Formative and Summative Assessments

Formative assessment is part of the instructional process; it will give you the information you need as the teacher to adjust the teaching and learning while it is happening in your classroom. These assessments help ensure your students are achieving their personal goals as well as your standard set goals for them.  Formative assessment should be thought of as “practice”. The students are not graded on this and it allows you to determine the next steps in the learning process. For example say you are teaching the children how to tell time, you could use a model clock and set it to any time and have the students write the time they think it is on a personal white board. Then the class can hold up their answers. (Arizona Common Core Standards, 1. MD. Number 3)  This allows you to quickly see how and if everyone understands what you’re teaching.  
Summative assessments are those assessments that are given periodically to determine student progress and understanding. Summative is used at the classroom or even district level and is used and a form of accountability for teachers and students alike. An example of summative assessment would be if you had spent a week teaching students how to tell time; at the end of the week you could give each student a test covering the learned material. The big difference between formative and summative is that summative assessment takes place after your instruction while formative takes place during your instruction. However both are needed to make your classroom a successful learning environment.

 Summative assesments: 
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/time/time-1_TZTNQ.pdf
 http://www.math-aids.com/images/telling-time-draw-hands.jpg

 Infrormation retreived from:
http://www.amle.org/Publications/WebExclusive/Assessment/tabid/1120/Default.aspx               

How to Find Quailty Sources Online

When searching for sources online you need to be aware that virtually anyone can post anything online and call it a legitimate source. As an educator you need to mindful of that when locating quality sources. To locate true quality you have to take advantage of all the resources that you have available to you. As a college student I have access to databases and library search engines that direct me to authentic sources that I can rely on. I can also use internet search engines, such as google to find your sources. The thing with internet search engines is you need to look at the site itself. If the domain of the website is a .com or .net you need to be careful. If the domain name is an .edu or .org or .gov its a more trusting and reliable site. If you chose to use a universal encyclopedia such as Wikipedia be sure to go to the sources provided, and use them directly if they prove to be a quality source. For my Mirco Lesson the quality sources I will be using are:

http://www.toondoo.com/
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/art/contents.htm
http://www.nga.gov/kids/
http://www.azed.gov/standards-practices/files/2011/09/visualarts.pdf
http://www.picassohead.com/create.html

How Technology Can be Used in a Fair, Responsible and Inclusive Manner

Safe, legal and ethical use of digital information and technology:

We live in a world where technology is everywhere. Technology and digital information have never been more accessible to us than it is now. How ever when using this readily available information one must be sure to always give credit where credit is due. As future educators we need to encourage and promote safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology. This is important because our students are not just our students in the classroom. Our responsibility continues when they leave our classes. We need to teach them how to safely, legally and ethically use the vast amounts of information offered to them.

Digital etiquette and responsible social interactions:

Digital etiquette can be defined as “internet manners”, how a person should behave themselves in the internet. For example in various social interactions online WRITING THE WHOLE THING IN CAPS CAN LOOK LIKE YOU ARE YELLING, or a normal sarcastic and harmless comment can be taken seriously and personally; Causing hurt feelings, victimization, and bullying. There is no tone over the internet, no facial expressions. What you read is what you see, hear, visualize. We need to address this in the classroom to help avoid and possible stop potential bullies.

Meeting diverse needs of learners through learner-centered strategies and equitable access:

As an educator a large part of the job is finding a way to meet the diverse needs of each and every one of our learners. When I say diverse needs, I mean everything from special needs and learning disabilities to ethnic or cultural issues and/or differences

One way to do this is through student centered strategies that address the abilities, needs and the interests of the students. When addressing equitable access it is important that every student has an equal opportunity as needed to use digital tools and resources for learning through strategies such as grouping, rotation, and after school programs.

Global awareness and digital-age communication:

In today’s classrooms the amount of technology we can utilize is astounding. As teachers who have technology available we are at a great advantage. We can bring books to life, we can show up close and personal videos from around the world, we help paint pictures and inspire lives. We need to be fully aware of the huge impact that technology can have in our classroom. We need to use the technology to spread and teach about global awareness. As teachers we also have the responsibility to teach how we can and should effectively communicate in the digital age.  In a world where everything used to be face to face this new form of communication can be dramatic and sometimes less effective. However, the students we will be teaching are those who were born into this era, so there is a strong chance they will be not only comfortable with but fluent in digital age communication.

ISTE:

ISTE stands for The International Society for Technology in Education. This organizations mission is to improve learning and teaching by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and teacher education. According to the standards, as teachers we need to.

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership