Another Relection on Engrade

*Share what features you liked, disliked, and why:
I really liked that the site was very user friendly. It was not difficult to navigate and to figure out the different tools. I really didn't dislike anything about the site.

* Provide some ideas or features that you think would improve Engrade.com
I have never used any other grading site so I am not sure of any improvement to be made. I personally like the idea of a grade book and pencil but I must say I enjoyed the site a lot

* Tell why you think this software would or would not be useful for classroom teachers.
This software could help a teacher to see the average grade of the assignment for the whole class because the site does the calculations for the teacher instead of performing this manually.

* Tell why students and/or parents would like this online grade book software, or why not.
I like this site for teachers ONLY. I don't think students or parents should be exposed to this site. If parents are concerned they should be able able to communicate with the teacher in order to resolve the concern of the student.

Grading Website

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Engrade

I really enjoyed this assignment and found this very user friendly for teachers to use to put grades on line. I would attempt to use this because i found it very easy to use. I am the type of person that love to write everything down so i can see myself still having a grade book as well.
I do not think I would give my students access to the site. This site would only be for the teacher's use. I feel that children do not need to be worried about grades or how they rank in the class. Children need to be kids and have fun and not be totally stressed about grades unless there is a serious issue. Some children are too competitive at a young age because parents are too hard on them. I want my classroom to be an environment where learning is fun and they will remember the material instead of having to force them to like it!

Authentic Assessment with Electronic Portfolios using Common Software and Web Tools

When reading the article on Authentic assessment, I found the electronic portfolios very interesting. This type of tool could help the students to collect their work, select hyperlinks to highlight different material , reflect on their learning, and share their achievements with others.

The teacher can grade the students on their attempt to use the tool and review their portfolios to provide feedback to the student on the great job they are doing and give tips for them to improve.

The purpose of e-portfolio is an authentic assessment to help the student to focus more on communication. Tool capabilities is to have my students have interaction with the teacher. The students have time to organize and create their assignment and the teacher has the ability to review and provide feedback. Internet access depends on the type of ability you have in your classroom or the student has at home. As the teacher you would need to take a poll of which access each student has. With good Internet access so much more is offered to you, in order for you to complete the tasks as a student and a teacher. I think that teachers that have 5 graders or higher, blogging could be a very beneficial tool but the students need to be willing to dedicate themselves to work hard to blog about topics they are learning about in school. This is for students to explore the Internet and maybe come across a video that pertains to the topic they are learning about. I think this can be a great tool for the up grades but not so much for the lower grades.

While Watching the video on Interactive portfolios by Helen Barrett, I took notes on the different topics the video discussed. First I liked the definition given to the word portfolio which was a purposeful collectible of students work that exhibits the student's effort, progress, and achievement in one or more areas.

I also liked picture about the ISTE- Education Technology Standards for Students, the first one was creativity and innovation. I think creativity is a essential part of teaching. Teachers should encourage students to be creative in all subject matter. #2 is communication and collaboration, this is very important for students to start to collaborate with classmates in order to complete assignments.

Social networking is a very popular topic right now. Everyone is either facbooking, myspacing, or twittering in order to keep in connect with. This helps people to keep in contact with old friends or just for talking to friends and family.

Then the presentation started to move into the advantages and disadvantages of certain technology tools. I will name a couple for the tools I find interesting.

Web2.0
Advantages: shared writing on Google Docs, free bog/ wiki
Disadvantages: may require higher technology competence, not secure sites

Blogging
Advantages: quick and easy, creative learning,
Disadvantages: can not organize attachments, limited attachment

Wiki
Advantages:FREE, page can be edited
Disadvantages:set up own system, does not organize files

Google Docs
Advantages:can be edited and can convert all documents to Microsoft word or a PDF
Disadvantages:fill time high speed and no attachment only hyperlink

This was a very helpful article and now that I have a better understanding of the technology piece I am a little less intimidated. But be taking this course, a lot of stress has been lifted off my shoulders and that's because before students teaching I have been explore to different materials for technology use.

Week 3 Collaborative Project

My group this week did a fabulous job with our collaborative project. We really worked well with each other and split the different roles to even smaller groups to handle certain parts of the material. It was a pleasure to work with Pat on the lesson plan part. She was very easy going and we spent time collaborating and making the power point presentation. Kathleen and Tara did a great job on the history part of the project. Kimberly is the person that put everything together and did a beautiful job at it. She has been a great asset to this group. Her knowledge of the computer and the programs have benefit us greatly. She has been great at answering question I have had on individual assignments. I really feel that this group has demonstrated great work ethic throughout this course. We have all compromised on many situations to make this group function. I am pleased to have been apart of K2TLP!!