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Mod 3

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What about meeting the needs of diverse learners do you feel most confident about?  Less confident?  Explain. I'm confident about meeting the needs of most learners, and less confident when it comes to meeting the needs of those with higher needs. That sounds obvious, and as if it were tautological, but I think there are plenty of teachers out there who really feel called to work with students who are most at-risk or struggling... I don't think I'm one of those teachers, and so working with those students is going to be a challenge for me at first.  This representation of the MTSS model, taken from a Monterey School District webpage , is a very close analogue for my own confidence level with working with different students. I'm pretty confident about the tier 1, who are the majority, less confident about the tier 2, who are at risk, and most concerned about the handful of individuals with the most need for interventions. Who those students are will vary, of cours

Mod 2

1. Was anything regarding this week's content that was surprising or new for you?  Explain.  The detail that assessments should be created first, save only the learning target itself, was surprising. In courses I've taught, I've always just approached the material in order of what I'm planning to teach, and put together the test and review towards the end of the unit. By then I have plenty of formative data to base the final test or project off of. But I was also intrigued by the idea of revising midstream which assessments are formative and which are going to count as summative. Maybe I've just never had a class all do so well on something that I felt that would be fair to them! 2.  What makes creating assessments do challenging? There needs to be a balance of questions across many different levels of Bloom's taxonomy, to allow students to show the full range of their understanding. At the same time, the test has to be adapted for different needs of stud

EDUC 303 Module 1

1. What do you know about yourself as a learner? I've picked up my share of bad habits over the years, but I read and write when I can, and certainly consider myself a lifelong learner (so far). I listen well, though my biases can obscure what I'm hearing. I've been shaped by reading and discussion, and I care deeply about the transmission of great books, as stodgy as that sounds. Language-learning, math, music, and play are all of major importance to me. I'm generally open to new ideas, including more radical ones, but I hold some principles, like nonviolence and the importance of critical thinking, too close to question, ultimately. 2.  What has impacted your life as a learner? All of my friends and family have been at least as important as my classes in school. I've done plenty of school, too, of course. The biggest moments I could recall distinctly are riding the bus to school with friends from my neighborhood, telling stories and jokes and philosophizing