Week 13: Rubrics and other tools

Speaking in general terms, I love the idea of using rubrics in the classroom. Teachers benefit from rubrics because they are able to set out their expectations clearly and specifically. For students, they gain much the same benefit from knowing what the teacher expects them to produce. To go a step further, I love the idea of technology based rubrics, from the experiences I have had with them. Incorporating technology into the classroom should be a part of every element of the classroom, wherever it is possible. Students who are expected to use technology in their assignments and to produce assignments incorporating technological aspects and elements should have a rubric and a classroom using technology as well. Creating a technology based rubric does just that, in that it combines both.

Clicker assessment tools are something that I have not yet seen first hand in an elementary school setting. I have, however, used one first hand in a class that I was enrolled in. Clickers allow students to take a hands on approach to their learning because they are becoming a part of the lesson and making it interactive. Teachers are able to gauge their understanding during the lesson, instead of waiting until they get the papers graded or look over the exams. Teachers can see during the lesson how much of the class is comprehending, and which areas may need work or more reteaching than the others. This idea of taking clickers into the classroom is a great idea and I think it could be used even in the elementary grades. Teachers could incorporate it easily into math, which could require multiple choice questions during the lesson and the assignment. They could also get creative and put it into other subjects as well.

Kidspiration, and other software like it is a new concept to me, although from what I have seen I love it! This is another way of incorporating current technology into the classroom, and it has the capability of incorporating multiple subject areas. For instance, students can use this software to work on their mathematical skills and they can also use it to work on their literature or grammer skills. This idea could be used in the classroom as individual group work, or it could be incorporated into literacy centers. This software gives students the opportunity to make their work station their own and to save their work as they go. It also gives teachers the opportunity to track their students progress and give them opportunities to work successfully as individuals. I would absolutely look into incorporating this into my future classroom.

Visualizing with Technologies

Digital Storytelling is the process of creating a video through planning, and making it come to life. Students plan out their story using an online tool. They use all the formal elements of a story such as: exposition, rising action, climax, and falling action. After the story has been established and a general understanding of the equipment has been taught, students have the opportunity to take their story and turn it into a movie. The teacher is not involved in this process, which gives the students the opportunity to play every role involved in the hands on production. They shoot the video, and after it is done they are able to go back and edit it. After the class videos have been completed, they are to be presented and discussed among the class. I personally feel that this is an excellent idea, and given the appropriate age and grade level, this would be a great use of resources. Technology is incorporated, which gives the lesson a hands on approach as well. The students are able to take story telling and make it into something fun and different, that otherwise they may not have had the opportunity to do. Students are able to critique their work and the work of others, learning more about the subject all the while. I would definitely put this into use in my classroom is possible.

Math can be a very difficult for some students to comprehend, which is why a hands on approach to math is so vital in the classroom. Playing with formulas and equations can only get you so far when written on paper, because our minds naturally need to visualize what we are working with. When we learn something using a hands on approach, or are able to work with it in some way other than on paper, our minds suddenly are able to comprehend much deeper. As we learned in the chapter, there are different applications that allow you to create your own formulas using something as simple as a graphing calculator. To take that a step further, I have worked personally with websites and applications that allow you to take mathematical units and make them real. For instance, in one application we were able to change around geometric shapes and angles to see how they would change as we changed the number of degrees, lines, vertices, and other information. Seeing how they would be affected and working with them first hand made them come to life for me, and I would definitely encourage that in my future classroom.

Television has become part of our day to day living in this generation. While there are so many shows that can be interactive such as learning channels or cooking shows, we tend to simply "watch" tv for the most part, and not interact with it. When we simply watch tv, we are learning but we are also becoming lathargic and lazy. When we take video and television to the next level, and do things with it such as digital storytelling, suddenly it changes and we are learning through interacting and producing. Yes, we can learn from television, but whether or not we do learn is up to us and how we choose to use it.