Ms. Snow's Social Studies

What is online teaching in a 21st-century society?  When I think about online teaching, I reflect on the role of technology in the classroom and our daily lives. Every day individuals interact with technology for learning and leisure. In the classroom, this occurs typically using Chromebooks, Smart Boards, and other digital learning tools and applications. I bring technology to the forefront by allowing students to improve their digital technology skills in my classroom and try to incorporate as much meaningful technology as possible.  What is learning? Before thinking about online learning, one must reflect on what learning is. Learning is about understanding and comprehending people, places, and things and why they exist (Bransford et al., 2000). It begins with an individual's question or observation, and the rest becomes the journey of learning that challenges the mind to think outside the box. It is an active process that never stops, no matter how old you are. In and outs...

Over the last two years of teaching, the word data has been a non-stop push in my direction and school districts nationwide. I have worked with my colleagues to determine essential standards that will be taught, tested, and given to all students in that course, no matter the teacher. This fall, our new testing software will increase the conversation about data as it becomes more prominent for teachers and administration. Yet, why is there a continuous push for data? This question is one that I have been still trying to answer, and there is no correct answer. Over time, I have realized how I can use it to help improve my teaching and its purpose. So, how do I use assessment data in my teaching practice?

As I prepared to complete my student teaching during my undergrad, I never thought that a global pandemic would change how I look at education and technology forever. Technology has become a massive part of my daily tasks and routines as I have spent more time teaching in the classroom. Furthermore, I have also learned how technology can transform assessments to check for understanding. Before this unit, I thought of assessment and technology as essential tools that should be utilized together for instruction. Yet, I could have done better at bringing both aspects together as often as I would like. Technology can bring vital 21st-century skills to the learning experience that can create more meaningful learning opportunities. Moving forward, I have reflected on my lessons and begun redesigning them to bring these ideas and aspects from these units together. Yet, I still am interested in utilizing new technology like artificial intelligence (AI). How has AI technology impacted me as an...

As a teacher, I have created countless assessments that have evaluated my students' understanding of the learning objectives. Throughout the design, I developed tests reflecting the lessons, activities, and curriculum. Yet, some assessments could have been better after reflecting on students' scores and the test makeup. So, what was my worst assessment ? After evaluating my assessments, the final exam I gave my students this semester for my United States History was my worst. My colleagues gave me this summative assessment to administer to my students. I looked over the test, and it fit the learning objective of the material I taught. For me, this was different because I had been working on updating the assessments, but as a team, time got the best of us toward the end of the school year. We used a past final exam written before I started working here. Why was this my worst assessment? A sample of my worst assessment Reflecting on this final exam, the questions' design an...

As an educator, I create assessments to evaluate my students' understanding of the material. Throughout the design process, I thin k about the lessons and the activities that have helped students to comprehend the main ideas to demonstrate their knowledge of the content. Reflecting on my tests, I have constantly improved these assessments and continue to find more ways to enhance them for the future. Feudalism Chart. This would be digital for students to fill in. What's my best assessment? Looking at all of the tests I have created, my Feudalism Assessment is my best example of evaluating my student's understanding of the learning objectives. This test consists of multiple-choice questions, a chart, and a written response section. The variety of questions allows for critical thinking and improvement in writing skills. When designing this summative, my focus was to take this assessment that generally would be completed on paper and be able to create this into a digital asse...

What is the role of Assessments? As a second-year teacher, this is something that I ask myself quite often. During my first year of teaching, I had to focus on designing lessons and tests that pushed my students to understand the mat erial. After reflecting on these moments, I have made changes throughout this school year, but there are always ways to improve, especially when it comes to assessments, their use in the classroom, and how they impact the learning process. Assessment Synonyms Image is free to use under Creative Common Licensing. When I think of assessments, I believe they check students’ understanding of the material and uncover their growth in a concept or idea (Shepard, 2000). Tests are the tools teachers use to help gauge where their students are in reaching the learning objectives. This evaluation is vital in the learning process because learning sometimes builds on previous steps. Without a check-in of the learning process, some may not understand the material, as wel...