Which+Strategies+Will+Provide+Evidence+of+Student+Learning

toc =**Evidence of Student Learning**=

Providing Feedback:
Feedback should be:
 * Corrective in nature
 * Timely
 * Specific to a criterion
 * Sometimes provided by the learner

Word Processing Applications
I am interested to learn more about the track changes and insert features of microsoft word. As I ask students to journal, this could be a great feature to incorporate for my feedback. I am also very interested in the classroom response systems that can be incorporated with the promethean board. I will investigate the [|www.explorelearning.com] site which uses gizmos for a guided tutorial followed up by a short quiz. I also want to explore [|Cut The Knot], [|BrainPOP] and [|BBC Skillswise]. I am not as interested in the communication software such as blogs, wikis, email, video conferencing or IM for classroom use at this time. ~Ann

The //explorelearning// site is a good one. I used it 3 years ago, **__when it was free.__** It also requires shockwave, which as Sara mentioned below, can have trouble on a Mac. - Digital Doverite

I was recently at a conference that integrated technology into math classrooms. Cumberland Valley School District was there and demonstrated how "clickers" or student response systems can be used with Study Island. I think using these clickers would be a more interesting way of covering PSSA style questions daily rather than the "problem of the day's" that we use now. They said the students really enjoy it and there is a lot of information that can be gathered from using the response systems. They are able to track the percentages of each of the anchors since every question is tied to a PSSA anchor. - Sara -

I'm not sure, but I think the "gizmos" at explorelearning.com require "shockwave" which can be problematic for mac users. -Di

The tracked changes on Microsoft Word is a very useful feature when students are writing papers. I plan on using it with more assignments in the future. I like the readability scale, but I think students need to know what those statistics mean before the rely on this feature. [|Flesch Reading Ease Readability Score] | [|Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test]

I require my juniors and seniors to track their changes with each subsequent draft. I used to have to compare and contrast two documents side by side to see what indeed a student revised (took forever). Now, students submit a clean, final copy plus a copy with tracked changes. I can see immediately what they have added, deleted, moved, etc. I can also gauge the quality of their revisions. With seniors, I have them submit drafts electronically so that I can give them feedback via the comments feature. In some cases, I have scored/graded papers using these tools alone. It is significantly faster and clearer than handwriting for providing feedback. I have also used the OpenOffice.org suite, but it is not nearly as powerful. Having heard that SW is considering dropping MS WORD and moving to OpenOffice software, I am concerned. - David

I have used Moodle as a place for students to attach files and then I give them direct feedback to those writing assignments. I intend to take that the next step by using the editing features available in Word to make the comments directly on the documents. I've had professors require that before; it made for an efficient use of Word as a communication tool rather than just a word processor.

In general science, we use short quizzes in Moodle to assess student understanding of the previous night's reading assignment. Moodle gives immediate feedback to each student as soon as they submit their answers. Moodle can also display an item analysis showing the questions most often missed by students. This can be used as a springboard to begin a discussion.

We have also used forum discussions in general science, which allow students to peer-edit the responses to questions posted by the teacher. Generally the students respond well to this sort of collaboration and critique each other's work in an effective manner.

In my precalculus and calculus courses, the students complete a writing assignment for each chapter. It takes a long time to read and correct those papers. I would like to learn how to use Microsoft word to insert comments into students' writing. - Dee

The comments portion of Word is very easy to work. I have used it in my grad classes before. Also, one of the thing my students like about using different websites is they often receive that direct feedback. It will tell them if they are right or wrong and also offer an explanation. Study Island also does this and so that is very helpful for our juniors. - Megan

I think that once I get this Moodle thing worked out I will be able to give students direct feedback to their writing assignments.

I would also like to use Moodle for student assessment, but right now I am looking at it more as an easy way to digitally collect assignments by having students upload their assignments there. It is nice not to have to worry about printing everything and it gives the students (and me) the flexibility to work from home on some assignments. - Zach

David showed me how to use the track changes feature of Word a few weeks ago, but I'm still not quite comfortable with it. It's something that I've been wanting to know how to do for years! I encourage multiple drafts and revisions, and rarely do the students actually revise; they only edit and make minor changes. Obviously quick, direct feedback is the best way to help a student with his or her writing, and this looks like the best and most accessible way for us to do it. --Danielle

I have been using some instant feedback items in my classroom over the past year. I have used ExamView Pro to create online quizzes, and have also found some great web sites that allow my students to check their answers for correctness when completing a formative assessment. I have been trying to find the best way to annotate documents as well, so that I can have students do Talking to the Text in an interactive fashion. I have tried Google Docs, and a few other applications with mixed success. I did however see on the Apple website that when we upgrade to the latest operating system, annotation is possible within Preview. I think that this will be very useful next year, and I hope we have some time to learn Leopard over the summer. --Jim

I have utilized the "general discussion" forum in Moodle to have students read and report on articles of interest from the USA Today and other online periodicals. I have used the “Q&A” forum to have students respond to questions that assess their understanding of a lesson's objectives - formative assessment. Finally, I have used the “quiz / assessment” forum as a means of summative assessment at the conclusion of a unit of study. - Todd Students have the chance to interact with the smartboard in the process of map skills. I used a blank map to have the students label the map and had students direct the student at the board. Each student comes up to the board and I found an internet site that allows the students to interact and point to a country that the site asked to be matched with the proper nation. This enables the students that are not involved to name the capital of each nation pointed to. This has increased the quiz scores - I use the same site before the quiz to review with them.- Neil

**Providing Recognition:**
Recommendations for classroom practice
 * Personalize recognition
 * Use the Pause, Prompt, and Praise strategy
 * Use concrete symbols of recognition

I like the idea of using the class response system to reward the entire class or individuals who attained a certain established benchmark of proficiency. I would use the Microsoft PowerPoint feature to design individual certificates for recognition. I would also use the online certificates and feedback options. Although the web showcases, audio email, and video conferencing sound interesting, I would prefer to first explore the other web features.~Ann

Resource Links:
[|Tracking Changes with Word] [|Turning Point User Guide] [|Turning Point Web Based Tutorials] Wikispaces [|PB Wiki]