respond to discussion 5

Respond to discussion 5

100 words per discussion

Felicia

The Instructional video was beneficial; There are so many ways to use excel spreadsheets as a tool in the classroom. The video instructor suggested using it as a check sheet to keep up with student's progress on their homework, classwork, and exit ticket assignments. Our six-grade team leaders have developed an excel spreadsheet check sheet to track students' behavior, attendance, and connections groups, daily. I have created excel spreadsheets to create a phone directory information sheet for my student's parental contacts and jobs my students perform in the classroom, and it's suitable for creating a grade book just in case data is lost. "The core work of a learning team is to analyze student work with the purpose of improving student learning."(Wong and Wong, 2018, pg. 281.) Formative Assessments check sheets are so useful in tracking students learning. The formative Assessments check sheet will help me to understand daily what my students have gained or lost, all together in one place. This assessment sheet is one of the keys to helping improve students learning. Being able to track students on a daily basis is so much better than waiting on a big exam. Being able to see all of this information in one place will allow me to adjust lesson plans as necessary and keep students on task while leading them to a successful learning goal. Assessing and reassessing students' work and using students' results to teach and reteach will lead to positive results. My goal as a teacher is to move from Survival to Mastery. This tool will assist me in this process. I pray that everyone is doing well and having much success. "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11.)

Tisa

The formative check sheet shown to us in the instructional lecture is a tool used to track student learning progress. It is ongoing meaning it can be used everyday during instructional time. This tool does not only track student learning progression but it can also help the teacher improve on their teachings by implementing other tools to help close gaps. This checklist also shows a students strength and weakness while targeting areas that need growth. An example of how I would use this data tracker is by aligning the tracker to my teacher copy. Each section of my intrustruction would live on the columns of each row. For example, DO Now, Guided Practice, Independent Practice, and Exit Ticket. In order to identify on the checklist learning goals and deficiencies, I would give each section a 1, 2, or 3. 1 would indicate my bottom 25, 2 would be my middle bubble and 3 would be mastery. My daily tracker would be visible on the doc cam so that every student can see where he or she are performing. My level 1 students, I tend to pull small groups in the back of the classroom so that they can receive the extra time needed to close gaps and misconceptions. My level 2 and 3 generally work in shoulder partner pairs to close any gaps their. Once we have spent 15 mins working in this order, I send all students back to work independently while monitor student work. I show them the tracker as students grow so that they can see it and continue to be encouraged.  

Jimesha

Students will be motivated to improve their performance by using the Excel formative check sheet.  I can use the check to mark x's for students who have not completed the assignment, -'s for students who are trying but need extra help, and check marks for those who have completed the assignment. If a student knows that he or she will receive daily grades and the teacher pulls out the formative check sheet, then the student knows that the teacher will be examining their work over the course of the day. When it comes to learning deficiencies, mastery, participation, etc., I can identify these. When I pull out the check sheet, I can easily see what students need help with, what they have mastered, and if they have participated any time that day if they look at the check sheet. When students do not participate in class, I can start to ask if they are not having any problems with the lesson, which enables me to catch the problem as soon as possible. By using the formative check sheet on a daily basis, I will be able to keep my students on task by not having to second guess whether they participated or understood the lesson concepts. Students that do not participate in class discussions or involvement can easily be notated without necessarily being lectured in front of the class. With the formative check sheet, the students might not always know what I am watching for that particular day, so they might just need a little extra help. As an alternative to writing students' names down or carrying grade books, I think this is an excellent tool. Additionally, I believe this is a valuable tool to have during parent-teacher conferences because it shows evidence of what the students did each day. 

Kelly

As a former bank accountant, I was excited about the opportunity to create a spreadsheet to help me in the classroom. I may not always excel at classroom management, but I can use a spreadsheet like a boss. I believe using a formative check sheet in my classroom would help me organize student assignments and better track weekly class participation grades. I understand where my students are in their overall mastery of what we are covering most of the time, but this would help me track the students who fall between the cracks and better determine ways to remediate the concepts. Remediation notations could be placed on the checklist as needed. When researching this concept, I read an article on teachthought.com about using checklists in the classroom. They suggested also incorporating student self-checklists to keep the students organized and on task when completing multi-step assignments (2022). I teach fifth-grade ELA and have found that most of my students are incapable of managing and keeping track of their assignments. I'm the mother of an autistic son in the fifth grade with global planning deficiencies, and I assumed my son's problem was isolated due to his autism. I have now found this assumption false. My students' lack of organizational skills and personal responsibility will become a significant issue as they age, and it is a problem that needs to be addressed now. My formative checklist would be used to monitor the completion of daily classroom work, participation in class discussions and group activities, and students' readiness to learn with all materials necessary for the daily tasks. The checklist data could be shared with students individually at the end of each week to give them an accurate idea of what they are doing well and where they need improvement, as well as a way to monitor my classroom participation expectations.