Learning Together

Cooperative learning can be extremely useful in classroom instruction. It was interesting to be taking part in a cooperative group while also learning about the different pieces of it. It was easy to see how useful cooperative learning can be in a classroom after implementing it among ourselves. Especially when it came to not only our presentations to each other, but our exit tickets. Personally, it gave me a better sense of what I covered well in my presentation and what I could have worked on to clarify further. Additionally, with two of our exit tickets being done in the form of a Kahoot quiz, it made it fun to see how much of the material was mastered as well as have fun competing to see who would win each Kahoot. While presenting my slide show, I really understood the idea of positive interdependence when I realized that many of the terms I used on my slides were already explained in my other group members' presentations, which really showed how linked together the presentations and information were.

The video above, I thought, was a good representation of cooperative learning in the classroom. It explains how each student has an independent role, and how they all come together to help increase each other's understanding of whatever they happen to be working on. It was interesting to hear students saying they enjoyed disagreeing with each other, because as teachers, there are many class discussions where it is beneficial for students to have opposing viewpoints. The back and forth discussion of students is what helps them hear other people's thoughts, as well as learn to be able to explain their own reasoning and thinking.

Assessing Assessment

Assessment seems to have become a large part of a student's academic career, and so it is important to understand the different ways to use assessment, as well as its place in the classroom. With high stakes testing gaining more and more importance in the classroom, it is often difficult to remember that testing is not the only part of educating students.

The quote above, I believe, is important. Just as we as teachers should not be teaching for a test, students should not be learning simply to receive a good grade. It is when all the focus of both learning and teaching are on test scores that students are more likely to lose their natural curiosity and desire to learn. Students spend about 8 hours, five days a week in their classrooms; their experiences should be positive, as well as encourage them to want to learn more. However, with assessment being as essential as it is for a teacher to properly pace their class or develop teaching methods, it is important to use assessment appropriately. A test should be something used to gauge how a class is progressing and what concepts need to worked on further, rather than something that is constantly worked toward. The problem, in my opinion, on high stakes testing, is the amount of pressure placed on students and teachers alike. Were assessment used appropriately, student progress could be monitored without all the pressure of current Common Core tests.

First Chance at Teaching

For my first presentation, I was to create a Pintrest board that contained pins I thought described myself. I included pins about the beach and boat knots, to show my love for the water. I added different pins of activities that could be used in a classroom, as well as a list of books to show my desire to teach and love of reading. I also included pins about Jeeps, plants, as well as how to manage anxiety. Giving presentations with anxiety is always a difficult task, and speaking about my anxiety is both frightening and empowering.
It was interesting to learn about the multiple tools available to create presentations, or to share information with students and their parents at home. Pintrest, I found, was a very useful tool in finding ideas for activities for students, or finding blogs on teaching for everything from handouts to how to arrange a classroom. The presentations also served to allow myself and everyone else to learn a little about each other. Being that we will be working in groups, it was nice to know even a little bit about everyone. Having our first presentation be an "About Me" presentation was, to me, a good idea because it was content we were already familiar with. It can be difficult enough to stand in front of a class and present, and would've been much harder if we needed to have memorized all new information on top of that. By presenting on ourselves, we already knew everything we needed to say. It enabled us to focus on remembering what media tool we used, as well as remembering to make eye contact, project our voices, and engage the class.