Understanding
and Applying Standards
Preet
Khinda
Module5:
Unit1: Activity 3
In
this unit I learnt how to teach. So many modules, so much of knowledge but I
can definitely say that this is the unit that has equipped me to enter a classroom
full of students. This is the Unit that has made me think what exactly I would
want to do in the class. I heard about a standard for the first time. And as I
went about looking for one, in the school I am planning to teach, I came about
a lot of lessons to be taught but not a standard. So I went online looking for
standards that could collect some of the important mathematics lessons
together. I found my standards in the common core for North Carolina schools.
And doing all this, this is what I learnt:
Standards:
Learning standards (also called academic standards, content standards and curricula) are elements of
declarative, procedural, schematic, and strategic knowledge that, as a body,
define the specific content of an educational program. Standards are usually
composed of statements that express what a student knows, can do, or are
capable of performing at a certain point in their learning progression (often
designated by "grade" or its equivalent)[1].
Unpacking a Standard
Unpacking
the standards means breaking down the State Standards into the knowledge and
skills students need in order to fully meet the standards. This helps
teachers and curriculum designers closely align classroom instruction and
learning opportunities with the rigor found within the standards themselves.
Step 1: Identify the standard
Step 2: Identify what students need to know in
order to reach this standard. Nouns within the standard usually help
clarify what students need to know.
Step 3: Identify what students need to be able
to do in order to reach this standard. Verbs within the standard usually
help clarify what students need to be able to do.
Step 4: Identify the enduring understandings
or "big ideas" and essential questions within the standard.
These are the concepts or generalizations that students can transfer or
take with them outside of your classroom or this content area.
Step 5: Align classroom instruction and
learning opportunities with the knowledge and skills found within the standard.
All
these steps will be successful if and only if the students can apply all the
knowledge, taught in the lessons, in their real life. It is then that the
lessons are complete.
As
I understand now, “Classroom assessment and grading practices have the
potential not only to measure and report learning but also to promote it.
Indeed, recent research has documented the benefits of regular use of
diagnostic and formative assessments as feedback for learning (Black, Harrison,
Lee, Marshall, & William, 2004)”
Classroom
assessments fall into three categories, each serving a different purpose.
1.
Summative
assessments summarize what students have learned at the conclusion of an
instructional segment. These assessments tend to be evaluative, and teachers
typically encapsulate and report assessment results as a score or a grade.
Familiar examples of summative assessments include tests, performance tasks,
final exams, culminating projects, and work portfolios. Evaluative assessments
command the attention of students and parents because their results typically
“count” and appear on report cards and transcripts. But by themselves,
summative assessments are insufficient tools for maximizing learning. Waiting
until the end of a teaching period to find out how well students have learned
is simply too late.
2. Diagnostic
Assessment sometimes known as pre-assessments—typically precedes
instruction. Teachers use them to check students' prior knowledge and skill
levels, identify student misconceptions, profile learners' interests, and
reveal learning-style preferences. Diagnostic assessments provide information
to assist teacher planning and guide differentiated instruction. Examples of
diagnostic assessments include prior knowledge and skill checks and interest or
learning preference surveys. Because pre-assessments serve diagnostic purposes,
teachers normally don't grade the results.
3.
Formative
assessments occur concurrently with instruction. These ongoing assessments
provide specific feedback to teachers and students for the purpose of guiding
teaching to improve learning. Formative assessments include both formal and
informal methods, such as ungraded quizzes, oral questioning, teacher
observations, draft work, think-aloud, student-constructed concept maps,
learning logs, and portfolio reviews. Although teachers may record the results
of formative assessments, we shouldn't factor these results into summative
evaluation and grading.
In conclusion,
I feel the teacher needs to keep a few points in mind while being an effective
facilitator of active learning for the students. These can be to use summative assessments to frame meaningful
performance goals. It is essential for the teacher to show criteria and
models to the students in advance. During the entire learning experience, the
teacher can keep showing to the students the high quality work of previous
students, so that the students know exactly what is expected from them. It is
also necessary, that the teacher accesses ones students before teaching. Only
when the teacher has a clear idea a to the level of ones students, can the
teacher plan the lesson accordingly and the ‘relevance’ part of the SMART
objectives is taken care of. The next thing a teacher needs to do is offer
appropriate techniques of learning. Every student is different and chooses to
learn differently. Some students are into active learning when the teacher is
giving a lecture where as other might be sleeping. Some might learn by watching
a video and other might like to research and learn. So it is up to the teacher
to offer them appropriate choices for learning. Providing feedback early and
often can be a very effective tool for active learning. To serve learning, feedback must meet four criteria: It must be
timely, specific, understandable to the receiver, and formed to allow for
self-adjustment on the student's part (Wiggins, 1998). And last but not the
least, the teachers need to encourage self-assessment and goal setting.
Teachers help cultivate such habits of mind by modeling self-assessment and
goal setting and by expecting students to apply these habits regularly. [2]
2.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov05/vol63/num03/Seven-Practices-for-Effective-Learning.aspx
