I actually surveyed a few students after asking them to watch the video in order to get a correct perspective. I have condensed their views and perceptions, as well as, offered my thoughts on the videos from the student view.
Dent- Student- Video 1: The Essay The main idea of video one is that technology is something yet to be discovered and that it is so obscure, that people who dream of these ideas, can seem different or abnormal. Thinking out of the box can be a scary concept for the conservative population, leading some to hesitate toward change or technology advancements. The audience are adults looking for a device that does all the things imagined by the little girl in the commercial, those who want to improve or add creativity in their lives. From the perspective of the student the message was a bit hidden in meaning. It was not flashy and dropped off at the end leading you to wonder if you missed something or what happens next. For a student, this visual message was not effective or appealing. Dent- Student- Video 2: We Think This video expressed that technology creates ideas that are brought to you by the world, everyone, anyone can participate no matter your age, race, or religion. Creating and participating in communities online, is where our future will thrive. The We THink video tells the viewer that without technology, the acceleration of creativity would not be possible. This video is for upper elementary to adults. The visuals and message combined, forces you to read and engage in the video rather than just watching. As a student, I need to read and process the meaning of the video. It asked me questions at the end that had me thinking about my actions and sharing online which is where the greatest effect is felt. You are what you share, is a great message point made by this video. Students share more often than their parents or teachers and this video proves to secondary students that ideas grow with technology but with that, comes a price you need to consider for your future. I found the PD method provided in the curriculum content, for evaluating the videos, to be reflective. The different collaboration opportunities embedded in the process offered several perspectives to consider in a message or meaning for a video. I found it interesting that little was discussed of the Web 2.0 tool and offered participates more on the effectiveness of the online community or their audience. This is another example of making the focus the learning and not a specific tool. I often get requests from teachers to search for a timeline app for students to use in their work. I am fortunate to have 1:1 iPads in my middle school but students have limited access to the App Store and filtered access to the Internet. Unfortunately, the perfect timeline tool has not found its way into my life just yet and I find myself helping teachers revamp a project because the rating in the Apple App Store is too high for student use, no funds to purchase a timeline App, or too many ads and watermarks embedded in a site to yield quality results in a student created timeline. It has been interesting seeing a new use for Google Photos and Google Draw for timelines and statistic infographics. Both of these tools are accessible to my students on their device and easily shareable to peers, teachers, or the world. Outside of the standard historical timeline for Social Studies content, English teachers could use this to sequence events of a story or organize ideas during pre-writing. I am thinking specifically about the books Bud, not Buddy and To Kill A Mockingbird that serve as anchor text for our 6th and 8th grade expeditions. English teachers dive deep into both of these books and spend a large amount of time researching story elements, character analysis, and modeling writing techniques. Because so much time is spent on these texts, it becomes difficult to recall events in sequence. Keeping a Google Photos timeline as the class discusses the text would be a great way to track their learning, stay up-to-date in the story, and share the work among all in the class. Google Photos would also work well during brainstorming when students need to collect images or ideas to inspire and organize their writing. In the area of Science, teachers can assess process skills by giving pictures of elements and asking students to order them to create compounds, as well as, have students take pictures of experiments and place them in the correct order as a lab tutorial for other classes. World Language (WL) uses a large variety of pictures to help tell stories or symbolize routines, within the target language. WL teachers could formatively assess daily routine or telling time, through timeline infographics written in the language.
FotoFlexer and Google Draw have similar uses in the math classroom when showing representations of values or statistical data. Our 7th grade expedition collects a large amount of data on clothing consumed in the US. With the use of Google Draw or FotoFlexer to represent quantities, students could use an image to show what countries produce the clothes we find in stores. Throughout this PBL project students graph several different sets of data and collect it in a paper booklet. Combining the power of Google Draw to create individual statistical charts, Google Photo albums to collect and share the images for collaboration, with the graphic tools of Canva, students could produce a work nothing less than business professional. These tools provide for collaboration, as well as, publishing options giving students an authentic audience beyond the classroom walls. All of these tools work exceptionally well in the 1:1 iPad, GAFE, PBL environment, my student’s encounter in their learning. Maybe the perfect timeline tool has come into my life...in a mashup.
Adobe Spark video was not my favorite tool initially because I didn’t feel it was the right fit for a tutorial. Once I moved past the parameters of the assignment and got deep into the tool, I found a simple Web 2.0 tool perfect for a wide range of grade levels. Adobe Spark video was extremely easy to use once the correct settings and plugins were loaded. I did find that frustrating and I can see a student or teacher losing interests from the start if the experience were to begin with a troubleshoot session. The tool has very few frills which is perfect for students to use. I find my middle school students tend to be distracted by large menus of features and lack the depth in content because they have spent so much time with the bells and whistles. Recording and inserting images was intuitive and I can see teachers and students having little trouble making a highly visual and engaging project, in little time. At first I was disappointed in the text feature and lack of formatting tools. Then I reflected on the purpose and need for Adobe Spark video for a student and realized the writing, editing, and speaking process could be highlighted through the script writing and not assessed in the visual text. You don’t need visual text if the script and spoken word are high quality. We talk of beautiful work in expedition products but in this case, the beautiful work can look and sound like a student's thinking and learning, in their own voice. The hook are the stunning images presented but the display of learning is in the narration by the students.
It's report card time again in my district and parents have grabbed their signs to protest the standards-based rating grades.... yet again. This is not the first time the controversy has arisen since the elementary school began using a one through three rating scale for standards reporting but the rumble this quarter has been the loudest in its 4 year project implementation. Why begin complaining now, 4 years into , what parents are calling, the experiment? What is making this year or grading different than any other?
I am writing from a unique perspective in the standards-based grading “experiment” because I am a teacher who has taught and assessed in a traditional and standards-based grading schools and I am a parent of a child who has participated in the standards rating system since they entered school four years ago. I see both sides of the controversy and both have valid points of confusion, mistrust, and values that feed this fire of protest. As a parent, it has taken some time getting used to seeing one's, two’s and three’s written on a paper rather than a score based off the traditional 100 point scale. I am a child of traditional grading, like most parents with school-aged children in my area, translating the meaning of a 1-3 proficiency rating has been difficult in a district where most students will attend a secondary form of education and where state lottery scholarships are based on a GPA rating in high school. I constantly hear parents concerned about what standards-based grading will look like at the high school level and how will their child fair in the pool for college funding. The other loudest complaint from the parent group has been lack of knowledge on how their child is doing in school. A four page report of every standard, in all subjects, with a 1-3 rating, comes home four times a year for each student in my child’s grade. It is overwhelming to weed through the laundry list of state standards with a concerned perspective that all parents feel for their child's education if they have never been educated on the information a standards-based report card can give a parent. It is also difficult to judge or monitor a child's progress if the teacher provides minimal feedback throughout the process, in between each reporting period. I have learned so much about my child's learning through standards-based grading proficiency levels and reporting, but I'm not the average parent. Teachers carry a heavy responsibility for multiple children’s well being everyday and they are beyond overworked. Adding new educational thinking and processes is another item placed on the platter of work for a classroom teacher trying to love, care, and educate any child who walks through their door. I am proud to be a teacher in my district and feel supported by my parents and administrators, I just need them to get on the same playing field with standards-based grading. As a teacher, I know and have educated myself in the implementation and benefits of reporting students knowledge of standards with a proficiency rating. Not all teachers involved in grading standards with proficiency levels have had that professional development and shift in culture, leading to confusion and lack of continued feedback to parents. When you are trained in feedback protocols or proficiency level grading you understand that the personal, detailed comments to students and parents on work, are the most powerful and informative in the progress reporting for standards-based grading. Everyone in this situation, parents, teachers and the school, are working toward a common goal, high achievement for our children. No one is in the wrong here and no one is asking for anything outside a normal realm of care and compassion for the children. We all need to be educated. Educated on the benefits of proficiency leveled standards-based grading, how to give and get feedback, and how to communicate needs and confusion to all parties involved. I am passionate about Standards-based grading as a teacher and parent. I want to see this “experiment” through and learn about my child, how they learn, and what they know. I want to support the classroom teachers as they struggle to give students and parents the best of themselves through this process. I want the school administration to see the need to teach parents about the importance of standards based reporting and provide high- quality professional development and supportive culture for its teachers. Most of all, I have a passion to educate my own child with all the tools and love I have to provide. Success looks different for every person and whatever success is for my child will come from every ounce of support I can give them. I will use standards-based reporting as part of that support. Where are you with standards-based proficiency level reporting? Who is doing it right at the high school level? Thanks for adding to the conversation with your comments, questions, and concerns. |
Amy DentInstructional Coach, tech geek, news junkie, and passionate about learning. ArchivesCategories |