Module 2 Reflection

This module has helped me think about using standards, CFQ’s, or formative assessment in the following ways…

Standards are amazing to have.  Without standards, we would not know what to teach!  I think having a set basis for education is a great way to teach, and I will be thankful to have them when I start teaching in a classroom.

I have never known about Curriculum-Framing Questions before this lesson.  I think they are a great way to help shape your lesson.  They keep you on target, and they will be great to use in my future classrooms! 

Essential Questions are great for a classroom.  I love how you have one that you stick to the whole school semester or year.  This helps students understand why you learn a subject.  Essential questions also help students understand how learning a subject relates to the real world.  Even if the students don’t believe that what they are learning is useful, having an essential question causes them to think out of the box and start to understand that all we do relates to life. 

Using Unit Questions in a lesson give students the opportunity to think.  They don’t just go to their text and pick the answer out the answer.  They have to use their high-order thinking skills and come up with what they believe is to be the best answer.  These can also help me, as a teacher, understand how much my students know about a lesson we are beginning. 

Using Content Questions are a great way to help the students learn the actual content.  In order for them to be able to answer the question, they will have had to read through the text or work with that idea in a group or worked with that idea in some way. 

I think having all three of these questions working together is the best way to have students learn the content fully.  They are getting the exact answers, and they have to think critically to figure out more to it.  I definitely plan on using Curriculum-Framing Questions in my classroom.

Formative Assessment is wonderful to assess the student’s learning throughout an entire lesson.   They are also a great way to assess my teaching abilities.  Having formative assessment during a project will allow me to know if I am teaching the material accurately.  Having formative assessment in the form of an Assessment Timeline helps keep us as a class on track.  It helps me know that I am teaching what the students need to learn, and in return, it tells me the students are learning what they need to know.  I think Formative Assessment used with Curriculum-Framing Questions are a great way to conduct any class, whether it be a project or a lesson.  I am thankful to have learned about this style of teaching!