5364 - Week 3 Part 1

Week 3 Part 1

In the weeks past we have had some terrific readings and videos to watch, this week is not different. The reading consisted of: 

• “Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning”
• “Center for Applied Special Technology: UDL Book Builder”
• “Center for Applied Special Technology: Model UDL Lessons”
• “Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools”
• “Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works”

In the reading "Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works", the quote that stuck out to me was "we cannot overemphasize the wisdom of using rubrics to provide feedback on student attainment of the objectives set.  Because rubrics provide detailed descriptions, they help teachers meet the classroom recommendation of giving feedback that’s specific to a criterion as opposed to giving a simple grade or score.” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). Makes so much sense. Without the detailed descriptions that are provided by rubrics, a lot of students will be asking a lot more questions that the rubrics could simply answer. Also, students will know exactly what is expected of them and exactly what the grading will look like. Students, especially in the 4th grade, are learning to become more independent and require guidelines to follow. If they have a rubric to which they can refer, they will be able to know where to look, what to do and this enables them to begin to build their independence. I have learned that using rubrics could be a great thing to implement and in the future I think more teachers just may use them, even in lower grades.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 41-58, 217-225.