Sunday, February 26, 2017
Research Project 690
Here is the link to my research project. I am looking at Society and STEM, focusing on women and minorities in STEM fields and how to connect this with my students.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
ED 710 - Formative Assessment Reflection
I think that formative assessment is my ultimate favorite assessment type. I enjoy using formative assessments because often times my students have no idea they are being assessed. I have found that formative assessments can reveal a great deal more to me than summative assessments. Often times, my students bomb summative assessments because they know they are being graded. I use my formative assessments effectively because I am able to make better decisions about what my students know beyond the grade they earn on a summative assessment. I use this information to ensure that the grade in my grade book authentically reflects an individual students knowledge of the curriculum.
I have used a variety of techniques within my classroom. In a given class period, I generally formatively assess my students a minimum of three times. Some of the things I use is worksheets, whiteboards, exit tickets, and questioning. Questioning is a very powerful formative assessment and can allow me to make on the spot decisions about how to proceed with my lesson. For example, during a formal observation with my assistant principal, I had carved out about 5-10 minutes to review a topic before jumping into the activities planned for the day. As we were reviewing, it became clear that there were quite a few misunderstandings and confusion among my students. So instead of moving full steam ahead, which is very tempting to do when being observed, I made the decision to take a few steps backwards and spend additional time helping my students gain a better grasp on the topic. I knew at that moment that I would not get close to completing all the activities I had planned but I also knew they needed a strong background knowledge in order to be successful in the planned activities. So a ten minute review morphed into a 25 minute review but in the end my students were successful in the following activities. Straying that far off from my carefully planned lesson had me nervous walking into my post observation conference. However, those nerves were unnecessary as my AP commended me for adjusting my plans to ensure my students were ready. He thought it was simply fantastic that I did not push ahead when I knew that my students were not ready to do so.
Formative assessment is something I feel fairly confident in and has really allowed me to meet the needs of my individual students. It has allowed me to build meaningful groups and helped students reach the same level of understanding as their peers. I have been able to create groups that have worked independently while I have sat with a small group of students. Those students I was able to work on a more personal and individual level, have come up to me and thanked me for helping the understand topics better. I hope to continue using formative assessments to not only help my students but to improve and develop my teaching.
I have used a variety of techniques within my classroom. In a given class period, I generally formatively assess my students a minimum of three times. Some of the things I use is worksheets, whiteboards, exit tickets, and questioning. Questioning is a very powerful formative assessment and can allow me to make on the spot decisions about how to proceed with my lesson. For example, during a formal observation with my assistant principal, I had carved out about 5-10 minutes to review a topic before jumping into the activities planned for the day. As we were reviewing, it became clear that there were quite a few misunderstandings and confusion among my students. So instead of moving full steam ahead, which is very tempting to do when being observed, I made the decision to take a few steps backwards and spend additional time helping my students gain a better grasp on the topic. I knew at that moment that I would not get close to completing all the activities I had planned but I also knew they needed a strong background knowledge in order to be successful in the planned activities. So a ten minute review morphed into a 25 minute review but in the end my students were successful in the following activities. Straying that far off from my carefully planned lesson had me nervous walking into my post observation conference. However, those nerves were unnecessary as my AP commended me for adjusting my plans to ensure my students were ready. He thought it was simply fantastic that I did not push ahead when I knew that my students were not ready to do so.
Formative assessment is something I feel fairly confident in and has really allowed me to meet the needs of my individual students. It has allowed me to build meaningful groups and helped students reach the same level of understanding as their peers. I have been able to create groups that have worked independently while I have sat with a small group of students. Those students I was able to work on a more personal and individual level, have come up to me and thanked me for helping the understand topics better. I hope to continue using formative assessments to not only help my students but to improve and develop my teaching.
ED 690 - Issues and Trends in STEM education
The issue and trend that interests me the most is society and STEM. One of my goals, and a main driver behind my teaching philosophy, is the lack of females in STEM career fields. As a former Chemist, I think it is really important to ensure that my students, especially female, minority, and persons with disabilities, are exposed to STEM careers. One way that I currently do this is to provide my students with real life examples from my days in the lab. While there are few role models for students falling in these categories, I hope that my experiences can provide them with a role model for the STEM fields. As teachers, we place a lot of our students at a disservice if we do not attempt to bridge the gap between how society views STEM and where STEM needs to go.
For Black History Month, our department created a lesson that focused on minorities in STEM. When creating the lesson, we attempted to find a variety of STEM contributors. We included contributors from long ago and from more current day. We also tried to include people that had similar upbringings to our student population; contributors that lived in poverty and low-income situations. While teaching the lesson, it was interesting to hear feedback from students. They enjoyed the variety of contributors and found interesting facts that they could connect to. This is so important, this personal connection, when attempting to bridge gaps in STEM careers.
Another way I account for this issue in my classroom is asking students what they want to do when they graduate. Even if their plans are not STEM related, I attempt to make connections between the skills they are learning in my classroom to their future plans. Often times, my students will remark that they hadn't thought about it that way and they get a better understanding of the importance of Chemistry class in their overall life plan.
I will continue to provide my personal experiences and will attempt to incorporate those scientists that are considered underrepresented in STEM fields.
For Black History Month, our department created a lesson that focused on minorities in STEM. When creating the lesson, we attempted to find a variety of STEM contributors. We included contributors from long ago and from more current day. We also tried to include people that had similar upbringings to our student population; contributors that lived in poverty and low-income situations. While teaching the lesson, it was interesting to hear feedback from students. They enjoyed the variety of contributors and found interesting facts that they could connect to. This is so important, this personal connection, when attempting to bridge gaps in STEM careers.
Another way I account for this issue in my classroom is asking students what they want to do when they graduate. Even if their plans are not STEM related, I attempt to make connections between the skills they are learning in my classroom to their future plans. Often times, my students will remark that they hadn't thought about it that way and they get a better understanding of the importance of Chemistry class in their overall life plan.
I will continue to provide my personal experiences and will attempt to incorporate those scientists that are considered underrepresented in STEM fields.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
ED 710 Reflection Post for Week 1/30/17
Small victory for this week! My consulting teacher (CT) from Baltimore County came in for a structured visit. These structured visits are always super stressful to me. I know when the debriefing will occur but I never know when the actual visit will occur. In fact, I don't even know what day the visit will happen. So leading up to these visits, I spend a ton of time stressing. These visits are also nerve wracking to me because I tend to not do as well on them as I do on my formal observations. Between my university mentor and admin observations, I have always been rated proficient/distinguished but with my CT teacher, I am always rated developing. The feedback I have received from my CT is not always the most helpful and the focus tends to be on things that I have little control over. About 3 weeks ago, my CT came in for an announced visit and she was extremely pleased with my performance. However, announced visits are formative and do not effect my ratings. Well, she was so pleased with my most recent announced visit that she has canceled my remaining unannounced visits for the rest of the year. She will still come into my classroom formatively to provide feedback but as of right now I will be rated proficient for the remainder of the year. This has relieved a lot of stress for me and makes me feel more confident in my teaching. It was like getting my final approval and validation for my teaching abilities.
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