Teachers at the Marshall W. Errickson School have been hard at work creating PARCC-like assessments for the students in their classrooms. They are using GAFE (Google Apps for Education) to facilitate this process and are working with the building supervisor and technology integration coordinator to become more familiar with creating online assessments. Web sites such as ReadWorks offer teachers authentic, leveled non-fiction and literary passages,(at no cost), providing the most critical elements needed, both text and assessment questions. For our teacher-created assessments, the text to be read appears on the left-hand side of the screen and students scroll down to read the entire text. Next, students take the assessment featured in the right-hand column. Students are reminded to refer to the text as they complete the assessments. This format is very similar to the online format found on the ELA PARCC assessments for elementary school children.
In preparation for the PARCC assessments coming in 2015, our teachers have been revisiting district curriculum documents, regional & state documents and the CCSS to ensure that our lessons effectively address these standards. As a Google App school district we have embraced the tools offered to create PARCC-like assessments for our students. Embedded professional development has been provided to our staff, supporting our school's PLN in its latest technology driven initiative. This blog post shares some of the tools we have used to support the creation of digitally enhanced assessments. Check back often for updates, as the number of resources grows daily!
Eric Curts has created a web site filled with resources for those preparing for standardized tests based on the CCSS. Assessments, the Next Generation is filled with all the resources you need to prepare for these tests. For those wishing to create PARCC-like assessments, visit the Apps User Group created by Eric Curts, the purpose of this site is to "connect and assist schools in the use of Google Apps for Education. The site contains resources for implementing and using Google Apps, news from the Google blogs, links to schools that use Google Apps, a discussion forum, and more. All users are encouraged to share resources, ideas, questions, and comments."
Natalie Franzi, a curriculum & instruction supervisor in NJ has created this well-organized page of PARCC resources.
Creating PARCC-like Assessments...
This video, created by Technology Integration Coordinator, Monica Hittenger, is one of many resources shared on this page filled with assessment creation tools!
Grade student work automatically using Flubaroo and Google Forms
PARCC Tutorials for Students
These brief tutorials for students, are a sample of the
videos created and shared on YouTube by educator Eric
Hibbs. These videos allow students AND teachers to become more
familiar with the types of tasks students can expect to see on the PARCC and
the technology skills necessary to be successful. To see the entire
library of tutorials, click here.
Providing Students with Access to Online Text
Read a previous post which shares links to a variety of online sources of text.
Today our entire school population lined the hallways to pay tribute to our fifth graders...giving them a "clap-out" as they officially left the building for the last time. There were tears, hugs and high-fives from both teachers and students as the fifth graders, led by retiring kindergarten teacher, Sue Collins, paraded through each wing of the building. This emotional send off reminds us all how much a school is like a family and how, as with family members, saying goodbye is hard. We are all looking towards the summer now. Classrooms have been packed up and are ready for cleaning and/or moving. Before you know it, we will be back here again, this time welcoming our newest members of our school family, the kindergarten students, the class of 2027! Until then, take some time to renew, recharge and relax, perhaps following these 10 Tips for Getting the Most out of Your Summer Break adapted from Vicki Davis @http://www.coolcatteacher.com/10-tips-for-getting-the-most-out-of-your-summer-break/
Take time to rest. It is OK to sleep if you're tired and are behind. Loss of sleep is cumulative so get back on track.
Take time to remember. Breathe deeply and relish the good memories of the year. Learn from them.
Take time to forget. Give yourself time to be a human for a little while and not a teacher.
Have a few days without a list. Sometimes we need to be a human BE-ing not a human DO-ing.
Take time to heal. The summer is the time to retread our heart and soul so we can make it.
Take time to learn. Reading is part of rejuvenation. Fiction and nonfiction.
Go offline for a while. Unplug. Put on your vacation auto-responder and forget about your email. Go outside, get away and unplug.
Set realistic goals. Three is a good number. These might be places to go and one or two things we'd like to accomplish. You might make a "goal poster" for the summer; make drawings or lists of what you'd like to get done in the summer. You can mark them off as you go.
Work on one goal at a time. Start on the first goal and focus until you finish. Work on it whenever you can.
Look at Your Habits - Ninety five per cent of what we accomplish is based on our habits. GIVE YOURSELF A NEW HABIT. Whether it is working out, writing, or consistently pursuing a goal important to you. Your list may shape today but habits shape your destiny. Find good ones.
You might enjoy the annual Summer Rejuvenation Guide from Edutopia. First published in 2010 and updated again in 2013, this guide also offers ten tips on how to...
Grow Your Network
Party with the Stars
Do-It-Yourself Professional Development
Tell the Story of Your Life
Try Something New
Curate Classroom Artifacts
Give a Little, Get a Lot
Get Moving
Crack the Books
Plan Ahead for Next Summer
The "Leading with Soul" side of me is partial to Davis's list because it focuses more on knowledge of self and taking time to take a look at the little things around us we often neglect. Once you have taken care of that, you will be ready to make use of the excellent resources packed into Edutopia's summer guide as you gear up for another year of school!
Merriam-Webster defines social
media as “forms of electronic
communication through which users create online communities to share
information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos).” Can
the use of social media in our schools improve the home-school connection? We
think so and took part in the celebration when the district chose February 5th,
the third annual Digital Learning Day, to kick off the use of Twitter in our
schools. This microblogging tool allows administrators and teachers to connect
with the community by posting short, 140-character messages called “tweets.” In
recent years Twitter has expanded to allow photographs (and even videos) to
accompany these tweets which are being used by school communities to share the
following:
Calendar reminders: The school year is full of important
dates. Twitter can be used to remind parents and students of athletic and
performance schedules, standardized testing dates, end of marking periods,
upcoming holidays, and school closings.
Celebrations: The school year is also full of accomplishments
and publicly celebrating the successes of students and teachers can be
hard to do in a timely fashion. Twitter allows immediate announcements of
great achievements to the entire community.
Helpful resources: Most parents would be happy to extend
learning beyond the school day if they had the knowledge and skills needed
to support their children. With Twitter, it’s easy to share links to
valuable web-based resources on parenting, teaching, or the content being
studied in your classrooms.
Decisions and details: Schools and the organizations that
support them are constantly making decisions with far-reaching
implications. Using Twitter to share these decisions spreads information
quickly and makes the inner workings of your organization transparent to
everyone.
Emergency updates: Planning communication patterns before
natural disasters or human tragedies strike is a responsible practice.
Because Twitter updates can be posted from mobile devices, they can become
a part of a comprehensive plan for easing community fears and getting
messages out to parents and support professionals in emergency situations.
FTS Superintendent, Dr. Ross Kasun, now "tweets"
regularly about happenings in the district, sharing top educational stories and
providing up-to-date information about delayed openings and/or school closings.
MWES administrators and teachers have created accounts and are sharing events
specific to the Errickson School community.
If you would like to create
an account and follow the conversation, enter the following URL in your
favorite browser http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/blogs/mazza-ptchat-guide.pdf
and view a quick and easy guide for
parents. This guide also includes an explanation of how to use the hashtag (#)
to follow "conversations" specific to topics of interest. Many of
these online personal learning networks "meet" weekly online to
"discuss" topics in depth and/or participate in question and answer
sessions. It is amazing how much you can learn from others online via links
shared or references to other experts on the subjects you find interesting!
If you have already signed up for an account with Twitter, be
sure to follow Dr. Kasun, @FTS_SuptKasun. Twitter
accounts for teachers are optional, but many MWES staff members have chosen
to add a Twitter account to the tools they employ for the home-school
connection. Listed below are some MWE
Twitter accounts you might want to follow:
A Personal Learning Network (PLN) is
an extension of the self that enables a learner to harness the knowledge and
experiences of many voices through a collaborative connection. Here at school, PLNs
often take form based on grade level or content area assignments, professional
areas of interest, or simply the location of your room in the building. These are the
people we call upon for advice, to help solve a problem, or fill in the gaps
when we can’t figure it out on our own. This network of friends enhances our
learning and offers the support necessary to grow professionally.
Along with all of the other challenges we face in the classroom each day, we have the constant reminder of our state's adoption of the "Common Core" and the promise of standardized tests which are expected to reflect achievement of these standards each spring. Over the past three years, curriculum has been updated and modified accordingly and efforts have been made to assist in "unpacking" the standards to ensure educators understand specifically what the new
standards mean, and what a student must know, understand and be able to do. This year, in the area of ELA, our teacher toolbox expanded to include more resources for informational text, defined by the CCSS as a broad category of nonfiction
resources, including: biographies; autobiographies; books about history, social
studies, science, and the arts; technical texts (including how-to books and
procedural books); and literary nonfiction.
