Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Pixlr
Last night I used Pixlr (http://pixlr.com/) to make a banner for a website. There are plenty of tutorials on how to use the app so I won't reinvent the wheel, but I found it was pretty easy to use... and without the photoshop price tag!
Friday, 26 April 2013
Easy Peasy Rubrics with Google Forms
So finally I have come to mark my writing assessments, rubric in hand and off I go. Or not. Looking at the 5 pieces of paper I felt rather dismal. Isn't there a better way? I want to see all this information on one page however, I'd prefer not to borrow my mate's magnifying glass if you know what I mean. Yes these magical wonders called rubrics are really good to help describe a level of achievement, but the incessant paper flicking and going back and forth between pages is really not something I love doing.
So in my quest to find a better way of marking, I had just a little idea. I'm sure it's been done before, nothing quite original BUT rather logical here. A Google Form! Free, easy, and saved in my drive. The major plus is that it will collate my answers for me. WOO-HOO! Why hadn't I done this before?
So off I went and copy and pasted from my Google Doc (yes, I'm going Google) into my new Google form.
Simple enough, go to create from Google Drive, and select form.
Title and add your questions. Voila!
Hints:
1. While happily copying and pasting I soon encountered a Google error, saying I had to reload the page. Reloaded, pasted again and same message... 4 or 5 times. Duh! So... if you get this error when copying and pasting between different Google Docs or the like, go back and re-copy (or cut) the text again. Then paste it. You will be much happier, and less confused. Trust me. :)
2. Question Types
- I added a text question for each of the name and class of students
- For the rubric descriptors, I used the multiple choice format
- I also added a paragraph text question type for other 'Comments', in case I felt the need.
So now to the live form...
Ta-DA!
All the information I need is on one page - sweet! - albeit I do need to scroll.
All that's left to do now is some light reading and checkbox ticking.
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Standardised testing
How do I use standardised testing to inform my teaching? There are two basic layers. One, you are looking at a class/grade and secondly at an individual level.
On the class level, teachers interpret the results against the norm referenced criteria, looking at an overall raw and percentile score. Ask yourself how is my class performing against this particular test as a whole? Within this data, you may see how a cohort of students are performing on test subsets, the actual subjects measured by the test, for instance on an achievement test for mathematics there may be subsets for number, measurement, space, data and chance. Ask yourself are there particular areas where the majority of the class are performing well or not meeting the standard. Keep in mind that achievement tests will generally have small set of questions per particular area (Mertler).
Subsequently look at individual student's results. What particular areas are they scoring well on or not? Do you need to investigate this further with a diagnostic test? That is, a test which measures a more specific area to indicate more detailed information, which inform weaknesses and strengths usually in particular area. You might have students complete a test which covers reading comprehension strategies or addition and subtraction. These tests cover more information than standardised tests and generally would have more questions in particular areas, and can be commercial or teacher developed. They are best used as a pre-assessment prior to learning, and cover the standard or outcome required to be achieved by a unit of work.
From these results you can plan your learning and any differentiation that needs to occur. What if your cohort or a student tests exceptionally well or underscores?
This is where off-level testing comes into play: for students who struggle try tests for cohorts below their current grade (find out what they can do, because your previous testing has shown their areas of need at your grade level, look for the gaps) and for those who easily compete the grade level, go above their current grade level to see what they are yet to master. From this, you will ascertain the direction of the teaching and learning and then you can program learning experiences which meet your class' need.
Mertler, C. (n.d.). Using Standardized Test Data To Guide Instruction and Intervention. ERIC Digest. http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-4/standardized-test.html
On the class level, teachers interpret the results against the norm referenced criteria, looking at an overall raw and percentile score. Ask yourself how is my class performing against this particular test as a whole? Within this data, you may see how a cohort of students are performing on test subsets, the actual subjects measured by the test, for instance on an achievement test for mathematics there may be subsets for number, measurement, space, data and chance. Ask yourself are there particular areas where the majority of the class are performing well or not meeting the standard. Keep in mind that achievement tests will generally have small set of questions per particular area (Mertler).
Subsequently look at individual student's results. What particular areas are they scoring well on or not? Do you need to investigate this further with a diagnostic test? That is, a test which measures a more specific area to indicate more detailed information, which inform weaknesses and strengths usually in particular area. You might have students complete a test which covers reading comprehension strategies or addition and subtraction. These tests cover more information than standardised tests and generally would have more questions in particular areas, and can be commercial or teacher developed. They are best used as a pre-assessment prior to learning, and cover the standard or outcome required to be achieved by a unit of work.
From these results you can plan your learning and any differentiation that needs to occur. What if your cohort or a student tests exceptionally well or underscores?
This is where off-level testing comes into play: for students who struggle try tests for cohorts below their current grade (find out what they can do, because your previous testing has shown their areas of need at your grade level, look for the gaps) and for those who easily compete the grade level, go above their current grade level to see what they are yet to master. From this, you will ascertain the direction of the teaching and learning and then you can program learning experiences which meet your class' need.
Mertler, C. (n.d.). Using Standardized Test Data To Guide Instruction and Intervention. ERIC Digest. http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-4/standardized-test.html
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Going Paper Lite with iTeacherBook
One big bug bear I have had lately is the paper mountain I am partly responsible in creating, not to mention the heavy duty carting to and from work. Think big, start small they say. This paper mountain involves the usual teacher essentials: sticky notes, worksheets, workbooks, textbooks, assessments and diary.
Now the diary is the first port of call to 'paper-lite'. See, in the past year my organisation has 'Gone Google' and whilst I've partly gone google myself, finding the time to reorganise my recording of scheduling has been in part mixed between shared and personal Google calendars, Google presentations, Docs and the paper diary.
I stumbled upon iTeacherBook in the iTunes app store sometime ago, but had never tested it out. After having a little play, I found it to have a sweet diary-style interface. Some highlighted functionality includes syncing with iOS Calendars, through which I already copy staff and personal Google Calendars (no more duplicate recording of dates into my paper diary - celebrate that little win!), Planner, Students, Attendance, Assignments and Grading. The best feature is the 'Overview' interface, which looks just like a paper diary in the 'Day' view mode.
From the Planner tab, you can add 'Semesters' and within that 'Courses'. Whilst this seems to be directed at a secondary or higher education educator, I make that function work for me in the primary setting by naming my 'Courses' by either the subject name/unit title. From here, you can add your Schedule - either as single events or as a repeating occurrence. That takes care of my timetable.
In the Overview mode, I can then add daily 'Class Notes' to specific classes that I have on a day to pinpoint the topic of my lessons.
At this stage, I don't think I'll be using the assignments or grading features, but I still like this app mostly for the diary-esque interface, repeating schedule for timetabling and the iOS Calendar syncing.
Now the diary is the first port of call to 'paper-lite'. See, in the past year my organisation has 'Gone Google' and whilst I've partly gone google myself, finding the time to reorganise my recording of scheduling has been in part mixed between shared and personal Google calendars, Google presentations, Docs and the paper diary.
I stumbled upon iTeacherBook in the iTunes app store sometime ago, but had never tested it out. After having a little play, I found it to have a sweet diary-style interface. Some highlighted functionality includes syncing with iOS Calendars, through which I already copy staff and personal Google Calendars (no more duplicate recording of dates into my paper diary - celebrate that little win!), Planner, Students, Attendance, Assignments and Grading. The best feature is the 'Overview' interface, which looks just like a paper diary in the 'Day' view mode.
From the Planner tab, you can add 'Semesters' and within that 'Courses'. Whilst this seems to be directed at a secondary or higher education educator, I make that function work for me in the primary setting by naming my 'Courses' by either the subject name/unit title. From here, you can add your Schedule - either as single events or as a repeating occurrence. That takes care of my timetable.
In the Overview mode, I can then add daily 'Class Notes' to specific classes that I have on a day to pinpoint the topic of my lessons.
At this stage, I don't think I'll be using the assignments or grading features, but I still like this app mostly for the diary-esque interface, repeating schedule for timetabling and the iOS Calendar syncing.
All things new and shiny
Being the literal black hat on the parade, I often ask many pertinent questions in my field: teaching. Recently two of those pertinent ones have been 'How do I organise my e-tools?" and furthermore, in reference to my new data management/ elearning Reference Teacher title, 'How will I reach out and spread elearning buzz?"
Desiring to nut out solutions to such oncoming obstacles in my e-planning, e-teaching, e-learning, and not-so-secretly indulge my passion for writing, I've reached the point where I'm ready to unleash my verbal prowess. So sit back and relax whilst I wax lyrical about all things teaching, somewhat techy and definitely eteachie.
Desiring to nut out solutions to such oncoming obstacles in my e-planning, e-teaching, e-learning, and not-so-secretly indulge my passion for writing, I've reached the point where I'm ready to unleash my verbal prowess. So sit back and relax whilst I wax lyrical about all things teaching, somewhat techy and definitely eteachie.
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