Thursday, January 14, 2016
Melted Snowman
Saturday, January 2, 2016
How Do Your Students Know What They Know and When Do They Know It?
How do you know what your students know? When do you know it? What do you do once you realize that there are gaps in the learning? During my first few years of teaching I would be so disappointed on the day of the test, because I thought that my kiddos had a good grasp on the content only to see assessments roll in with incorrect answers or worse...no answers at all on some of the questions. I knew that I needed to change something and so did my students.
15 years later after much growth in my profession, my burning questions have grown to include 'How do my students know what they know and when do they know it?'. I feel strongly that students must be given the opportunity to evaluate their own knowledge in a non-punitive assessment, so that they can discover where their gaps are prior to the day of the test.
Attached is my presentation on ways to Check for Understanding presented at Marshall ISD's Destination Success Conference. The ideas go beyond the 3 question quiz, the use of Socrative, Plickers, Google Forms, and Kahoot, all of which are wonderful tools; here I share quick and easy activites that can be incorporated into your classroom tomorrow. I have blogged about many of these strategies over the years and have included the tag "check for understanding" on all of the posts related to the presentation. So, if you are looking to add a little twist to your daily warm-ups or exit tickets, you are in the right place!
15 years later after much growth in my profession, my burning questions have grown to include 'How do my students know what they know and when do they know it?'. I feel strongly that students must be given the opportunity to evaluate their own knowledge in a non-punitive assessment, so that they can discover where their gaps are prior to the day of the test.
Attached is my presentation on ways to Check for Understanding presented at Marshall ISD's Destination Success Conference. The ideas go beyond the 3 question quiz, the use of Socrative, Plickers, Google Forms, and Kahoot, all of which are wonderful tools; here I share quick and easy activites that can be incorporated into your classroom tomorrow. I have blogged about many of these strategies over the years and have included the tag "check for understanding" on all of the posts related to the presentation. So, if you are looking to add a little twist to your daily warm-ups or exit tickets, you are in the right place!
Have Students Show What They Know with Educreations
Anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time, knows that I love my iPads due to the creativity that the devices allow students to show. I am passionate about students creating content rather than just consuming it and the more innovative that they can be while demonstrating their knowledge, the more I love it! Educreations allows for just that...it is like a blank sheet of paper just waiting for the artist to begin.In this project, students show what they know and help others in the process. The details below include a task, a tutorial, and a rubric for the creation of math videos using the screen recorder. In this activity, students will assume the role of an online course developer and create a screencast using Educreations, an app that is easy to use and 100% reliable in uploading and sharing work.
Overview: "For the past nine years the Sloan Consortium and the Babson Survey Research Group have taken a look at the state of online learning in the United States. The 2011 survey reveals that the number of students learning online has now surpassed six million, with nearly one-third of all students in higher education taking at least one online course. Last year’s annual survey revealed the largest ever year-to-year increase in online enrollment since the study began eight years ago." - Going the Distance
"Online learning has numerous benefits, including expanding course offerings, customizing and personalizing learning, giving struggling students a second chance to master a subject through online credit recovery when they fall behind, and providing a rigorous, interactive learning model. Online learning is providing the content and integration of digital tools for portable and mobile learning opportunities." - iNACOL
Your task is to assume the role of an online course developer and create a screencast using the Educreations app for our online course resources. The Screencast Tutorial that follows details your task and provides information on how to use the app. You will upload your completed project via the submission form posted.
Tutorial:
