Portfolio Evaluation - Learning Environment (EDU 6160 bPortfolio Post November 27th )

Prompt: Summarize a “best practice” field study relevant to your instruction

A best practice that I have learned this year is spending time getting to know each other.  In PE and health, students can be uncomfortable in the environment.  Health brings topics like sex ed, abuse and emotional health and PE requires you to look silly and try new things.  Therefore, it is necessary for students to feel relaxed and safe in this environment so they can learn, ask questions and ultimately succeed. 

For the first month of school, we started the first 5-10 minutes of each class with an icebreaker.  This icebreaker had the students sharing facts about them as well as their name.  In addition to an icebreaker, one or two students would present their “about me” powerpoint presentations.  This is a presentation they created telling us about themselves, their family, what they like to do, hobbies, etc.  This was awesome because kids were able to connect with other students who liked the same things.  After about 4 weeks, we also did a name quiz for the whole class.  This “forced” them to learn everyone’s names, again strengthening the bond of the class. The best part about the “getting to know you” is that it was set up by the teachers.  My mentor and myself presented our about me powerpoints the first day so the students could get to know us and they could begin to work on their own.  For icebreakers, we always went first so again, students could get to know us and they could feel comfortable in the activity. 

Overall, this is by far a best practice.  It creates a unified environment that allows the students to bond and feel comfortable throughout the year.  In the three months that I have been in class and from visiting other schools/classes; I can see a clear difference in taking the time to get to know each other. 

EDU 6160 bPortfolio Post November 20th

Prompt: Summarize the most recent statewide test for a grade level of your choosing, noting any notable peaks and valleys on subscores

            In Health and Fitness, we do not have any statewide testing, therefore I cannot speak to my most recent statewide test experience; however, I can talk about the importance of PE on statewide testing.

The Center for Disease Control recommends children get a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity per day.  Unfortunately, physical education has been cut to 35 minutes every third day in grades 1-8.  In high school, only 1.5 credits of PE need to be taken for graduation.  Years ago, kids were given ample time for recess and PE; now, it is crucial that we fight for more recess and PE time in schools rather than having it cut for more time in subjects with statewide testing like math and reading in hopes of improving test scores.  A study showed that children who had PE before learning a new subject had more brain cells developed than children who did not.  Dr. Ratey, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, took a different approach to increasing test scores.  The school took students who had low tests scores in reading and math and placed them into an early morning exercise program.  The counselors helped students develop their schedule to put PE in the morning before classes they struggled with.  The results of this study were nothing short of incredible.  Over a three-year period the study showed a 56% increase in reading scores and a 93% increase in math scores.  Dr. Ratey says, “the exercise itself doesn’t make you smarter, but its puts the brain of the learners in optimal position for them to learn.” If we want to increase our test scores in subjects like math and reading, we need to think outside the box and get our kids moving. 

EDU 6160 bPortfolio Post November 13th

Prompt: Discuss the use of student grades as a factor in evaluating teachers, and use of state test results to evaluate a school district

I think using student grades to evaluate teachers, does not provide accurate data.  With my experiences so far, I have seen that as much as a teacher can help guide the students, some of them will not put in the effort at home to be completely successful.  In health and PE, we hardly ever have homework.  Once in a while we have a worksheet they need to fill out if they do not finish it in class or studying for a test at home.  Without those extra little outside pieces, student grades drop dramatically.  Another thing I have noticed along these lines is students not wanting to do the assignment.  We allow late work at anytime as well as retakes, so there is really no reason that a student should not get a good grade, however students will not do this even with missing assignments or failed tests. 

When speaking to the state test results being used to evaluate a school district, I feel that I do not have enough experience in this area.  Being in health and fitness, we do not have any standardized or state tests.  However, I feel there are too many outside factors that effect state test scores to evaluate a school district.  These include things like students getting enough sleep before the test, having a good meal and other factors in home life.  I know how hard teachers work and the stress they have on standardized testing but those uncontrollable factors get overlooked so often but they make the biggest impact on the results of the tests for students. 

The area of evaluating teachers and evaluating the district is something I feel I still have so much to learn about to know what are the most effective methods. 

EDU 6160 bPortfolio Post November 6th

Prompt: Discuss the practicality of surveys and inventories for the KWL procedure in your teaching situation

            KWL, as discussed in Shermis and Di Vesta (2011) is before learning, what do the students want to know about the topic?  During learning, what do the want to know? After learning, what have they learned about the topic?

            KWL is something I had no experience with until one of my courses here at SPU.  Since using it in class, I love the procedure.  Throughout my internship, we have done something similar to KWL but have not actually used the exact procedure.  Before each unit, we have done not only a pre-assessment of knowledge but also a survey similar to KWL.  We want to know what the students already know about a topic, what they want to learn and any questions about it the topic.  I typically begin with blank note cards and I have the students write any questions they have about our new unit.  This allows us to tailor the learning to them specifically.  It does put more work on us, especially when you have so many of the same class; however, it is totally worth it when you know they are interested in what you are teaching because they asked for it.  In the future, I would like to plan an activity using KLW formally for health.  This procedure would probably not fit into weight training as well but could fit nicely with health.  In another SPU course, we have used KLW for a note taking procedure.  What we already knew from the reading, what we learned and something we wonder.  I could also see using the KWL in this format note taking in relationship to a video or reading an article.  What I value most about this procedure is that it puts students in control of their learning.

Shermis, M. D., & J., D. V. (2011). Classroom assessment in action. Lanham, MD: Rowman & 

Littlefield.