Educational Psychology
Every teacher needs to know where education first started and the theories behind it in order for education to get to where they want it to go
Description
In my Educational Psychology class that I took in the fall semester of 2017, we were given the chance to make our own activities that best fit a standard of our choice. I chose to create different forms of assessment that a teacher would be able to use for a second grade class of tornadoes.
Analysis of what I Learned
From this self-lead construction of various forms of assessment, I have realized that no one form is better than another. Every student has different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to testing. I want to provide my students with many different outlets for assessment so they have a better chance at success. The hardest part of this process is finding ways to make lessons plans engaging and inquiry-based because the more ways a student is impacted by a lesson the more likely they are to remember what happened and why. I overcame this by using an activity that could be teacher guided but the students could do on their own and make predictions beforehand, then they would be able to reassess those predictions. The pretest plays a crucial role in lesson planning because it is able to give teachers an idea of what the students already know and what they still need work on. This form of assessment could save teachers a lot of time before they end up covering what students are already proficient at. Growing up and still to this day I have struggled with test taking, multiple choice and true or false questions were my worst enemy. I designed my assessments so students could back up their answers and if they can accurately explain why then I would give them the credit.
Demonstration of my Competence
I have demonstrated my competence in standard #6 by first being able to asses my students to see what they already know and then guide the rest of the lesson around that information. I continued the forms of assessment through having the students make a predictions before the experiment and then reassess themselves whether their predictions were right or wrong and why. This gives me the chance to once again see what they learned through an activity. Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning makes a strong connection through this artifact. Students build base knowledge through recalling then after the experiment, then we take the assessment to a real world example through building their own safety kit, and lastly during the last stage is evaluation through the final test. Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning applies strongly to this artifact because it covers several areas of building the pyramid. The students start off at the base with remembering through the pretest, then the students apply the knowledge through the experiment and building of the safety kit, then the students do an evaluation through a formal quiz.
InTASC Standard #6
The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making (InTASC, 2013).
Play now: Tornado Knowledge
Tornado in a Bottle Experiment
Tornado Quiz
1. Which direction does a tornado spin in?
2. Where do tornadoes form?
3. Where should you hide if there is a tornado?
4. What types of clouds do you see if there is a tornado coming?
5. What should be two things in your safety kit?
6. What is a watch and what is a warning?
7. What weather do you see before a tornado?
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8. During what months do most tornadoes happen?
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9. During what time of day do most tornadoes happen?
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10. What speed in miles per hour can a tornado reach?
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11. What is a special room that is built to stand up to high winds or damage?
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Making a Safety Kit
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Start off by brainstorming a list of ideas that should go in your safety kit. Think about how big your family is, if you have any baby siblings if you have any pets, what would be a few things they would need?
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Usually, the types of things that people put in safety kits are bottles of water, band-aids and other first aid items, dry foods, pet food, batteries, flashlights, maps, extra cell phone, and a toolkit. Were any of these items on your list? If not why do you think these things are important?
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Now describe a time that you have been in where a safety kit would have been good to have. If you have never needed one in the past, when do you think you would need one
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If a tornado hit your town and you had to go hide where would you keep your safety kit, now that you know you have to stay away for windows?
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I want you to make your own safety kit if you can do it at home or you already have one bring it into class. If you would rather draw your safety kit and tell us what each item is you may do that. Do not forget to tell us why each item is in the kit and the situations it could help with!
