Continued - Discuss your thoughts regarding the strategies implemented.
Be sure to also post your Farewell Message to Dr. Rivera and your fellow classmates.
.
DUE: Submit your SOE Conference session reflections, if you haven't already. This is the final due date for all submissions.
Dear ED894 Students,
It was a pleasure having all of you as students for the ED894 SOE Conference course. I'm glad that you've learned a great deal regarding assessment, accountability, online learning (i.e. blogging), and so much more!
Congratulations on being official educational bloggers! I applaud you for seeking professional development to empower your students. I encourage you to share the knowledge that you've gained with your fellow colleagues.
On another note, the SOE Conference Chair, Dr. Ferrer, said that she will keep me posted regarding your conference certificates. You may also follow up with her at lourdesferrer@yahoo.com.
If you have diligently kept up with all the course requirements on the specified due dates, you will certainly pass the course with a good grade! I considered those who took the time to communicate with me in a timely manner regarding unforeseen circumstances. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I wish you the very best, and kudos to all of you!
Best regards,
Dr. Rivera
Good morning fellow classmates! This is our last day together and I hope that you continue to read and grow in our profession. If you need my help, don't hesitate to ask.
ReplyDeleteMy data on my practicum is completed and as I reflect on the "Write A Letter To A Friend" task, I can see this exercise being used in all content areas (I used mine in 8th Grade Science Classes). On one hand, I was impressed with the student's work, yet, on the other hand, disappointed that 50% of the students didn't do their best. Which leads me to our SAT10 testing...
Some of our students do not take the SAT10 tests seriously and make patterns on the bubble sheet, some students won't do their best and sleep the test off, and some students stress and try their best. Now, any suggestions on how we can increase the percentage of serious test takers on the SAT10?
Would love to know your ideas and suggestions!
Hi All! Hope everyone survived that long power outage! I attempted to do the letter to a friend, I decided to have them do it on microscopes, but realized that they hadn't actually laid hands on one, so today, I am going to get some microscopes and have my students actually use them. That way when I assign the letter as the assessment, they will be able to do it easier. Also, I decided to assign them a friend from one of my other classes also learning about microscopes because some of the students are level 1 ELLs
ReplyDeleteand I didn't want their classmates teasing or making fun of them. I also wanted to get some cross class and cross grade comaradarie going.
Hafa Adai and Adios fellow classmates.
ReplyDeleteAs I blog for the last time, I would like to say that I have enjoyed reading all the entries.
I completed my reflection paper and I am grateful to have gained new ideas, concepts, and strategies that I can take back to my school and share with my colleagues.
Thank you Dr. Rivera for engaging me through the use of technology.
Good Day Everyone,
ReplyDeleteTo begin, I would like to thank my good friend and colleague, Paul for assisting me in setting up for this course. I had difficulties setting up because I have never had to do assignments online nor blog before. I graduated from UOG in the early 80's and there were no computers (except for typwritters) for student use and no internet service. Time certainly has changed, but, no matter what, I have to go with the today's trend.
As far as the UOG Conference is concerned, I would like to very much thank Dr. Rivera and others who successfully organized the event. The topics were very interesing; I particulary enjoyed Dr. Ellerton and Dr. Kallingal's class. The Research work was definitely enriching and interesting. I have also enjoyed the collaboration during our last meeting in room SOE 203. The strategies and assessments were informative too.
Again, it's a pleasure having you as my classmates; good luck and stay safe.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBuenas,
ReplyDeleteI want to say God Bless you all in all your endeavors--first to our mentors, Drs. Jacqui Cyrus, Dr.Matilda Rivera and Dr. Lourdes Ferrer and all others involved, especially Drs. Underwood and Whippy for their thoughts on the conference topic as it pertains to us on the homefront. Farewell and thank you. I did talk in several of my blogs my sentiments of the conference as a whole so I leave with memorial imprints and a quest to seriously think about the authenticity of my assessments. I do put lots of thought in the future of my ESL learners and sympathize with them since our resources are so limited. But its been good this year, where Ive had more money and do spend a good percentage for them but at the same time need to continue to pinch da pennies. However, I do plan my lessons towards the achievement and set the goal on good student learning outcomes, they will be fine and I can rest knowing I did them a service.
I wanted to get to know some of the new teachers but that can come later and I do look forward to it. I invite all of you to please contact me for any assistance, company or resources. Thank you too for your support. Blessings and Victory to all of you.
It has been my great pleasure to have conversed, consulted, and generally caroused (without alcohol) with the lot of you. There are many strategies that I have taken with me from the class, and I hope that I have at least made you remember my name. I am humbled by the years of experience within this group and hope that I have the staying power like some of you. Great food, great company, great class. I learned things I didn't expect. I made some new acquaintances. I met people I hadn't seen in some time. I now have the motivation to start on my graduate degree. Thank you for all of this. Good luck, everyone. Send me the problem kids. I'll try to send them back as students.
ReplyDeleteFIN
Wow...this is it...first of all I would like to thank Dr. Rivera for exposing me to this "blog" thing and for teaching the course. It was a learning experience, which I truly enjoyed. It wasn't hard after all. I would also like to thank everyone for sharing their thoughts, ideas, insights, etc...on "Assessment and Accountability". The conference was definitely a success! However, I wish more people took advantage of the conference/course. They would've gain a better understanding on the who, what, when, where, and why on "Assessments and Accountability". Goodluck to everyone and may we continue to do the best we can for our students!
ReplyDeletewow, this is the first time I've been home before 5:00 PM in over three weeks I do not know what to do with myself. So I've decided to do my blog before the evening rush hits.
ReplyDeleteI would like to thank Dr. Rivera for making this course possible. Student assessment and accountability is one area needing a lot of improvement in our educational system. If all professional educators understand the value and importance of "authentic" and meaningful assessment then our students will all be better off. As a district, we must move towards building common assessments and responding to our students' needs to master essential skills needed for them to succeed as post-secondary students. I hope this is just the beginning for all of us in developing, implementing, and using data from assessments to hold ourselves accountable to our island's future.
I look forward to meeting up with you all again in other professional development work sessions. It has been a pleasure and honor learning from your experiences.
Take Care
Dr. Rivera,
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about the certificate of attendance that was going to be issued. Are we still going to get the certificate as with the other conference attendees?
Thanks
To start with, I would like to thank Dr. Rivera for a well organized and effective Blogging Site. Thank you also, for making this course possible, and indeed, assessment and accountability are areas in instruction that surely everyone has room for improvement. I've learned so much from everyone's reflections which I now will bring back to my classroom. I truly enjoyed blogging even if at times it took me more than several tries to get through.
ReplyDeleteI completed my practicum today with another "Write a Letter Task". This time, my students actually wanted to write to a real friend. Their letters helped me improved in my delivery and I feel I've done better since it's reflected in their understanding of our topics.
I am also getting better at my questioning strategy as Dr. Ellerton mentioned in her first session and as it appeared in my Literature Review #2. I am now finding that given more thinking time, my students seemed to realize that a more thoughtful answer was required. This longer waiting time after asking a question, encouraged more participation, and my students are more comfortable with giving a wrong answer. In fact, my students are learning not to put their hands up, unless called upon. They're beginning to adjust to my expectation, and that means that every student is expected to be able to answer at any time even if it is an "I don't know."
Like Florence said, it has been a great pleasure working and honor learning from all of you.
Once again, thank you, especially to Dr. Rivera, for if it wasn't for this course in assessment and accountability, I wouldn't have begun to develop proficiency in my strategy of questioning and second thoughts of assessment in the classroom.
I hope to meet you all again in other work sessions.
I believe as an educator we can do more for our students. We can exercise their minds and challenge their skills with real life learning skills. Thus traditional learning concept of textbooks and worksheets are good, we need to stray away and apply real life skills with classroom learning. Overall, my students are challenged and maintain both tradition and real life skills in and out of my classroom.
ReplyDeleteDr. Rivera, I just want to thank you for the opportunity to absorb all the valuable information from the conference. I'm glad that Rose made me take this class or I won't be exercising Dr. Kallingal's five systems.
Great job and course... Thanks again.
What a great class this has been! I'm going to miss you all.
ReplyDeleteJonalyn, is it possible to have Dr. Soe's template? I just found out today that we need to pre-test and post-test our students, using a different instrument from what we used at the beginning of the school year. It's a lengthy grade-by-grade test the department worked on last year. I truly appreciate it. My e-mail is contegriffin@gmail.com. If the file is too large and can't be sent via e-mail, I'm willing to meet you to save it on a drive/cd. Please let me know. I was truly impressed by the your presentation whereby you highlighted its usefulness. I know I'm going to use it.
Thanks and best you all!
Dr. Rivera,
ReplyDeleteSpecial thanks go to you. This was a LARGE class of teachers, administrators, counselors, coordinators--the toughest kind of students! That didn't intimidate you a bit. I learned a lot from the conference, my required journal reading reflections, and blogging. I'm still wondering how you get enough physical and mental stamina to do it all. You are an inspiration!
My very best,
Grace
Thank you Dr. Rivera and classmates for the experience to engage in academic discussion regarding assessment and accountability. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors! Farewell and Adios! And since it's right around the corner anyway, Have a Happy Holiday!
ReplyDeleteGOOD EVENING EVERYONE!
ReplyDeleteAs I reflect on the interesting teaching and assessment practices that were presented, I am now consistently thinking of Dr. Ellerton's emphasis on the importance of providing opportunities for our diverse learners to succeed through multiple perspectives in assessments.I am hoping to integrate this as a practice when teachers share their best practices of assessment in professional learning communities.
ReplyDeleteDr. Rivera, I would like to thank you for the oportunities provided through our class to be mindful of using authentic assessments realistically for our students. By listening to the various presentations in the conference reaffirms the good things that all educators are striving for in improving the learning opportunities for our students to succeed despite the numerous challenges we are confronted with!
I am always appreciative of how good teachers like you are able to instill rigor and relevance in the course and still be aware of the affective needs and learning styles of students!
I look forward to taking more classes with you in the near future to improve my instructional technology skills!
Thank you all for sharing your various perspectives in teaching & assessments. Keep up the good work that you all do!
Good Evening Everyone! Just wanted to blog a little earlier...because lastnight's blackout was a surprise!
ReplyDeleteThank you Dr. Rivera for teachng the Assessment and Accountability Class. I really gained a lot of insights on assessments and accoutability through the conferences (Guest Speakers: Dr. Richard Giardina, Dr. Ellerton, Dr.Nerida Ellerton, Dr. George Kallingal, Dr. Jacqui Cyrus Dr. Lourdes Ferrer, and Dr. Ferrer's Students and other presenters), hand-outs, class presentations, etc. There were so much information to absorb!
I really enjoyed the sighseeing tour around some parts of the island. It was great interacting with guest presenters, who came to Guam for the purpose of presenting and bringing back information back to their island or country. It was my first time riding on a tour bus to go to some of Guam's sightseeing areas.
That's right Jose...We do have problem kids, but at least we try our best to have them improve their behavior and be more focused on academics. Yes, we will try to, "send them back as students!"
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure meeting all of you! I had a good time sharing my point of view of teaching at an Alternative School. Teaching at a Alternative School faces daily challenges, but you have to have the heart, patience, understanding and a lot of modifications in order to try to reach these students that come from different parts of the island!
ReplyDeleteAssessment in research involves a multiple
ReplyDeleteperspectives approach. Here, Ellerton gave her “letter to friend” assignment. In digital
storytelling, I bet those kids loved it. However, most schools lack resources. That is when most
teachers get creative. Annette Payumo gets really creative. It must be hard to motivate those
high school students. Grace Griffin must be great also.
My experiences of BLOGGING! WOW, never really heard of that word, "Blogging" before I took this class. I had a hard time at first...just constantly..typing the blog over and over again. Just getting overly frustrated, but with the help of Jose, Bobbie and my 19 year old son, I was able to feel comfortable blogging. Thank You!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I was able to post early yesterday because if not the power outage would have caused me to miss my posting. It is too bad we are into our last meeting but considering I only thought it was going to be two days long its not too bad. Really, I enjoyed the work, people, and the subject matter was very interesting and I know much more than I did a week ago. I am really impressed with the "write a letter" tool and it seems that many of our used it and were also impressed. Hey is anyone going to the Language Arts conference tomorrow, over 300 people are enrolled! Thanks, all...see ya around.
ReplyDeleteI extended another day for my students to create their books about "Ancient Greece!" Again, the word is "Modification." Yes...giving them that extra time to complete the book and other assignments can let them feel less pressured, so they can focus more efforts on trying to complete their assignments rather than rushing their work and not putting a lot of effort.
ReplyDeleteJust thinking about Dr. Kallingal's presentation on "Educating Today's Children to Face Tomorrow's Challeges." When he mentioned about the top two problems on Guam were..."#1--"Family Violence" and #2--"Criminal Sexual Conduct," I wasn't really surprised.
ReplyDeleteThe students and I usually read information in the Pacific Daily News. After reading the news, we discuss and share our views of why we think that person committed that type of crime. Students get involved because I stress that this is our island and these are the types of things that are happening on Guam.
Hi All,
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to have someone like you Dr. Rivera. You are so calm and collected. Like Grace said, where are you getting your energy with 2 jobs? You have such a genuine personality. If I have to take another class, I’ll take your class in a heartbeat!
I think there is much more to learn if we had more time in this class. It was a very extra ordinary class because we had a great variation of professionals such as counselors, admin, teachers, ESL teacher, SPED teacher, Alternative teacher, program coordinators, Culinary teacher, Librarian and etc.
Keep in touch folks!
You all take care,
Sylvia
I enjoyed this class very much because even after my graduate and post graduate studies, I feel that there is always room to grow. I am now exposed on how to do blogs online. I was able to take applicable strategies that I can share to my school from the two day conference and class presentations. Thank you Dr. Rivera for extending this type of course to both teachers and administrators. Farewell everyone and hope we see each other again perhaps in another awesome course--short but rigorous!
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone! You are all very kind and helpful. You have shared your knowledge and the new things that you have learned. This was another great learning experience. Although I have to admit that I find it very challenging to complete all the requirements for the class. This is the very first class that I have taken with two kids and it was very difficult, particularly when my children got sick during the time of this class. I admire parents who can juggle both school and children at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThe conference was a great source of new found knowledge for me. I really enjoyed listening to all the speakers and presenters. I like finding out the programs that existed in other countries. I am now going to make use of the excel program in my computer, because I really like the quote “To excel or not to excel”. I find such learning experienced to be very useful in my career. I will definitely apply the techniques and methods that I learned.
Farewell to new found friends! Good luck and hope to see you all again! Thank you Dr. Rivera!
Dr. Rivera I would like to say thank you also for setting up the conference for us to attend. I found the information an eye opener. The speakers and the presenters had a lot of usefull information they shared with us.I will use these skills to make sure that my students are getting the best I have to offer them.
ReplyDeleteDr. Rivers I enjoyed your classes and I look forward to taking more classes from you. I also enjoyed the new friends I have made. I am sure we will meet again in another conference or class and I look forward to sharing what we have learned and how it has helped our students.
November 4. I think it’s fair to say that the course has provided me with opportunities to grow professionally. I think what did it for me as far as the conference is concerned was listening to Drs. Ellerton and Kallingal’s lecture and Dr. Guiardina’s speech. The required research work and literary reviews I’ve done have enriched me with solid understanding on assessment and accountability. In the process of doing my research, I’ve found some really interesting teaching and assessment strategies to continue in my classroom. Thank you Dr. Rivera for putting this course together and to my colleagues in the profession, I’ll see you around…..
ReplyDeleteIt has been a wonderful and worthwhile time taking this course with you all. The requirements for obtaining the 3 credits was definitely way more than I expected it to be, but I am happy that I stuck with it because I had the opportunity to gain a wealth of information and meet some really great educators! Thank you all for sharing your knowledge, expertise, and skills. I will definitely apply what I have learned in dealing with my students.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dr. Rivera, for offering such a course! At first I was overwhelmed with the requirements, and almost decided not to continue with it. I am glad that I did because it allowed me to enhance my knowledge and it was a truly great experience! I would certainly do it again!
Kudos to everyone for a job well done! It was nice to meet all of you, and hopefully we'll continue to see and work with one another in prospective course offerings like this. Take care!
Man this is bothering me! It's my third attempt to blog. I thought I got this done already. It was hard enough trying to get in, now I hope this works.
ReplyDeleteI want to thank all the presentors for the opening days. Dr. Giardina, Dr. Ellerton. Then for those who presented in each session that I attended, thank you! I always look for ways to improve myself. Thank you Dr. Rivera for offering this course. It was worth it. I enjoyed the practicum presentations. All the sharing, laughter, and food. I wish it didn't come to an end. Time went by too quickly. Take care everyone. Whew! Got it in on time. Bye!
Hafa Adai, Everyone,
ReplyDeleteThis course as been very worthwhile and informative. Assessment and accountability for our students' academic growth and real-life success, is our main priority as teachers and school leaders. I am very greatful and appreciative for all strategies and information attained from this conference/credit course. It has been a great pleasure meeting and blogging with all of you. Thank you for sharing your professional experiences and bright ideas with me.
Dr. Rivera, thank you for your time and dedication in teaching this course. You are truly a great inspiration to all local educators. If there shall be any future conferences/credit courses offered please inform me. I look forward to continuing education opportunites like this because they keep me abreast with new changes and strategies within our education profession. Good luck to everyone as you continue the school year, and happy holidays.
Vicky’s culinary class provided evidence that students learn and retain more information when various instructional strategies are utilized. The lecture approach did not yield positive assessment results. The group that received different approaches outperformed the group who was only given a lecture.
ReplyDeleteThe class was enjoyable and the blogging was interesting. I hope more opportunities to take classes in conjunction with conferences will occur. I will take with me the assessment strategies provided from the conference and most especially the recommendations from the class.
ReplyDeleteIt has been a pleasure getting to know people in the class. I thank you Dr. Rivera for planning and being the instructor. Please continue to reach out to educators on island. You are impacting the lives of all students on island through your courses. Keep it going!
Wow! I hope I'm not the last one to post my blog for today. First of all, thank you so much Dr. Rivera for being patient, calm and very cool especially with me....To my wonderful classmates it's been a pleasure, I hope to see all of you soon! But before I say goodbye, I would like to update all of you about my practicum. Actually, I just finished cleaning the test documents before posting this blog. My hands and my eyes are hurting, I had to fill in the demographics for the majority of the answer documents. I'm 60% done with it, Tomorrow, I'll be batching the documents and I have to drop it at the PREL office in Hagatna. I would like to thank all the teachers that had been really wonderful in doing this pilot testing. Lastly, to my good friends and my new found friends in this class, you shared a part of you in this class and for that I thank all of you...To Jose see on line tomorrow night, let's play modern warfare!....Job well done everyone!
ReplyDeleteThank you Dr. Rivera for giving everyone the opportunity to learn from you. I actually enjoyed this "blogging" business. Well our journey has ended, however we will all look forward in working with one another sometime in the near future. Thank you everyone for sharing your insights in everything we learned from the conference/course. Congratulations to each and everyone who made the conference successful. Most of all to my fellow colleagues who took the class for the sake of our children's education.
ReplyDeleteDear ED894 Students,
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure having all of you as students for the ED894 SOE Conference course. I'm glad that you've learned a great deal regarding assessment, accountability, online learning (i.e. blogging), and so much more!
Congratulations on being official educational bloggers! I applaud you for seeking professional development to empower your students. I encourage you to share the knowledge that you've gained with your fellow colleagues.
On another note, the SOE Conference Chair, Dr. Ferrer, said that she will keep me posted regarding your conference certificates. You may also follow up with her at lourdesferrer@yahoo.com.
If you have diligently kept up with all the course requirements on the specified due dates, you will certainly pass the course with a good grade! I considered those who took the time to communicate with me in a timely manner regarding unforeseen circumstances. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I wish you the very best, and kudos to all of you!
Best regards,
Dr. Rivera
Dr. Rivera,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to have had the opportunity to attend this course. It was a challenge with the blogging but I learned how and now can teach my colleagues something new since i always seem to be the last to learn anything dealing with technology. Have very little patience for computers.
Will definitely take what i learned to the field, but most of all, I really appreciate the understanding you showed. That is definitely the heart we all must have for being in the education field.
Take care and good luck with educating the future educators for Guam. Good Luck and May God Bless Us All! Thanks again!!!