Extras from week 8

I'm playing a little bit of catch up.  I may have taken a few extra days of fall break! 

In reading our text and delving into criterion-referenced assessments, my mind wanders to the state of public education in our state - an antiquated system that seems unwilling to change, a seemingly impossible feat, but also no simple solution or model to change to!  It's easy to complain about standardized testing.  It's easy to complain about teachers being evaluated based on the results of standardized testing.  Most agree that change is needed.  Almost none agree on what those changes should be.  The truth is teachers should be evaluated on their performance.  I feel sorry for teachers who complain about teacher salaries.  You didn't decide to become a teacher to become rich, but like so many, you feel entitled to a raise, but why? In the real world, people don't receive a raise every year.  (Teachers say they don't because the payscale doesn't change every year, but the truth is the payscale adjusts based on years of experience and education received, so teachers receive more pay this year than they did last year, and will receive more next year than they did this year.)  Everywhere else but in education, that's called a raise.  Do quality teachers deserve a higher salary?  Probably.  Does every teacher?  Definitely not.  I don't know what the right answer is.  I am very intrigued by self organized learning environments, but find it hard to imagine a South Carolina where this education model would exist.  Fewer teachers but with higher salaries and a decreased need for brick and mortar schools would certainly save tax dollars over time.  Enough for now - I've expressed some very unpopular opinions and probably should have done so anonymously!

Extras from week 6

I completed my third tutorial today.  This one was an intro to Canva, which I absolutely love!  It is so fun and easy to use.  You can quickly create very professional-looking graphics for print, web and social media use.  I cannot say enough good things about it.  I also really like Adobe Spark.  They have a graphics design element as well as the video creation tool.  I did find a small issue with Adobe Spark just this week.  They require an additional authentication.  You are asked to verify your email address with a link that they email to you.  Our student accounts are blocked from receiving emails outside of our domain.  Our district office did exclude Adobe Spark from this policy but only for students aged 13 or older, which did not help my 6th grade GT class of mostly 11 year-olds.  Oh well!  That's the price we pay for child protection and privacy.

Extras from chapter readings (week 6)

So this week, I should be focusing on performance objectives but my mind wanders to performance tasks.  I love ill-structured problems, or rather I love watching my students solve ill-structured problems.  I am a huge fan of Shelagh Gallagher's work with gifted children and especially her problem-based learning units.  My teachers complain that there is simply not enough time in the school year to implement units like hers because they are in a time crunch as it is to cover content before state standardized testing begins.  My district paid for DefinedStem.com which is a great resource for smaller, content-centered PBL performance tasks.  It is great!  Unfortunately, not enough teachers used it last year and they discontinued the subscription.  I am frustrated that teachers will not try new things and that administrators jump into a new model without preparation or adequate staff training and then discontinue when they don't see results - results that they shouldn't even expect to see without providing a little extra support or incentive.  Everyone agrees that we need to focus on critical thinking skills but everyone continues to teach to the tests.

Extras from class readings (week 5)

The amount of tech tools available is simply overwhelming.  As a library media specialist, I feel it is my duty to remain a technology leader in my school, but I find myself feeling inadequate if I am not proficient at every new and great tool that comes along.  It's discouraging, especially in a time when librarians are fighting to stay relevant and working to dispel out-dated perceptions of spectacle-wearing old ladies reading at a desk, telling kids to be quiet all day long!

Extras from Discussion 5 (week 5)

Two trains of thought colliding within me this week after reviewing the week 5 discussion board:

1) Advancing students too early?  I wonder if this will run its course in just a year or two.  It will be about that amount of time before our first cohort class are juniors in high school, realizing that they have all of the credits needed to graduate.  Why should they stay for a senior year?  What will the school district think of this mass exodus?  Will we then go back to being more discriminating in our selection process for honors and advanced placement classes?

2) Using test scores as a predictor for future test scores?  Our students have taken MAP two or three times a year for so long, that I fear that they don't really take it seriously.  As a whole, I think they are just rushing through the test.  While I don't want any of my students to suffer from test anxiety, I do wish I could see more effort.  BUT, this leads me to question - Are we over-testing our students?

Extra from chapter readings (week 3)

Instructional Goal Analysis
I guess I appreciate a good assessment.  The interesting pick of the week for me from this week's required readings was the rubric for evaluating a goal analysis.  I will be using this tool to examine my instructional goals in future instructional design and lesson planning.

Additional reflection on chapter readings (week 3)

Presentation Tools
I've used Prezi and Slideshare, but I have to say Google Slides is my current favorite.  It continues to improve and I am fascinated by the ways other educators are using it.  One spectacular example from this week was an idea from Micah Shippee shared by Kasey Bell.  (You must sign up on her site and follow her on social media!)  It is on how to use Google Slides to create your own school app.  Crazy good idea with complete instructions here.