To Test or Not To Test?

Some might argue that the only way to truly assess a students' ability in an objective manner is to administer a good old fashioned test. However, the problem with this thinking is that it's precisely that - old fashioned. In fact, most pencil and paper assessments limit our students to lower levels of thinking. Yet, every guru in educational psychology has always proclaimed the importance of higher level thinking. From Bloom's evaluation to Webb's Depth of Knowledge, a heavy emphasis has been placed on extending students' thinking beyond multiple choice answers.

With the introduction of technology into today's learning society, I believe that there are so many other manners in which we can assess a students' abilities. To do this, though, our focus must be on creating objective opportunities to assess the students' abilities. So, how do we accomplish assessing our students objectively without having to solely rely on testing? In essence, we follow the same steps. First, we must determine the standard. From the standard, we must determine the concepts, procedures, and representations that are required by the standard. Once the teacher has a clear idea of the level of complexity that is required by the standard, the teacher must decide which activity would be best suited to assessing the content. Finally, the teacher must provide clear benchmarks for the students to assess their own learning.

I think the use of various assessments is important, because it truly brings the joy back into the classroom. For years, teachers and students alike have complained about the "testing environment" that has become the American classroom. The video below is an excellent example of how using a variety of assessments is playing out for one district in terms of student achievement, teacher attitude, and student attitude.

Technology Infused Classroom

I think that a technology infused classroom is a classroom that uses technology in a teacher, parent, and student centered approach, so that there is something for everyone within the learning community. It should use technology for both teaching and communicating. A parent centered classroom would give parents a chance to communicate and be involved with what is happening in their child's education. Some examples of what this might look like is a class website, online grades, and SMS texting regarding important events and messages. A teacher centered classroom would include the use of a SmartBoard to present visually appropriate lessons. It would include audio clips, video, and images. A student centered classroom would include technology that is interactive rather than passive. Students would use classroom responder systems for assessment. They would also have access to computers that they would use on a regular basis. In addition, they would have access to tablet/mobile based technologies for tutorials.

In many aspects, I feel that my classroom is getting closer to technology infused, but I am still missing the boat on the interactive portion. In many aspects, I do many student centered projects with technology in the classroom, but I still tend to use the SmartBoard more as a presentation tool than an interactive tool. I think this is where I see that I would like to take my classroom next. To do this, I think I would probably need to implement it more on a small group intervention level than on a whole classroom level. I'd also have to see about getting the board lowered to a student level rather than a teacher level. I found this video that really inspired this idea for me, though.

Visual Literacy and the Internet

Visual literacy and the Internet are both two terrific hot topics, and although they seemingly do not belong together, they go so well hand in hand. Both Visual Literacy and the Internet are powerful teaching tools that could be used separately on in conjunction together. The point, though, is that they both offer the opportunity for students to collaborate with others and self - assess as needed. In time, these two opportunities allow my students the chance to build and gain background knowledge that would otherwise be inaccessible due to language or lack of resources. I would like to begin using the Internet to take my students on more Virtual Field Trips. I feel that with so few of my students having real world experiences, Virtual Field Trips would prove to be very beneficial. In addition, I would like to see my students blogging and commenting one each others' posts to lead my students to a place where they can participate in student led conversations.

As far as Visual Literacy, I Would really like to have my students work more with infographics. I would like to have them not only study and dissect them for meaning, but I would also like to see them create their own using a software package, such as SmartBoards, Powerpoint, or pages. I have already begun to use it in terms of finding the most appropriate picture for vocabulary and making sure that my students have the knowledge they need to successful. I would also like to go back to being better at having my students use Thinking Maps more consistently. I found that when my students used these maps, they quickly understand the cognitive process and the content with ease. This visual really helped me to define visual literacy and where I would like to take my students form here.

Ultimately, I would like to see the Internet become a tool in our classroom that is essential to everyday business, because it makes us more productive as teachers and learners. This can be accomplished through tutorials, collaborative projects, or use practice.