Students are evaluated and assessed in a variety of ways all throughout their educational life. Most of these assessments are evaluating a student's performance at that point in time. Having students create a body of work allows both the teacher and the student to see the progression of their skills. It is just as important for the student to see how they have improved. This affords them the opportunity to see their journey not just the end result.
There are other advantages to requiring students to create Portfolios by which to assess their abilities. For one it allows students to showcase their work. It forces students to keep a collection in one transportable place. It also helps a student stay organized and hopefully mindful of a bigger picture. Knowing each piece of work is part of a larger body that will be evaluated may create a more diligent effort.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Presentation Critique
Presentation Critique
It is a bit disconcerting watching yourself on video. Most people have an image of themselves. They have an idea in their mind of how they look and sound. Even though we use mirrors when we get ready or to check ourselves during the day, we still hold on to this mental image. Mirrors and photographs only show a snapshot in time. A video obviously provides a running depiction. It enables you to view yourself through the lens of how others see and hear you. It allows you to see your facial expressions, body language and gestures. You also hear your own voice, your tone, inflections and your pace. The purpose of this paper is to critique my video taped lesson plan.
The day I presented the lesson I felt incredibly please with my presentation. I am extremely comfortable presenting anything in front of anyone. I felt it was an effective, interesting lesson. Then I viewed the video. There were certain aspects of my presentation that immediately jumped out at me. First, my voice was shockingly irritating. While I thought the pace of my speaking was appropriate, my tone was boarder line infantile. The lesson was designed for children with the intellectual development of a kindergartner. I made an effort to use colorful, encouraging language, but I was hoping it would sound more instructional rather than maternal. In other words, I wanted to come across as a teacher of kindergartners rather than a mother playing a game with her 5 year-old. There were parts of the presentation that my voice cracked or seemed to go 3 octaves higher than my regular speaking voice. It was very nice to be able to edit those parts out.
Next, I was surprised at how much I turned to look at the SmartBoard. Children with special needs require more eye contact, more engaging body language. I felt I was a bit too tied to the technology being used. Part of that was the nature of the assignment. In reality I would not present this material in such a communal way. I would present it in a much more intimate manner. However, if I did have a group or a lesson that lent itself to such an instructional tool, I would practice the lesson with the technology to ensure more a more fluent presentation. I fumbled with the technology in about three different places during the lesson.
There were things I liked and thought were done well. As I stated above, the pace of the lesson was good. Most of the lesson was fluent and smooth. I knew the content. I presented it in a clear, organized, fluent manner. I like the materials (i.e. the three worksheets) I used to present the lesson. I thought they were colorful, developmentally appropriate, and engaging.
If I could do the lesson again, I would watch my tone and be mindful of the “dumbing down” effect. I don’t know if you can really change the sound of your own voice. It is something that most people never get used to, hearing their own voice on tape. Hopefully simply being aware of my voice going up to almost a shrill at points will help keep that aspect in check. I would definitely practice the lesson with the SmartBoard. I needed to be more familiar with how to use the technology to ensure a more fluid, smooth flow.
It is a bit disconcerting watching yourself on video. Most people have an image of themselves. They have an idea in their mind of how they look and sound. Even though we use mirrors when we get ready or to check ourselves during the day, we still hold on to this mental image. Mirrors and photographs only show a snapshot in time. A video obviously provides a running depiction. It enables you to view yourself through the lens of how others see and hear you. It allows you to see your facial expressions, body language and gestures. You also hear your own voice, your tone, inflections and your pace. The purpose of this paper is to critique my video taped lesson plan.
The day I presented the lesson I felt incredibly please with my presentation. I am extremely comfortable presenting anything in front of anyone. I felt it was an effective, interesting lesson. Then I viewed the video. There were certain aspects of my presentation that immediately jumped out at me. First, my voice was shockingly irritating. While I thought the pace of my speaking was appropriate, my tone was boarder line infantile. The lesson was designed for children with the intellectual development of a kindergartner. I made an effort to use colorful, encouraging language, but I was hoping it would sound more instructional rather than maternal. In other words, I wanted to come across as a teacher of kindergartners rather than a mother playing a game with her 5 year-old. There were parts of the presentation that my voice cracked or seemed to go 3 octaves higher than my regular speaking voice. It was very nice to be able to edit those parts out.
Next, I was surprised at how much I turned to look at the SmartBoard. Children with special needs require more eye contact, more engaging body language. I felt I was a bit too tied to the technology being used. Part of that was the nature of the assignment. In reality I would not present this material in such a communal way. I would present it in a much more intimate manner. However, if I did have a group or a lesson that lent itself to such an instructional tool, I would practice the lesson with the technology to ensure more a more fluent presentation. I fumbled with the technology in about three different places during the lesson.
There were things I liked and thought were done well. As I stated above, the pace of the lesson was good. Most of the lesson was fluent and smooth. I knew the content. I presented it in a clear, organized, fluent manner. I like the materials (i.e. the three worksheets) I used to present the lesson. I thought they were colorful, developmentally appropriate, and engaging.
If I could do the lesson again, I would watch my tone and be mindful of the “dumbing down” effect. I don’t know if you can really change the sound of your own voice. It is something that most people never get used to, hearing their own voice on tape. Hopefully simply being aware of my voice going up to almost a shrill at points will help keep that aspect in check. I would definitely practice the lesson with the SmartBoard. I needed to be more familiar with how to use the technology to ensure a more fluid, smooth flow.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Self-Critique
Wow! The initial viewing of my video was as frightening as viewing my bankstatements. Hearing my own voice and seeing myself as others see me was very unsettling. I would love to blame the camera or the camera angle as adding weight. But clearly a new diet plan is in order. Once I got over the shock of how I looked and sounded, I was able to view the video with a constructively critical eye. Self-reflection and self-evaluation are valuable endeavors. There is always room to improve and learn about yourself. I would not want to critique myself all the time, but it definitely promotes the idea of personal growth. I guess you could call it growing pains. There were things I liked and the things I did not like I edited out. In reality we do not get to edit out what did not work. Critiquing the presentation in its entirety forced me to recognize areas that could be improved. Many times in a classroom setting you have one shot to present the information. The teachers who have taken a critical view of their presentation skills (and worked on weak areas) are in a better position to communicate more fluently and effectively.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Video editing
Video editing is a great way to take video and cut it down to how you want your lesson plan to appear. It allows you to take the best of what you have done and highlight it. We all make mistakes or have parts of a lesson we want to "do over" or "take something out". With editing you actually can. I'm very excited to learn how to edit. Again, this is something new and outside my comfort zone. It is a skill though in this age of technology I really need to have.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Lesson Planning and Technology
There are several wonderful technologies I used to put together a lesson plan on the 5 senses. First, I used a computer program called Writing with Symbols to create two worksheets for children with low reading skills. You type the text and it produces the words with picture symbols above the words. This is a standard program used in special education classrooms.
I also used a scanner to download the worksheets onto my Mac and then to a jump drive. I searched online and found great pictures of an ear, a nose, a hand, a tongue, and eyes and pasted all of them on one sheet to use as a visual for the lesson.
After I created 2 worksheets and the visual images, I put them on a jump drive. I took the jump drive to an elementary school teacher and he helped me save it on SmartBoard Notebook. He helped me format/save each one so I could use the SmartBoard pins easily. Apparently if they are not formatted/saved in this way the pins don't always cooperate. Who knew??
I am very excited to use the SmartBoard to present the lesson plan. The list of technologies used for this lesson plan are as follows: Writing with Symbols computer program, google image, a scanner, a jump drive, and a SmartBoard. It is nice to have access to all these technological tools. However, I would be remiss to not acknowledge the human factor that helped all this come together. I want to thank Mr. Gates, the third grade teacher at Meadowview Elementary, who spent his plan period helping me prepare the documents for the SmartBoard. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I also used a scanner to download the worksheets onto my Mac and then to a jump drive. I searched online and found great pictures of an ear, a nose, a hand, a tongue, and eyes and pasted all of them on one sheet to use as a visual for the lesson.
After I created 2 worksheets and the visual images, I put them on a jump drive. I took the jump drive to an elementary school teacher and he helped me save it on SmartBoard Notebook. He helped me format/save each one so I could use the SmartBoard pins easily. Apparently if they are not formatted/saved in this way the pins don't always cooperate. Who knew??
I am very excited to use the SmartBoard to present the lesson plan. The list of technologies used for this lesson plan are as follows: Writing with Symbols computer program, google image, a scanner, a jump drive, and a SmartBoard. It is nice to have access to all these technological tools. However, I would be remiss to not acknowledge the human factor that helped all this come together. I want to thank Mr. Gates, the third grade teacher at Meadowview Elementary, who spent his plan period helping me prepare the documents for the SmartBoard. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
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