Question To Consider 3

One of the most important things in teaching is having students who are motivated. If your students are unmotivated, it makes your job 20 hundred times harder. While extrinsic motivation seems the easy route in the moment to get the students to do what you desire of them, intrinsic motivation is what will last through the year and make them the best students that they can be. Intrinsic motivation is so much harder to instill in a child though. While you can try many different theories to help motivate, at some point the motivation is going to have to come from inside of them.

One of the theories that excites me is the expectancy theory. This is the idea that if from the beginning you believe that you can accomplish the task then you will be more likely to give it a try. I don't know about you but the idea of not doing something well doesn't really give me too much desire to complete the task. Urban youth have been told by the world that they will not succeed and that the extent of their education will just end up at McDonalds. I want to make sure that my students can succeed in college, that they are smart enough to be teachers, doctors, and accountants. They have the possibility to change the world. They may motivate a few of them to get through ninth grade algebra!

Hand in hand with this is the goal theory! I hope to understand my students and their goals for life. I can use that to encourage them to keep working hard to achieve whatever that may be. They may only care about sports so use that to encourage them to finish their english paper so that they can even get into college! Do whatever it takes using what you know about your kids to help them learn!

QTC #2

Informal Assessment vs. Formal Assessment:

 

Informal asssessments are very often just based on classroom observation. When the students get involved in something that they are enjoying they won't even notice that you are gauging their abilities. Playing games like Jeopardy or creating your own individual fun games can really give you a sense of where your students are at. Formal assessments are the tests that sometimes have to be administered but no one likes to take. Be very clear as to what the test is going to be on but don't just give a study guide that can be memorized and regurgitated. I will give a study guide but it will be on concepts that they should know and not very fine-tuned ideas.

 

Paper-Pencil Assessment vs. Performance Assessment:

 

I would make use of paper pencil assessments when I need to know quick things and want to hear from everybody. After reading our story for the week, have every one pull out a piece of paper and write down what they comprehended from the story. You could even ask a couple of questions. Performance assessment would just be asking questions aloud that the students could respond with the answers out loud. It sometimes give you less of an idea of the comprehension because you can't ask every single student.

 

Standardized Test vs. Teacher Developed Assessment:

 

Standardized tests for elementary students in Tennessee are tests that include the TCAPS. Using the information gathered in these tests, it is very useful in gauging how well you have done as a teacher. It is not good for administering any grades that matter but maybe in viewing trends in your classes result and knowing concepts you can work on (while not teaching to the test... that is a no no!) Teacher-developed assessments are going to be pretty much everything you adminster from informal to formal assessments. They include written test, oral reports, and portfolios. As a teacher I hope to administer most of these during the year so all students who may struggle at one assessment but excel at another have an equal chance of excelling in class.

 

Criterion-referenced assessment vs. Norm-referenced assessment:

 

Criterion-referenced in my class might include multiple choice tests over the solar system. There are only one right answer for each question, you must know your material, and the percentage of what you get right is how you come out on your final grade. Norm-reference might examine reading comprehension which is a little harder to grade on a percentage level and see how their knowledge compared to their classmates. 

Traditional Assessment vs. Authentic Assessment

Traditional assessment may be the least fun way to test students but sometimes the only way to truly know every students abilities in a subject. Pop quizzes, planned unit tests, or even fact table quizzes is the traditional way to gauge students ability. Authentic assessment is when one looks at the knowledge the student should have acquired and respond with something that can be fun and engaging and natural step in learning. If a student is learning in science about different types of ecosystems, have them make a diorama that incorporates all the characteristics of that ecosystem to test their understanding.