Amanda: With standardized tests being taken away next year, I'm looking forward to using technology in the classroom as an informal assessment tool. Students are required to take Earth/Environmental Science and Physical Science for graduation in North Carolina. Can you imagine how much more interesting it would be to post you reflection about something you learned in class rather than completing a worksheet?
One activity I hope to try out would be to ask students to tell me about what they know about the Gulf Oil Spill and write about how they would like government and private companies to respond and/or prevent future accidents. With the Internet at their fingertips, students can watch videos, read news articles, and then form an educated response to the activity. As a teacher, I look foward to reading their thoughts and seeing how they grow academically and professionally as writers.
I think this will help students think independently and come up with solutions - much more than a bubble-in test. I would take your class! How exciting to be able to plan lessons and not "teach" a test.
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