Podcasting

I really don't know what podcasting is. I was introduced to podcasting in Test and Measurements, where we would listen to Dr. Luongo's expectations/lessons for our class. I want to learn what podcasting really is and how to use it. From the little bit that I know of podcasting I think the advantages of podcasting are that you can listen to a lesson over and over again, refer to it or use that lesson as many times as you want and you don't have to be in a classroom to access podcasting. The only drawback about podcasting that I know at this point may be that it isn't easy to access equipment to actually do the podcasting.

My general pre-podcasting prediction is that it's going to be different, but fun. I think it will probably be something that I would incorporate in my lessons someday. I also, think that this is where technology in the classroom is headed, so it will be great exposure.

Standardized Test

As seen in the youtube videos that Dr. Luongo provided, the teachers have lost their creativity in their classroom, because they can only really teach the material that the students will see on the test. As a child I hated standardized test, because your teachers were always putting pressure on you saying how important it was to do well on the test and that you need to pass it to be successful. I always was a very poor test taker, but even more so on standardized test. I have recently learned to be calm before test and just to do the best that I can, but when I was young I felt like I had no control over my anxiety of tests. Standardized test in particular I felt were not a fair evaluation on how I was as a student, because a standardized test couldn't tell anyone if I was a hardworker or a poor test taker or an average or above average student, it only evaluated if the student(s) knew the material or didn't. For someone like me I knew the material, I practiced in class and at home time in time again, because it was repetitive, but that didn't mean come test day that I was going to do well with it. I felt like it wasn't a fair evaluation of me or of my teacher.

Now, I see that as a teacher it's not any easy then it was for me. Teachers are accessed on how well their students do on these standardized test, but what if there are students like me and my friends who knew the material in class, but were horrible test takers, how is that a fair evaluation on if the student really knows the material. My 7th grade teacher for language arts, made our class practice for the second half of the semester looking at a picture and writing a story of what each individual saw in the picture and exercises like that for the GEPA, which I would take in 8th grade. I practiced over a year for the GEPA, but my evaluation on the GEPA still wasn't equivalent to the evaluation that I was getting in the classroom on the same material. I believe that it's not fair for either teachers or students to have to be graded on this, but it's what the teacher and the students take out of it that will prepare them for years of standardized test to follow.

Report

Personally I believe report cards are a good way of accessing students' overall achievement in each class or subject. I believe it shows a student how he/she did throughout the marking period and/or semester. There is a lot of factors that go into a report card grade such as the classwork, participation, homework, projects, tests etc... and this grade takes into calculation the average grades for each category adding it up to the final grade, which is shown on the report card. A report card is not just based on one test or one assignment it's fair in the sense that its really how well the student performed. Each student can have a good marking period or a bad one, but that always leaves room for improvement and success in the future.

As far back as I can remember I had good report cards, there were some times that I remember not having a good grade on report card, but it was because I was struggling in a certain area. Even, with those grades I was upset, because it's was frustrating not seeing the grade my parents or I wanted. However, it always pushed me to do a little better the next marking period to prove that I can be successful, maybe with just a little more practice and/or time in one subject more than the others.

Portfolios

I really like portfolios and think that they are a very successful tactic to use in the classroom. I can only recall making maybe one or two portfolios growing up, but I remember being really excited that I could decorate the pages anyway I wanted too! I also, remember my teacher had us pick our own schoolwork (test or essay) that we wanted to put in it and she also wanted us to put a couple of the tests and papers she thought were important for us to include. I was really excited to put my 'A' essays and tests in there that my teacher put stickers on, and I also liked the items she had us include that weren't necessarily my best work, but it showed me how I improved from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

Therefore, I think portfolios should be used in the classroom, the same way that my teacher had my clas create them. I think it should be a mixture of what the students want in their portfolios and also the items I think are important for them to include to show their growth throughout the class. I think its really important for students to design their own portfolios any way they want, I want them to be as creative as they can be and use things that make them excited and want to use the portfolio.

Essay test or multiple choice

Honestly, some people are really good test takers and some are not. From elementary school to high school, I was a poor test taker, because I would get so nervous before the test, that I blanked out. Therefore, I liked multiple choice growing up, because it would gave me multiple opitions, that made me think and reminded me of what I really learned in class, thus taking out for the most part the incorrect answers. I always felt intimidated by essay test, because I had no assistance when I went blank, thus I wasn't very successful and I started to hate test a lot.

In college I started to like both essay test and multiple choice test, for different exams. Sometimes I really like to elaborate on my answers and get every point down. I also like multiple choice, because it created me to recall information from class, but also know the wrong answers too.

I think it's important to give students a mixture of test, depending on the different units being taught, so that every student gets a chance to succeed in one way or another. I think it would be important to see what students in your class mostly succeed in, whether its multiple choice, true false, or essay tests and try to give them those types of test more, but not just completely limited yourself to give just one of those test.

Quizzes and Test

Hey guys, I don't know how many of you will respond to this post, but in chapter 5 it says roughly how much time is needed for middle school and high school students to take a test or a quiz. How long should elementary school students have on a quiz or a test, should those times that are given for middle school and high school be doubled? I don't know if any of you noticed this on your field experience(s) yet.

Homework and Teacher Expectations

One statement that the text book says about homework it that, "it may be inappropriate to assign summative letter grades from the results." I would have to agree with this statement. I believe as teachers there are so many other ways to assess students through teacher-made tests and quizzes, projects, papers, etc... that homework may count towards the students' participation, but I think its harsh to give it a grade. To me homework is where a student should feel comfortable with the material that was taught that day in class and is a chance for the students to step outside of the classroom and outside of the teacher's guidance and support, and for the student to think on his/her own and either grasp the concept or question the concept if he/she does not understand it. If it's graded I believe students would be afraid to question the work and that they would feel more frustrated and pressured in trying to get the right answer(s) and trying not to make mistakes than actually thinking about what they are doing. I feel that as a teacher you can evaluate the pattern of errors or the pattern of successes in the students' homework and classwork, because there should be no pressure on them and they should feel at ease to make mistakes and try to apply the concept to other aspects of their work.
Teacher expectations I believe are to make a clear learning target, that the teacher clearly understands and can present/explain it to his/her class, so that it is clear to their students and also for their students to understand why they will need to know this information. I think that teacher expectations also form around assessment of the students. The reason being, the teacher has learning targets to reach and he/she cannot reach these targets until the students reach them, so through proper feedback, that is clear and specific, letting the students understand what they need to improve on and what they excelled at, helps them to reach these learning targets.