Twitter the classroom tool never thought of

Over the last few weeks we have had to start a Twitter account and follow others that may help us in our teaching career.  I will be the first to admit that I was very hesitant in this activity.  I have had a twitter account in the past and I did not enjoy using it so I stopped using it years ago.  With this new opportunity of using Twitter I have learned that there are a lot of good things that can come out of it.  I do like the idea that you can network with other people in your field without actually having to go to a networking get together.  Of course, there are news outlets to keep you up to date with current affairs.  This is important because you continually put current events into your lessons in the classroom.  I also saw where teachers and administrations were using Twitter as like a bulletin board.  A place they can make an announcement about the school and/or district and the students and parents know what is going on in the school district.  I do like the idea of using Twitter to make announcements or even letting parents know what is going on in a teacher’s classroom. 

At the beginning of class I was very negative about the idea of having Twitter and using it.  But after the past few weeks I have decided to have an open mind and continue to use Twitter.  I will keep tabs of some of the networking followings, but I think the biggest use I will have for Twitter would be to keep parents in contact of what we are doing in the classroom.  I think this is where I will get the most use of it.  The use of Twitter in this class is just one example of me using new tools in the classroom that I never thought I would have in the past.

Week 5 - Google the helpful Classroom Aide

This week we read quite a bit about Google classroom.  I never realized how much that Google Classroom can do.  I have had basic knowledge of classroom and seen the use of it while subbing.  It wasn’t until this class and reading the resources did, I realize what all Classroom can do.  I also was interested how Google Classroom can make the life of the teacher simpler.  I originally only thought teachers could just put assignments on Classroom.  And when I say this, I meant I thought it was just an assignment book type of app.  Never knew the students could do the assignments and turn them in.  The idea of teachers starting a discussion with students on Classroom.  I like this idea because it will help all students to be involve with the discussion and not be shy to raise his or her hand while in class.  Plus, it helps the teacher know which students may or may not know the information that is being taught.  The other activity I didn’t know until I saw it in an actual classroom was the teacher being able to make quizzes for students.  I just didn’t know how much you can do with the quizzes until reading about Google Classroom this week.  I like that a teacher can give instant feedback to the quiz for each student.  That will let the students how they did right away.  Also, the idea that the teacher can set it up so the teacher and students can see how many students answered the question correctly and which answers were chosen by the students. 

I like how Google Classroom can make the life of the teacher easier.  The first thing that makes things easy is the idea that the teacher can reuse material each year because it is saved on the Google drive.  It also helps the teacher to save time and paper because there is no need for the teacher to copy worksheets for assignments and quizzes.  It also allows teachers to manage multiple classes with ease.  It keeps teachers, students, and classes well organized.  It also allows teachers to help out struggling students by assigning individual students separate assignment. 

There are so many new tools for teachers today.  I feel Google Classroom is one that is very significant for many reasons.  One is that is easy to set up and use.  It helps teachers stay up to date on current education trends because Google keeps updating Classroom whenever it is necessary.  It allows teachers to keep guardians in constant with the students’ education.

Week 4 - All or none of the above.

This week there were a few readings that stuck out to me, but the most important was the readings about multiple choice testing.  My whole life taking tests I just assumed it was a simple process to make a multiple-choice test.  After some personal experiences and reading this week’s resources I have realized it is more difficult then I ever thought.  While reading the resource Writing Multiple-Choice Test Items, I could not believe that it a very detailed process that making a multiple-choice test could be.  The one step that I feel I had a good handle on was the writing of the stem or question.  A few years ago, I was covering the maternity leave for a high school English teacher.  During that time, I had to develop a few tests.  That was the first time I realized how difficult making a test actually was.  The first part that I found hard was figuring out what items I was going to test on and how to ask the questions.  I found myself asking many questions in one section and not many from others.  I made several mistakes while making up questions that are discussed in the reading.   One mistake I made more often then I realized was the use of negatives in the question.  It was an easy error to make when having trouble making questions.  I also would put clues in the question that would give the answers to the students.    When it came to doing the options or answer there were many things I did incorrectly.  The one that I did commit, but did not realize was a bad thing was what I read from the reading 10 Rules for Writing Multiple Choice Test Items.  That rule was to keep all answer choices the same length.  I remember many a few times I would have different length answers.  Length of answers can be a hint towards answers.  Often the longest answer choice is the correct answer.  One last tip I never thought of was options of “all the above”, “a and c”, or “none of above”.  I rarely used these types of options, but did not know that they were that bad to use.

I never realized there are so many different rules and tips when it comes to multiple-choice tests.  I wish I would have known these rules when I was making up my tests.  It would definitely would have made it easier for me.  It is amazing all the rules and tips there are to making these tests.  I always thought as a student that they were easy tests to come with compared to short answer questions.  It was not until I had to make one up that I learned that it is more difficult then most people think.