"This module has helped me think about using standards, CFQ’s or formative assessment in the following ways……"
Frankly, having neither public school nor education backgrounds has provided the biggest challenge, in terms of learning the terminology and expectations of becoming a certified teacher.
For starters, I had never heard of a "standard" before. I never even realized standards were the building blocks of teaching units. Since identifying what we want students to learn in the initial step of planning a unit, standards provide the best (and mandated) guide for that.
As for the learning objectives themselves, they should include a mix of the vague and specific, the explicit and open-ended. Particularly the CFQ's, another term I was unfamiliar with entering this module.
We want clearly defined CFQ's at the essential, unit, and content levels. Respective examples of each include the following:
- Is math more than numbers?
- How does the addition of fractions compare to the addition of monomials?
- What is an isosceles triangle?
These CFQ's are the guide stones. Planning a unit without them may make me and my students lose focus. Because PBL, along with other types of learning, requires a holistic approach, I should make every effort to compose CFQ's thoughtfully and completely. This includes having CFQ's link past and future units.
Continuing the in-the-dark theme from above, formative and summative assessments were also terms I was unfamiliar with. The concepts are straightforward and were not unknown to me, but the carefully planning of them is something I never really considered before. Summative assessments are emphasized more it seems. However, the formative ones are the key to student learning.
I need to be thoughtful of how my formative assessments gauge my students needs, provide self-direction and encouragement, and engage metacognitive skills. Therefore, my formative assessments should be appropriate, thorough, and effective. This includes embracing a range of formative assessments, including but not limited to direct questioning, essay, journals, peer review/feedback, and tests.
Module 2 was helpful at a base level simply for introducing me to foreign but intuitive terms and concepts. However, I was able to discover that planning is more than just time management and allocation. If I want to be successful, I need to take my unit planning seriously. Students will be able to see through any BS, but--more importantly--they will not reap the rewards of their time and hard work.
Of course, any teacher worth his or her salt should reflect during and after every day, week, unit, semester, etc. I hope that these blogs will create this habit within me, if nothing else. I have no problems with self-assessment, but putting aside the time for it will prove my biggest challenge. I must guard against self-contentedness. Ensuring that is a necessary condition for ensuring the best for my students.
