Unit 5
Tina Moody
Reading Response

a culture of learning where everyone is involved in a collective effort of understanding. Four characteristics: 1) diversity of expertise, 2) shared objective of advancing collective knowledge, 3) emphasis on learning how to learn, 4) mechanisms for sharing what is learned

Most important to foster 21st century skills

shift from traditional transfer of information to the creation, sharing and mastery of knowledge

learning communities throughout a student's life - embedded in students' life

teacher becomes organizer and facilitator of student-directed activities instead of directing activities

Continued professional development and life long learning is important. I have always valued continuing education so I will definitely continue to place a high value on it. For teaching this also includes reflection. In fact, reflection is an important component of professional development and growth. It is crucial that you reflect on your practice and figure out how you can improve. I plan to be a very reflective teacher. In my previous careers I have always taken advantage of professional developement and will continue to do so as a teacher. I truly have a love of learning.

Assessment is an important part of teaching and can be informal or formal. If you do not assess your students' understanding, you do not know if your practices are successful or not. When determining formal assessments there are 5 steps to follow - Identify Outcomes, Develop Rubrics, Identify Anchor Papers, Score Student Work, and Revise. Portfolios showing best work and progress from the beginning of the year or unit are also beneficial for showing growth and increased understanding. Projects and investigations are a can have a product that is judged against a rubric for assessment. It is always important to understand what outcomes are expected when developing assessments. Standardized tests have a place in assessment, but they should not be the only assessment tool and should not bes used to judge teachers. Standardized tests are limited in the information they provided and sometimes they do not do a good job at showing understanding. I will use a variety of assessment methods in my classroom.

It is important to communicate with parents and provide activities for the students - I plan to do a lot of communicating with parents even if it is one way communication. School events such as back to school nights, curriculum nights, math nights, parent teacher conferences, news letters, emails, and web sites are all ways to keep the communication lines open with parents. Hopefully some parents will be reading even if I don't get a response. Mathematics clubs and contests (some clubs just prepare students for contests) is another way to communicate with parents and the community. Community members can be involved with the club depending on the function the club performs. Math fairs and providing contests for younger students is another way to involve and communicate with the community.