I <3 My Access

Today in class I was introduced to a program called My Access, and i was surprised by all the incredible things that this program has to offer. It is a great way for assigning homework or for classroom activities. It's also an excellent way for the students to practice and improve in certain areas. I hope that when I become a teacher this program is offered at my school. I plan to teach the 4th or fifth grade so I know that the students will find it easy once they get a hang of it. I enjoyed using the program today as both the teacher and the student because we got an idea of how it works both ways and we got a point of view from a students perspective. Well I liked it, hopefully others did too because it is a really great program and it will definitely come in handy in the future.( well for me it will!)

Homework

I think that homework is a good way to assess students. It's not the best way but I think that there are many accomplishments by giving homework. As a future teacher, I believe that giving homework is very important. However, too much homework will just overwhelm a student, and sometimes it might not even be completed or understood. I was once in Elementary School and I remember crying because I had alot of homework. It sounds silly but it happens. I will give my students homework, but just the right amount. Not too much but not too little. Enough so that I know that they will understand it and of course remember what they did. The only negative thing about homework is that the teacher is not watching his/her students actually do the homework. They might have their parents, a family member or even a friend in the same class or grade do it for them, but the truth comes out sooner or later.

Fairness in Assessment

Well this is just a short story about an experience I had when I felt that the way I was assesed was "not" fair!

During college, as we all know we have finals and midterms. My toughest class was history my freshmen year because during the lectures, I took two whole pages of notes for EACH class, FRONT AND BACK! Anyhow, a few weeks before our final, a student raised her hand and asked the teacher" Are we going to have a review for the final?" and the professor responded (confused)" A review???Well.....what do you think we have been doing the whole semester?" Meaning that ALL of those notes that we took every single class was our so called "review"! Not that I counted the pages or anything like that but they added up to about 150 pages! That night I stood up really late looking through my notebook trying to memorize as much as I could. First of all, it wasn't happening and plus it was HISTORY. Lets just say history and me are not a good match. After a while of skimming through the pages, I just closed my notebook and hoped for the best. Needless to say, when I saw the final in front of me, it seemed as if it was in another language.ha! I received a "D" and so did just about half of the class. My final grade for the class was a C+ though which I managed to live with.

Now I realize that this is a an "assessment no no". How are we supposed to learn this way? It is not fair and nothing is getting accomplished. As much as I hate to say it, I dont remember one thing from that class. I don't think that I learned anything because I was so stressed and worried.