How to assess PBL Assignments? This is one of my main concerns. I do believe that Rubrics are the key to actually assigning a grade. That isn't the difficulty. The problem comes when you are really trying to assess if the student has learned what they should have learned.
At the Georgia Virtual School, we require a project for every module, but we still require a multiple choice objective test as well. This has been the best way for us to marry the two at this point. It gives the student opportunity to demonstrate they know what they should know. It also allows them practice for high-stakes tests they will be required to take later (EOCT, CRCT, SAT). However, this shouldn't be necessary.
The ideal situation would be for a teacher to build such a good project that it would be obvious the student had mastered the standards. But that isn't done overnight. This requires skill and probably trial and error!
I have one other concern with PBL as the main assessment. Most PBL assignments require group work. Now I'm not sure who in the group has learned what when the project is complete. Did one student do the majority of the work while the others watched? Did most do what they needed and one was left out? Here's where I'm not sure where to go as a teacher if you don't have the independent objective test to really see how things worked!
So I will continue to investigate and read up on information. Learning from other's good and bad experiences!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
PBL
One of the great things I've learned about throughout this IDD program is Project Based Learning. Although I've participated in some PBL as well as used it in some degree in my classroom, I wasn't aware of it formally.
In all the time I taught in a face-to-face classroom, I can't count the number of times I was asked "when are we going to use this?" Probably the same situation with most math teachers. Often times I would respond by telling them that they didn't want to limit their possibilities and they may need some higher level math as they develop plans for the future. Which is completely true. But I think as a teenager, you don't have that long-term vision. They needed to know how to use what we were learning right now.
This is where PBL comes into play. A Project based learning experience is a huge benefit to the students. However, I think the stumbling blocks come with the teachers. Teachers have been teaching for a long time or it's just much easier to teach like you were taught. As a math teacher now and an excellent math student in high school, doing the math was never my problem. I could DO math all day! However taking the time to apply math is where the students will really grasp a true understanding.
This brings me back to my project. What I'm doing is fairly straight forward with some basic high school math. But I really think the students will be excited when they see what they can DO WITH math! the information they can figure out. The good decisions they can make. And maybe this is the type of information they need to be excited about the parts that are a little harder to apply.
At Georgia Virtual school, we require our course developers to include a project after each module. It allows the students in whatever subject area they are working with to apply their learning. This has truly enhanced our courses and made them more engaging to students.
In all the time I taught in a face-to-face classroom, I can't count the number of times I was asked "when are we going to use this?" Probably the same situation with most math teachers. Often times I would respond by telling them that they didn't want to limit their possibilities and they may need some higher level math as they develop plans for the future. Which is completely true. But I think as a teenager, you don't have that long-term vision. They needed to know how to use what we were learning right now.
This is where PBL comes into play. A Project based learning experience is a huge benefit to the students. However, I think the stumbling blocks come with the teachers. Teachers have been teaching for a long time or it's just much easier to teach like you were taught. As a math teacher now and an excellent math student in high school, doing the math was never my problem. I could DO math all day! However taking the time to apply math is where the students will really grasp a true understanding.
This brings me back to my project. What I'm doing is fairly straight forward with some basic high school math. But I really think the students will be excited when they see what they can DO WITH math! the information they can figure out. The good decisions they can make. And maybe this is the type of information they need to be excited about the parts that are a little harder to apply.
At Georgia Virtual school, we require our course developers to include a project after each module. It allows the students in whatever subject area they are working with to apply their learning. This has truly enhanced our courses and made them more engaging to students.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
LoTI and More! (September 12)
I was so glad we took time to really look at the LoTI levels during class on Thursday. Most of the examples I found were 3 or 4a. I don't think I was too far off, however when we talked about student-focused or teacher-focused and that being a major difference between the 3 and 4a, that helped me make a few changes in my list.
Working for Georgia Virtual school, we use technology lessons. However, some are very basic. Tutorials, or simple interactive activities that focus on practice. We do have many projects that require students to use the internet for research and use those findings to make good decisions. We try to make these projects real-world type applications! It's nice as we start a new development term with our courses to have really reviewed these standards. I plan to share them with my developers so we can make sure we are using technology properly.
As I've gone through these examples, I now want to make a great lesson for us to use in our finance class. I think several of the examples I found were relatively basic or that the teacher had a great part in what they needed to learn. I'm hoping to walk them through a set of scenarios that will teach them about credit card use. The tricky thing about credit cards is they are really necessary. You must be able to establish credit in order to purchase a car or a home. So you need to know the pros and cons in order to properly use them. As a college student and newly married person, I got myself into some trouble with credit cards! Oh how I wish someone had set me straight then! So I'm hoping to help a few students avoid what I did!
Working for Georgia Virtual school, we use technology lessons. However, some are very basic. Tutorials, or simple interactive activities that focus on practice. We do have many projects that require students to use the internet for research and use those findings to make good decisions. We try to make these projects real-world type applications! It's nice as we start a new development term with our courses to have really reviewed these standards. I plan to share them with my developers so we can make sure we are using technology properly.
As I've gone through these examples, I now want to make a great lesson for us to use in our finance class. I think several of the examples I found were relatively basic or that the teacher had a great part in what they needed to learn. I'm hoping to walk them through a set of scenarios that will teach them about credit card use. The tricky thing about credit cards is they are really necessary. You must be able to establish credit in order to purchase a car or a home. So you need to know the pros and cons in order to properly use them. As a college student and newly married person, I got myself into some trouble with credit cards! Oh how I wish someone had set me straight then! So I'm hoping to help a few students avoid what I did!
Monday, September 5, 2011
LoTi Examples (September 5)
I've read about the Level of Technology Implementation (LoTi). It's interesting that they are talking about using technology to enhance student learning. I work for a Virtual School, so we use many resources that are entirely technology based to develop a course. Students use all sorts of information. Now I'm having to go in and look at how classroom teachers are using such resources. This is where we could really step in and train Face-to-face teachers on proper use of technology.
Technology allows teachers to implement differentiated instruction. It teaches students how to collaborate effectively. They'll need these technology and collaboration skills as they enter the workforce! So besides teaching them subject matter, they'll need to know how to use it.
Before I talk about my examples, I want to discuss my project. After really looking at what is required, I think I'll need to change my initial project. Although, I'll still be helping his son and possibly his friends with his college algebra class, I don't think it meets the criteria of the project.
I'm a certified High School math teacher and during the summer I had the opportunity to attend a training for the new Advanced Mathematical Decision Making course. I was fascinated by the finance unit of this course. I think we leave so much of this out of the current math curriculum. At Georgia Virtual School, we are currently developing a Math 4 - Finance course. So I'm planning to use what I learned in the AMDM training as well as the GPS for our finance course to develop a lesson we can use in that new course! I'm excited about developing a lesson that will really help students apply their math knowledge in a very real-world situation.
With that said, I've been focusing on various HS level Finance lessons that use technology. I've found five activities so far, but here are a couple...
Pay Credit when Credit is Due:
This first lesson is very lengthy. It's actually a 3 day lesson. Students would walk through a variety of activities to explore what happens when you delay paying credit or pay the minimum amount. Students will use the internet to research various credit cards. Annual fees, rates, penalties, and benefits. They will work in groups and come up with 3 possible cards they may be interested in and create an infographic that displays the information. They will also be required to write up a "report" justifying their selection of card.
I really like this lesson as a senior level activity. I have a freshman in college and we explored credit cards with him. We knew that credit card companies tend to focus on college students and credit is something that can cause problems for a newly independent student. Knowing what to look for will be very helpful to these students.
Introduction to Mortgage Loans
In this activity, students are introduced to Mortgage loans through a video lesson. The students then have to do some investigation of various banks and requirements for getting a mortgage. They will determine available rates as well as down payment requirements. The students will then look at real estate prices in their area and find a property to "purchase". They will compare three different available loans and determine which would be the best option for their situation.
Again, being an adult who has experienced the housing crisis, this is something these students should know about. So many people who have lost homes were in the situation because they got themselves into a loan they could not afford. The bank made some special financing available in the immediate future that allowed people to get into houses they could not afford. When the adjustable mortgage went up, they quickly found they were in over their head. Some knowledge ahead of time might help these students to avoid this as home-buying adults.
I'm excited about this new direction in my project. I think I can develop an intriguing lesson that the students will be very excited about. And the best part is that we can use it in a real Georgia Virtual School course!
Technology allows teachers to implement differentiated instruction. It teaches students how to collaborate effectively. They'll need these technology and collaboration skills as they enter the workforce! So besides teaching them subject matter, they'll need to know how to use it.
Before I talk about my examples, I want to discuss my project. After really looking at what is required, I think I'll need to change my initial project. Although, I'll still be helping his son and possibly his friends with his college algebra class, I don't think it meets the criteria of the project.
I'm a certified High School math teacher and during the summer I had the opportunity to attend a training for the new Advanced Mathematical Decision Making course. I was fascinated by the finance unit of this course. I think we leave so much of this out of the current math curriculum. At Georgia Virtual School, we are currently developing a Math 4 - Finance course. So I'm planning to use what I learned in the AMDM training as well as the GPS for our finance course to develop a lesson we can use in that new course! I'm excited about developing a lesson that will really help students apply their math knowledge in a very real-world situation.
With that said, I've been focusing on various HS level Finance lessons that use technology. I've found five activities so far, but here are a couple...
Pay Credit when Credit is Due:
This first lesson is very lengthy. It's actually a 3 day lesson. Students would walk through a variety of activities to explore what happens when you delay paying credit or pay the minimum amount. Students will use the internet to research various credit cards. Annual fees, rates, penalties, and benefits. They will work in groups and come up with 3 possible cards they may be interested in and create an infographic that displays the information. They will also be required to write up a "report" justifying their selection of card.
I really like this lesson as a senior level activity. I have a freshman in college and we explored credit cards with him. We knew that credit card companies tend to focus on college students and credit is something that can cause problems for a newly independent student. Knowing what to look for will be very helpful to these students.
Introduction to Mortgage Loans
In this activity, students are introduced to Mortgage loans through a video lesson. The students then have to do some investigation of various banks and requirements for getting a mortgage. They will determine available rates as well as down payment requirements. The students will then look at real estate prices in their area and find a property to "purchase". They will compare three different available loans and determine which would be the best option for their situation.
Again, being an adult who has experienced the housing crisis, this is something these students should know about. So many people who have lost homes were in the situation because they got themselves into a loan they could not afford. The bank made some special financing available in the immediate future that allowed people to get into houses they could not afford. When the adjustable mortgage went up, they quickly found they were in over their head. Some knowledge ahead of time might help these students to avoid this as home-buying adults.
I'm excited about this new direction in my project. I think I can develop an intriguing lesson that the students will be very excited about. And the best part is that we can use it in a real Georgia Virtual School course!
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