I stumbled upon the following image, which relates so well to yesterday’s post about self-assessment! It is a great reminder for everyone, teachers and students included, of the importance of reflecting on not only our work, but also ourselves as people. Give it a read and let me know what you think!
How great would it be if students were able to assess their own work? Even better, how great would it be if students assessed their own work throughout the completion process, allowing them reflect on the quality of their work and set goals for improvement?
Thankfully, self-assessment is a thing!
As educators, we can do so much than simply teach students the curriculum; we can teach them how to be independent, self-reflecting individuals. These qualities will prove to be extremely beneficial in all areas of the student’s life, extending beyond their time in the classroom.
By including students in the evaluation process through self-assessment, they develop the habit of self-reflection. They learn to define the qualities of good work, how to differentiate pieces of work against these qualities, how to step back from their work to assess their own efforts and feelings of accomplishment, and how to set personal goals. Ultimately, self-assessment teaches the students to be active learners, being alert and constructive during the entire process of learning.
Additionally, self-assessment teaches the student that the idea of assessment doesn’t have to be scary, related to grades on projects, or administered by a teacher. Rather, it shows students that assessment can be a useful tool in the process of work-completion, allowing them to reflect on what they have done so far, what they still need to do, and how they will get there.
Both Cooper (2010) and Gregory & Chapman (2013) provide us with various methods of completing self-assessment. Two of the methods that I find to be most beneficial, as presented by Cooper, are the survey and the checklist. The survey provides teacher with an indication of where the student’s attitudes and skills fall on a continuum. This can be a great tool prior to the beginning of a new unit or project, as it allows the student to reflect on their own attitudes and behaviours while also priming the teacher with areas that might need more attention.
Checklists are a great tool in that they clearly define steps and tasks that must be completed, as outlined in the rubric. This is a great tool because it encourages the student to be self-reflective of their work, ensuring that every step and criteria has been met while also allowing them to be critical of the quality of their work.
Gregory & Chapman show us that self-assessment is not only possible for individual work; it can be conducted for group work as well. The students are able to reflect on their own contributions, they effectiveness of their collaboration skills, and outline areas of improvement that they will strive for during future group activities.
I’ve had many opportunities for self-assessment throughout my education, specifically in high school and university. As a teacher, I am going to strive to implement reflection into all areas of learning, despite what grade I teach. It is never too early to begin working on bettering yourself as a learner.
A digital portrait presents some of the places and spaces that have contributed to who your are as a person. As I reflect on where I am today in live, many different experiences come to mind. The largest influence on my decision to become a teacher is the positives experiences I had during my time in school.
Click the link below to view my digital portrait:
Wandering Waterloo
Flat like a meadow
Smells like success, opportunity, education
Hustle and bustle of people going to work
Everyone seems to have an idea that changes the world
I wanted to teach ever since I told my Kindergarten teacher so
Leaving Waterloo meant I got to start the rest of my life
I hope to be a teacher that changes many lives
Approachable yet confident demeanor which commands much respect
One smile can change someone’s life
Constant and unmeasurable growth
Being an educator means more than just teaching your students the standardized curriculum administered by the government; rather, they seek to understand their students in a holistic sense in order to best support them in their learning. When the topic of late or incomplete assignments is mentioned, many people who are not a part of the education system feel like the “fail” label is appropriate for the student. If the work isn’t complete, then they get a zero and that’s that. But does that approach truly stem out of an unconditional support for the education of our younger generation?
In Cooper’s text Talk about Assessment, he discusses the topic of students failing to complete assessments. He also addresses the threat of punishment approach to this topic (i.e., you don’t do the work, you get a zero). Cooper quotes Guskey & Bailey as they point out:
“No studies support the use of low grades or marks as punishments. Instead of prompting greater effort, low grades more often cause students to withdraw from learning (p. 64)”
What, then, is the proposed solution to this issue? How about addressing the problem before it occurs? Would teacher have to give a student a zero if the student was more inclined to submit their work?
This idea led me to think of a few ways that I would be able to adopt a proactive approach to this topic, especially given the urban setting of the school that I am currently doing my placement in (my Associate Teacher warned me that the students received very little support in their academics after school hours). After looking into a few different solutions, I have chosen two that would be easy to implement, yet affective in their approach.
The first idea came from reflecting on my own education experience. Why did I submit my work? Well, for a number of reasons:
Yup, that last one was a huge motivator! Rewarding students for their efforts in completing homework and assignments is easy and effective. No student would pass up Pizza Hut, so they complete all their work in an effort to earn that reward. If we expect students to complete assignments, it has to be worth their time; there has to be some type of incentive to encourage students to complete their assignments.
Another idea would be to record the occurrences of late or missing assessments. This provides students, parents, and the teacher a tangible reflection of the work ethic and completion rate of the student’s work. No matter what the reason, if the assessment is not complete, the students would have to record this in a stationed “Incomplete Work Log”, outlining their name, the date, what was incomplete, and the reason. This forces students to truly reflect on why the task was incomplete while also making them accountable for their actions.
As educators, we must continue to teach students in all areas of their life, even if that means teaching them the skills of time management, accountability, initiative, and homework completion. The curriculum is one half of education; the student as a person is the other.
(It still blows my mind that I am now considered a teacher-candidate…)
Today officially marked the first day of my 8-month placement at Pinecrest Public School in Ottawa! Despite prepping my belongings the night before, waking up extra early, and grabbing a large regular coffee from the Tim Horton’s around the corner from the school (convenient, right?), I was still fairly nervous for my first placement of my Bachelor of Education.
The day started with a tour of school and its many resources. Albeit an “urban” school, Pinecrest is gifted with a massive property, featuring two soccer fields and scenic green spaces. What’s even better is that the classrooms have large windows that let in a great deal of natural lighting, which is something that not many schools can brag about. The school has two gymnasiums, one of which has a stage that the school performs plays on. Another amazing feature of the school is that has a woodworking shop – yes, Pinecrest is a K-8 school with a tech shop. Needless to say, I felt like I was in a high school! That is, until the bell rang and the students came inside…
“Was I that small in grade 7?” was the first question that ran through my mind. But after that thought left my mind, I was excited to see the diversity of the students that walked through the halls. I was very impressed with the sense of inclusion that the student population exuded, proving yet again that the younger generation is the best example of how we should accept and celebrate each others differences.
As the day continued, I jumped right into the role of a teacher, assisting students understand various concepts in Math, Language, and History. I also got to see the class in action as they had their music class. They were all learning how to play the ukulele – how awesome is that?! (Shout out to the recorder I got to play in grade 7…) I will admit that one of the biggest challenges I will face, no matter what class I teach, is remembering names. That skill just wasn’t a gift I was graced with, but I was proactive and requested a class list so that I could practice before next week!
Among the many programs that Pinecrest offers, about 6 students from my immediate class utilize the ESL (English as a Second Language) and ELD (English Literacy Development) programs. The ELD program is a new concept for me, but I am amazed with each new success story that I hear from the program. I am very interested to learn more about what goes into the program and potentially spend some of my CSL placement there.
The first of many projects that I will work on during my time at Pinecrest involves the school’s playground. Unfortunately, the playground was torn down 2 years ago when it was deemed unsafe, but has yet to be replaced. That being said, the kindergarten and primary students are left with a sandbox where the playground once stood, the extent of their “play area”. In an attempt to be awarded a grant from the Aviva Community Fund, I have taken on the task of creating a video of Pinecrest’s playground situation that will be submitted. Needless to say, I’ve been brushing up on my video editing “skills” and will be collecting footage next Wednesday, just in time for next Friday’s deadline. Fingers crossed that my video submission lead to Pinecrest being considered for funding!
Ideas are flowing, passion is ignited. I’m looking forward to round 2 next week!
Photo sharing is a large part of our social media presence. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are all apps that are largely, or completely, revolved around photo sharing. I am an avid user or social media outlets and I share photos of myself, my friends, and my family. In addition, I like seeing updates from my friends and family members through photos that they share. However, as a 21-year-old, I feel like I am responsible in the way that I conduct myself on social media.
But can photo sharing go wrong? What happens when children have not adequately been taught how to properly use social media and been given safety tips for photo sharing?
Lets look at Amanda Todd’s story.
Amanda Todd was a 15-year-old girl from British Columbia that got caught up in the negative world of photo sharing. While in an online chat room, Amanda was convinced to show her chest to a man on the other side. Unbeknownst to her, the man took screen caps of Amanda and later used them to blackmail her to get more “action” from her. Eventually, the photos were shared with Amanda’s friends and family. In the midst of all of the blackmail and bullying caused by the photos, Amanda Todd made the following video:
One bad lapse in judgement led to a photo going viral, bullying of all forms (especially cyber bullying), and eventually a suicide. Amanda committed suicide about a month after posting this video on YouTube.
This is clearly a tragic example of how what we do on the internet and what we share with others can have repercussions that we cannot reverse. Throughout the story, we learned that people continued to taunt Amanda, even when she was at her lowest during her self-harm. Teenagers can be cruel in these cyber situations, not realizing the full implications that their words and comments can have on the lives of real people.
Luckily, there are many people who have been outraged by what happened to Amanda. Most importantly, there are many teens that have been outraged. Watch the following video to see teens discussing Amanda Todd’s story, their own experiences with bullying, and their thoughts on internet safety.
This story is an clear explanation on why we have to teach our students the importance of internet safety, especially concerning photo sharing. Below are a list of questions we should all ask ourselves before posting a photo on social media. Photo sharing is a trend that will not be going away anytime soon. Therefore, it is important that we make lessons on this topic for the safety of our students.
Technology changes so rapidly in our current day and age, and schools are doing a great job of keeping up-to-date with the trends! Many students have their own blogs and websites, or they are familiar with how they work based on their experiences with social media (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.). Additionally, students enjoy reading blog posts compared to newspaper articles or textbooks. From what I’ve read, many teachers are changing their writing and English projects to be completed in cyber space in the form of a blog. This keeps the students engaged and invested in the school work that they are doing!
Check out the image below for more information about blogging is not necessarily about the technology, but rather about the continual engagement of the students:
In this week’s readings for Curriculum Planning, Implementation, and Assessment, there were many themes that overlapped. Specifically, the theme of technology being integrated into teaching and assessment was one that has always interested me.
Mishra and Koehler spoke of the importance for teachers to see new technologies and learning tools, rather than threats to the education system. In fact, they encouraged teachers to use technology, saying:
“Teachers need to develop a willingness to play with technologies and an openness to building new experiences for students so that fun, cool tools can be educational (p. 18).”
I believe that this is so important in the classroom today. So many students resort to using technology (i.e. texting, Facebook, Twitter) during class time for one reason: they are bored. This is where the teacher could either go to war with the students over using this technology at an inappropriate time, or change their approach to parallel the desires of the students. A young adult, I would align myself with the second approach, creating innovative ways of teaching which utilize technology. However, I can definitely see how experienced teachers could fear the use of technology, especially if they themselves are not comfortable with it.
By adopting an acceptance of technology into the classroom, the role of the teacher does in fact take a shift. As Cooper says in Chapter 2:
“The sheer volume of information available today, as well as the rate at which information is increasing and being replaced by current and better information, cannot all possibly be captured and transmitted by teachers and textbooks (p. 13).”
We as educators want nothing more than for our students to learn as much as they can during their time with us. By integrating technology into our classrooms, we are not only introducing them to the subject matter at hand, but we are also teaching them technology competency, opening them to a world of additional learning before their eyes.
My father is someone who believes that one day, all teachers will be replaced by computers. Since I’ve had my fair share of debates with him about this topic, I will admit that I was relieved to see that the 8th Big Idea of assessment affirmed my position. When Cooper mentioned that “one of the essential characteristics of the teaching-learning process is the human interaction that occurs between students and a caring, sensitive, skilled teacher,” I immediately sent a screenshot to my father (p. 7). His response surprised me:
“Some teachers could be [replaced by computers], but you will never be that kind of teacher because you have the passion to teach and will be a success.”
It looks like it is possible to have teachers and technologies working together to create the best possible learning environment for students. I look forward to and welcome the introduction of many technologies into my future classroom.
I’ll admit, my schooling experience was far from “urban”. I grew up in a relatively privileged city and was not exposed to many cultures that were different from my own. With that being said, I have always been someone who is fascinated by people and their story (can you tell I’m a Psychology major?). Albeit a little apprehensive about being the in Urban Education cohort at first, the readings from Daniel and Chambers changed my mindset.
Daniel’s approach to the topic of “urban” is one that provoked a lot of thought. One of the strongest themes that I took away from her article, “Reimagining the Urban: A Canadian Perspective”, is that for us to fully grasp the concept of urban, “its relationship with the suburban needs to be conceptualized, explored, and analyzed as another mutually constituted relationship” (p. 823). By establishing a strong distinction between the urban and the suburban, we are further increasing the divide between the two, thus refusing to create a feeling of unity and inclusion among all areas. As Daniels states, we must change our perception of urban to “move beyond the notions of geography, space, and social class exclusivity” (p. 828). We are all citizens of the same city, province, or country, and despite whether we live in an area that is deemed to be urban or suburban, we should all be entitled to the same quality of education.
Chambers took more of a personal approach to the topic of urban in her article “’Where Do I Belong?’ Canadian Curriculum as Passport Home”. My favourite quote from Chamber’s article follows:
“… home is that place where the past is continually present, both complicating this moment right now, and giving us and them, children and students, the courage and the confidence to face the future.”
This is such a strong reminder that our home, Canada, is what we make it to be. If we continue to neglect certain areas or display prejudice against certain cultures, then we are weaving hatred into the fabric of our nation. How do we as teachers help to rectify this problem? I am a strong believer that leading by example is one of the most invaluable teaching tools. In addition to adopting a positive curriculum, we as teachers can help by displaying acceptance and promoting inclusion and diversity in our classrooms.
Needless to say, after reading these two articles, my preconceived notions about what urban education was have changed. Here’s to two years of learning more about urban education!