I feel so lucky to be a teacher today with so much technology at my disposal to better support all academic levels of my students. With so much focus on standardized testing, I know that I have to make sure my students will be successful on these tests, but will also develop critical thinking skills and be given opportunities to be creative with topics that interest them. Using data has allowed me to customize my students' learning experiences by providing them with skills at their levels while also giving them choices on how they will learn it.
My district utilizes the Renaissance STAR assessments and Acuity. We take these assessments quarterly and after each test, I dig deep into the test data to look for gaps and to target which students are lacking what skills. From there, I think about ways to address each of my students individually. An effective resource I can use is OpenEd to begin my process of making growth and remediation a personal experience for each student.
Here's how:
OpenED is a K-12 resource library that offers assessments, homework assignments, video games, and lesson plans aligned to common core and most state standards. It offers a great resource library where teachers can search for specific standards then assign to individual or groups of students. The best part? If a student does not master a skill, then OpenEd sends out suggestion activities to help support that skill. This is where students have a choice in their next steps towards mastery, as OpenEd offers a video, game, or another question set.
Make it even MORE PERSONAL! Data is not always based off a test. It also comes from teacher observations as well. I keep track of my students interests and activities. When assigning content from OpenEd, I choose reading passages and activities that I think my students will enjoy learning about.
Students can also keep track of their learning as OpenEd shows students how they performed with a Red-Still Working code, Yellow-Near Mastery, and Green-Mastered. This helps my students understand where they are in mastering a skill on their own.
OpenEd has been very effective in my classroom. Although it does not address a true personalized learning experience, it is a starting point for many teachers who ultimately want to provide for a student-centered environment. It offers so many engaging resources to address the individual needs of my students that data has identifited as problem areas.
OpenEd definitely gives teachers the ability to blend learning with technology and face-to-face instruction in an effective way!
My district utilizes the Renaissance STAR assessments and Acuity. We take these assessments quarterly and after each test, I dig deep into the test data to look for gaps and to target which students are lacking what skills. From there, I think about ways to address each of my students individually. An effective resource I can use is OpenEd to begin my process of making growth and remediation a personal experience for each student.
Here's how:
OpenED is a K-12 resource library that offers assessments, homework assignments, video games, and lesson plans aligned to common core and most state standards. It offers a great resource library where teachers can search for specific standards then assign to individual or groups of students. The best part? If a student does not master a skill, then OpenEd sends out suggestion activities to help support that skill. This is where students have a choice in their next steps towards mastery, as OpenEd offers a video, game, or another question set.
Make it even MORE PERSONAL! Data is not always based off a test. It also comes from teacher observations as well. I keep track of my students interests and activities. When assigning content from OpenEd, I choose reading passages and activities that I think my students will enjoy learning about.
Students can also keep track of their learning as OpenEd shows students how they performed with a Red-Still Working code, Yellow-Near Mastery, and Green-Mastered. This helps my students understand where they are in mastering a skill on their own.
OpenEd has been very effective in my classroom. Although it does not address a true personalized learning experience, it is a starting point for many teachers who ultimately want to provide for a student-centered environment. It offers so many engaging resources to address the individual needs of my students that data has identifited as problem areas.
OpenEd definitely gives teachers the ability to blend learning with technology and face-to-face instruction in an effective way!