Saturday, April 2, 2016

Week 10: Formative and Summative Assessments & Major Project Progress #3

                                    

This weeks topic is something I am sure, no one likes to talk about.. Assessments. I was, and still is a horrible test taker. I can study for hours straight and know the material, however, when I go to take the test, and show my knowledge, I completely freeze up and forget everything. I normally do not have anxiety but thinking of failing a test scares me so much. No one likes to fail, I know I don't. I think that assessments are important, don't get me wrong, but I think that they could be handled and given a different way. I remember taking tests in elementary school, where everyone had to be separated. You usually had something to cover up your answers,and had to raise your hand for anything that you needed. Being so young, I could not stay in my seat for that long and pay attention. It seemed like forever that we sat in silence and tried so hard to focus. Children usually learn better while doing, and while having distractions is never good, Sitting in silence forced to work alone is not the right choice either, in my opinion.

I have never heard or used PearDeck and EduCanon until now. Scott Kinkoph talks about these digital tools in this presentation, so I researched them a little more to figure out what they are all about. I think that using tools for assessments could be helpful in some areas, but with technology, you never know what might happen. Making sure that the data is downloading correctly and that students are getting full credit is so important. Always have a back up plan just in case plan A falls through. These tools are both interactive and the students will be able to have the information right on their laps. Not having the entire assessment online, and mixing instructions will help students stay more focused and motivated. 

The most striking thing that I had taken away from Scott's presentation was the learning cycle. Incorporating formative and summative assessments are both equally important to use in the classroom. Testing the students as they move along through material is important to see if they are learning at a good pace and if they understand what they are learning about. Testing students at the end of a week of material will help teachers in showing where students need more work and it show if the teacher needs to change her lessons into something better for her students to succeed. 

For this weeks major project progress, I chose to bake blueberry muffins! This pastry is my dads favorite late night snack. I saw that we had these in my pantry and knew right away that is what I wanted to try doing. The muffins called for simple ingredients but I doubled the recipe, so I am proud of myself for following the directions correctly, and not adding to much or to little of something. I now know that muffins are simple to bake and take very little time. I can now throw these in the oven before class or work and enjoy a delicious treat.
  
Baking them was easy but I was a little upset with the outcome. We had no baking cups to decorate the muffin, so I had to really spray the muffin tin. The edges were a little more brown then I wanted them to be, but it wasn't to big of an error. My family and I will still most definitely enjoy these muffins after dinner! You could say, I could get used to this baking thing.  

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