Reflections

If you have read, or visited my Blog prior to this post, you already know it was originally created as an assignment for an online class I was taking. Even though I have successfully completed the course, I have decided to keep the Blog up and running. I think it will be very beneficial to me as I continue to complete my Master courses to have a place to reflect on what I am learning. On to the next course!


Currently I am taking a course titled "TEC539 Digital Media in Education". This course focuses on digital stories, learning about,  exploring, planning, creating them, and more! It is an exciting class because I am pretty much in an uncharted area for me. I fact, I did not even know what a digital story was until the first week. For those of you who may not have an idea either, they are stories told and shared with digital tools (i.e., a computer, etc.).


So, one of my first projects was to create a video tutorial of myself teaching my students how to complete a task. Did I enjoy it? Not much, because not only can I not stand to hear myself, but I had technical difficulty after technical difficulty. Yet, I did finish and it wasn't perfect (I tend to be a perfectionist) but it will do. Thank heavens I didn't have to actually record myself, just my voice, because if there's one thing I like even less than listening to my own recorded voice it's seeing myself on video!!


I'm very relieved the next project involves taking pictures, and not pictures of me! WHEW...

Objective Tests, Friend or Foe?

            There is a time during each school year that I literally just want to skip. It brings on an instant large dose of stress, often followed by a small-medium dose of depression. Is it the beginning of the school year, when I must bid farewell to the relaxing days of my summer vacation? No, I am not a homebody, so I am usually ready to go back to school. Is it the end of the school year when I must bid farewell to my students who I have come to love throughout the year? No, although that is a sad time of the year, it is overshadowed by the amount of pride I feel for how much my students have grown and the knowledge that they are ready to move on. So, what time of the year is it that I dread? It comes in the spring.

            Ah, the beautiful spring! When the birds begin to build their nests and chirp and sing so joyously. When the bitter cold of winter begins to slip away. When the sweet flowers begin to bloom in all their glorious vibrant colors. Spring. When our state testing window opens and my 6, 7, and 8 year-old second graders must sit for a 1-2 hour span and focus, listen, concentrate, and complete a multiple choice question test designed to measure what they have learned throughout the year. Every. Single. Day. For a week and a half. Spring test stress + student frustration = my depression.

            O.K., so maybe, maybe, I am being a wee bit dramatic. Regardless, I have definitely digressed. So, back to the topic. This Blog entry is supposed to be a reflection on the idea that tests are the only objective assessments of student learning. This statement is one I completely disagree with. Tests, are only one measure of student learning, and they are not 100% objective.

            There are other options. Portfolios, oral assessments, informal observations, and various reports/projects, are all examples of alternate assessments. Some would argue that these types of assessments are too subjective. They can be, but, with a clearly stated goal set for students to reach, they can be utilized objectively. Using a rubric, to determine and measure the goal, is probably the best way to ensure objectivity. Furthermore, having other teachers grade the assessments is another effective way to add objectivity.

            Besides, objective tests questions are supposed to only have one correct answer, such as true or false, or multiple choice questions. According to Dictionary.com, the definition of objective {as the intended use in objective assessments} is, “not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased: an objective opinion” (Retrieved July 07, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/objective).

            Unfortunately, there is always some type of personal input from the individual who designs the test(s). Therefore, a test is usually not completely objective. Yet, objective tests are very popular, particularly for online tests. In addition, throughout the course of a normal school year, my colleagues and I, administer a variety of objective tests. We start the year with a baseline test, we give formative and summative tests, CRTs (Crtierion Referenced Tests) are given at the end of each trimester, and then there is the BIG test; the California Standards Tests (CST).
            Tests may not be the only objective assessments of student learning, but they are a large part of it. Tests, objective or not, are important in education and they do help determine what students have learned. Which brings me back to my springtime stress . . . that all-important state test.

The above word cloud was created on Wordle's website located at: http://www.wordle.net/