Madison's Blog

What part of deriving a learning target was challenging for you?  What connection does the learning target have with assessment? I thought that taking multiple parts of a standard and breaking it up into multiple learning targets was challenging. It is sometimes hard to not try and combine everything into one big lesson, but I know that it is important to slow everything down so that students gain a better understanding in the end. Learning targets are mainly for the benefit of the student, because when students understand what they are supposed to be learning and where their skills should be by the end of lesson, they are not "flying blind" in their steps in getting to the target. I think that the learning targets are what set students up for assessments, and allows students to understand what they will be assessed on no matter how the assessment is given. 

1.    On a personal level (for example, as a student - in my case, as a parent) how do you feel about standards? Throughout the years I have lots of contradicting opinions about education standards, and with just about everything in the world I believe there are both positives and negatives that go along with them. For the most part, I believe that especially in the education field we need standards to help guide educators and students in the right direction, but I also think that these standards should be a bit more fluid as time continues and as students change. I also do not think they should box in teachers, but regardless they are important in educating our students.  2.  As a future teacher, how do you view content learning standards? I think that content learning standards can be a great help for teachers because they outline what each grade level should be practicing throughout the year. I have looked fairly extensively at the CCSS for English Language...

1.  What do you know about yourself as a learner? I know that as a learner I enjoy structure and visual aids, and if information is scattered or all over the place that I am going to have a hard time collecting my thoughts for assignments.  2.  What has  impacted your life as a learner? When I was a kid I asked a lot of questions, to the point of being annoying. I have realized that as an adult I have an itch for learning, and this was why I did and always will constantly ask questions throughout my life.  3.  What score category did you get on your mindset quiz? My mindset quiz score was 26/30, which means I have a strong growth mindset. 4.  What is the connection between your mindset and your experience as a learner? It makes a lot of sense, because those that want to learn more often have an easier time learning because they enjoy it. I have almost always enjoyed school and learning new things, and will always want to learn more....