11-25-08 Science Fair

Our class met in Elk Point today to judge a science fair competition for middle school students. It was a very unique experience and I feel that some of the students put forth extremely impressive effort and time to make their projects. On the other hand, for every outstanding project their was a project that lacked motivation and time, which made our job as judges very difficult. We wanted to remain as positive as we possibly could with our feedback, however some of them were extremely difficult to judge in that way. Overall, it was an awesome experience that will prepare us for what we will likely see as future teachers.

11-20-08 Final Presentations

Today we had a work day to begin working on our final presentations of a lesson plan. Every group in our class got a grade level and was to link their lesson to the previous grade and topic in some way. Our group had eighth grade density, so the only group we had to match up with was 7th grade volume. Since you cannot discuss density without bringing up volume our work very logical. It was useful for us to link to previous lessons because we will have to do this everyday within our own classrooms.

11-18-08 Seamless Assessment

For class today we were to have completed a quiz over the first few chapters of the seamless assessment textbook. The five E model was a key portion of the reading and how it is used within a classroom to create a better learning environment for students. Each lesson that was identified in the chapter involved each of the five steps and provided excellent examples of how to use the five E model effectively.

11-13-08 Performance based...

We again took a look into the importance of performance based assessments and students active participation in assessment. We also worked on group lesson plans that integrated a children's book as a supplemental resource. It provided us with a challenge, however it a great way to approach multiple subject areas in the same time slot.

11-11-08 Five E Model

The five E model includes Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. These five elements should be included in every assessment that a teacher distributes or participates in. The first two elements are the most important for the students in my opinion, as students will have a hard time remembering and learning information if they are not engaged in an activity. For a student to be truly engaged I feel they must explore a concept themselves and consruct their own knowledge and material.

11-6-08 Performance Based Assessment

Today in class we began talking about performance based assessments and how they can be used in the classroom to supplement student learning. Performance based assessments can be exremely useful in science classrooms because they allow students to demonstrate their knowledge with being tested in the form of objective items such as multiple choice or completion questions, but rather completing meaningful tasks that reinforce learning.

11-4-08

Today we reflected on the midterm presentations and what was good about the experience, as well as what could have been improved on. I learned alot through the presentation process, including the variety of different ways to make learning science fun and engaging.

10-30-08 Midterm presentations continued...

We continued through our midterm projects today, more specifically, a group made a presentation about tornadoes. They used a couple plastic bottles half filled with water and taped them together at their lids. When the bottles were inverted and swirled, a funnel formed in the water, which is very similar to a tornado. This experiment was alot of fun for everyone and age appropriate to a variety of students.