your last post you bring about a point of creating a modern environment for students, thus creating a more beneficial environment for students. I wholeheartedly agree with this although the achievement gap that exists in lower income schools becomes widened when we discuss technology and modernization. At my school students must take a computer skills test that assesses basic computer skills on Word, Excel, etc. There were only 23% of our 8th grade students who revealed “competency.” We have one computer lab and two traveling laptop carts that are missing keys. Our wireless internet is less than sufficient and when one attempts to integrate technology into a lesson you must have at least 20 minutes wait-time for these older computers to boot up.
It is through community building and having conversations and meetings with influential people and colleagues (as you said) that can at least aid in remedying situations such as this. Many teachers would rather sit and complain and point fingers than be proactive and do the extra work necessary in coming closer to achieving your classroom vision and goals. This issue reminds me of the chapter “Teacher as Leader” in Deciding to Lead and Lisa’s class comments about teachers working for reform and being advocates for our students and community.
I am curious about your take on the issue we have recently read about: do you believe that a sense of high self-esteem is a necessary precondition for achieving anything? This chapter (5) makes me think about my beginning of year activities in my classroom the first week of school attempting to build classroom culture. I have lessons focused around explicitly teaching about the Achievement Gap, creating and sharing our Life Maps, Malleable vs. Fixed Intelligence, etc. I’ve created all of these activities in an attempt to raise students’ self-esteem and also their awareness about others in our class. My theory is that I cannot have a successful classroom without having students be a community of learners. Being a community of learners cannot happen when students lack the self-confidence necessary to take risks in the classroom. Any thoughts on this?
–Wolf & Antinarella (Deciding to Lead, Ch. 5)
In your last post you bring about a point of creating a modern environment for students, thus creating a more beneficial environment for students. I wholeheartedly agree with this although the achievement gap that exists in lower income schools becomes widened when we discuss technology and modernization. At my school students must take a computer skills test that assesses basic computer skills on Word, Excel, etc. There were only 23% of our 8th grade students who revealed “competency.” We have one computer lab and two traveling laptop carts that are missing keys. Our wireless internet is less than sufficient and when one attempts to integrate technology into a lesson you must have at least 20 minutes wait-time for these older computers to boot up.
It is through community building and having conversations and meetings with influential people and colleagues (as you said) that can at least aid in remedying situations such as this. Many teachers would rather sit and complain and point fingers than be proactive and do the extra work necessary in coming closer to achieving your classroom vision and goals. This issue reminds me of the chapter “Teacher as Leader” in Deciding to Lead and Lisa’s class comments about teachers working for reform and being advocates for our students and community.
I am curious about your take on the issue we have recently read about: do you believe that a sense of high self-esteem is a necessary precondition for achieving anything? This chapter (5) makes me think about my beginning of year activities in my classroom the first week of school attempting to build classroom culture. I have lessons focused around explicitly teaching about the Achievement Gap, creating and sharing our Life Maps, Malleable vs. Fixed Intelligence, etc. I’ve created all of these activities in an attempt to raise students’ self-esteem and also their awareness about others in our class. My theory is that I cannot have a successful classroom without having students be a community of learners. Being a community of learners cannot happen when students lack the self-confidence necessary to take risks in the classroom. Any thoughts on this?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Movies as Text
Shannon said...
We evolved our human communication from hand-signs to speaking to drawn pictures to writing to still photographs and finally to moving film. We do not yet have holographs or virtual reality in the mainstream but they are coming. It is important that a teacher is able to view diverse media as text because increasingly our world is made of the more complex medias, including movies. After so much reading and study of the printed word, it was great that we got to see clips from so many classic films. It was worth the time. Movies are another form of communication that do not get examined in a scholarly light as much as writing, but still have all the same elements. They have setting, characters, and plot just like books. Movies are more easily accessed, in that you don't need to be able to read and they also use less time to tell the same story. But, they can still be dated by the clothes characters wear, by the quality and method of the filming and special effects, and by the film's treatment of certain subjects, even by the actors themselves.
The movies we saw portrayed teachers in front of a classroom. But teaching can happen anywhere. Anyone or anything, when examined in the proper way, can yeild wisdom. I only hope that I am able to collect this wisdom more often than pass it by.
We evolved our human communication from hand-signs to speaking to drawn pictures to writing to still photographs and finally to moving film. We do not yet have holographs or virtual reality in the mainstream but they are coming. It is important that a teacher is able to view diverse media as text because increasingly our world is made of the more complex medias, including movies. After so much reading and study of the printed word, it was great that we got to see clips from so many classic films. It was worth the time. Movies are another form of communication that do not get examined in a scholarly light as much as writing, but still have all the same elements. They have setting, characters, and plot just like books. Movies are more easily accessed, in that you don't need to be able to read and they also use less time to tell the same story. But, they can still be dated by the clothes characters wear, by the quality and method of the filming and special effects, and by the film's treatment of certain subjects, even by the actors themselves.
The movies we saw portrayed teachers in front of a classroom. But teaching can happen anywhere. Anyone or anything, when examined in the proper way, can yeild wisdom. I only hope that I am able to collect this wisdom more often than pass it by.
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