I am finding some progress in carrying out my GAME plan. this is largely due to some of my coworkers that I share ideas with. We have worked together as a team to brainstorm ideas and come up wiht common assessments for our students. This assures that all of the students who are enrolled in the same course but have different teachers will go over the same information. This will better prepare them and us as teachers for their state exams. The only modification that I may need is to meet wiht them more often. It is hard though to find more time in our already hectic schedule. I have leaned that through constant communication, our students seem to be on line to be the most prepared that they can be for their upcoming exam.
One obstacle I have hit is finding ways of implementing technology into preparation for the state exams. Because the test in the recent past has always been forced choice assessments (in the form of multiple choice), it has been difficult to find ways to use technology that can prepare them better than actually giving them a paper and pencil multiple choice test. I always like to give them a live example of what type of exam they are going to see. I believe that there is no better way to practice.
However, now with the exams moving towards a combination of forced choice responses and open ended responses (short answers and essay), I can try to implement new ways of teaching the skills. I was contemplating starting a chat thread that my students could all part take in. I could give assignments or extra credit and have them create or add to discussions. One issue that I face is that not everyone has internet access. I have several students who do not have a computer or email address. SO now I am faced with this new issue of how to implement such an activity when not all of my students have an equal opportunity to access the information.
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Karl,
ReplyDeleteAt a friends school, they have the computer lab open during lunch hour and before and after school so that students who do not have access to the internet at their home can use this time to work on projects. Is this an option for you? Glad that your fellow colleagues are helping you to align what all students are learning.
Gayle
Hi Karl!!
ReplyDeleteIn reading your post, I was wondering if you have a computer lab to go to? I have heard that many schools have trouble getting access, but at my school we share equally whether you are a math or english teacher. I have found that out of 122 kids I see only 12 of them do not have Internet at home. So I find myself planning "tekkie Thursdays". I find a teacher who has a planning hour at the time I need it and I go to the computer lab say for about half the class and my partner stays with my class in my room. It takes some planning but it can work and then I get all my students access. I also push the use of libraries, friends, family, youth centers,before and after school and it is working. I have started using Twiducate for student blogging. It is a twitter application that is designed for schools. You control the usernames and passwords. I have what is called Bio Chat Tuesday's and Thursdays from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. and then in the morning on Wednesdays and Fridays for kids to come to school early to participate. So far it is off to a slow start but I believe it is because it is new to the kids. I use the criteria we use for our Walden discussions. Have you taken a look at The Flat Classroom Project? It is a good one too. I have more resources, so if your are interested let me know!
Have a great week! :-)
Gayle,
ReplyDeleteOur students have access before and after school as well. However, with that comes transportation issues. A lot of the kids do not have rides other than the school bus. I wish we had an after school activity bus, but unfortunately there isnt enough oney in the budget for that. Some of the students though do utilize the library computers during their lunch.
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteOur computer lab is in our library. We do have 2 of them, but they are often being used by the same teachers week after week. Thank you for sharing about how you plan for your students who do not have internet access. I may have to look into doing something like that. It seems like a great idea.
No I have not heard of the flat classroom project. I will have to take a look into that. Thank you for the resources!
Karl,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about not having enough time. While reading our classmates' blogs, everyone appears to be having a hectic fall.
It seems like you are making good progress toward you goal and it is great that you have you faculty peers to converse with.
As your students prepare for testing, are there sample tests on textbook publisher's websites? I remember in college, music history was a terrible course with very difficult forced-choice assessments. Our class decided to explore the publisher's website and found a multitude of sample tests to take and quite often some of the sample questions were also on the test. I realize the world of testing is very wide, but it was just a thought as I read your post.
Good luck!
Dustin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement. I have notcied the same things that you have...not enough time. Seems to be something that we all have in common as teachers.
As far as the tests go, our district makes up new tests every year. They provide us with reviews for the tests, but unfortunately, we do not have access to sample tests.
Good luck to you as well.
Hi Karl!
ReplyDeleteI tell you since I went to Google Apps, time is now a little more in my life. I do not know how much of your curriculum you have digitally, but it was sure worth it to me to digitize mine, upload it to Google and then after I got my students to get gmail accounts, it was just a matter of emailing the assignment and then once done getting the kids to email it back. It has been slow at first, had some kids who had a steep learning curve, some who resisted, but it has been much better in terms of streamlining the process of learning. Google allows me to track cheaters with the Share feature, so that is not an issue. I LIKE IT!!!!