Formative/Summative Assessments

Test and quizzes are very important to the learning environment. Formative assessments are a great way to measure how much the student understands during instructional time. Teachers use them to check for understanding. When I give formative assessments, I look to see what the student comprehends and/or have they been comprehending this far. Based on the results from that assessment, I can either modify the lesson to simplify or challenge them.

Formative assessments aren't just important to me but to my students as well. It allows the students to see what they are missing and what they know about the topic at question. It sort of puts the learning ball in their court. They can either study harder or if they know it take it easy. For me, it's all seeing what they know and giving good feedback. Formative assessments isn't something that I give every week. However, when I do give one I like to give my students enough feedback so they can learn. I use the feedback as a conversation. For every wrong answer they give, I give an explanation to why it's wrong and ask that they correct it. If they correct it, I give them some points back on their grade.

As for summative assessments, I only use those at the end of every unit. With summative assessments, I can see which class scored the highest on specific subjects. Most summative assessments are those state tests that students are mandated to take at the end of every year. Even though I know my students must take these tests, I don’t always agree with them. In a perfect world, students would be graded on the actual grades they produce in class not the score on the Milestones. As a teacher, it breaks my heart to see my students become a nervous wreck because they overthink about a week long test. I would love for administrators who demand this test to think about the stress they put on students and teachers. If a teacher’s score isn’t above average or perfect, they’re job is at risk and for what? Because a student had a bad testing day or the assessment was worded in a way they couldn’t understand. All I’m saying is that summative assessments should be thought about to promote successful learning. 

Classroom Management

A teacher’s responsibility is to her student’s education. My responsibility is to ensure that the learning environment is welcoming and respected. Effective classroom management systems is important to every teacher. It’s important to me because I can keep the flow of my class. My classroom rules are realistic and enforced from August to May. I’ve seen classrooms where students have 100% of the power. That’s not how classrooms should be. The power should be 50/50 and lessons should be intriguing enough to leave students wanting for more.

Not all management systems work. I’ve seen teachers praise the negative behavior. Instead of congratulating good grades and good behavior, she praised late assignments and tardies. I watched as these students went from goofy, outgoing students to nonparticipants. They didn’t want the praise she offered. This system opened my eyes to pass management systems I’ve witnessed during my school days. I never want to be that teacher that will make her students feel like horrible for making a mistake. I made a promise to myself that I would never do that when I started teaching and I haven’t.

As for my rules and procedures, they’re realistic. I know my students can get antsy. I know my students like to argue. I also know my students need to use the restroom 50 times a day and I know that socializing is important to them. So most of my lessons are labs that get them walking around the room, using technology, and socializing with lab partners. The procedures during these labs are enforced heavily by me and my co-teacher. I’ve learned that expectations go a long way for students. If students respect your opinion about them, they will do anything you ask in order to keep that respect. In order for me to become a better teacher, I have to learn to loosen the rails a little. It’s always been a traditional setting around me. I have to learn to let my students show me they can handle student centered assignments.  

You want to be an effective teacher, think like your students. Think about everything you went through when you were their age and focus on that. Make rules and expectations that are realistic for them to reach. Make transition procedures simple and easy. Don’t complicate things by yelling and screaming but talk to them. Students are humans and should be treated like humans. The love you have for them will show them that their success is the only thing you want. 

Student Grouping and Differentiation

When I think of student grouping, I think about group work to solving a problem. For me, student grouping isn’t just putting students in groups according to their learning styles but grouping them together to be successful. When I group students, one student is strong in the subject and the other is SPED. The stronger student is aware of the partnership and agrees to work with that student. I’ve observed several classes where teachers have grouped students based on learning styles. In my eyes, this way doesn’t work. My stronger students form a friendship when they work with lower students. Most teachers wouldn’t see this as a positive but for me it is. Stronger advanced students normally don’t socialize with lower students but getting them to talk and interact makes them form a friendship. Stronger students are helping and guiding the lower student to the correct answer which boost both student’s confidence in the subject.

I’m not saying that my way is perfect because I nothing is perfect about teaching. I’ve learned in my two years, that you learn from mistakes and feedback. I do have some stronger students who will become impatient and just do all the work. They look for the answers, pretend that they’re reading together and give the answers without actually helping the lower students. If this is done, no one in the group benefits. This is where you build a rapport with your students. I know my students. I can look at them and see when something is not right. This is the situation that you would pull that rapport into effect. However, I am saying that grouping students who will genuinely help each other will benefit social skills and confidence.

Before becoming a teacher, I’ve always liked student grouping. When I was in middle school, those days of group work meant the most. I learned from my friends what I couldn’t learn from the teacher. I’ve always been told that students learn from their friends faster than their teachers and it’s true. The light bulb went off when a friend explained and because I know this by experience group work for my class is mandatory. For both classes, language arts and science, I have my students conducting labs or writer workshops.

Student grouping is just another form of differentiation for me. I modify a lot of my instructional time to meet every need. What I’ve observed the most is music. My students love music. So I’ve add music to everything. I added music to my power-points, I play Kids Bop during class work, and I play educational raps for them. These raps are not only entertaining but they comprehend the information. Modifying lessons can be hard especially if you’re limited on time but the outcome is greater. "All students need to reach the same goals, some will take more time and others will take less time to do so" (Slavin, 2014, p.224).

What makes an effective lesson?

    What defines an effective lesson?  Is it the engaging strategies that leave the students asking for more?  Is it the building background segment or intense discussions?  How about the fun creative review games right before a test?  I would like to think that an effective lesson contains all of those elements plus more.

    When I think of effective lessons, I think of great discussions and student interaction. I think of my middle school days and the lessons that stood out to me.  Mrs. Renfrow was my favorite teacher.  She taught Language Arts and Reading and every day in her class was different.  Of course we did morning work, homework review, and silent reading but the actual lesson was different.  Book discussions reeled us in and kept our interest in each chapter.  From the time the lesson started, she had our attention.  We left her class wondering why, researching why, and creating questions for the next day.

    What defines an effective lesson?  Your student’s involvement!  Teaching is not all about giving tests and grading papers.  It’s about making your students feel welcome and comfortable enough to open up.  Effective lessons are the ones that take a couple of days to plan.  It builds off of background knowledge and allows students to investigate indefinite possibilities.  It includes different strategies that targets different learning styles.  Direct instruction, modeling examples, and independent practice are all major elements in an effective lesson.

    For me, an effective lesson is getting my students involved throughout the entire lesson.  A great introduction explaining the lesson’s objective, reviewing previous skills, introducing the new materials, and checking for understanding.  I know that’s probably the layout for every lesson but an effective lesson makes a personal connection with each student.  “Conducting effective lessons is at the heart of the teacher’s craft (Slavin, 2014, p.162). 

Information Processing Theory

    Getting 6th graders to process information is like pulling teeth for the Toothfairy. Everyone needs to do it but it can be a headache at times. Reading this chapter, I've learned that in order to get my students learning I have to introduce material into their working memory. This is the active part of their brain where they link any background knowledge and make sense of anything new. 

    Going through the different stages, I can see what subjects go with what stages. For example, I teach Earth Science and one concept that I teach is the different types of minerals. During this section, we introduce the Mohs Hardness Scale. This scale tells the students how hard a mineral is compared to another. When I am teaching this, students are using the sensory register part of their memory. Along with receiving the new information, they are using their sense of smell, touch, sight, and sometimes taste to understand the difference in minerals. In order to get this information to stick, I have to be conscious of how much information I give them at one time. If my students aren't told this is important, they will not remember it.

    Another very important detail I got out of chapter five is the way I introduce my lessons. Even though, I know my students will not remember everything I teach them if they remember 75% of the information I will be just as happy. When you introduce something new, you should always try to include a couple of things. First, you should build background. See, if your students already know something about the subject. When I open a discussion, I listen to my students to see if they know or if they know of by family members. "Instructional strategies that actively involve students in lessons contribute to long-term retention (Slavin, 2014, p.132). 

    Second, grab their attention. Every lesson should open with an attention grabber. Once you have their interest, it is hard for them to take the attention off of you. They are like little fishes hooked on your every word then. For me, every day is a different introduction. I can introduce one concept five different ways just so I reach all of my students. One day, I may introduce with Mr. Lee's Rock Cycle Rap. The next day I may introduce with Bill Nye and then I may introduce with Science Bob. As I'm introducing these lessons, I sit with my students and do the work with them. When we take notes, I have them think about what is important and lead the way to success. This way students are learning and putting their own work into their long term memory bank. I'm not forcing the learning but we are doing the learning together. The information processing theory will help any teacher be more effective throughout the year. A good teacher should always remember learning new information is not always easy but getting the students involved can help any information transfer over to their long term memory.

Behavioral Learning Theories

    When I first learned about Pavlov’s and Skinner’s theories, they both seemed a little confusing to me. I did not think that children could be conditioned to do anything until I began to teach. Out of the two theories, I believe that Skinner’s theory is how I get my students to do anything. Majority of my students learn by doing and when we are learning something together I am the same way. However, I have learned that when we are doing something new their behavior or the outcome of the lesson may not be what I want. So I have learned to bribe them with a good reinforcement to get the results that I desire.

    I teach both Language Arts and Science and getting 26 students to read a book for 15 minutes every day is by far one of the hardest things no one has taught me how to do. Luckily, I am a big kid at heart and I have found a great primary reinforcer to motivate them to read. “Primary reinforcers satisfy basic human needs (Slavin, p. 103, 2014). What other basic human needs, other than food, that you can use to bribe 12 year olds. I told my kids that if everyone earned ten AR points in two weeks, that we would have pizza instead of school lunch. Of course, they agreed. None of them really like the new school lunch they are receiving. Every day I reminded them of the reinforcer and every day for 20 minutes they read. They wanted that pizza so much that everyone had ten points in one week. After that, the AR points went up and the number of weeks went down. I also changed the reinforcer. I started with pizza went to popsicles, chips and a movie, and candy. By the end of the year, my language arts class earned over 300 AR points. I was very proud of them because this was the same class that did not read in 5^th grade and came to me with really low reading levels.

    Even though, I got them to read. I did notice the negative in my approach. My students are so clever that I had to give them rules to reading. I found out that they would check out books on the lowest level of their reading zone. These books only took them about two days to read and they would try to take AR test together. They liked the bribe so much they would do anything to get the points.

    Learning about Skinner’s reinforcers also helped me with my consequences in class. The behaviors I wanted, I learned to praise the loudest and the most. The behaviors I did not want I learned to correct but not in front of everyone. When I correct a student, I try to pull them away from the class and give them a second chance to earn that praise. Rarely, will I send a student to the office unless I knew they needed space to calm down and think about their actions. For every good deed in class, I praised on my Ms. Mac’s Wall of Fame. Every student wanted to be a part of the wall and every student tried to get there. 

Developments in Children

As the mother of an eight year old, I have a lot of experience with child development. I have always known that children go through different stages in life but Piaget’s theory really helped me see the mental development in children. According to Piaget, children go through different stages at different ages in life. Infants learn through their parents and movements, adolescents learn through hands on materials, and teenagers to adults learn by constructively doing.

My son, Brylen, will be in the 3^rd grade next year and this chapter really helped me understand how he thinks. Brylen is leaving the preoperational stage and heading into the concrete operational stage. From my understanding, he is beginning to answer the question why and see the world from a different point of view. When the school year started, Brylen always related his homework assignments to himself. If we were reading a story and answering comprehension questions, he would say he was the main character and make the story about him. Everything we did revolved around him and his needs. Now that he’s a year older, he’s beginning to see it is not all about him and other people are important as well.“Preoperational children are egocentric in their thinking (Slavin, p. 33).  He also used a lot of symbols this year. When we worked on learning the days of week, his teacher created flash cards with symbols to help him remember. 

Educational psychology should be important to every parent and teacher. By understanding how a child thinks, you can understand their behavior. By understanding their behavior, you can create fun but learning activities that we all can benefit from. “During the elementary school years, children’s cognitive abilities undergo a dramatic change (Slavin, p. 34). During these years, students begin to be more concrete thinkers and learners. I see this more and more when I work with Brylen on his reading. As an effective teacher, it’s important to understand how my students think and interpret things. It’s also important to teach my students the language and literacy skills they need to be successful. Students grow, adapt, and change because of unplanned situations in life. Just like they learn how to talk, they learn how to form sentences. “Children do learn in unplanned ways all the time, and many will learn from even the most chaotic lesson (Slavin, p. 6).

“International teachers use what they know about predictable patterns of cognitive, literacy, and language development to make instructional decisions (Slavin, p. 46). To be the best mother and teacher, I have to motivate, support, demonstrate, and lead in the most interesting and fun way as possible. Having conversations with students and asking them how they feel helps with their oral language skills. Students learn new words every year from social media, friends, and extra activities. Picking novels are grab interest helps with literacy development and being a good teacher helps them be successful.

Reference: Slavin, R. E. (2018). Educational Psychology: theory and practice (11th ed.). NY, NY: Pearson.