The Spark..
District Professional Development Newsletter Winter 2016
Assessment Literacy and Formative Assessment Training
Day one with Dr. Heflebower focused on making scales efficient so that you can align effective assessments to the scales. Teachers had work time to look at assessments and revise under the guidance of Dr. Heflebower.
Day two focused on using technology for assessment. Dr Herr shared many examples of technology based tools that allow for assessment. Some of the tools shared include:
- Mentimeter
- Kahoot
- Wheel Decide
- Quizziz
- Go Soap Box
- Zaption
- Ed Puzzle
- Various Google Chrome extensions and Google Drive add-ons
The DPDC will be offering two follow-up academies to Dr. Herr's piece of the training. If you attended the training, then the academies will be a great refresher and will go a little further into technology and assessment. If you weren't able to attend, then these academies will be a great introduction to using technology in assessments. Please mark your calendars and sign up for these academies:
- March 15, 2016 - Google Drive Extensions and Add-ons
- April 26, 2016 - Google Forms - Let Google Do the Work for You
Teaching Critical Thinking, Argumentation, and Reasoning Training
Connecting to Art and Science of Teaching - Lesson Segments Assessing Content
- Direct instruction of Content
- Practice and Deepening Content
- Helping Students Generate and Test Hypotheses (Knowledge Application) - Problem Solving Tasks
Argumentation, Reasoning, and Critical Thinking Skills help bridge the gap from practice and Deepening to Helping Students move onto Problem Solving Tasks.
Why teach these skills? Argumentation and Reasoning show up in standards over and over again. Students need these skills to meet the standards' expectations.
Argumentation has changed in the 21st Century due to online forums, social networks, and comment sections of news websites. This type of argumentation doesn't need any research to back the argumentation in order to publish their opinions. Students need to be taught the correct way to get their point across.
If you want to learn more about this topic or review the games related to teaching these skills, then check out the following books that are available in your building's professional development library and are available for check-out.
- Teaching Argumentation - by Julia Simms and Katie Rogers
- Teaching Reasoning - by Julia Simms, Laurel Hecker, and Ming Lee Newcomb
Midwest Educational Technology Conference (METC)
Teachers went to sessions on STEM, Augmented Reality, Google Extensions, Cool Web Tools, Digital Storytelling, Gamifying your Classroom, Formative Assessments and Technology, Maker Spaces, Genius Hour, and more! Look for sharing in your buildings about this awesome learning soon!
Twitter Challenge a Success!
DPDC Spring Academies
DPDC members 2015-16
Ashley Panhorst - Blackhurst - chairperson
Rachel Brown - Monroe - co-chairperson
Chris Hylton - Hardin - advisor
Danielle Tormala - Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction
Carla Johnson - Lewis and Clark
Jon Flaxbart - SCHS
Heather Horstmann - SCW
Tanya Sanchez - Success Campus
Karen Loftus - Jefferson
Lauren Payne - Coverdell
Rebecca Ivie - Harris
Lauren Mertz - Lincoln
Lauren Keebey - Null
Randi Riggins - Instructional Services
Cat Bramstedt - Special Services
Tina Lauer - Technology