Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Blog #5 UDLs, Assessment, and How to Be Inclusive
Discuss the value of formative and summative assessment in a diverse learner's classroom. Both have a place in education, and when dealing with the needs of all learners, it is very important to know the difference and be able to implement both in your curriculum. Discuss how you plan to have an inclusive classroom with kids who are impoverished, apathetic, on IEPs for various needs, ADHD/ADD, etc. How does all of this fit into the Universal Design for Learning? Be sure to address as much of this as possible! Blog by Friday, if possible, and respond to your compass group members by class on Monday, Oct. 6th.
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Formative assessment is important in a diverse learner's classroom because it allows students to use different ways to express their knowledge of a subject without having to take the standard test. Not everyone is good at taking tests so it is unfair to only use a summative assessment to measure your students' knowledge of a subject. However, some students are great at taking tests and that is how they will be able to show you what they know. If you only use formative assessments like class discussion, warm-ups, or creative projects then students who struggle with those activities may have a hard time expressing how much the truly know. Using both types of assessment is the best way to know if all students are understanding the material. Give students some choice in how to show you what they know but it is also helpful to give a summative assessment that makes your students critically think and apply what the have learned in way that is not just memorizing answers to a study guided. Having an inclusive classroom makes it easier for students to learn. I will help kids who are impoverished connect to the lessons by helping them relate to characters, people, and themes. Always reassuring my students that they can succeed will give them more motivation so that they do not think because they are impoverished they are not supposed to have opportunities. I will help them experience new things and places by discussing them in class and letting students explore new things on devices. Apathetic students need to be motivated and you can do that by finding out their interests and asking what it is they want to learn about. Try to get an idea of what will get them to work and learn and try to implement that into lessons. For students on IEPs you could set them up with partners for reading or math and encourage discussion to get them to think more critically. Reading aloud and repeating can help students who struggle with learning. For ADHD/ADD students just allowing them to move around the room and have hands-on activities will help them stay focused. Let students go to the board and write, work in groups, sit in a circle for discussion, or use devices to learn. Teaching in ways that include all different types of learners. struggling learners, and unmotivated learners will make your students excited to learn and will benefit them most effectively. Letting students have a choice in what they do or how they learn will make them more open to learning and they will get a quality experience from the lessons you teach.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your idea to have impoverished children relate to a character because it makes it more personable. I completely agree that allowing students to have an option in what and how they learn, will in turn make for a more effective classroom.
DeleteI do agree with your opinion of formative assessment in how it really helps one group of kids but hinders another and that to help both of them you should make it it somewhat of a summative assessment that way they may actually learn the subject.
DeleteHaving formative assessments in the classroom are important because they show the teacher what the students know and what they may need to reteach. It also gives the students a chance to correct their mistakes and work on what an area that they may be lacking in. Using summative assessments in the classroom are important because they help the teacher to see how much the students knows or overall knowledge and whether or not they understand the material that was taught. When it comes to having an inclusive classroom i will make sure that i meet the needs of students who are impoverished by first making sure they have the basic needs, like food or clothes, and then i can reach them and be able to teach them. Next, for the apathetic kids, i will make sure they are challenged academically and let them work ahead if they would like. Then, making sure the classroom is inclusive for those with ADHD or ADD i can do class activities that require students to get up and move around the room for different activities. For students with an IEP for various needs is to first see what the IEP is and then if i have to, work with that student individually, meet with them after school or assign them a buddy study student to help with assignments. All of this fits into UDL because it is all about making accommodations for the students and whatever needs that have to be met and helping with the way they learn so that they can succeed in school and the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what you said about formative assessments. I also like how you plan to address the needs of students who may be impoverished, apathetic, or that have ADD/ADHD.
DeleteI always think having multiple snack times is important :) this could help to make sure that you wouldn't be "singling" out any child who is impoverished by the basic needs.
DeleteFormative assessments in the classroom allow the teacher to better understand what her students may know about a subject before teaching it, and then the teacher will know what things need to be discussed during the lesson and what things can be lightly skimmed over. Summative assessment allows the teacher to see how he or she is teaching and what knowledge the students are retaining after each lesson. Some students may not excel at regular test taking, so it is important for the teacher to incorporate multiple ways of testing their knowledge for different types of learners, and also to be sure to give them choice when at all possible. I plan to have an inclusive classroom by incorporating these multiple ways of teaching and giving assessments. For children who are impoverished, I plan to make sure that they are just as included in the classroom activities as everyone else, and that they do not feel left out. Apathetic children will have to be challenged, so that they actually do their work and want to succeed. For the students who have ADD/ADHD I will make sure the class always has something to do so that their minds will wander a little less. We will have multiple activities that allow us to get up and move and talk to one another so we can get their minds going on the right track. This all fits in the universal design for learning because it is addressing the different ways of learning for those students who need it. As a teacher, you have to make accommodations for your students in order to make sure they are on the right track of learning and are not off task all the time. Teachers need to make sure that all of their students are succeeding, no matter what it takes to get them there.
ReplyDeleteI like that you decided to challenge Apathetic children, I think it's an interesting why to make them "care" because hopefully they see the challenge as you caring for them. For impoverished children maybe put them into groups but don't split the groups up like "if you have nike shoes go over here"
DeleteI think it is somewhat difficult for teachers to help students be better test takers and I think it is crucial that we teach different learning strategies for the students. I like how you suggest that for students with ADD or ADHD you would give them multiple activities to do rather than just one.
ReplyDeleteFormative assessments are a good way to show teachers and even parents what their child knows about the unit they are in or have just finished. Summative assessments can show the students understanding and possible application of the information by doing some kind of project.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at kids who are impoverished we can't look at just money, but there are other things as well. Perhaps I could show all of my students what poverty means and that it's possible that we are all impoverished in some way. ADD/ADHD kids I would try to keep moving as much as possible and I would have some interactive things in my classroom as well, but I think it's important for all kids to be moving just for health reasons. Apathetic kids I would try to do something in which they can make a personal connection with so they can "care" about something, and hopefully it would show them that I am making an attempt to get to know them as well. Kids with math IEPs I would try to find ways in which the numbers, problems, equations can be represented whether its writing them all out of orally telling them the equation. Finding ways to accommodate all of your students and teaching to different learning styles in Universal Learning because not only does it help us as teachers but other students can see that people learn different ways and figuring out which way is best for them.
I think it is important for teachers to not just look at how much money a student may not have and consider them impoverished, but instead consider the student as a whole and whether or not they have what they need intellectually rather than physically. Also, i think it is a good idea that as teachers we should have some kind of personal connection with our students so they can want to learn.
ReplyDeleteI really love how you plan to incorporate the entire classroom with poverty to prove that all of your students most likely have something in common. I also agree with having children with an IEP find different ways to express their learning such as orally or writing them down.
ReplyDeleteFormative and summative assessment are both important in education and I plan to use both but, my focus will be on formative because they have more potential value than the summative assignments. If I don't let them correct their mistakes they will still think that they are right. An example of this that I want to do is after a test they will go back and correct it explain why the correct answer was correct. This will be away to get some points back.
ReplyDeleteWhen I have a class with kids that need extra instruction because they have an exceptional ability that requires more of a focus on them I will have more formative assessments. The reason I will do this is because they will need it but it will also help the kids who are considered '"normal" because they will be exposed to more information which will let the them gain more knowledge. To deal specifically with kids with ADHD/ADD and apathetic kids I will make my lessons more involved so I can get the apathetic kids involved and to keep the ADHD/ADD kids engaged. I believe this will help me as a teacher because it will my classroom more interesting than if I left them out. To help the impoverished I will try and make sure that their basic needs are met. I will also make sure that their parents are able to keep up with their children's progress. By doing this for those kids I must do it for the others to give all kids the same advantage. These all fill UDL because they are designed for one type of people but it is used to help all of my students.