EDUCATION STRATEGY

According to Paulson, Paulson and Meyer, (1991, p. 63): "Portfolios offer a way of assessing student learning that is different than traditional methods. Portfolio assessment provides the teacher and students an opportunity to observe students in a broader context: taking risks, developing creative solutions, and learning to make judgments about their own performances." In order for thoughtful evaluation to take place, teachers must have multiple scoring strategies to evaluate students' progress. Criteria for a finished portfolio might include several of the following: Thoughtfulness (including evidence of students' monitoring of their own comprehension, meta-cognitive reflection, and productive habits of mind). Growth and development in relationship to key curriculum expectancies and indicators. Understanding and application of key processes. Completeness, correctness, and appropriateness of products and processes presented in the portfolio. Diversity of entr...

Portfolio assessment is a multi-faceted process characterized by the following recurrent qualities: It is continuous and ongoing, providing both formative (i.e., ongoing) and summative (i.e., culminating) opportunities for monitoring students' progress toward achieving essential outcomes. It is multidimensional, i.e., reflecting a wide variety of artifacts and processes reflecting various aspects of students' learning process(es). It provides for collaborative reflection, including ways for students to reflect about their own thinking processes and meta-cognitive introspection as they monitor their own comprehension, reflect upon their approaches to problem-solving and decision-making, and observe their emerging understanding of subjects and skills. Although approaches to portfolio development may vary, all of the major research and literature on portfolios reinforce the following characteristics: They clearly reflect stated learner outcomes identified in the core or es...

There are many different types of portfolios, each of which can serve one or more specific purposes as part of an overall school or classroom assessment program. The following is a list of the types most often cited in the literature: Documentation Portfolio : This type is also known as the "working" portfolio. Specifically, this approach involves a collection of work over time showing growth and improvement reflecting students' learning of identified outcomes. The documentation portfolio can include everything from brainstorming activities to drafts to finished products. The collection becomes meaningful when specific items are selected out to focus on particular educational experiences or goals. It can include the bet and weakest of student work.   Process Portfolio : This approach documents all facets or phases of the learning process. They are particularly useful in documenting students' overall learning process. It can show how students integrate specific know...

The process of facilitating successful student portfolios can be broken into four steps: Collection Selection Reflection Connection Collection Although the first step, collection, is straight-forward, it is not always an easy step to facilitate successfully. It simply requires students to collect and store all of their work. Three challenges at this step are common. One, most students and many teachers are not accustomed to documenting and saving all class work. Two, there is seldom an obvious place to put the work as it is collected, particularly when artwork or lab work is involved. And three, it is not always obvious how to generate artifacts from things like field trips, community service projects, jobs, and sports. The key skill in this step is to get students accustomed to collecting and documenting whenever possible.. Selection How one facilitates the second step, selection, depends on the kind of portfolio (process or product oriented) and to what degree a teacher stipul...

The four corners teaching strategy can be easily adapted to any grade level and subject. It takes little teacher preparation yet results in motivated, engaged students. The strategy can be designed to take only several minutes of class up to almost an entire session. Memorable and valuable class discussions are often the result of the four corners strategy. Controversial Topics Four corners is a teaching strategy that works well to engage all students in conversations about controversial topics. For example, in a reading class you can ask questions about a character’s actions in a novel. Math students can debate if students should be able to use calculators. For science, students can discuss the use of alternative forms of energy. While in social studies, students can debate the various forms of government. To prepare, write statements in a definitive manner. For example, nuclear energy is a good source of energy. Before class, record the statements on an interactive white board ...

Using a variety of methods to evaluate your teaching strategies will give you better feedback about how to improve your teaching and the course. In addition, students will appreciate the effort you take to include their ideas in the teaching process and to individualize your classroom approach to a particular group of students. Instructions Preparing and Teaching Evaluate the goals you want to impart and the skills you want students to take away from a particular class session as you are developing your lesson plan. Write the goals for the class period on the board at the start of class. This will help you and the students know what to expect and may help you keep the timing of events under control. Check in with yourself every now and then during the class to see if a particular mode of imparting information is working. If it isn't, make a mental note. If you feel comfortable switching gears, try that. If not, make sure to write down your evaluation of the session after c...

Writing is a main component of daily instruction in the primary grades, third through sixth. Teachers should focus on teaching children to write for a specific purpose according to a structured outline. Students will benefit from interactive instruction in which they see the teacher model the correct writing procedures, then guide them in frequent opportunities to practice the concepts they are learning. This method will enable them to become successful, independent writers. Type of Instruction Students in primary grades need to learn the basics of writing. These include structure, style and content. Teachers should emphasize various types of writing such as narrative, descriptive, informative and comparison composition. These formats can be taught in other subject areas. For example, a teacher can demonstrate the method for informative and comparison writing as part of social studies and science classes because of their factual nature. Narrative and descriptive writing can be taug...