EEND679Z5 Artifacts

Pear Deck with Google Slides & Google Forms

There are endless options when it comes to formative assessments! Before designing assessments and determining what tools to use, teachers need to decide what kind of information needs to be gathered and how that information will be used. Before I created these two formative assessments, I decided that one would be used during a lesson (Pear Deck Presentation) and the other at the end of a lesson (Google Form). Pear Deck is great because students' responses can be used as teaching points. Students can receive immediate feedback not only from the teacher, but from their peers as well! With Google Forms, teachers can easily view the results in real time. Because the results are organized in a Google Sheet, teachers can easily access and manipulate the data.  Choosing the right tool is important, but what's EVEN MORE important is making sure to design IMPACTFUL QUESTIONS that will produce information which will help gauge mastery! 

Digital Badge Pathway

Prior to this class, I had never heard of digital pathways or digital badges.  I learned that using Google sheets to create these pathways is a great way for students to track their progress and stay organized when presented with a larger task. Digital pathways are beneficial for all students, but especially for students who struggle with executive functioning. The digital badges motivate the students to work through the levels and and reach their goal.  Creating these badges is simple when using tools like Google Draw.  I look forward to using these pathways this year, especially for writing!

EEND 678 Reflection

The biggest takeaways of this course are my understandings of Project Based Learning and essential questions.  I’ve definitely experienced the benefits of incorporating PBL through our 5th grade service learning projects on a larger scale, but I hope to incorporate PBL in some of the smaller units. Our service learning projects tend to start in October and last until the end of the year, but I’d like to do more PBL within our content based units. The learning is so much more authentic with PBL and the students have more ownership of it.  It’s amazing to see what students can achieve when the teacher relinquishes some control and allows them to creatively problem solve on their own. Teachers can facilitate that learning and creativity through the  use of technology.

I learned that some of the essential questions I’ve used in the past have been good, but that others need refining.  Within our district’s content unit pacing guides, “essential questions” are listed; however, these questions aren’t truly essential questions because they are too specific.  I learned that good essential questions can be applied across different subject areas and they are the driving force behind the learning.  After this class, I’m pretty confident I can spot a good essential question when I see one! 

Deeper Dive

As I was going through the resources on the history of grading, some of my thoughts about grading were confirmed.  This includes thoughts about grades not predicting success and grades having negative effects on self-esteem. As I was watching the Why Do We Get Grades in School? video, I learned that grades were originally introduced at the college level; therefore, intended for older students.  I think that traditional grades aren’t appropriate for younger students, especially at the elementary level. Instead, we should do what Alfie Khon suggested, which is replace grades with narrative reports and student and parent conferences. 

Not only do grades affect children's’ self esteem, they get some students to develop a mindset in which they feel they can’t be successful. When students get C’s or E’s/F’s at a young age, they see themselves as “stupid” or “bad students”, and they often maintain that mindset through middle and high school. The girl in the video stated, “We’re told grades are the strongest predictors of success, but this is not necessarily true because it gives you the average not the full picture.'' Yes, people with high GPAs do tend to do well in the workforce; however, there are also people who didn’t finish college or even high school who have been successful, such as Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey.  She also pointed out that students with high GPAs are strong occupational thinkers, but not visionaries because they are rewarded for conformity and following the rules rather than creative thinking or specialization. When she said this, it made me think of all the times I’ve thought, That kid is going to go on to do great things in the future, about a kid who was considered  “average” because of his/her grades. This also made me reflect on my “A” students.  Typically, these students are well behaved and attentive students. Over the past few years, though, I feel like my grading practices have started to change in order to put more value into creative and critical thinking. As much as I wish that I could get rid of traditional grades, I know that’s not possible at this time.  As an alternative, I think I can move toward doing more conferencing with students and including them in  parent/teacher conferences.  

I also watched the video on Japanese schools. In the video, they listed 10 Brilliant Features to the Japanese Education System. The features are:

Manners before knowledge

Academic year starts on April 1st

Students clean the schools themselves

School lunch is provided on a standardized menu

After-school workshops are very popular

Students learn Japanese calligraphy and poetry

Students have to wear uniforms

School attendance rate is 99.99%

A single test decides their futures

College years are the best “holidays” in life

Some of the features I thought were great, such as manners before knowledge, students cleaning the school, and students learning calligraphy and poetry. The manners before knowledge stuck out to me the most. Students do not have exams until grade until they’re in fourth grade.  In the first years of school, they focus on establishing good manners and developing their character.  They are taught how to be generous, compassionate, and empathetic and are also taught grit, self-control, and justice.  I love this idea because it focuses on the whole child rather than just academics. I think if we focus on teaching students how to develop their character first, they will be more successful in their academics.