This week in class we had more of an ad lib lesson. However, I really enjoyed it. It was nice to hear a different perspective, but yet what I always believed. I think it is important for us to hear and know that others out there (even professionals). It is really hard for us as teachers to know what standards to follow. For example in my school, we have had a few different standards and I am still not sure exactly what standards to be teaching. For example, last year we adopted the Common Core and this year we are using MAPS. We also have the previous standards before the Common Core. This is confusing to me to know which standards I am to follow as well as what other teachers are following. There needs to be one set that we all follow, but things are ever changing so much that the administration is also changing their views.
The past two weeks we have had off of class. I was working all the time on my portfolio. I was working on picking different artifacts for each of my standards. I think I have finally completed that. However, now I really need to work on the different classes that I have taken. This seems like it will be the hardest since I do not have access to Angle for some of my classes anymore. This is where I think it was a great idea for us to start the portfolio at the beginning of the classes. This way as I complete each class, I could upload and write about the best thing from each class. This is what it is freshest in my mind and if I did not do it for each class, then it would be my loss and I would be where I am now. I just wish I would have had the opportunity to be working on this the last year and a half instead of over 2 weeks. I feel like I could do better with the longer fresher mind frame work time.
You are 100% correct when you talked about starting the portfolio from the beginning of the course. If could add to my portfolio along the way - I would know how I was feeling and what I learned – at that very moment. It is a hard task to accomplish a year later, especially when asked, “Describe your experience and background at the time you completed each artifact.” I may have a good memory, but there is a limit. I also do not like that many of the ANGEL sites were taken down, so we cannot access them.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your views on the standards. For my district, there seems to be a paradigm in the upper administrative ranks that the students of the district are not tested enough. This means that not only do we participate in the MAP testing, but there are multiple localized tests that we are supposed to perform and document during the year also. This and also be able to teach the curriculum at a high level. The last in-service I went to was regarding Science. We were told all about the Common Core Science standards that we were going to be using to guide out teaching. The only problem is that what the district is making plans with a pre-publication copy. This means that if anything changes between the copy the district is working with and the final draft, then many things are going to have to be changed at the last minute (once again leaving the classroom teachers scrambling).
ReplyDeleteCrystal as I was reading your blog I felt it could have been written by me. I too wrote the same thing in my blog about choosing an artifact and writing about it along the way. The say thing with not having the courses in Angel. I know I spent a lot of time just trying to recall what we did and when, and then what tool did I use for it. With that being said though it was fun to take the journey through my course work and to personally see my own growth. It's not often that we really have that opportunity.
ReplyDeleteCrystal---
ReplyDeleteI liked your post, as I too have had some uncertainty about what exact standards I need to be following. However, with the introduction of the Common Core Standards, I know that in my district, we have been told that this is the new "be all, end all." At least this way I know that it needs to be followed exclusively. I also think that working on this information a little bit at a time would have been very helpful. Even if we would have done "one assignment" per class pertaining to the portfolio, I think it would have made things go a little bit smoother now.
I too agree that creating this portfolio from day one would have been nice. I am just incredibly happy that we at least have some guidance for creating it through this class. It would be nice to still have access to some of the ANGEL classes. I recommend going through your old blog posts and google docs. I found that it was a great way to refresh my memory. It will also be beneficial to discuss at our group meeting tonight. Hopefully we can learn from each other.
ReplyDeleteAs one of those with no standards... I mean, no knowledge of teaching standards, this week's class session was enlightening. It was good to hear from the various class members about their trials and tribulations with educating to specific standards.
ReplyDeleteThe artifact mining has been interesting. I hope that we get some additional insight during our next synchronous meeting.