Bringing Technology to the World of Formative Assessment

The other day, I had the pleasure of observing our high school orchestra. I spoke with the teacher about his use of SmartMusic with students. It was really amazing. I had heard quite a bit about it before, but to see how he used it in class and then seamlessly assigned the music to students so students could practice their part at home with accompaniment and record their practice session, get instant feedback, create a portfolio, and create a circle of communication between student, teacher and parent was unbelievable.

I also saw a PE class in which the students used exercise equipment to track their health. They exercised at their target heart rate for a period of time and then recorded their pulse, calories burned, etc...

It got me thinking, "How do we do this in other subjects?" Imagine students reading pieces of text into a microphone and getting instant feedback on their fluency and decoding! Then being assigned "just right" books based on the results and emailing the results to parents automatically. Imagine taking a math test online and then using the results to determine what lesson or unit that student should take next. Why can we do it in music and PE, but not in other areas?

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Creating Traditions

Over the winter break, my wife and I got talking about traditions. At this time of year, there are many. Somehow or another, the conversation ended up on technology. (I don't know how... really!!) We were talking about how traditions are a part of our core values. For us, a love of nature is a core value. We have planned a couple of family trips to take advantage of the nature that is accessible throughout our country. We talked about how many people, including us at times, feel like technology can be a threat to our core values. It might be in conflict with our work/life balance, our love of the outdoors, our perceptions of what good relationships are about. But then we began talking about how technology has helped us build on our core values. As we planned our trip to Utah to go to the National Parks, we used the Internet to research the parks, find a flight, book a hotel, rent a car, and look at maps of the area. We might use a GPS system to help us get around while we are there...

From See Saw to Balance Beam

Lately I've been feeling a bit conflicted. I hear some people write very eloquently about the power of data. If we collect good data on our students, we can use that data to help inform instruction. We will make sure that every student gets the instruction they need. They talk about common formative assessments. They talk about personalizing education. I hear others write equally eloquently about the fact that easy access to information changes how and what we teach drastically. They talk about constructivism and project based learning. They talk about the importance of creativity and design. They talk about deconstructing curriculum and focusing on skills instead of content. And me? I feel like a see saw. One day I'm on the data bandwagon. The next day I'm a hardcore constructivist. And I often have a hard time reconciling these two notions. On my data days, I'm thinking about standards, assessments, how my instruction ties into the curriculum. On my constructivist day...

The Well Equipped Computer Lab - Feedback Encouraged!

I have the wonderful opportunity (and responsibility) to research and select some software for our elementary school computer labs. I have a moderate budget, but it is enough to purchase 3-5 new titles depending on costs. The committee will meet throughout this year and hopefully make its decision by March. I am very interested in the feedback of others, both within the district and elsewhere. We currently have some software in the labs that are still being used. This is an opportunity to fill in some gaps. I also want to go on record as stating that I recognize that there are many websites, free or otherwise, that can meet some of our needs. However, as we collect websites for specific skills and concepts, we are learning that there are often drawbacks to many of them, whether it is the fact that they are not part of a cohesive program that can track progress and individualize instruction or that they have many distracting elements on the screen. I also feel strongly that the core of ...

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