Bradley's Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment course

Tiering assignments does not mean lowering the standard. Tiering involves phrasing a question to meet the various readiness levels of a given student or class. The lowest readiness level will typically meet the bare minimum of the standard. The book characterizes three different readiness levels. “Early Readiness Level” provides the basic requirements of the standard. “Grade Level Task” provides more than basic requirements of the standard and expectations of the grade level. “Advanced Grade Level” exceeds the needs of the standard and grade level expectations.             The Learning Contract Theory is very similar to Social Contract Theory. Social Contract Theory involves the ruled allowing their leaders to rule them. It follows the belief that the governed give their consent to be ruled. If the government abuses said power, it is the right of the governed to remove the abuser. Learning Contracts serve as a compromise ...

The traditional assessment consists of multiple choice, true & false, fill in the blanks, short answer, and essays. These type of assessment questions have since lost favorability in modern classrooms. A modern assessment consists of diagrams, realistic scenarios, and knowledge comprehension tasks. It is highly advised to integrate both styles into an assignment. Regardless of type, each question must be straight-forward in its expectation. For multiple choice, there should be one guaranteed correct answer and three to four semi-correct or incorrect answers. True and false should contain T’s and F’s that students can circle to avoid confusion. For essays, there should be parameters; such as length, time limit, and examples.             I have only been familiar with the traditional forms of assessment questions. The section devoted to making traditional questions more effective was greatly helpful. Arranging matching ...

As stated in the previous chapter, assessments are nurturing tools that help teachers guide future lessons. Assessments are not limited to multiple choice/short answer tests. The book cites three different types of assessments. Portfolios allow student work to be collected over a long period of time. They promote differentiation because each student will have their own portfolio of work. They are flexible and can encompass many pieces, as long as they align with educational standards. Rubrics serve as guidelines for projects. They clearly describe what the task requires, what you need to prove proficiency, and prioritizes steps. Depending on a students’ work they either exceeded, met, partially met, or did not meet the standard. Student self-assessments allow students to check their own learning progress.             Including a broad range of assessment types allows students to flex their creativity and accommodate their...

Assessments are nurturing tools that help teachers guide future lessons. When beginning a lesson, teachers are advised to pre-assess the students’ knowledge. This allows them to gauge what they know, what they semi-know, and what they need more time to learn. Before crafting any assessments, teachers must know what they want students to understand by the end of the unit. The book recommends crafting the final, or summative assessment, first. This follows the principles of backwards design. The end assessment is also not restricted to a traditional test format. Various project ideas utilizing a students’ creativity or technology can be assigned as a final project. However, each project must clearly demonstrate that they have followed the rubric guidelines and have demonstrated complex understanding of the given topic.             For the unit my mentor is conducting, he has planned the end assessment far in advance. The en...

Mastery does not mean simply echoing information like a parrot. Mastery is learning information, understanding it on a deep level, and applying that information in a realistic context. Gauging students’ understanding can be done with repeated assignments. The purpose of this repetition is meant to embed the information into a students’ mind. Another, more pragmatic, reason for repetition is to give educators the ability to track a students’ understanding. A pre-assessment establishes a base that educators build off. An end assignment will ultimately encapsulate a students’ understanding of the given topic.             A current example is my mentor teacher’s unit. Our end goal is the students creating a podcast that describes their journey from Mount Blue High School to their homes or vice-versa. They must use their understandings of cardinal and secondary direction, appropriate landmarks, specific road names, and approxi...

The true meaning of Differentiate Instruction is adjusting a lesson to accommodate each individual student. Though this sounds daunting, in actual application it is quite simple. Differentiation can be as simple as rephrasing a question, providing examples, or reworking deadlines. The overall goal of differentiated instruction is to ensure that each student achieves the end goal. Differentiation does not equate to an easier learning experience. Differentiation gives students the necessary tools to achieve the end goal.             Differentiation is more than an educational theory meant to be implemented in a classroom setting. It is seen in everyday life. A personal example would be my job in the UMF dining hall. My primary goal is to ensure that students are fed. The differentiation would be the various options provided to the students. Pizza, salads, sandwiches, fried food, and other options provide students a number o...

Standardized tests have haunted education programs since the early twentieth century. They provide limited data, but should not be used for determining high-stakes issues. Focusing primarily on catering to a standardized test typically narrows curriculum, restricts intellectual expression, and stymies people who possess other forms of intelligence. Understand by Design offers a number of alternative ways to assess a students’ knowledge of a given topic. Portfolios, reflective journals, informal observations, peer reviews, and other techniques. When assigning an assessment, it is highly effective to relate the topic to the real world rather than a hypothetical situation. The GRASPS framework provides the instructions for creating a “realistic” assessment.             In my Practicum Placement, my mentor and I have worked to use personal experiences and real-world applications in our lessons. Our current lesson is on relat...

            The nine attitudes serve as a creed for becoming a professional educator. Each educator should establish curricular essentials. They should create classroom routines and flexible teaching routines to ensure each student succeeds. Within the classroom each student should be respected and possess individual curricular and personal goals. Teachers should recognize how students learn and take responsibility for each student’s success. Finally, they should explore other ways of instructing students. These tenets serve to guide teachers in creating, modifying, and refining their teaching abilities.             Breaking down each tenet into its own section allows me to see what I need to understand. Each tenet has a brief description, a list of practices that can be implement in a classroom, and a scenario of what these tenets look like in a realistic classroom. An examp...

            Content overload is a major problem with social studies teachers. Not only is history being made each day, but covering the history of the world is impossible. Another problem is the standards. Establishing a standard that is not excessively broad, but not incredibly specific can be a challenging endeavor. Backwards design serves as a method to alleviate these challenges. Backwards design divides a unit into three stages. The first being identifying an end goal that meets the content standards. The second being assessing evidence that confirms that the end goal has been met. The final stage is making our lessons engaging while keeping the end goal in mind.             The concepts of backwards design allow for more flexibility in planning a large unit. A single overarching goal makes planning activities and assessments easier. This allows teachers to engage in int...

            A good teacher must learn the backgrounds of their students in order to properly understand them. Community life, family life, socio-economic standing, and other influences that could affect a student’s learning. Students also come to class with the quadruple A’s. Affirmation gives students the necessary support. Affiliation with the rest of the class gives the student a sense of belonging. Accomplishment gives students the feeling of success. Autonomy allows students to learn on their own. Regardless of the students’ societal standings, they should be able to achieve the quadruple A’s. The best way to address a broad array of issues is to develop patterns that cover many students. Refinements can be made based on the student, but a broad pattern provides a strong base.             The environment students grow up in will inevitable affect them. An example of this...

            Explaining the various intelligences is not restrictive by age. There is a kindergarten version and a graduate school version. The teacher can create activities based on how appropriate they are for the age group. Introducing various intelligences in language that younger children understand ensures that the concept will not go over their head. An example of introducing logistical-mathematical intelligence would be describing someone as “math smart.” The largest concern is demonstrating that everyone contains all the types of intelligences. Asking relatively general and simple math equations so that all students can classify themselves as “math smart.” Though younger students may never encounter this theory, they still have a general concept of it. As students grow they will unconsciously gravitate towards their most developed intelligence. However, one’s primary intelligence can be altered. A personal example w...

            By the time most students are in school, they will have at least two superior intelligences developed. We have been given tests that analyze our own intelligences. But the most effective test is by simply observing them. When students have time between classes or an unstructured block of time they will exhibit their primary intelligence. Most students will talk with peers, move around, draw, listen to music, etc. Observing what students do consistently during this free time allows teachers to gauge which intelligence has formed. Other ways of determining dominant intelligences are by asking other teachers, family, or observing grade history. My old high school had a half hour block that served as a semi-free time. On Mondays and Wednesdays everyone was forced to read. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays it was free-time. Typically, these blocks for free-time were usually dedicated to socializing, working on homew...

              The development of certain intelligences is based off various traits and influences. The three major ones being biology, personal life history, and cultural/historical background. These can contribute either crystallizing experiences or paralyzing experiences. Crystallizing experiences are usually caused by a child’s curiosity, parents willing to allow their child to explore, and from the environment. Paralyzing experiences are generally caused by fear and embarrassment. If someone tries a new activity and is continually demeaned they are less likely to continue that activity.             A British History teacher of mine once made the observation that there are very few British painters, but plenty of British writers. I can now more accurately answer that question. Great Britain has always had strong religious ties. Either relating to Protestantism or Puri...

            A major point I learned was the malleability of the various intelligences. It originally started as seven different intelligences. Then the Nature intelligence was added when sufficient proof was obtained. It is highly possible that more intelligences could be added on in the future. Another point is the presences of each intelligence within everyone. A person may not be musically inclined, but that does not stop their appreciation of music. Intelligences are not separate either. Multiple intelligences are used for various activities. An example is planning a speech. This would require linguistic, logical, body-kinesthetic, and interpersonal intelligences.             Initially, I was doubtful about this theory. I had heard the concepts before, but dismissed them as unimportant. Seeing them in use has completely changed my opinion of the theory. Everybod...

A teacher must learn to integrate proper curriculum with appropriate accommodations for all their students. The content, instruction, learning environment, and individual students must all be taken into consideration when planning a unit. Understanding by Design primarily focuses on content and instruction. Differentiated Instruction focuses on students and the learning environment. The books used Axioms as examples of Understanding by Design and Corollaries as examples of Differentiated instruction. The theoretical Mr. Axelt demonstrates how he would incorporate both into his diverse classroom.             This chapter severely altered my understanding of differentiated instruction. The teacher creates his lesson so that he can accommodate students who lack prerequisite knowledge. Scenario 3 clearly shows that he has planned to help students with knowledge gaps and misunderstandings. Despite their previous setbacks “their focus ...