CED 0550 Week 1

We've used Elluminate a couple of times in the program, but there are so many tools we hadn't explored yet. Just for fun I signed up for a "Three for Free" account. It'll be fun to place around with it.

As I have mentioned in a class post, I can't believe that more teachers don't take advantage of Elluminate and LMS. I seems like a great way to engage students in a different way.

I think it will be nice to just concentrate on learning a couple of tools during this class. In so many of our classes we look at so many tools that we don't have a lot of time to investigate them thoroughly.

CED0540 Week 5

Through this class I've had an opportunity to explore how data is gathered and reported on. However since I handle the data for a my school district I also know that the data is only as good as those who input the data. Garbage in - garbage out. It's really important to gather data from sources that are reliable. Even then there can be inconsistencies. We in education have only started to maintain large amounts of reporting data since the advent of NCLB. Many states and districts are still working out the kinks.

I've found a couple of good data sources for classroom use. I would like to know more about how data is used in classrooms to inform instruction. There is a lot of information contained in teacher's grade books and other records. Teachers should be encouraged to explore this information and use it to enhance student learning.

Ced0540 Week 4

I was fancinated by Bill Tancer. It's amazing how much data can be collected online.

I want to explore more about how I can use data in my future classroom. We are currently reading Courageous Conversations About Race in our district. As part of the work, our district has pulled a lot of information on our students of color. Are they performing the way we think they are? How this data inform our efforts to close the achievement gap? This work will be a process.

CED0540 Week 3

I've been considering how to use surveys in my future classroom. I've been reading a book called Science Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning by Page Keeley. I just read of a formative assessment strategy that Keeley calls Student Evaluation of Learning Gains. The strategy includes statements that the student reacts to using a 3 to 5 point scale in the areas of student interest, content knowledge, and skills. The purpose of the strategy is to gather data for the teacher to use to gain feedback on student perceptions of a given unit.

It strikes me that knowledge of how to design a survey would come in useful when using the assessment strategy. If the survey is designed correctly, the teacher should be able to walk away with a good sense of how students feel about a unit and then be able to determine next steps.

CED0540 Week 2

Well I finally figured out what I did incorrectly with my work last week and now I feel like I've got a better handle on things. While we're not being required to calculate the skew for our assignments, my father loaned me a stats good and I think I'll try to figure out the skew as well. I tend to be a problem solver and I want to extend my learning in this area.

I think once I have a better understanding of stats I'll be able to appreciate any information containing statistics in a better way. That's also why I like science. Once you have a basic understanding, the world makes a whole lot more sense.

CED0540 Week 1

OK I'm gonna come right out with it - I think I could really dig statistics. I last had statistics by Sophomore year of college. I allowed myself to be overwhelmed by it. Now I'm at a point when I can appreciate it.

I started working on calculating standard deviations by hand. I then went to the computer to check my work using a standard deviation function in Excel. I'm not coming up with the same answer. Hmmmm. I think I'm not using the function correctly (at least I hope that's the case!) I'll spend tonight going back over it and figure out where I went wrong.

I've had occasion in past courses to review some meta-analysis data. After getting a better background in statistics, I'll feel much more comfortable in appreciating educational studies.

Science Learning Profile

I've begun work on learning how to use technology in differentiation. The learning profile below is based upon the work of Gayle H. Gregory and Elizabeth Hammerman in their book Differentiated Instructional Strategies for Science: Grades K-8.