Running Head:WEEK 4 1

Real-World Teaching Scenarios Week 4

Andrew Smith
EDU 382
Instructor Kelley
September 24, 2014
Real-World Teaching Scenarios Week 4 2
Real-World Teaching Scenarios Week 4
Introduction
To ensure our students are successful learners, assessment must become a priority. There
are many types of assessments, and we can assess many areas of education, not just our students
knowledge and understanding of the material, but how we instruct, as well. If many students are
struggling with understanding a concept or topic, the instruction should be assessed to see if
there is a better way to teach that concept or topic. On-going assessment is critical in the
classroom, that way we can check that students understand as we go along. This is important
because if they do not understand a concept that is essential to upcoming learning, then future
learning will be impacted. It is best to make sure that students understand before moving on, that
way we do not have to go back and reteach.
Scenario 2
To fill the 5-10 minute time left at the end of his class, Andre could use a formative
assessment tool such as a grand finale comment (Gregory & Chapman, 2013) or exit card
(Wiebe, 2008). The grand finale comment and exit card are very similar; the grand finale
comment is something the students learned or hope to learn in an upcoming class, while an exit
card gauges a students learning by asking questions about the material covered during the class,
and allows them to ask any questions to clarify a confusing topic. Both of these would work
well and allow Andre to not only keep his students focused at the end of the class, but to gauge
their learning and give him a direction on what he needs to cover in the upcoming classes so that
his students are able to do well on their summative assessments. To engage students with one
another, before using the exit card strategy, Andre can group students and then ask the group the
question for the day, what they learned, what they are confused about, and etcetera. The group
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can then discuss amongst themselves, this way they can clarify any misunderstandings before
writing their exit slip questions. To engage students with one another while using the grand
finale question, Andre can pair them in groups and ask them to have a group discussion about
what they thought were the most important points covered in class, and then as a group, write
down these points.
Scenario 3
For the culminating project in Jeffs Jr. High art class, he could use student portfolios.
Portfolios are collections of student work for specific purposes based on criteria that support
and provide evidence of application and understanding of the targeted concepts or skills,
(Gregory & Chapman, 2013, P. 76, Par. 4). This will allow the student to show their work from
throughout the year, which should highlight their learning and aptitude, as their work should
improve throughout the school term. The teacher determines the criteria for the works selected
for the portfolio, and the student will select the pieces that they feel best suits those criteria. This
also allows students to work on past pieces and correct mistakes by incorporating feedback given
when the work was first completed. The two pieces, the original and the updated work will be
posted side by side so that the portfolios give a detailed view on the students learning
throughout the year.
For the culminating project, students will create portfolios showcasing their work
throughout the year. This portfolio will cover all aspects covered in class throughout the term.
Students will select one or two pieces from their past projects for each aspect. Students will be
given the opportunity to fix or update any old projects to incorporate feedback and demonstrate
their learning. In creating the portfolio, if students choose to update work to incorporate
feedback, the original and the updated one will be placed side by side; this will give a detailed
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picture of student learning. If students choose not to update original pieces, they can create a
new piece that demonstrates their new learning and skill. This portfolio will have at least 12
pieces, the 6 original works, and the 6 updated or new works. Students are allowed to choose
whichever works they feel best showcases their knowledge and abilities.
Scenario 4
Having Students teach a topic to other students is a great way to influence learning. The
student may talk about the topic in a different light than a teacher would, and it could help the
other students make more connections to the topic. Plus, when a student teaches other students
or gives a presentation, they typically remember more of the material than if they were to just
read through it. So this is a win-win for the students, they may get an alternative explanation and
they remember more from the lesson. To help ensure the students are prepared for their
presentations, Eileen could give her students a few resources that would help them prepare.
First, a grading rubric that explains how the presentation will be graded so there are no surprises
in the grading(Kajitani, Lehew, Lopez, Wahab, & Walton, 2012). Second, recordings of
previous student presentations,both of exceptional presentations and those that were not up to
par, that way they can see what they need to include and what would help them in their
presentations. Third, is a list of the topics the students will pick from, and how these relate to
real-world applications. The teacher should also encourage her students to do a run through of
the presentation with their parents. The parents should have a copy of the rubric, and the videos
the students watched with examples of previous presentations could also be put on a storage
device or uploaded online so that the parents can see them, as well. This will show the parents
good presentations verses inadequate presentations, so that they can take notes on the rubric and
can help their sons or daughters tailor their presentations to score well on the rubric.
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During the presentations, to make sure that Eileen is assessing what she claims to be is to
use the grading rubric. The teacher can go over the rubric with the students before they even
start to plan their presentations, that way they can ask questions and get clarification on sections
of the rubric if they are confused about any of it. Another alternative would be to allow the
students to help the teacher design the rubric, that way they are a part of the learning and can
have a voice in how they are graded (Kajitani, Lehew, Lopez, Wahab, & Walton, 2012). This
grading rubric is also a great way to provide specific feedback for the student presentations. As
the students present, Eileen can take notes at the bottom of the rubric, connecting the
studentspresentations to the sections of the rubric, and giving them detailed information on what
they did right and what could use some improvement. Also, as I know from experience, some
students are very uncomfortable giving presentations in front of the whole class. To help these
students, I would allow the student to choose a small group of classmates that they could present
to, instead of presenting to the entire class.
Scenario 8
Living in a city full of history is a great benefit for students; it allows them to connect
things they learn about in the classroom to the real-world by going and visiting these places, this
makes history come alive. To help Kevin ensure that all his students are ready for their
presentations, groups should be formed, and they should present amongst themselves for a trial
run through. These groups can be formed a number of different ways. If some students choose
to do their presentation on the same historic site, these students can either be grouped together, or
if there are multiple groups doing the same site, each group member could present about a
different landmark. As with most presentations, a rubric should be used and discussed before the
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project begins. That way, each member in the group could write notes and scores on the rubric
as the other student in the group does their run through.
At the start of this project, students should be given a list of the many historical locations
in the area. Students will choose one from the list and depending on how students choose should
determine the groups these students will work with during the project. Hopefully, not too many
students want to use the same site, but accommodations could be made if they do. Students can
be grouped with others with the same site, or students can be grouped with others that are
focusing on a different site. Before starting the project, students will be given the grading rubric,
and they will have a class discussion so that students can ask any questions and clarify any
confusion about the rubric and the grading. Then students will watch videos of previous
presentations, giving examples of exceptional presentations verses inadequate presentations.
This will show them how the presentations should be graded, that way when they do their trial
run through in their group; the other group members will know the grading criteria and will be
able to give helpful advice to the presenter.
Conclusion
In conclusion, assessment is one of the most important things, we as teachers, must learn
how to do. Being that there are all sorts of assessments, pre-assessments, formative assessments,
and summative assessments, we must continually assess our students to make sure they are on
track to meet the standards. Assessing our students is as much help to teachers as it is to the
students. These assessments will drive the learning because they will tell the teacher what the
students understand and where they may need extra help. To conduct fair and accurate
assessments, it is important to differentiate assessment. Students learn in a number of ways, so
we must measure their learning in a number of ways. As our text explained, to create effective
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assessments, assessments that will measure what they intend to, there must be balance, purpose,
and neutrality (Kajitani, Lehew, Lopez, Wahab, & Walton, 2012).

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References
Gregory, G. & Chapman, C. (2013).Differentiated instructional strategies: One size doesnt fit
all (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Ltd./Corwin Press.
Kajitani, A., Lehew, E., Lopez, D., Wahab, N., & Walton, N. (2012).The final step: A capstone
in education. A. Shean (Ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Wiebe, G. (2008, April 25). Tip of the week - exit cards. Retrieved from
http://historytech.wordpress.com/2008/04/25/tip-of-the-week-exit-cards/