Professional Thank-you

Hi everyone, I just wanted to say thank-you to everyone for all their input and hard work for this class. All of the comments have really helped me in viewing other peoples views and opinions on child related topics. Good luck to everyone on their future classes!!

Child Quote

I love this quote as it's a perfect indication for how one should teach. Often educators can get stuck with direct teach methods that simply just give information to students instead of finding the methods towards teaching them "how" to think. I try to keep this in mind when I'm teaching, and try to be understanding in thoughts that not everyone learns the same way, but it is my job to provide the "how" so that they can be able to use those skills over and over again. It relates back to another famous quote: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish, and you can feed him for a lifetime."

Pros & Cons Of "Labeling"

Pros & Cons of "Labeling"

I believe that the process of assessing children should involve a well-rounded format that enables all aspects of development, and progress to be measured. Unfortunately, in today’s rigorous competitive educational system that is not the case. Now more than ever students are bombarded with demanding testing systems that that really only assess one type of learning, in which the students either know the answer or they don’t there is no other type of opportunities in most cases to show what knowledge they have acquired. A key focus should be on building his confidence and desire to learn. Thus, assessment should focus more on providing information on the learning progress of the child that would allow for better support in the areas of social and emotional welfare of the students. Institutions need to develop courses in such ways that offer students teaching and learning materials, experiences or tasks that can be applied to real world situations. One of the advantages of holistic assessments is that they can be utilized to evaluate various aspects of the leaner. For example portfolio assessments provide a multidimensional perspective of the leaner. Secondly, students are actively involved in the learning process. I believe that if federal and state levels would implement a multidimensional assessment that was designed to take a more nuanced, textured, or rich approach to assessment students would not only benefit in their educational and career phases in life, but educational institutions would see a positive shift in the overall outcome.

         Japan is known for being one of the best education systems in the world. Teachers at all levels of schooling consistently assess their students through teacher-developed tests and other forms of student-based work. Homeroom teachers often spend many years with the same group of students and are involved with their lives outside the classroom, making the assessment process easier, more precise and more accessible to parents. Standardized tests are also used in the where classroom teachers provide summitive tests that fit the structure of each unit and allow students to demonstrate their learning through a variety of modalities that address the learning styles of the students in their classroom. A notable difference is their focus on moral education and "special activities." "Special activities" refer to scheduled weekly time given over to class affairs and to preparing for the school activities and ceremonies that are used to emphasize character development and the importance of group effort and cooperation. Students take school-developed exams at the end of lower secondary and upper secondary schools, both of which have an impact on their placement in the next level of the education system. Admission into senior high schools is extremely competitive, and in addition to entrance examinations, the student’s academic work, behavior and attitude, and record of participation in the community is also taken into account.

References:

Japan Instructional Systems http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/japan