Standard+II

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS for students. Teachers:
 * Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments **
 * a. ** design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
 * b. ** develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
 * c. ** customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
 * d. ** provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching

I assess and evaluate my students using several different formats. Students are typically given a written formal assessment after a lesson or unit to complete. This allows me to see what they have retained and learned throughout the lesson. Prior to some lessons I give my students a pre-assessment so that I am able to see what they already know and what we need to work on. Our new math series encourages the use of checklists and I have recently started to administer those to my students as well. It is very interesting to see what their thoughts are on their own work as they complete a self-reflection checklist. I also like to observe my students as they are working as another form of assessment. It allows me to get an informal look at how they are doing and make a change in the lesson if needed.
 * 1. List ways in which you assess and evaluate student learning.**

I could improve how I assess and evaluate my students by going outside the box and getting away from constantly using the traditional paper and pencil written tests. By using a tool like surverymonkey.com I can gather information from my students and gather results in a more efficient and accurate way. Students would also find it more enjoyable to take an assessment on line. Although I use some self-reflections checklists and pre-assessments now, I would like to use them more often. My students would not only learn more about themselves and their learning but I would be able to create and design more personal and differentiated lessons and better meet their learning needs.
 * 1a. List at least 2 ways in which you could improve how you assess and evaluate student learning.**

Technology plays a very large and important role in monitoring student growth. Most if not all of the assessments and data we gather on students is stored on my computer. I am then able to reference back to the scores and assessments and create graphs to show/document how far a student has come or if a student is falling behind. My students also use technology to record their reading scores each month. They are then able to see for themselves how many more words they read and see their own growth on a graph.
 * 2. List ways in which technology plays a role in helping you and your students monitor student growth and/or achievement.**

One way that I could better utilize technology is to share more of my students results and scores with them through the use of digital tools or graphs. I believe they are more motivated and work harder when they have a visual display that shows their growth. I also think that I could create and use more technology sites to create and administer assessments to my students.
 * 2a. List 2 ways in which you could better utilize technology to assess students.**

**3. List resources that will help you grow in this area.** Using the NETS Standards will be a great resource to help me utilize more technology and grow in this area. I can also use sites such as Equizzer and SurveyMonkey to develop and administer assessments both pre-assessments and post assessments. **

4. Write a summary statement of 1a and 2a above in the form of an action you can take to incorporate digital learning experiences and assessments. Add this statement to the Action Plan ** Using and creating assessments with technology and through technology can be both beneficial to my students and to me as well. My students will be more motivated to succeed and do well if they are taking an assessment that excites them and is easy to use. Using a site such as SurveyMonkey is a great way to achieve this goal. My students will be excited to take their assessment online and will also be excited to see the results online. This will also be helpful to me as it will be a much better use of time and will gather all of the answers in one central location. This will allow me to create better lessons and assessments.