just some..
Professional Development!
In this page you will find some different resources (podcasts, webinars, etc.) that I have learned from recently.
Click below for the podcast link!
Teachers Need Teachers Podcast
Tnt 86 How Open Middle Math Lessons can get your students...
Takeaway #1: During the podcast the guest speaker, Robert Kaplinsky, made an analogy that will stick with me for a while. He said that formative assessment is comparable to when a chef tastes a soup that he/she has created. Here, there are no string or standards to meet, just a chef checking his progress. He then compared summative assessment to when the customer tastes the chef's soup. Now there are expectations that the soup should be well made and taste good. This wonderfully simple analogy encompasses what both formative and summative assessment are about.
Takeaway #2: Mr. Kaplinsky mentioned the benefits he has seen in his classroom from allowing students to retake his tests multiple times. A test is supposed to be a gathering of knowledge, if students show interest in wanting to enhance their knowledge and learn from their mistakes, why are we holding them back? Ultimately, the only aspect of the classroom that truly matters is the student's learning. Letting them retake their tests has proven to help students more than just taking the test once.
Takeaway #3: Mr. Kaplinsky final main comment was on our current grading systems. He believes teachers have been using them 'punitively' when they should not be. Using grades as punishments causes students to lose motivation quickly when given a bad grade because they feel as though they cannot recover from it. When a student struggle through a section, their overall grade will also drop, so by the end is the overall grade really a good representation of a students general knowledge?
Professional Learning Network Log
Completing this professional learning network assignment helped me grow a lot as an educator. Using Instagram helped to expose me to different resources and other educators that will be useful on my pre-service teaching journey.
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Posting consistently also made me feel more and more like an educator. Sharing out with other what I was learning in classes made some of the information stick more than it did before. It also challenged me to reflect on what the main idea of a topic/lesson was.
By completing these three Modules I have expanded my knowledge of student with Presuming Competence, Autism, and Instructions Adaptation & Supports. Presuming Competence for all students, no matter their learning abilities helps to place them in their least restrictive environment. Which further assists them in their transition to the world outside of high school education.
