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Week 7 and 8 Reflection

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       During weeks 7 and 8 we discussed statistics and ways to document student scores using Excel. In week 7  we looked at some classroom scores and discussed some statistical terms. Some of these terms include Population, Norming, Sampling, Validity, Normal Curve, and Standard Deviation. Population refers to the entire group of people whose performance is being estimated. Norming refers to the process of contracting norms or typical performance of a group on achievement assessment. Sampling is the group who is actually included in the test or study. Validity is whether the given assessment measures what is supposed to be measured. Normal Curve (bell curve) represents the usual distribution of human attributes. Standard Deviation is the distance scores departing from the mean.     After learning and discussing about the terms listed above, we then reviewed Mean (average), Median, and Mode. These terms are important to remember because they are ways we can, as teachers, measure our st

Week 6 Reflection

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    During week 6 of classes, we focused on lesson planning. We first talked about alignment and what it means in lesson planning. Making sure that your lesson lines up with what you're teaching your student is crucial for their understanding. It's important that everything flows together smoothly to optimize students' learning. Some steps in lesson planning include starting with the standard. Standards are kind of like guidelines to help you create a lesson and how to teach it. Next you create an objective. The objective must come from the standard and you must adapt it to your students' pace and needs. The last step is creating an assessment. Based off of the standards and the objective you created, you then create a fun lesson to teach for the students to help them complete the  standard.      On Friday, we went over more about lesson planning and saw different assessment examples we can use in the classroom. After that, we then broke off into partners and went over

Week Five Reflection

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         During week five of classes, we discussed the ABCD Objective Model. The ABCD model is used to write objectives in the classroom and includes four different components: audience, behavior, condition, and degree. By following this model, it allows objectives to be both observable and measurable to be effective. The audience portion is to describe who will be doing the lesson (usually students). Behavior describes what the students will be able to do and how they will demonstrate their knowledge. Conditions describes any resources and limitations for preforming the behavior. This could include any materials needed, time limitations, and cues. Lastly, degree describes the level or criteria with which success is determined. It describes to what degree of mastery and how the assessment will be done.       On Monday of this week, we had Ms. Lauren Wagner speak to our class about assessments and lesson planning. She was  super  helpful and shared so much information about assessments

Week Four Reflection

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    During week four of our classes, we discussed two different charts that help classify children's learning. We first learned about Bloom's Taxonomy which was created by Benjamin Bloom. Bloom's taxonomy is a hierarchical ordering of cognitive skills ranging from simple to complex. The higher you move up the pyramid, the students become more knowledgeable and skilled in their education. These levels include remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. I can use Bloom's taxonomy in my future instruction by having the pyramid guide me into creating lesson plans. When I begin a new unit, I can start at the bottom to introduce new lessons and information, and eventually climb all the way to the top. Once I reach the end of the unit, students should be able to demonstrate what they learned through various projects and activities.      Next, we learned about a similar but different approach called Webb's Depth of Knowledge created by Norma

Week 3 Reflection

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    During week three of classes, we discussed documentation. Documentation is a dynamic record of a child's progress. This includes photographs, comments written by a teacher, pictures drawn from children, portfolios, and much more. By frequently documenting our students, we constantly  ask ourselves, "Are they showing progress?" and "Can they handle the materials they've been learning?".  These questions allow us to see growth in our students and to make sure they are understanding the materials taught and staying proficient on state standards. A popular way to keep documentation on our students is a profile. A student profile is a systematic collection of evidence of a child's work and learning collected over time that shows their effort, progress, and/or achievement. By keeping a profile it provides teachers with authentic evidence and shows possible growth or decline in a child's learning.      In class, we also talked about different documentat

Week 2 Reflection

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                        During week two, we discussed classroom observation. Observing in the classroom is super important because it allows you to really take in how your students are behaving and performing around you. When we observe in the classroom, we take notes on levels of engagement, children interaction, evidence of high-order thinking, learning climate and classroom management. It also allows teachers to see classroom patterns, help remember what children can do, help plan instructional activities and provide evidence. In the classroom you would use the different types of observations when you need to record the behaviors of the class or a certain student, to make accommodations or even to see if students are understanding a specific lesson. I would use checklists as an observation strategy in my classroom since they are fast and easy to make and read. During week two we also created an analytic rubric to practice making standards and scoring. Overall, creating the analytic

Week 1 Reflection

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           During the first week of classes, we talked about assessment in the classroom. Assessment is the process of observing, recording and documenting the work children do and how they do it. It also informs educators on how to change their teaching strategy if the class isn't comprehending a lesson. Some examples of assessment include planning, placement and parent conferences. By completing assessments, you collect evidence. There are two types of evidence collecting called Sampling and Profiling. Sampling is when you gather samples of work, and Profiling is what you gather information about the child. There is also a cycle called the Assessment Cycle that demonstrate the continuous cycle of assessment. This cycle includes gathering evidence, giving feedback, reflecting and planning, and finally teaching and learning.       We also learned about the different types of assessment. Sone of these types include Formal, Informal, Authentic, Performed Based, Formative, and Summati