Digital Blog Post #I

Chapter 4 was a great insight on steps that teachers are mandated to take. Teaching is not just about bettering the students. It is a job. What comes with a job are goals, expectations and demands. Teaching is no different in that aspect. For some people, thinking about the stipulations that come along with an education career is intimidating. I find it challenging and exciting.

Understanding by Design is an approach to curricular development set forth in a series of book by educators Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (Transforming Learning with New Technologies) There are three steps or “stages” involved with UBD and they include: Identifying desired results, determining acceptable evidence and planning learning experiences and instruction. This is a great guideline for teachers who may just be starting out and are looking for a little more structure to go off of. UBD is designed for a standards based curriculum. It is a process that helps avoid the common problems of treating the textbook as the curriculum rather than a resource, and activity-oriented teaching in which no clear priorities and purposes are apparent. (Understanding By Design ASCD) This is something I would want to do a little more research on especially when I get my own classroom. As much as I love creativity and the ability to test your own theories, this is exactly the kind of guidance I would love to have as a first time educator.

During a case study assignment that was previously completed in another class, expressed my feelings and opinions on standardized testing. This chapter fit right into the genre of my expression. New approaches to assessment is an imperative action in my opinion that should be addressed sooner rather than later. Within this section it gave examples on how different forms of assessment for further students understanding on information and skills students are required to possess. It also went on to express how we have taken “No Child Left Behind”, which was supposed to be a positive change in our academic integrity, and manipulated it into being a negative disciplinary strategy. “Tests are driving the curriculum instead of the curriculum driving the tests. (Transforming Learning with New Technologies) Reading through some articles that are pushing towards a new direction of standardized tests, there is a lot of discussion on revising the infrastructure on how schools are administering their curriculum. “Trend 10” from Core Education mentioned some things along the line of “schools planning ahead to ensure there is the proper infrastructure in place and access provided to the appropriate devices for all students.” (Trend 10: New Approaches to Assessment) This website was also very pro technology. According to the author, technology in education is the future. Schools need to prepare for this education curve or will be left behind and not keep up with the demands of educational requirements. Students need to be able to access their data in school management systems at all times and teachers need to be able to be insured that students are who they say they are. Identity authenticity is a major concern but schools need to be prepared with the correct technological equipment in order to move forward in today’s direction. We have miscalculated the direction in which standardized testing has taken up and we need to take control of the reigns and steer it towards a more productive and less damaging path.

Student performance rubrics are created to give students a concise visual as to what is expected out of them in an assignment. They are also a guidelines for teachers to utilize while grading multiple assignments from different groups/students. While some may be accustomed to creating these rubrics with a pencil and paper, technology has allowed these criteria demonstrations to be created and stored in a much simpler manner. Using Excel or Word through Microsoft, teachers can access different rubrics to different assignments, update, adjust and consult whenever they need. Rubrics are imperative to a curriculum. They provide guidance and structure and allow a teacher to enable students to work more independently. Grading according to an explicit and descriptive set of criteria that is designed to reflect the weighted importance of the objectives of the assignment helps ensure that the instructor’s grading standards don’t change over time. (Grading and Performance Rubrics) This form of written communication assures both students and the teachers that their performance grading is equal in standards.

This chapter was imperative to a young professional looking towards a career in education. It was directed more to the actuality of teaching and not just towards the emotional standpoints. Keeping on top of assignments, staying in the scope of the curriculum and learning about new and improved methods of assessment and standardized testing are all major aspects of a teacher’s career.

Resources:

Maloy, R. (2011). Transforming learning with new technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Membership. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2015.

Rubrics - Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation - Carnegie Mellon University. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2015.

Trend 10: New approaches to assessment. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2015.