Practice What You Teach

Wednesday night we had an opportunity to participate in an excellent example of technology being used to present content, but also to assess the learning after the content had been covered. The best way to use technology in this way is project – based assessments that give the students an opportunity to learn throughout the project and then the project is used as the final assessment as well. The best example I can think of in this regard is the horny-toad lesson that we learned about a few weeks ago in class. This is the perfect project based assessment! The teacher was able to teach the student the content in various ways (direct instruction, group work, outside experts, etc.) and then use the authentic technology and resources to help the students implement knowledge. After such extensive work towards this project, it would not be necessary to test the students with a bubble sheet, or a fill in the blank test, because at this point the students have reached deep understanding – and the evidence is clear based on the project.

Yet the question must be addressed, how do we still prepare students for those standardized tests that will need to be taken? The answer?  Balance. The students need to be given opportunities to learn how to take a test, because unfortunately that is the reality of the American education system. This concept became clear to me when Archer asked Dr. Cox if she followed this same pattern with her own students. I reflected on my time as an undergrad student in Dr. Cox’s Ed Psych class. I remember vividly the time I had to go to the testing center and take a test about psychology theorists. I remember Dr. Cox’s rationale was that we needed to have the experience of the testing center. I remember this clearly because I’m pretty sure I didn’t completely agree with her logic (Sorry, Dr. Cox!). I have since come to a see what she was really trying to tell us. In essence, we were being prepared for the Praxis test. There would be a time (when we were to take the Praxis) that we would not be given the option to create a Prezi, or do a research project on Piaget, but we would need to know how to face a standardized test. I am grateful for wise professors that practice what they teach.

The lesson and activity in class was very beneficial in helping me create my scope and sequence. I felt that it gave me practical tools I could use to create real, meaningful assessment and content presentation using technology to weave into my scope and sequence. I had been feeling pretty overwhelmed by the task, but with this class session I felt more confident in my scope and sequence.