lunes, 18 de agosto de 2014

FINAL REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL UNIT # 2 B

•  Keep a record of your thoughts, questions, and any implementation activities you have already tried or you may want to try while studying this unit, 2B. 
–  Thoughts, questions, reactions to what I read:



    To conclude this assessment and reflecting on my work I will like to say that during the creation of this portfolio blog I pass through a variety of feelings, in the first part I thought that the assessment subject was an easy part of the teachers job and always related with the teachers in primary or secondary years not with preschool teachers as I am, but as the days passed and I read more about the topic I learned more and more and realized that assessment is not only a teachers “job” is much more than that.

    For this reason I would like to thank the teacher of this subject, to give me the opportunity to open my mind to the real assessment world.


Thank you very much for all your support because my situation as a student was not the best, I would have loved be part of the classes and with that learn many more things, I enjoyed very much doing this blog it was a relly nice experience.

Best Regards.

GABRIELA

CLASSIFY, IDENTIFY, DECONSTRUCT LEARNING TARGETS

CLASSIFY, IDENTIFY, DECONSTRUCT LEARNING TARGETS 

•  After having studied Unit 2B, work independently: –  Select a short unit that you are currently teaching or will teach this year. –  List the learning targets that will be the focus of the unit. –  Classify each target as Knowledge, Reasoning, Skill, or Product. –  If you are unable to classify some targets as written, mark them with a question mark.

As I commented in latest posts I am not working right now so I am going to use for this task a Unit I did for another subject in this Master of Bilingualism.
The unit will be as “The pollution, causes and consequences, and the recycling as a way to improve the planet”.

The unit will be divided in three sessions of one hour and a half each one, in this sessions the students will make activities related to the unit and the teacher will supervise the assessments of this activities.
Also the teacher will work in a transdiciplinary way with the Spanish teacher, so the unit is going to have more than three sessions, some in English and some in Spanish.

The learning targets of this unit are:
·         Vocabulary: learn vocabulary related to the topic. SKILLS TARGET
·         Knowing and Understanding what the pollution is and it characteristics. KNOWLEDGE TARGET
·         Identify which are causes and the consequences of the pollution in the planet. REASONING TARGET
·         Analyse what we can do to improve or solve the pollution problems? REASONING TARGET
·         The recycling as a mean to reduce the pollution in the planet. REASONING TARGET
·         Use the oral communication skills asking and answering questions about the pollution. PRODUCT TARGET
·         Improve the reading skills, reading in groups and individually. PRODUCT TARGET


I think all this targets are very clear and do not need any clarification for the teacher to plan the instruction, but maybe we can clarify a little the reasoning target for this assessment task.
“Analyse what we can do to improve or solve the pollution problems?”
ü What knowledge will students need to know to be successful?

Students need to know the definition of pollution, causes and consequences.

ü What patterns of reasoning, if any, will students need to master to be successful?

Students need to know how make an analysis, and how to draw a conclusion.

ü What skills, if any will students need to master to be successful?

The students need to learn the vocabulary related to the topic and use it for the analysis.

ü What products, if any, will students need to practice creating to be successful?

The students need to have good reading and writing skills and also use the oral communication so they can analyse.

To conclude this task and reflecting on my knowledge I have to say once again that have clear targets is crucial for teachers and students because if the targets are not clear from the very beginning, the teaching and learning process will fail.

CREATE STUDENT-FRIENDLY LEARNING TARGETS

CREATE STUDENT-FRIENDLY LEARNING TARGETS 


Select a learning target that would benefit from being rephrased for students. –  Follow the process described in the section “Converting Knowledge and Reasoning Learning Targets to Student Friendly Language. –  Share any impact you noticed of using the student- friendly definition with your students.





The learning target I choose is related to the Area “Conocimiento del entorno” and is:






Interesarse por el medio natural, observar y reconocer animales, plantas, elementos y fenómenos de la naturaleza, experimentar, hablar sobre ellos y desarrollar actitudes de curiosidad. 
Get involved with the environment, observe, and recognize animals, plants, elements and phenomena of the nature. Experiment and talk about them and developed curiosity attitudes.  

-          Disfrute al realizar actividades en contacto con la naturaleza. Valoración de su importancia para la salud y el bienestar. Visión crítica y valoración de actitudes positivas en relación con la naturaleza.
-          Enjoy the activities in contact with nature. Assessment of the importance for health and wellness. Valuation of critical and positive attitudes toward nature.


This is an objective I worked in my years as Preschool teacher in Venezuela and this objective I think is an objective that can be rephrase for the understanding of the little ones.
Following the process describe in the section “Converting Knowledge and Reasoning targets to student friendly language” to make this objective Friendly for the students specially the little ones we can rephrased rewriting the objective using the “I” or “WE”, as it says in the statement we studied.
• Rewrite the definition as an “I” or “We” statement: “I am learning to…”; “I can…”; “We are learning to…”; “We can…”

And then the target will be: WE ARE LEARNING TO enjoy the activities in contact with nature WE assess the importance of this for our health and wellness and also WE CAN value the critical and positive attitudes toward nature.

As you know at the moment I am not working so the second part of this task that is to share any impact I noticed of using the student- friendly definition with my students, is not going to be possible to do it but I positively know that with this kind of friendly language the students react and understand the targets better and the learning process becomes more effective.


domingo, 17 de agosto de 2014

CONNECT CLEAR TARGETS TO ASSESSMENT QUALITY

CONNECT CLEAR TARGETS TO ASSESSMENT QUALITY 




•  After having studied Unit 2B, explain three ways in which clear targets are a necessary precursor to assessment quality. 
Provide examples from your own experience to illustrate the connection between clear targets and assessment quality. 







First of all we have to remember what Learning Targets are, Learning Targets can be: all those Objectives, Lesson Objectives, Essential Learnings, Grade level expectations, Common core standards, Goals, Content standards, among others, and they are classified in five groups: Knowledge, Reasoning, Skill, Product, Disposition.

As I have been saying in my latest posts, having clear targets not only helps teachers to improve the teaching and learning process and as well to have information for preparing the assessment of the unit, topic or theme, also helps the students to know exactly what is expected from them in each unit, theme or topic and even the parents so they can help their children knowing what is expected from them in each level of the year at school.

Right now I am not working but I am going to use my professional experience to illustrate the connection between clear targets and assessment quality, I have been working as a preschool teacher more than fifteen years and I have seen the importance of explaining very well the targets/objectives, first of all the teacher needs to plan a very specific targets and stick to it not have a lot of objectives because with small children is very important to have “everything tied up”, that means that the teacher cannot improvise with the plan.
In my preschool in Venezuela we have year/ level targets or Grade level expectations, Project targets or Content Standards and Unit targets or Lesson objectives this targets were related to one another and all of them have to be presented for the parents and the students at some point in the school year.

In preschool we have to be very friendly with the language used to inform the students about what is expected from them, that’s why I always begin my classes with a Circle time where among other things we explain the content of the class and talk about what do we have to learn about this class and how we are going to learn it (the assessment/ activity), That way I can know the prior knowledge of my students about the topic and resolve the possible doubts that may arise, also when I talk about the assessment/activity I show my students a work already done so they have a good example of the finished work, I think that if this explanation is clear when we do the activity, this will come out very well.

One time as a part of a Project I had to go to another class in my preschool and I realize the teacher does the things in a very different way, she only explains the activity before the moment the students will have to do it but she doesn’t explain the objectives of the unit or the class in any time after the assessment/activity, well the results in that assessment were completely different than the results of the same assessment in my classroom. That’s why I completely agree with the idea about the connection between clear targets and assessment quality.

miércoles, 13 de agosto de 2014

ASSESS YOUR FEEDBACK PRACTICES

ASSESS YOUR FEEDBACK PRACTICES


 •  After having studied the Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning, think about the extent to which each of the characteristics of effective feedback is part of your regular classroom practice. Complete this personal inventory. Then, discuss the results.

For this assess I am going to assign marks to the statement using a mark from 0 to 5 were 0 is the worst mark and 5 will be the best.

RATING
SURVEY STATEMENT
5
1.      I communicate learning targets in language they can understand as a regular part of the instruction: I have the best mark on this statement because in preschool you always have to communicate your students in a friendly language the learning targets, I always do this as part of the instruction at the circle time in the beginning of the classes or at the beginning of each unit it will depend on the objectives or targets I have.


3
2.      I use examples and models of strong and weak work to help students understand key elements of a quality response, product or performance: I mark this statement with a 3 because I think I did this with my students but not always and is normally most of the time using the model of strong work not the weak, with the little children you need to show a model of the product you want at the end in that way they will know what to do and what expectations you have, but I have to admit that I don’t like to use negative models (the weak work) with the little ones, maye is a mistake.


1
3.      I offer feedback that links directly to the intended learning pointing out strengths and offering information to guide improvement. Students receive this feedback during the learning process and have the opportunities to improve on each learning target before the graded event: I have a bad mark in this statement because my feedback to my students is very poor and I think they are not receiving it at the proper time in order to use it improving their learning process before the graded event.

0
4.      I design assignments so that students can self-assess, by identifying their own strengths and areas for further study in terms of the intended learning. The results of assignments and assessments function as effective feedback to students: In this statement I have the worse mark 0 because, I never use the self-assessment in preschool always believing the students are too small for it, maybe I have to try it now.

4
5.      I use assessment information to focus instruction on a day-to-day basis: I have good mark in this statement not the best 5 but almost the best 4 because I always try to use the assessment information to focus instruction, but it will depend not only in the needs or interests of my class also I have to follow the national curriculum and the school and level goals, that’s why some times not very much but some can´t use it.

 
0
6.      I teach students focused revision, revisions in pairs of anonymous samples: I don’t do this because I think my students are too small for this kind of assessment.


 

0
7.      I give students regular opportunities to track, reflect on, and share their achievement status and improvement: I don’t do this because I think my students are too small for this kind of assessment.



REFLECTIVE JOURNAL UNIT # 2




REFLECTIVE JOURNAL 


•  Keep a record of your thoughts, questions, and any implementation activities you have already tried or you may want to try while studying this unit. 

–  Thoughts, questions, reactions to what I read: 




First of all, I have to admit that it has been really difficult for me to assimilate the entire content of each unit reading these only once or twice as I have not been to class in person, so my objective is to understand and get the most important part of the content in each unit and with that make a great picture of the subject.


Reflecting on what I read from the unit 1, specially the learning to love assessment reading I have to say that I´m learning a lot because remembering my almost 16 years of teaching experience I think that not many times I reflect or read about assessment and how to do it better, also as I am a preschool teacher I always think in the word “assessment” as tests and A TECAHERS OF BIG KIDS HAVE TO WORRIED ABOUT, and I forgot that I did assessments all the time in my classes with the observation on my students, and the work they do in every class related with the unit, so that reading remember me the importance of assessment at any level of the teaching- learning process.

Now I am going to begin with the Unit #2 and I opened my mind to get all the information I can and to put it in practice, but some questions comes to my mind.

There are more assessment strategies and tools that I can use in my preschool classes?

I am doing in a good way my job evaluating small children mostly by observation?


martes, 12 de agosto de 2014

LEARNING TO LOVE ASSESSMENT

Learning to Love Assessment




This assessment will be a reflexion about the reading “Learning to Love Assessment” written by the author Carol Ann Tomlinson.






     ·    Understanding 1: Informative assessment isn't just about tests.

As teachers we need to know that the tests are not the only way to assess our students, every student has a different rhythm of learning and not always everyone react the same way to a test, that’s why the teacher needs to be aware of the different needs of their students and taking that into account prepare better plans and assess them using different strategies and tools to assess the students learning and know the level of knowledge of an specific theme or topic.
When I was a student I have all kind of teachers, those who only use test to assess the final result of the learning and those who take into account the process of learning and give feedback to the student using variety of assessment strategies and tools I have to recognize that I remember better the teachers who assess me using different ways of assess than those who only use the test.

·         Understanding 2: Informative assessment really isn't about the grade book.

I couldn´t agree more with this author´s thought, I believe more in a good feedback of the process of the students learning than a grade in a grade book, and also for me the grades book not always represent what the student really know.
Must of the time parents are waiting for the grades book to “know in a formal way" the development of their children in the school, but in my opinion, as a teacher our duty is to inform students and parents more if they arre young children in several occasions during the learning process not only at the end of a trimester with the grade book.

·         Understanding 3: Informative assessment isn't always formal.

I have lived this as a preschool teacher, because with young children more than with anyone the assessment is given by the observation and from moments that are not related with the assessment in most cases. The teacher needs to have an anecdotic notebook to write all those important things that happened not only in the classroom also out of it, in the playground, the cafeteria, etc., those moments and situations are full of these learning.

·         Understanding 4: Informative assessment isn't separate from the curriculum.

I think reading this statement that this is the most common “mistake” or way to do things of the teachers in the world, first we make the lesson or unit plans and then we think in the way to assess that plan. It´s difficult realize this words “assessment is a part of - not apart from- the curriculum”.

·         Understanding 5: Informative assessment isn't about "after."

I think this is another common “mistake” at least in teachers I know as a student and as colleagues, including me, the use of the assessment at the end of the unit to check what the students know about the unit is useless if you see that as feedback that helps teacher in order to make new plans or help students improve their knowledge in the topics that they have weaknesses, that´s why I agree with the pre-assessment or diagnostic assessment used to improve the teaching and learning process.

·         Understanding 6: Informative assessment isn't an end in itself.

Teachers thinking in assessment the most of the time thinks in “the end of” a unit, a plan, a topic, and as the author says and I agree the assessment is not an end in itself can be, but don’t need to be the final part of something. This is hard to understand for a lot of teachers and also a lot of students that are accustom to close the unit, plan or theme with an assessment and sometimes the only assessment, teachers need to use the assessment to know about the teaching and learning process, about the students’ needs and also about how to improve the art of teaching, among other things.

·         Understanding 7: Informative assessment isn't separate from instruction.

This statement happens a lot and not all the teacher can realize that as teachers with groups of more than one student we need to know and work with the individual and group needs ALWAYS. That happened a lot in preschool because not all the children have the same rhythm of learning and the skills of everyone are different, so be careful with this statement VERY IMPORTANT.

·         Understanding 8: Informative assessment isn't just about student readiness.

In this statement the author talks about what we were talking before the importance of knowing the needs and cares of the students individually or as a group, because if you as teacher can attached what you are teaching with your students’ needs and cares they are going to be motivated and the learning is going to be more effective.

·         Understanding 9: Informative assessment isn't just about finding weaknesses.

In my opinion some teacher use to do this always, try to find what the student doesn’t know, can’t do, etc. always in negative, if you use the assessment as a positive feedback or a positive reinforcement the students for sure are going to think in the assessment in other way.

·         Understanding 10: Informative assessment isn't just for the teacher.


The last statement for the author is to involve the students in the assess process, because this is not a feedback important only for the teacher to be a better teacher is also important for the students to be better students and to be success in their learning processes.



lunes, 11 de agosto de 2014

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Hello Welcome to my blog!!!

Dear visitor my name is Gabriela Márquez Frontado and this blog is part of the Master of International Education and Bilingualism related to the subject Assessment in a Bilingual Classroom.

In this blog I will be adding little by little the homework / task the teacher has asked me.


Hope you enjoy it, I let you the first four tasks.
  1.  NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE: a comparison between the Spanish National program LOMCE and the International IB programmes.
  2.  REFLECTIVE JOURNAL for the unit 1.
  3. CONNECT YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES TO THE KEYS OF QUALITY, make connection between the keys of quality and my own experiences of self-assess.
  4.  LEARNING TO LOVE ASSESSMENT:  is a reflexion about the reading "Learning to love assessment" written by Carol Ann Tomlinson.
Kind Regards
      
 Gabriela


sábado, 9 de agosto de 2014

CONNECT YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES TO THE KEYS OF QUALITY




CONNECT YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES TO THE KEYS OF QUALITY 


After having studied and understood Unit 1, complete this activity independently to understand the impact on students of sound and unsound assessment practices.


1.  Think of a time you yourself were assessed and it was a negative experience. What made it negative?

My experience with the assessment it´s plain I have either positive experiences as negative ones, the most recently negative experience was in an English course when the teacher ask the group to prepare an individual oral speech in 5 minutes to presented for the whole class, she gave us a topic and nothing else.
I prepare mi speech as the rest of my partners and I presented, when I finish the teacher begin giving me the feedback and the whole feedback was negative, but the bad experience for me was that the teacher negatively evaluated me with an evaluation criteria she had not told me therefore I was not prepare for that evaluation because I didn´t know the rules, for me that experience was unfair.


2.  Now think of a time you yourself were assessed and it was a positive experience. What made it positive?


The closest positive experience with assessment I have it in this master with the Final Project of Psycholinguistic, and was very positive for me because I did a very hard work and the grade was sensational, that make me think I understood the subject, and also that the teacher recognize my hardworking.









3.  Which of the five keys to assessment quality were involved in your negative experience? 

In my negative experience with the English teacher the first key to assessment quality involved was the STUDENT INVOLVEMENT, in my opinion this key is the most important because without a student involvement the process teaching/learning is incomplete, and I think this was the first Key my English teacher forgot.
“Share learning targets and standards of quality with students”

The second Key involved was EFECTIVE COMMUNICATION, I think that the feedback of a teacher shouldn´t be all negative because the student can become demoralized and abandon their efforts to improve rather than try harder.
“Offer effective feedback to students during the learning.”

And the last but not least was LEARNING TARGET maybe for the teacher the Target of that assessment was clear but for me “the student” was not.
“Translate learning targets into student-friendly language”

4.  Which of the five keys to assessment quality were involved in your positive experience? 

In my positive experience were involved all the five keys to assessment quality.
The first Key involved was CLEAR PURPOSE, in every moment the teacher told us what was the requirements and the purpose of the activity.
“Understand formative and summative assessment uses and know when to use them”.

The learning targets were very clear.

The SOUND DESING was involved also because we received in class at least two “tutorials” or doing this final work and the teacher uses an assessment item list to check if the job was complete.
“Write and / or select assessments items, tasks, scoring guides, and rubrics that meet standards of quality”.

The communication was effective and that create the Student was involved, we could demonstrate that with the individual presentation of the final assessment of Psycholinguistics to the whole class.
“Involve students in tracking, reflecting on, and sharing their own learning progress”.       


5.  What impact did each experience have on you?

The negative experience really have a strong impact on me because this year I have a personal situation that require support and help from all my teachers and I turned not to feel identified with that teacher, that makes me abandon the course earlier than it was thought and when I presented for the final exam after 3 months and I saw it will be the same teacher who will correct the exam I remember that I didn´t trust in her good performance as teacher and that makes me nervous about her correcting my exam.  


The positive experience impact me as well in a very strong way because it was the very first subject in the Master and because of that positive experience I get involved with the other subjects I continue having good and positive experiences and that is very enriching for my life as a student and as a professional.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL UNIT # 1

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL UNIT # 1




•  Keep a record of your thoughts, questions, and any implementation activities you have already tried or you may want to try. 

–  Thoughts, questions, reactions to what I read:





As part of the subject Assessment in a Bilingual Classroom the teacher ask us to do a Reflective Journal which include our thoughts, questions and reactions to what we read, I couldn´t be part of the classes in the classroom but I´m part of it reading the material and in a virtual way.

My first question is what I really know about assessment?

Studying this course I realize that I didn´t know much about the assessment topic, the different way of assess my students and some assessment strategies and tools were totally new for me.


In our first assess we have to compare two different programmes, the national Spanish programme and the IB programme, and I have to say that as I am a student abroad I learn a lot doing it because I didn’t  know much about either programme.