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We are in week 7 of this program. It's been a lot of fun while learning a lot about being a successful teacher in the future. As we wrapped up our tech class, we are starting a new class called Assessment. Unfortunately I do not have a placement yet, so I am not able to physically be present to ask my associate teacher questions on how he/she assesses their class, but after today I am anxious to see how they do it.

In today's class we were asked to share our beliefs and understanding about assessment. Teachers are moving away from the "old story" method of teaching and assessment and moving in the direction of the "new story" where teachers are understanding that assessment is more than just a grade.

I completely agree that Assessment is important. It helps teachers understand where students are struggling and achieving, but the traditional way of assessment needs some tweaking. Traditional testing takes away from students creativity and makes them very nervous and sometimes uncomfortable.

I have been that student in elementary where I wouldn't read the comments the teacher had for me but instead, only the mark on a test. The mark was the only thing I cared about, and if it wasn't what I expected, it ruined my whole learning process.

There should be different ways to assess a child instead of the traditional method we are constantly exposed to instead of constantly attaching a grade to everything.

I look forward to being apart of a classroom setting and experiencing the ways in which my associate teacher assesses her students.




 

We are wrapping up our final class for Digital Learners and I cant believe how fast 6 weeks went. I learned so much about technology and how to use it successfully in the classroom. I cant wait to graduate and start applying all these skills I learned in the classroom. We have one less class to complete before we are one step closer to getting our degree and becoming teachers! Scary, isn't it?



I have finally finished my Genius Hour Project and my scarf actually turned out okay! If you would like to see my finished Ted Talk on my journey to crochet a scarf in 6 weeks, you can find it here.

That's me, going for a walk with my scarf I created!

I hope everyone gets a chance to experience Genius Hour with their classes or even by themselves. It is an enriching experience to research or create something that interests you and your passions.

A manipulative used by our classmate during her lesson!

Week 5 fell on reading week which I found was more stressful than relaxing!

A simple oil change I got on my car turned into my mechanic telling me I had a MAJOR problem with my car which set me back a few days with my Genius Hour!




My project is coming along well and it's ALMOST done! I finished my movie trailer, which I think turned out not that bad. I used this site called Animoto and it was super easy and stress free. All you had to do was insert what you wanted to say, add a few pictures, pick your music and BAM, there's your movie trailer!

I am currently working on my Ted Talk for the final portion of my Genius Hour project and then we are wrapping up our Tech class. I'm a little disappointed this class is only 6 weeks because it was very interesting and fun to learn all the ways we can use technology in our class, but this program is fast paced and we have a lot to learn!


Thanks for reading!

This week was my turn to present to the class the chapter that I picked for my presentation. When I found out I had chosen the unit on integers I wanted to puke. I get so nervous about presenting in front of my classmates even though they are all the bomb.com but its something about getting up in front of all your friends and making sure you don't mess up that scares me. 





All week I had been stressing about how I was going to teach this when I can barely understand it myself. I decided that I was going to break it down and teach it to my class the way I would have taught it to myself.




I found a simple activity in my text book to incorporate into the presentation and I gave each student a integer number line to help them better visualize the task at hand. 





Here was my activity question:

1. Toss the coin 20 times
2. If the coin lands on heads you gain one point (+1)
3. If your coin lands on tails you lose one point (-1)
4. Indicate your final score after you have tossed 20 times.

I was worried the activity would be too easy so I had another question on my PowerPoint for my classmates who got finished quicker than others.

Bonus Question: How many tails could someone have tossed if their final score was -2?

The presentation went well and I learned that I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be. It was a great learning experience to present a lesson and practice your teaching skills to your peers!



We also talked about using manipulatives in class and how they are a great enhancement to any lesson, especially in math class! 
Our teacher brought out the blue and red tiles to help us visualize negative and positive integers and gave us a resource to keep in mind if we ever needed ideas for teaching another integer related lesson.

McWhirter, Ally (2016, October  7). Integer Manipulatives

Our teacher stressed the fact that manipulatives are supposed to be an aid, and not something that children should be relying on. Children should create their own knowledge and use them as a guide when needed. If they are constantly relying on the manipulatives to solve math problems and concepts then we as teachers need to help build confidence in the students so they don't feel the need to rely on manipulatives for help constantly.