The Importance of Feedback

    Throughout education 250, I have learned the importance of feedback. Feedback is a very valuable tool for teachers to use in order to promote student learning and growth. "In recent years, research has confirmed what most teachers already knew: providing students with meaningful feedback can greatly enhance learning and improve student achievement" (Link at bottom) It is very beneficial for a student to receive comments on a task in order to make revisions instead of recieving a final grade. Learning stops when grades are given, whereas feedback gives students a chance to continue to grow. Using feedback in the classroom gives students a chance to learn from their mistakes while also giving them the motivation to improve their final grade. Effective feedback should be given within a reasonable amount of time, and should help students to know how to improve.
     Feedback related directly to the NCTCS, specifically standard four which says "Teachers facilitate learning for their students." Feedback is an important tool for educators to use in order to further a students learning. In my future classroom, I plan to give each student personal feedback for the tasks they complete in order for them to revise their work before their final grade. Using feedback as a source of learning is extremely powerful in helping student become self-regulated learners. By consistently getting teacher feedback, students may learn to evaluate their own work in the same way the teacher does. If students can learn to evaluate themselves without an educators input, they will further their learning to a high degree.

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/tips-providing-students-meaningful-feedback-marianne-stenger

SAMR

       In education 250 we have currently been learning about a technology term called SAMR. This stands for substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition. Unlike TPACK, which I discussed in my previous blog, SAMR does not represent four attributes that are used together. Each letter of SAMR actually represents a different classification of technology use in the classroom starting with little effectiveness and ending with a vast amount of technology use that is extremely effective. Utilizing technology in the classroom in an effective way correlates directly to the NCTCS standard 4 element d which says "Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction. Teachers know when and how to use technology to maximize student learning. Teachers help students use technology to learn content, think critically, solve problems, discern reliability, use information, communicate, innovate, and collaborate." I believe that technology can transform a classroom if implicated in the right way, and can promote student learning to a high degree.
       The first letter of SAMR stands for substitution. Teachers that are within this classification ask themselves "what will I gain by replacing the task with new tech?" This type of teacher may simply replace a paper and pencil assignment with a computer, or a traditional quiz with an online test using an iPad. Although technology may make the task easier, there are no actual learning benefits that are added to the task through technology. The second letter of SAMR stands for augmentation. Teachers that are in this classification ask themselves "Does the tech add new features that improves the task?" These teachers finds new technology that significantly improves the quality of a task, but still does not change the original task that students are expected to do. The third letter of SAMR stands for modification. These teachers ask themselves "Does the task significantly change with the use of tech?" These teachers will use technology to completely change the task at hand, while still implementing the same content knowledge to their students. This classification uses technology to transform and engage one's classroom. The last letter of SAMR stands for redefinition. This is the highest classification, and should be the goal of every teacher. This classification of teachers asks themselves "Does the tech allow for creation of a new task previously unconceivable?" This type of teacher strives to use new technology that can allow students to be innovative and to create new things that may not be common in our world today, while still teaching the same content. If a child is able to create something that he or she has never seen before, they will likely not forget the content that is attached with that creation.
       In my future classroom, I plan to strive for redefinition in my classroom at all times. I know that it is not always easy to include tools that have been previously unconceivable, but I intend to always stay between modification and redefinition. The first two parts of SAMR, substitution and augmentation, simply involve enhancing an already existing task while the last two parts, modification and redefinition, involve completely transforming a task. I hope to always stay on the side of transformation in order to keep my students engaged and excited about learning while also providing the best possible strategies and tools in technology to promote deep understanding. Students today are growing up in a world where technology is all around them. "Properly used, technology will help students acquire the skills they need to survive in a complex, highly technological knowledge-based economy" (Link at bottom). Including technology into my future classroom is one of the many ways I plan to prepare my students for the world outside of education. 

Link: https://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction

TPACK

       Today in education 250 we learned about Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). This is extremely important when considering being a teacher in the future, because without the three attributes of this concept you cannot guarantee student learning to the highest degree. The first element of TPACK stand for Technology. Technology is an important tool to incorporate into education today due to the lifestyle that students today are surrounded by. For example, by the time I am student teaching in 2019, the kindergarteners that walk into my classroom will have been born in 2014. That means that they were born into technology, and have never known a life without technology at their fingertips. These students, by the time they graduate, will all most likely have a career that incorporates technology. "By embracing and integrating technology in the classroom, we are setting our students up for a successful life outside of school" (Link at bottom). Technology can drastically change the atmosphere of a classroom and can help students become more engaged, but it has to be used in the correct way. This refers directly to the NCTCS, specifically standard four which says, "Teachers facilitate learning for their students." Element d of standard four says "Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction. Teachers know when and how to use technology to maximize student learning." Technology should only be used when it promotes learning and can be effective. It should not be added simply for enjoyment or entertainment, and definitely should not be added to replace pedagogy. The second element of TPACK stands for Pedagogy. Pedagogy is how one will teach his or her class, and what strategies will be used to conduct learning. This is essential in education. Without proper teaching techniques and strategies, students will not learn. No matter how well the teacher knows their content, or how much technology is incorporated, pedagogy is necessary for knowledge to be transferred from the teacher to the student. The last element of TPACK is content knowledge. While some may think that content knowledge is simply knowing the content for the grade level one is teaching, this is not enough. Content knowledge refers to differentiating between students and being prepared to teach at the level that each student's learning capabilities are at. This means teachers must know well below their grade level content as well as well beyond their grade level content. If a teacher is not firm in their knowledge of content, then they may easily give students misleading ideas and cause them to have a gap in their knowledge. This could effect a student not only in one's own class, but in future classes as well.
       In my future classroom, I plan to incorporate all elements of the TPACK concept into my teaching. All of the elements of TPACK are extremely important in order to maximize student learning, and I think that without each attribute of TPACK being emphasized in the classroom, student learning will suffer. I plan to incorporate technology wherever I think it will be beneficial as well as utilizing teaching strategies that I will learn through Gardner-Webb's school of education. I also plan to keep my content knowledge up to date, and to know the content for all grades instead of just the grade I am teaching. I want to provide a positive and encouraging learning environment in my classroom where I help all students to grow. TPACK is a major part of creating this environment, and I hope to continue to learn how to enforce these tactics.

Link:http://www.teachhub.com/benefits-technology-classroom