Krashen--Free voluntary reading

Jennifer Brickey ET—Educational Theory CO--Overcoming Barriers Krashen, S. (2013) Free voluntary reading. University of California, Los Angeles, CA. Long-time supporter, first-time attendee: Krashen inspired me to start a reading campaign at Oxnard High School (OHS). Several years ago before I began my career as a teacher, OHS enlisted Silent Sustained Reading (SSR). The year the school participated in the SSR program, the school experienced a drastic increase in test scores. This anecdote supports Krashen’s stance of the impact reading for pleasure—that exposing students, especially those learning a new language, helps to build vocabulary, increase language acquisition, and improves test scores. As Krashen put it, getting the students to read the easy stuff makes accessing more difficult texts a less arduous task since the student has an established relationship with reading. When I think about all the English Language Learners that will have to take the CCSS standardized tests, Krashen's view exposes the desperate need to provide access to materials to those ELLs and those living in poverty in order to assist them with demands of the new standards. In the end, it would seem that the most cost effective and useful way of improving test scores and preparing students for the transition to the CCSS would be to make reading for pleasure a ritual. Although I heard his lecture at Camarillo Public Library, this YouTube video helps one understand Krashen’s theory on second language acquisition.  Link to Stephen Krashen's site: http://www.sdkrashen.com

API will soon lose its clout as shorthand for defining school success

Jennifer Brickey

CA—Curriculum and Assessment

Fensterwald, J. (2013). API will soon lost its clout as shorthand for defining school

success.

Retrieved from

http://edsource.org/today/2013/api-will-soon-lose-its-clout-as-shorthand-for-defining-school-success/40620#.UpuWUqWx18s

Fensterwald explains how for more than a decade the Academic Performance Index (API) has served as the primary measurement that determines a school’s success. This measurement, which is based solely on standardized test scores, has been a major determinate for parents to judge whether or not a school is best for their children. For schools, API drives curriculum and, consequently, the money that often supports the various programs in place. However, with the transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) API’s usefulness and appropriateness has come into question. “As a result, for the first time since API was created in 1999, the State Board is likely to vote to suspend it next year” (Fensterwald, 2013). Discussion has also swirled around suspending API for even longer depending on the CCSS implementation.

Although this piece was helpful in gaining an understanding for what will happen regarding API, I found that it raised more questions than provided answers. The document addresses other means of measurement such as graduation rate. Yet, there is an overall assumption policymakers profess---that everything a student learns can be measured. States like New York have begun institutionalizing the new Smarter Balance assessments and with it have experienced a backlash from educators and parents, which

suggests we need to reevaluate just how we measure students’ success.

Do tests predict success?

Jennifer Brickey

CA—Curriculum and Assessment

ET—Educational Theory

Duckworth, A. (2011, November 28). Do tests predict success? [Video file].

Retrieved from

            http://tweentribune.com/teen/do-test-scores-predict-success

Duckworth, a former math teacher and current psychologist, presents her theory on what predicts a student’s success on tests. She begins by sharing what she noticed as a classroom teacher—that the students with highest IQs are not the ones that always get the best scores on tests. Thinking about this and using this observation, Duckworth tells how she enrolled in a graduate program to study psychology in the hope of gathering data to elucidate her classroom experience. What she came to learn in is that grit, not intelligence, accounts for students’ academic success. Duckworth proposes that parents and teachers work to help students recognize that failing is not a permanent state. By providing students with opportunities to learn from their mistakes and develop a work ethic—grit—then students will be more successful not just on tests, but beyond school as well. More information on grit can be found following the link to the following PDF—“Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance: Critical Factors ofSuccess in the 21st Century.”

This video and PDF source helps teacher librarians consider how they help to facilitate long-term learning and success.

The Common Core, Aligned Assessments, and the 21st-Cantury Classrooms

Besich, Lauren

Riley, C. (2013). The Common Core, aligned assessments and the 21st-century classroom: Lessons learned from educators. Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers, 88(8), 24-28.  Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=91754658&site=ehost-live

CA- Common Core Assessments

Summary: Callie Riley’s article about Common Core and its aligned assessments (PARCC and SBAC) give students practical opportunities to apply knowledge.  The tests differ from existing ones in that they do not measure students’ abilities to recall information, but on how they work through a problem and show their answer. 
She encourages teachers to create practical experiences for their students, to use open access resources for the assessments to give them directions, and to collaborate with teachers near and far through websites like Creative Commons to share their own, or use Common Core aligned lessons created by other teachers.  If teachers apply these suggestions, teachers will find that Common Core reflects what we want to see happen in the classroom in the 21^st century. 

Evaluation: I appreciated Riley’s perspective in this article, as she views Common Core as an opportunity to improve teaching and learning inside classrooms.  Sadly, I quit teaching a year and a half ago when my son was born, so I was only exposed to CCSS a little bit.  In my exploration of them in my SLIS studies, I feel that there are fewer standards, and the language (compared to the language used in the Arizona State Standards) is easier for me to understand.  I like what Riley says about the new assessments focusing not on memory recall, but on problem solving skills, which I believe my student lacked in the past (and likely due to my superficial teaching).   Problem solving skills are the skills we use at work, at home, and in our relationships, so it is natural that those are the skills curriculum standards should strive to build.  I’m looking forward to the day our schools are no longer compartmentalized, but blended learning environments that more closely mirror our lives in society. 

SAMR Exemplified

Besich, Lauren

Oxnevad, S. (2013, July 4). “Using SAMR to teach above the line.” Getting Smart. Retrieved from http://gettingsmart.com/2013/07/using-samr-to-teach-above-the-line/

ET

Summary

In this article, Susan Oxnevard explains why teaching above the line in the SAMR model is important.  Typically when teachers begin technology integration they use it at the substitute or augmentation level. For example, the students would type their essay instead of writing it, or students would look for definitions in an online dictionary instead of the physical one sitting on the bookshelf.  Those substitution tasks don’t really boost learning.  The real benefit to technology integration is when it is used to complete tasks that were impossible before (modification and redefinition). 

Oxnevard said that teachers need to find digital tools that are appropriate for the task, and provides an example toolkit she assembled to encourage student-driven learning experiences around research, writing and the Common Core. 

One particularly helpful portion of the article was Oxnevard’s lesson sample of each SAMR level.  This helps teachers visualize and understand the differences between the different levels.

Evaluation

I’m so glad I read this article, because I now have a better grasp of the SAMR model.  The examples Oxnevard provided were most beneficial, as they provide me a framework to reference in the future.  The big push in the article is to teach above the line at the modification and redefinition levels, which will only be possible if the teacher makes time to discover and explore the ever-increasing pool of Web 2.0 tools.  Oxnevard even utilizes ThingLinks in her example toolkit demonstrating one of the many ways they can be implemented into the classroom.  Check out this article!

Raising the Bar; Education

Besich, Lauren

Raising the bar; education. (2013, Jun 15). The Economist, 407, 30. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/docview/1368124428?accountid=10361 

ET

Summary

This article published in The Economist explains in basic terms the relationship between federal and state governments in relation to state standards.  Until the recent adoption of the Common Core State Standards, each state set their own standards that determined student proficiency of Math and English skills, however, if states failed to produced students who didn’t measure up to national standards, they were punished.  In efforts to bridge this gap, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers have pushed to implement Common Core State Standards in Math and English.  So far, 45 states have agreed to adopt these “more rigorous” standards, which will ideally streamline the education of students in those states.  The article covers some complaints from both ends of the political spectrum, but the main question still stands:  Will tougher standards produce smarter students?

Evaluation

This article helped me to better understand the reasoning behind the push for Common Core Standards.  The National Centre for Educational statistics (NCES), which is a federal body, saw a discrepancy between what states deem “proficient,” and what states deem “proficient.”  Obviously that is a problem, so the government wants to fix the problem.  As with any government-led initiative to solve a problem, there are critics.  I believe we will only see how well Common Core works after an entire generation of students passes through the education system with these new standards, which is quite a while down the road. 

Online Collaboration Tools

Julia Chambers

Good, R. (2012). Best Online Collaboration Tools. Retrieved from http://www.mindmeister.com/12213323/best-online-collaboration-tools-2013-robin-good-s-collaborative-map

I came across this website and thought it was a good example of online curation, mapping technology, as well as a great resource for finding online tools: http://www.mindmeister.com/12213323/best-online-collaboration-tools-2013-robin-good-s-collaborative-map

The author, Robin Good, is a new media publisher based in Rome. He manages the site, but it looks like anyone can send online tools his way for consideration.