Authentic Assessments...Clear As Day.

Microsoft

Throughout my graduate program I have heard many different kinds of references to the concept of authentic assessments. I never really heard one that was clear and simple. One that stuck with me and made me feel like I really understood what it was about.  Until I read through Jon Mueller's "Authentic Assessment Toolbox". 


My affinity for authentic teaching comes from my belief in using real-world contexts within a classroom so that instruction is meaningful and engaging for students.  Lessons are taught that are based on what happens in real-life and students are given opportunities to work on solving real problems and creating products that can serve a purpose in reality.  That has been my understanding of authentic teaching and those things are what make me believe in it and gravitate towards it.  


Now I will add authentic assessment to my framework of teaching.  Although in theory the elements of this approach have been ones that I've believed in the entire time.  Now I have another name for them.  It feels good to know more precisely what educators consider to be authentic assessment- which is assessments that are based on real-life contexts that either involve or emulate conditions that exist in the real-world.  Furthermore, students create evidence and demonstrations of their learning, which is a far more descriptive and sophisticated means of expression.  Their means for demonstrating what they can do and understand is not limited to traditional assessment methods that rely on having students fill in information to indicate a response. Rather, they produce something that directly shows what they are capable of. 


Technology, and Web 2.0 tools in particular, is fabulous for providing tools and resources for students to express what they can do and know. Here is a context wherein technology is a very useful tool for enabling student expression and assessment. One tool in particular that seems helpful for this use is an e-portfolio. Many Web 2.0 tools can be used to create and maintain this kind of electronic, or digital, portfolio. 


One question I am left pondering is: What is at the cutting-edge of authentic assessment research and theory?

Differentiated Instruction + Technology = Better Learning

Veer Images

I recently read through a wiki called Differentiate-with-Technology.  There I found useful information about the nature of differentiated instruction and what technology can do to further this approach when teaching students. The whole notion of differentiated instruction is what grabbed me the most.  From reading about it in this wiki I realized that differentiated instruction is very similar to the concept of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).  The idea is that you design instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners in your classroom rather than those of average students. Different learning styles and preferences for self-expression are seriously considered while planning instruction.  This sounds very similar to what I have seen discussed about UDL and how teachers following this approach need to incorporate various ways of delivering information and provide many different options for students to demonstrate what they have learned. It was an interesting connection to make.


Regarding both concepts, I say "Yes!" It rings true to me that different students learn in different ways and need a teacher to understand them well enough to make instruction meaningful and relevant to them. The teacher also needs to provide means for assessment that are well-matched to the learning preferences of students. Now, how can technology help with this?


There are a plethora of technological tools out there that students can use to demonstrate what they have learned to be able to do.  Plus, there are a variety of tools that can suit many different learning styles and student interests.  Their are graphics programs for visual learners, digital story-telling for auditory learners, movie-makers for tactile students, etc. The Internet and various Web 2.0 tools can bring leranign alive for a very diverse student population.  It is only then up to the teacher to learn about her/his students and be able to fluently match assessment activities and tools to their individual needs. 


One question I am left pondering is: How can technology be a component of culturally-responsive teaching and assessment?

The Complex World of Internet Safety, Copyright Law and Fair Use Policy

Photo by Sheila Mannese

I recently read some articles on the topics of internet safety, copyright, and fair use and was surprised by the extent of technical details that pertain to these topics. The extent of these details made me ponder about the use of materials and technology in schools and the lack of simplicity that is involved when looking to use engaging materials that are copyrighted and/or on the Internet.  It gave me the kind of headache that I have gotten from other cumbersome topics like NCLB.  The saying, "Keep it simple, stupid!" seems to characterize the way I feel about such complexity in this case.

However, it is useful to have the information I need to understand internet safety and copyright law. I have wondered quite a bit about the nature of copyright law and have wanted more information so that I can make informed decisions when using materials in my classroom that may be copyrighted.  I just think it is going to take patience and time to fully absorb and comprehend all that is involved in the fair use policy that pertains to educators.  But absorb and comprehend I must. And I will.

Wouldn't it be helpful if some kind of web tool could provide all the necessary interactive guides that will allow you to judge whether a resource you would like to use falls within the domain of the fair use policy? And also help you to create the requisite citations and/or credits that would ensure you follow the law when using copyrighted information?  Perhaps such a tool exists.  I should probably search the Web for it.  Otherwise, for all of those tech-savvy educators out there, what do you say to creating one?

There is no "I" in "Team": Collaboration with Parents

I believe that my job is to further the development of each of my students. In order to do this I need support from parents and their collaboration. There is no "I" against them, as if parents were ancillary to the teaching process during a school-year.  I will use every resource I can to serve my students and one important resource are the students' parents.  I see them as as both resources and team-mates.  I value their understanding of their children and the power of their role as parents.  I will treat them with respect and dignity and seek to understand who they are as much as I will try to understand their children.  I will forge a relationship of respect and trust by communicating with them whenever I feel that doing so is in the best interest of their child. This means constant and continuous communication.  This will communicate to parents that I respect their ideas and opinions and value their input into their child's educational experience in my classroom.  This may make parents feel comfortable participating in their student's educational experience and also make them realize (if they haven't already) that they have much support to offer their children.

I plan to communicate with parents via the most convenient methods for each parent.  Some parents may prefer phone-calls, others emails, a classroom website, an electronic newsletter or a written note home. Prior to the school-year starting I will offer many different options for communication and ask each parent to tell me what their preference is.  I will include both Web 2.0 technologies in this list as well as more traditional mediums.  

It would be fun to try using a software program like Glogster.com, which is very interactive and has multi-media capability, or a class website (via webs.com) to communicate with parents. During our group project this week we chose to use Glogster.com to make a newsletter for parents. We chose this program because it has multi-media capability.  The product ended up being quite impressive and engaging.  However, this ended up not being the most effective program in regards to collaborating with four other people to create our newsletter. This is the case because Glogster does not allow real-time collaboration. Only one person can edit the newletter (or "glog") at a time.  If one group member didn't volunteer to take the lead on the design of the newsletter than we would not have been able to easily create it remotely and would have needed to meet at a physical location. 

If the group were to create a newsletter again I would do some more research to find a more conducive tool for producing a multi-media product that group members can collaborate on creating in real-time. 

Create a Rubric with Rubistar.4teachers.org

Visit Rubistar.4teachers.org to easily create your own rubric to use for authentic assessments.

Please visit this link to see an example of a rubric that I'v made using Rubistar.

Student Self-Expression Through the Use of Polls in a Classroom

I recently created my first on-line poll at Polldaddy.com.  It was very simple and easy to create the poll. Plus, there were many options for how to design the poll and what to include in it.

So how could the use of an on-line poll create authentic experiences that enrich students' lives and learning? Polls can be used as a means for self-expression. Teachers can use the polls to encourage students to reflect on certain aspects of a lesson or unit and share their ideas.  Not only does a poll enable students to reflect and express themselves but it allows them to learn about other students and their ideas. For example, in my future classroom I may use this on-line poll to ask students to reflect on characters in a book we read and to identify which characters they related to the most.  Students can look at the aggregated class data and share their ideas with other classmates.  This will enable them to learn not only from their experience taking the poll but also through the rich discussions that could result from discussing it.

One question I am left pondering is: What are some high-quality authentic applications for polls inside classrooms?

Link to My Mind-Map for 1st Grade Lesson on The Four Seasons

Please view my mind-map at this link on the website Webspiration.com.

Why did I choose this topic?

I chose the topic for my mind-map based on the unit I will be teaching in my first student-teaching placement this fall. The unit is the four seasons.

What was my expected goal?

The expected goal of my mind-mapping was to organize my ideas about what topics within the four seasons unit I will cover and how I will breakdown my approach.  As a result of the mind-mapping, I concluded that my approach will be broken down by season with each season having its own sub-topics.

What assessments can be used with this tool?

Following the use of this mind-map, and hence the implementation of my unit plan, I will use a summative assessment to ensure that students have learned the various topics represented in the map. I will use formative evaluations as well as each concept and sub-topic area is taught.  

How will this tool help students learn?

This mind-map tool will help students learn about the topic of the four seasons because it helps me to organize how my unit plan will be structured and what conceptual areas I will focus on throughout the unit.  Furthermore, I can distribute the mind-map to students so that they can write notes about the sub-topic areas and use these notes to enhance and solidify their learning.

What was the most important lesson I learned from this activity?

I learned that there is a free web-based program that can help me create visual organizers and mind-maps.  There are numerous uses for these kinds of tools for helping students learn and grow.  

What did I like and dislike about Webspiration?

I really liked that it was quite intuitive to figure out how to use the various tools that Webspiration offers. I do desire that the program offer more abundant reserves of pictures for which to use as icons and visual representations in the maps. However, I assume this is available in a pay version of the program.

What would I do differently the next time I create a mind-map?

I will overcome my natural preference to use a hands-on, trial-and-error approach to exploring the various capacities the site has to offer. Instead, I will look through any tutorials and helpful information that describes the various functions I may use to create my mind-map.  I would also follow this approach when asking students to use the program. I would likely ask them to explore the various help topics within the site and to make a list of the most important functions they learned about that will help them make spectacular mind-maps.