Goal: To improve the assessment practices I engage in within my classroom when designing larger projects/unit studies
Specific Objectives to Track Progress
· Design assessment in a way that allows for adaptation—for example well written rubrics can be effectively applied to a diverse array final products. I will explore a few units which are shared in the IO community to find examples of such rubrics.
· Design assessment as an ongoing element in class work. This means I will have already thought/designed an assessment strategy before unit/project/assignment design is finished and implement it as the project develops. I will ensure that there is a space for myself, students, and their peers to engage in multiple feedback loops.
· When creating/modifying these larger projects, design with the end in mind. I will find exemplars from experts in the field to provide students with in order to clearly define expectations and raise the bar for their own work.
· Define the key learnings (perhaps by designing a rough rubric) as a first step. Over the summer, I will define these for the first two units in the Physics 20 and Science 10 curriculum.
Goal: To continue improving my inquiry design skills
Specific Objectives to Track Progress
· I need to become more self confident in the design of these projects. This means, I need to concentrate less on covering the curriculum, and more on presenting students with the essential elements for understanding (which in the end WILL address entire chunks of the curriculum IF designed carefully). I will achieve this by finding a few (to start with!) authentic examples of where the work they conduct in the classroom connects to the real world.
· I will improve my abilities with practice, and by providing myself (just as I would with my students) of exemplars to strive towards. I will keep a clear picture of what authentic, intentional and directed inquiry looks like by consulting exemplars in IO.
· After exploring current work scientists are completing in the field, and after consulting my “text-book” (projects published in the IO community) I will lay out a rough design/modify an existing IO project for ONE inquiry unit study in Physics 20 over the summer.
Goal: To focus on individual learning needs in order to improve my ability to differentiate lessons and assignments.
Specific Objectives to Track Progress
· I need to be aware of the tools and supports available to me that can help me support the diverse group of students I will meet next fall. I will explore my school’s resources as well as policies and procedures regarding accommodation of students.
· By becoming familiar with many teaching strategies and the learning supports which are commonly used in schools, I will improve my own ability to recognize and address individual needs. I will also look into the publications from Alberta Ed, which were recommended by Evelyn Hickey over the summer.
· In the one rough unit plan that I will create, I will initially include at least 3 different ways students can “show what they know”. This list will no doubt grow when I actually introduce students to unit study, but will be a good start and help me begin to hone my abilities to support multiple paths of learning.
Goal: To remain healthy and enthusiastic during my first year of teaching
Specific Objectives to Track Progress
· I will strive to foster healthy and supportive relationships with other members of staff and administration at school. I will take advantage of the mentorship program in place, and find an individual I feel comfortable to approach to ask for support or assistance.
· I will do at least one thing each day for myself. On busy days, this could simply be a few minutes of quiet time.
· I will keep in touch with the positive supportive peers I met in this program. Having these people around me will help ensure I keep a positive outlook in stressful situations. They will also be a huge source of support and understanding when I am struggling.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Independent Inquiry Self-Assessment
When I began this inquiry, I had the impression that I would complete a finished product which would provide me with strategies to accommodate gifted and talented learners. I do feel that I achieved this learning goal; however after the conclusion of this inquiry, I have gained much more than just these strategies. Throughout the semester, I have collected articles, books, journals, and have spoken to professionals about who gifted and talented students are, and what they need. The weekly SIPS seminar also directed my inquiry by providing valuable insights and resources. Through this process, I did not solely study gifted and talented learners, but I also gained valuable insight into learning in general.
Through writing this paper, my own understanding of what personalized learning entails has greatly increased. I now have a better understanding and appreciation for the once very confusing concept of differentiation. I have come to realize that it is much more important to teach in responsive way to the individual rather than concentrating on the label of gifted.
I have also begun to understand the importance of authenticity in my own design. I need to create authentic projects, which encourage and allow a space for student voice. The role of technology becomes one which is inextricably linked to other disciplines when these authentic tasks are carried out. An example I expressed in my paper included the use of Skype to help direct inquiry in a classroom, to provide students with the input of professionals from around the world.
In addition, I also clearly defined the phenomenon of gifted and talented learners by consulting various resources and experts at the University and also in the field. Through the semester, I added new understandings to each draft of inquiry as I explored new resources. I critically evaluated important issues surrounding my chosen phenomenon by exploring current practices being used in the field of gifted and talented education. I also critiqued these practices, by evaluating how they supported common struggles gifted and talented learners face. I have already begun utilizing the insight and information I collected throughout my inquiry this semester to help me better support learners as I tutor them. I can already see where these new understandings can help me in my teaching practice.
I enjoyed writing this inquiry, because it is a topic which interests me and I feel is important. I know I will utilize the things I learned from this inquiry to improve my practice in the classroom—and therefore the inquiry was authentic for me as a learner. Concluding this semester, and this inquiry, I have learned extremely valuable things and grown because of them. I realize that any assignment I ask my students to complete must also be important, interesting and authentic to them, (just as this individual inquiry was to me) because these things are what truly define what meaningful learning is to ANY student.
Through writing this paper, my own understanding of what personalized learning entails has greatly increased. I now have a better understanding and appreciation for the once very confusing concept of differentiation. I have come to realize that it is much more important to teach in responsive way to the individual rather than concentrating on the label of gifted.
I have also begun to understand the importance of authenticity in my own design. I need to create authentic projects, which encourage and allow a space for student voice. The role of technology becomes one which is inextricably linked to other disciplines when these authentic tasks are carried out. An example I expressed in my paper included the use of Skype to help direct inquiry in a classroom, to provide students with the input of professionals from around the world.
In addition, I also clearly defined the phenomenon of gifted and talented learners by consulting various resources and experts at the University and also in the field. Through the semester, I added new understandings to each draft of inquiry as I explored new resources. I critically evaluated important issues surrounding my chosen phenomenon by exploring current practices being used in the field of gifted and talented education. I also critiqued these practices, by evaluating how they supported common struggles gifted and talented learners face. I have already begun utilizing the insight and information I collected throughout my inquiry this semester to help me better support learners as I tutor them. I can already see where these new understandings can help me in my teaching practice.
I enjoyed writing this inquiry, because it is a topic which interests me and I feel is important. I know I will utilize the things I learned from this inquiry to improve my practice in the classroom—and therefore the inquiry was authentic for me as a learner. Concluding this semester, and this inquiry, I have learned extremely valuable things and grown because of them. I realize that any assignment I ask my students to complete must also be important, interesting and authentic to them, (just as this individual inquiry was to me) because these things are what truly define what meaningful learning is to ANY student.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Student Inquiry Project Self Assessment
1. How did completing this integrated study help you think in greater depth about planning for effective technology integration in a core subject? In planning this project, and completing a " curriculum mind map", it was essential for me to become familiar with many different POS` in addition to Science, including the ICT, Fine Arts, and ELA. After reading through each of them, I began to make some connections between the respective curricula. After further investigation, many more links became apparent. I think that physically mapping out these links helped me to realize how inter-connected they all were. In my next inquiry design, the background knowledge (especially of the ICT POS) I have gained through this assignment will help me to be even more intentional in my design, and include even more meaningful integration of different disciplines.
2. How did you ensure that technology was an integral part of the study and not just an add-on or an electronic way of doing exactly what could be done without technology at all? I think that the final culminating web page for Parks Canada strongly linked technology into our project, and I believe that students could not complete the study without meaningful experiences with technology. Our group talked about the Inquiry Rubric as we designed our project. We really concentrated on the Authenticity aspect and intentionally designed the project so that ``The inquiry study originates with an issue, problem, question or exploration that provides opportunities to create or produce something that contributes to the worlds knowledge``. The intent behind having the students create a web page was to ensure that they would have a medium to share their information with others beyond just the classroom, and truly contribute to the larger communities knowledge of their chosen ecosystem and the issues surrounding it.
3. How did completing this integrated study help you meet additional personal/professional goals for the seminar? One of my main goals for this seminar was to understand what inquiry actually was, and how I could effectively implement it in my classroom. Through the completion of the various IO challenges I began to understand what inquiry was, and more importantly what it wasn’t. After these challenges, getting to actually create a unit plan helped solidify my own understanding of inquiry and technology. My ability to create what I feel is a successful inquiry project, has help increased my self-confidence because I know I CAN design meaningful projects for my students.
4. What are you learning about the possibilities and pitfalls of planning with others as you learn new things? I had a very positive experience when collaborating with my group. This may be due to the fact that we are all like minded with previous education in the Sciences. In the future, I hope to work with others who possess different strengths and interests—I think this will ensure great cross-curricular opportunities, and perhaps will also introduce new struggles! I have recently been invited into many of my peers IO projects, which I think is awesome. The MT program, and especially this class has continually reinforced the importance of collaboration in teaching. I think collaboration and peer review challenge me to see multiple perspectives, and view learning in new and different ways.
5. In what ways might you use this integrated study with your own student next year if the opportunity arose? I feel that this study introduced important ideas and issues that could be addressed from K-12, as well as even perhaps in higher education. The “big idea” of “What happens when nature fights back” is what allows for the diverse use of this unit, as I feel it could touch on many different curricula. I also realize however (and it was suggested in our peer review) that we need to break this unit into smaller chunks, as it is so broad. If I do not use this specific unit next year, I know I will continually use and build on the understanding of designing inquiry—if not the actual inquiry project itself.
2. How did you ensure that technology was an integral part of the study and not just an add-on or an electronic way of doing exactly what could be done without technology at all? I think that the final culminating web page for Parks Canada strongly linked technology into our project, and I believe that students could not complete the study without meaningful experiences with technology. Our group talked about the Inquiry Rubric as we designed our project. We really concentrated on the Authenticity aspect and intentionally designed the project so that ``The inquiry study originates with an issue, problem, question or exploration that provides opportunities to create or produce something that contributes to the worlds knowledge``. The intent behind having the students create a web page was to ensure that they would have a medium to share their information with others beyond just the classroom, and truly contribute to the larger communities knowledge of their chosen ecosystem and the issues surrounding it.
3. How did completing this integrated study help you meet additional personal/professional goals for the seminar? One of my main goals for this seminar was to understand what inquiry actually was, and how I could effectively implement it in my classroom. Through the completion of the various IO challenges I began to understand what inquiry was, and more importantly what it wasn’t. After these challenges, getting to actually create a unit plan helped solidify my own understanding of inquiry and technology. My ability to create what I feel is a successful inquiry project, has help increased my self-confidence because I know I CAN design meaningful projects for my students.
4. What are you learning about the possibilities and pitfalls of planning with others as you learn new things? I had a very positive experience when collaborating with my group. This may be due to the fact that we are all like minded with previous education in the Sciences. In the future, I hope to work with others who possess different strengths and interests—I think this will ensure great cross-curricular opportunities, and perhaps will also introduce new struggles! I have recently been invited into many of my peers IO projects, which I think is awesome. The MT program, and especially this class has continually reinforced the importance of collaboration in teaching. I think collaboration and peer review challenge me to see multiple perspectives, and view learning in new and different ways.
5. In what ways might you use this integrated study with your own student next year if the opportunity arose? I feel that this study introduced important ideas and issues that could be addressed from K-12, as well as even perhaps in higher education. The “big idea” of “What happens when nature fights back” is what allows for the diverse use of this unit, as I feel it could touch on many different curricula. I also realize however (and it was suggested in our peer review) that we need to break this unit into smaller chunks, as it is so broad. If I do not use this specific unit next year, I know I will continually use and build on the understanding of designing inquiry—if not the actual inquiry project itself.
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