Tests, cooperative learning and managing Work life

"Testing

As we all know, tests have become really important in modern classrooms. Although as a student, I don't really like testing, it defines what students if students accomplished the lesson. As it says in Mr. Wong's book, "Tests are to be used to determine if the student has accomplished the stated objectives or learning criteria." Tests also exist for students to recognize or see how much they actually know from what they've learned, if they gave attention to th teacher. "Tests are given for the students' sake, not the teachers' sake." Tests might be a little hard on students, but they are sure helpful to define the knowledge they've learned. 

When the concept or objective isn't conquered, the teacher should give the student the appropriate help and resources so he/ she can succeed, because as Mr. Wong said, " If you do not correct and remediate, learning gets worse and worse as the year progresses." Tests are given to see how much students know, which helps the teacher find another way of teaching the lesson to the student so he or she can succeed, as Mr. Wong said, "A test tells you if the student needs corrective help."

Here is an article where it explains many questions people ask about tests and their purpose, it's really interesting!
Here are some other interesting articles that talk about testing and the point of it! Article 2 Article 3

Cooperative Learning

In the simplest form, cooperative learning looks like the following: 

• The teacher presents a lesson to the students  
• The student groups are given activities to master the objectives  
• The teacher teaches group and study strategies
• The students work together to help one another master the objectives 

Cooperative learning can occur when students are partnered up as work buddies. It can also occur when students are put together in a table with three or more students and also when students are put together to work on a project where everyone has equal jobs to finish by working together. "In cooperative groups, students help one another complete an activity the teacher assigned" As Mr. Wong said, when putting students together, they learn how to work and succeed together. 

Working in groups, students put better quality in their work, "the context of a work group is more important than the content of the group." Which means how much effort the students have put in their project. 

Here is a link about an article where it shows different cooperative learning strategies

Other helpful links Article 2 Article 3

Succeeding in the future

I believe that as a future educator, my job will interfer with my personal life a lot. As the organized
person I believe I am, I think I will achieve success, happiness and effectiveness by always being prepared for the unexpected, from the suppor from my family and also by staying dedicated to making a difference in people's lives, which is why I am very passionate about Education.

Although that's what I believe I will do to stay happy, making choices will be a tough but helpful thing to do as a teacher. "What a person chooses to do will greatly determine the quality of that person's life." Making choices will help me have a lifestyle since I'm the one that is choosing what I want.
Having an enhancement Behaivor as a teacher is the best way to be a teacher. "People who use enhancement Behaivor are "we" people. I enjoy participating and learning when it comes to the teaching profession. 

If you ever wonder why teaching is important or if your an educator and just need a little reminder of why you love your job, take a look at these Articles Article 2 Article 3

Enjoy! ☺️

What makes up an effective discipline plan!

As a teacher, we literally need to plan everything and anything, and always be prepared for the unexpected. One of the things we have to deal with is student Behaivor! It can be stressful sometime but if you have a discipline plan, you are prepared and will know what to do 👌🏽  

A discipline plan has to have rules and consequences to start off. 

Effective rules should just be from 3-5 in total and your consequences should match the age and grade of the students for it to be effective. 

In your plan, you need to include what to do with unexpected thing that could occur. Also, include the Rewards you will be giving your students for their good Behaivor, and once again APPROPRIATE AND FAIR for everyone. 

Something else that you should get just in general, is the support from parents. Always talk to the parents about what is going on in the classroom and with their students. Believe it or not, they CARE! ☺️

Here is an article where it helps you make your own discipline plan, hope it helps! Article 

The role of a teacher is to uncover- Mr. Wong's book, Chapter 21-22

This chapter focuses on how to master a lesson with good assignments, objectives and different resources.


Some of the things I learned from this chapter is that students don't do an assignment because the reason could be that they didn't learned anything and don't know how to complete the assignment given, as Mr. Wong says "If the students do not do their assignments and do not show achievement, no learning has occurred." I read that a teacher should never think to herself/ himself of what she/he needs to cover, instead to think what the students need to learn and achieve.

I've learned that a textbook is literally just a resource for students. textbooks doesn't help students succeed in anyway, as a matter of fact, it only confuses them even more when used all the time and "learn" from the textbook. As it says in the book, "The ineffective teacher used units that were two to three weeks long." & "The effective teacher taught single concepts or skills, and her lessons were one to three days long." This explains that teachers should use different resources that don't last a long time and that will help the student learn, to be able to accomplish the objective. 

Objectives help both teachers and students, it reminds both what it's expected to TEACH and LEARNED from the lesson. Mostly, it defines what the students needs to accomplish. "The students must know before the lesson, assignment, or activity begins what they are responsible for learning." 

Tests and grades are important for the students as well as teachers because it's a way to see how much a student's knowledge has developed throughout the year. Shows how much they've grown from the beginning to the end of a lesson and also identifies if they don't understand the lesson. 

Mastery is achieving or accomplishing something big, like a student achieving something they had no idea how to do in the first day of classroom, and at the end of the school year, masters the lesson. 

The previous statements are some of the things I am now able to understand from reading the book. 

From reading the book, I thought writing an objective for a pre- kindergarten classroom would be appropriate. 

 "Give an example of an animal that starts with the letter "E"

And a test question I would use for my objective is "Name an animal that starts with the letter "E"

I also think that standerized state testing is too much pressure on students, especially older students. When classroom tests, I believe are effective and relates to the students more as well as the students to the test, which fits them best.   

Here is a link that defines the simililarities and differences of these type of tests.