Assessing Meaningful Learning With Technology

The technology based rubrics are very helpful for all subjects and all instructors. The online page is easy to navigate courses through grade level and assignments. Clicker devices and Quizdom are just a few great ways for teachers to create an interactive learning space for quizzing students in a fun way. The clickers give students an opportunity to show off their knowledge of the assignment as well as break out of their tedious work sheets and note taking. These tools are beneficial to both students and teachers; unlike tests which intimidate most  students and don't allow them to learn from their mistakes. The online website "Inspiration" provides great visuals and maps for student learning and is helpful for organizing and structuring assignment outlines for educators. With the "Presentation Manager" tool on the website, teachers have the ability to prepare students for class presentations and projects with the proper tools and equipment.

Thus far I have really enjoyed this course and learned a lot of helpful tools for my future classroom. I am not tech savvy person but these course assignments have shown me easy ways to engage students while making sure I'm not frustrated and overwhelmed with all of the different ways of technologies. This course has introduced to different portals for reaching out to my future students through many sites, my favorite being Blog Spot. I will definitely incorporate many of these technology tools in my class assignments because technology continues to grow and is a major part of our society. Especially since I will be teaching high school English, I plan to familiarize my students with as many helpful tech/non-tech tools needed for them to be successful in the working world.

Technology Application Standards

I will teach High School English.

(a)  Introduction.

(1)  The English Language Arts and Reading Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are organized into the following strands: Reading, where students read and understand a wide variety of literary and informational texts; Writing, where students compose a variety of written texts with a clear controlling idea, coherent organization, and sufficient detail; Research, where students are expected to know how to locate a range of relevant sources and evaluate, synthesize, and present ideas and information; Listening and Speaking, where students listen and respond to the ideas of others while contributing their own ideas in conversations and in groups; and Oral and Written Conventions, where students learn how to use the oral and written conventions of the English language in speaking and writing. The standards are cumulative--students will continue to address earlier standards as needed while they attend to standards for their grade. In English I, students will engage in activities that build on their prior knowledge and skills in order to strengthen their reading, writing, and oral language skills. Students should read and write on a daily basis.

(2)  For students whose first language is not English, the students' native language serves as a foundation for English language acquisition.

(A)  English language learners (ELLs) are acquiring English, learning content in English, and learning to read simultaneously. For this reason, it is imperative that reading instruction should be comprehensive and that students receive instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, and word attack skills while simultaneously being taught academic vocabulary and comprehension skills and strategies. Reading instruction that enhances ELL's ability to decode unfamiliar words and to make sense of those words in context will expedite their ability to make sense of what they read and learn from reading. Additionally, developing fluency, spelling, and grammatical conventions of academic language must be done in meaningful contexts and not in isolation.

(B)  For ELLs, comprehension of texts requires additional scaffolds to support comprehensible input. ELL students should use the knowledge of their first language (e.g., cognates) to further vocabulary development. Vocabulary needs to be taught in the context of connected discourse so that language is meaningful. ELLs must learn how rhetorical devices in English differ from those in their native language. At the same time English learners are learning in English, the focus is on academic English, concepts, and the language structures specific to the content.

(C)  During initial stages of English development, ELLs are expected to meet standards in a second language that many monolingual English speakers find difficult to meet in their native language. However, English language learners' abilities to meet these standards will be influenced by their proficiency in English. While English language learners can analyze, synthesize, and evaluate, their level of English proficiency may impede their ability to demonstrate this knowledge during the initial stages of English language acquisition. It is also critical to understand that ELLs with no previous or with interrupted schooling will require explicit and strategic support as they acquire English and learn to learn in English simultaneously.

(3)  To meet Public Education Goal 1 of the Texas Education Code, §4.002, which states, "The students in the public education system will demonstrate exemplary performance in the reading and writing of the English language," students will accomplish the essential knowledge, skills, and student expectations in English I as described in subsection (b) of this section.

(4)  To meet Texas Education Code, §28.002(h), which states, "... each school district shall foster the continuation of the tradition of teaching United States and Texas history and the free enterprise system in regular subject matter and in reading courses and in the adoption of textbooks," students will be provided oral and written narratives as well as other informational texts that can help them to become thoughtful, active citizens who appreciate the basic democratic values of our state and nation.

(Source: Texas Education Agency at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/)

 In my classroom I will encourage students to use their resources available at home and as well as trips to the computer lab for research as provided above in the first section of the TEKS. Of course in my English class I will assign a writing assignment at least once a week for students to exercise their creative and powerful thoughts. Although, I won't assign boring readings and writing topics, if I even select a specific topic at all. I want students to be excited about learning and excited to write. Therefore, I will relate the writing and reading assignments to things that are interesting and important in their lives. In addition to the writing and reading assignments, I hope to engage in the "oral conventions" of the TEKS through in class discussions. 

As presented above, I selected those TEKS to expand on because I believe they are the most important ones of the course. Reading comprehension is necessary for students to build their writing and speaking skills. All of the TEKS are related to one another in some way. Writing skills are important for future career work, as well as communication skills in the work place. The in class discussions will provide students with practice for impromptu talk as well as public speaking in general. I will hold online discussions as well so students will be able to learn new technological skills which are growing in the work place. All in all, writing, reading, communication, and research are important life, work, and English skills necessary for a success. Each one of these TEKS will provide students with the opportunity to gain experience in each one of these fields.