Module 5 Reflection

This module has helped me think about student-centered assessment in the following ways...

I have learned that student assessment has to be very specific in order to grade efficiently and without bias. Writing out my rubric was kind of hard because I had to break down every part of my student-centered project to realize what I was looking for and then had to word it specifically to eliminate bias. I also realized how vague certain words can be and how I didn't really see a problem with it before.

Module 4 Reflection

How can technology be used most effectively to support and assess student learning?

Techonology can be used to enhance student learning and assessment by providing different creative outlets to create projects. In the student sample, I allowed my students to create a song and music video for the metric unit. I believe that instead of having a regular unit test, the song and music video would have been more interesting and fun while still providing whether or not they learned the unit.

Also, excel provided a shockingly awesome way to assess how students are performing in different areas using simple function formulas. Student assessment would be made easier and more organized with the simple function formulas.

Module 3 Reflection

This module has helped me think about the impact of the Internet on my students’ learning in the following ways…

I have learned that most of the information on the internet has certain copyright laws attached to it and therefore affects how my students will be able to use it. Students will have to recognize how much of someone else's work they can use and also how to cite sources properly in order not to plagerize. With so much information floating around the internet it is difficult to not just copy and paste someone else's work into their own. As a teacher, I will have to explain what copyrighting is and how to properly cite sources.

Module 2 Reflection

This module has helped me think about using standards, CFQs, or formative assessment in the following ways…

I have learned that writing a unit plan is very helpful in staying organized and on task for the multiple activities that will be taught in the unit. Again, I was naive when it came to teaching duties and had no idea that teachers used a unit plan to teach. However, these seem to be very useful in organizing your ideas, thoughts, projects, and staying within the state curriculum.

CFQs are really helpful too because they give you an outline of what you want the students to know instead of just hoping they understand the material. It gives their learning and your teaching a focus instead of just a general area of knowledge.

Formative assessments were the hardest part of this week's assignments. I really didn't understand them that much because I don't really know many ways to grade students without a test. However, I would love to learn more about them that way my students will have multiple ways to get a good grade besides just tests.

Module 1 Reflection

My Role as an Instructional Designer

Before I started module one, I didn't realize that I would be the designer of anything except maybe how my classroom was set up. After finishing this module, I realize that I play a huge role in how my children will be learning and how I present information. I also didn't realize that the process of instructional design was very involved and detailed. I had no idea that I had to design curriculum framing questions or an assessment plan. Honestly, I did not even know what those were until this module.
I am a little intimidated about being the designer of my childrens' learning process. However, I know that I can design an excellent project or lesson plan that will touch each child that I teach.
I really like the idea of project-based learning being incorporated into my classroom. I believe strongly in student-centered teaching, which is the core of project-based learning. Although it may be tedious planning to incorporate a lesson like PBL into my unit, I think it will extremely help the students learn the material better and more extensively than if I just lectured about it.
After this module, I believe my role as an instructional designer will be strengthened because I know all the different process steps to build a strong unit.