House Bill 1001

In the two articles "Colorado Teacher Evaluations Bill Signed Into Law by Gov. Hickenlooper" on Denverpost.com and "Hickenlooper Signs Teacher Evaluation Bill for Colorado" on EducationNew.org both describe the HouseBill1001 that was signed into law recently. The bill sets standards for teachers to help make sure that they are not only doing their job by teaching students what they need to know, but that they are qualified to do so. In fact, a very interesting side to this bill is that idea that teachers are judged on certain standards as well as their student's grades even more. As described in the Denverpost's article, "the law also now requires 50 percent of teacher evaluations to be based on student test scored" (Yesenia Robles). The standards for teachers is becoming a prominent issue in education today and I think it's for the better.

I think that this is a great idea personally. Although this bill is ensuring that it will be tougher to get a job as a teacher, it also makes sure that student's are in capable hands. Teacher's need to have all the qualities that this bill is trying to make sure that they have and their students' grades should also be taken into consideration. If a teacher can't teach their students well enough for a majority of them to succeed, then maybe the teacher's capabilities should be evaluated. A child's success in the class isn't just based on their efforts, but also on the efforts of the teacher. And for these reasons, the Bill will make a lot of great changes that will help influence how teacher's are picked and given tenure as well as make sure that teacher's are capable in doing their job.

*To learn more about the important of teacher evaluations, not only in Colorado, watch the video below. It talks about the Georgia point of view about how test scores should be used in teacher evaluations. It made me think a lot about my future and how I couldn't believe that test scores weren't a determining factor, as much as they are now, in deciding if a teacher is worthy of her position. To me, it seemed like a no-brainer that the grades of your students should matter in if you remian a teacher or not, but obviously, it wasn't as big of a deal until recently. Teachers won't get posistion/retain positions unless they are even more worthy now. GOOD IDEA government!!!!*

Video:
Test Scores Now Used in Teacher Evaluations

Tweet Tweet Twitter

Tweet Tweet

When Mr. Smith told us that we would be using a social network such as Twitter in our Secondary Education class, I had to pinch myself to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. Who could ever think that a teacher would encourage their students to use a social networking account in a classroom environment. I remember being yelled at in high school for finding a way to access Facebook during school. Now, I had been asked to make a Twitter account, follow five educators in my field as well as students in my major. This was unreal.

And even though this seemed a little far fetched, there had to be a reason behind Mr. Smith asking us to do all these things. The more I thought about it, the more I came to a better understanding of his intentions. Our world is becoming global and for teachers/potential teachers, like myself, we must use that to our advantage. By following educators in my field, a whole new world opens up for me. Not only can I learn from them, but I can also discover many new things about my major that I had never thought about before. I'm excited to learn what I can from people who are already in the field. And I will try to use this social network to the best of my ability so that I can become a more well-rounded, potential teacher in the process.

Follow me on Twitter:
ChitterChat's (My) Twitter Account

My Powerpoint Creation

Technology is becoming more and more prevalent in everyday life as well as in schools. So, when Mr. Smith told us that we would be creating a "new" way to use Powerpoint in the classroom, I was ready for the task. Like all future teachers, I know that Powerpoint is a great way to outline class notes and format lectures, but the lesson of this project was to avoid creating a lecture. Instead, our task was to find a new way to use Powerpoint to teach student's an objective.

We first used PennDot to locate the topic that we would revolve our presentation around. I chose to teach students the difference between fact and opinion, the importance of multiple perspectives, and the cause and effect relationship in the realm of history. Although it would be easy to lecture on such topics, I chose to use videos, pictures, workbook exercises, and group projects to convey my message. For my fact vs. opinion section, I used videos on youtube that the kids could relate to, in order to get my point across. Topics such as the War in Iraq and "Alex Reads Twilight" (a popular Youtube video making fun of twilight) were chosen to help the kids find interest in this subject. I then reinforced this idea by using a workbook, from one of my own classes, to give the kids examples of facts and opinions. They would be encouraged to decipher which passages from the text included fact, opinion, and even both. I also used pictures of their favorite TV shows and famous individuals to help establish the idea that people have "perspectives" and they don't always see the same things in the same way. In the history sense, this is also true. So, in a sense, these pictures helped them grasp the "big picture". For cause and effect, I embedded a video about the causes of WWII and then set up slides, that the students could fill out using a smart board, to help them understand this concept in terms of previous wars. All these tools helped my lesson become more entertaining as well as a good way to reinforce ideas.

I really enjoyed creating this Powerpoint because it allowed me to step outside of the box and decide how I would like to incorporate this technology into my own classroom. It gave me the freedom to create my own lesson to satisfy many different learning styles. And it also helped me become more familiar with the software; I discovered ways to use Powerpoint that I had never thought of before.

Continuity and Change - THE POWERPOINT

Something Old and Something New...

The world is changing; that much is plain to see. To be more specific, according to the textbook Personal Learning Networks by Will Richardson and Rob Mancabelli, the world is changing due to the web and mobile technologies of the day (Richardson and Mancabelli, 16). David Wiley, an education professor at Brigham Young University, “who is a leading thinker on the opening up of education and learning in the connected world, cites six significant shifts that are supporting connection and network building: analog to digital; tethered to mobile; isolated to connected; generic to personal; consumption to creation; and closed systems to open systems” (16). All of these shifts that David Wiley lists are centered around the fact that the world is becoming more paperless and revolving around technology. And in this case, these shifts are based on how individuals are or can be using these technologies in the classroom as a learning tool. To sum it up, Wiley proves that the world is becoming more digital, mobile, globally connected, curious, creative, and able to distribute more materials openly (16-18). And due to my Education 183 class, I’m witnessing these changes first hand.

Even though technology is a wonderful thing, sometimes I believe that we rely on it too much to get what we want accomplished. When Wiley described in his “from analog to digital” point, how paper isn’t used as much as a medium for transferring information, I began to ask myself why. Why is digital information so much more valued than paper information these days? Personally, I would rather read a hardcover book than a digital book on a Kindle. It’s due to the fact that I can highlight, hold it in my hands, and not have to look at a tiny screen, that makes me value paper in this instance over digital mediums. Although I agree with the fact that technology is wonderful in so many ways, sometimes I favor the old ways over the new. In the case of paper books over their digital counterparts, for instance, I would choose the heavier option of a book any day. Maybe I’m just stuck in my ways, but I love to read books and have them right in my hands because of my learning style. As I learned on EducationPlanner.org, using their online quiz, I’m a visual learner, but I also consider myself to be a tactile learner as well. In other words, I need to see something and manipulate it/put it into practice, to retain information. Although you can do this easily on apps that I’ve explored on the iPad, iPod, and many other products, for my learning style I need to not only visually see it, but be able to manipulate things for the knowledge to stick. So, the fact that I am able to actually have the book physically in my hands and do what I want with it, just helps me retain the information even more. This may not be the case for all students, but when I was reading this shift in particular, I couldn’t help but critique Wiley’s points about a paperless to digital society, especially when he mentioned the Kindle and our soon-to-be “bookless” society (16). In fact, it made me think that I may not be the only one who has a problem with becoming a totally digital vs. analogue society.

Technology is a great learning tool. Although my preference for books versus a Kindle might seem to say that I’m against digital information, that is not entirely true. I do think that there are ways in which teacher’s can manipulate technology to their advantage and the advantage of their students. Power point slides, movie projects, the internet and so many more different types of technology can be used to help reinforce ideas in the classroom. Not only have I witnessed this first hand in many of the classes I have been in, but this book has showed me that as well. For example, the internet, as Wiley explained in one of his six shifts, has become a great tool for bringing people together on a global level (17). Not only can you find a lot of valuable information about things that you are interested in, but you can also connect with those people through the internet using blogs, social networks, and many other resources. The internet is becoming a very valuable tool and even though I might prefer to read a book, I do believe that using the internet to research specific topics is a much easier way to find what you need. And in doing so, the internet can lead you to a paper copy of the book that you might have found an excerpt from online. All of these new and improving technologies are valuable resources in everyday life today; you just need to know how to use them to your advantage and not rely on them all the time just because they are easier to use. You can use the old and new resources to help reinforce learning; you can use them interchangeably.