First, I will develop a teacher survey for the
teachers in my district who teach 3rd, 4th and 5th
grade. I will design survey questions that ask educators how they manage their
student’s learning in a technology-enhanced environment and how they use
multiple methods of evaluation in their classrooms. I will use the information
from the survey to create a PLC email group. This way I can collaborate with
colleagues from my district, while trying to carry out my GAME plan.
Next, I will research and read some information
about multiple methods of evaluation. I will look for one technology project
based assessment that proved to increase student learning. Once found, I will
tweak it to fit my third grade class. In addition, I will learn how to use our
districts already approved benchmark testing program, and explore learning
activities and instruction to increase student achievement on this district
approved assessment. I will collaborate
with the other teachers in my building throughout this process.
Some additional information I may need is using my
judgment on the correct balance of technology assessments to use with the third
graders in my classroom. I am not sure there is any magic number, or
combination of the correct amount of multiple methods of evaluation in a
research article. I feel this will be something that my teacher instincts will
have to guide. I will include student feedback into my decisions.
The steps that I have taken thus far are as follows.
First, I have analyzed the data from our technology based benchmark testing
program. I noted a weakness in comprehending informational text. I designed a
lesson to teach strategies to strength comprehending informational text. I created
a technology based assessment for my students to complete. This lesson served
as a two-fold activity. My students are gaining knowledge on comprehending informational
text while learning how to become better at taking tests on the laptops using
the same benchmarking format.
As I journey through my GAME plan, I am open to any
advice or ideas you can provide me. I feel this GAME plan will enable my
students to score higher on our benchmark technology tests. In addition using
technology will motivate my students to learn and become engaged in using
technology in my classroom.
Developing a PCL among your colleagues is a great way to share ideas and information. I also like how you are making an email list so teachers can send emails if they do not have time to meet regularly in their busy and hectic schedules. In addition, tweaking lessons is a great way to make the lessons authentic and meaningful to students. It also allows you to differentiate the lessons to meet the diverse needs of your students based on their personal learning styles.
ReplyDeleteEmily,
DeleteThe reason I choose a PLC email is one teacher tried a Blog and nobody used it. Some did not know how to use a blog and others were worried about posting things that anyone can read. I wanted to think of a way that would make everyone comfortable communicating and I am hopeful that my email idea works.
Julie
Julie,
ReplyDeleteOne way to create a survey is to do it through Survey Moneky (http://www.surveymonkey.com/) it is a free website. You create your survey questions, invite people to log in and take your survey, and the site tabulates your results for you. This would be an easy way for you to gather information from the teachers in your district.
There are several sites that are excellent resources for exploring project based assessment. My school is moving toward becoming a project based learning school so our PLC in the middle school has been researching this area. Here are a few sites we found helpful:
Edutopia : http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning
PBL Resources, Real World Real Learning; http://cell.uindy.edu/PBL/pblresources.php. This site provides a list of resources to develop project based learning and assessment in your classroom or school. It is on the University of Indianapolis website.
PBL Guide: Project Based Learning: A Resource for Instructors and Program Coordinator: http://naf.org/files/PBL_Guide.pdf. This PDF describes how to create and assess a project based learning experience as well as links to examples of projects and assessment.
I hope these resources are helpful as you start implementing your GAME plan.
Sharon,
DeleteI have used survey monkey and I too find it easy to use. Thank you for reminding me about this wonderful survey resource.
In addition, the websites you provided me with are wonderful. I have used Edutopia, but not for project based learning ideas. The other two PBL sources I especially like because they include assessments with the project based learning ideas. Which I am sure is the reason you shared them with you. I have bookmarked all three sites and these will included in part of my research in my GAME plan.
Thank you for taking the time to share these helpful Project Based Learning resources.
Julie Budd
Great job!! Your GAME plan is well stated and thought out. The assessment of students is a job ALL educators must take serious but do it correctly. The GAME plan you provided covers everything YOU need to do as an educator. Now, what about the parent involvement? How can they assist the teachers with THEIR children’s success!?!. I found a web-link that provides tips to parents for Comprehension
ReplyDeleteInformational Texts. Wonderful job!!!
http://www.cedu.niu.edu/ltcy/literacyclinic/raisingreaders/informationaltexts.pdf
Mr. Clarke,
DeleteYou added an important part to the equation that I did not add in my game plan. Parents do make a difference, and especially with informational text since this type of reading is all around every house hold. (Hopefully)
I have printed out the parent article and will be sending it home this week. I especially like the numbered easy to do items that parents can do to foster understanding of informational text. Thank you for sharing and calling my attention to adding parents to the equation.
Julie Budd
Hi Julie,
ReplyDeleteI am very interested in your approach to helping your students improve their comprehension of informational text because I think it is a challenge that most of us face as students transition from aesthetic reading to the efferent reading that dominates content at the intermediate and secondary levels. Early in our masters program, one of our textbooks was "50 Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners" (underscore) (Herrel, J., & Jordan, M., 2008), and it included a strategy called Generating Interaction between Schemata and Text (GIST). Although the strategy was designed to scaffold English Language Learners, I have found it to be extremely useful for all of my students. The key idea is that kids work in teams to identify key ideas and write summary sentences collectively through collaboration and negotiation of meaning and importance. I have used it at regular intervals throughout this year, and it has definitely improved my students’ ability to process informational text. The book came with a DVD that includes an actual lesson that demonstrates the strategy really effectively. If you still have that book/DVD set, it may be worth a look to see if it is something that might work for you and your kids. If not, there is a YouTube video that gives a general overview of the big ideas. It can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRBQGwZKxZI
Best of luck to you!
-Bob
Reference:
Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2008). 50 strategies for teaching English language learners (2nd custom ed.). New York: Custom Pub..
Hi Bob,
DeleteThank you for sharing the utube video. I do something similar and call it, "Getting the Big Ideas" from a text. I also outline the big ideas (Not an easy third grade task). However, the video opened my ideas with an idea for one struggling special ed student I have. This student is with me for science and social studies.
I like how this video suggested pairing a struggling student up to help the student understand the vocabulary, a very important part of comprehending informational text. The collaboration and negotiation of meaning with be helpful for all of my students. Thank you for sharing this valuable resource.
Julie Budd
Julie
DeleteYou do have a wonderful plan and your peers gave you some good advice. The one thing about survey monkey it is free but will not give you a print out data sheet that will be a useful resource for your employer. Do you have a statistician employed at your school to help with the data.
Susan