Week+3+Journal

I don't think any of the sample needs assessments are relevant for students. My middle school age students would not even begin to read those. I would like to give my students something more similar to the teacher needs assessment that we were required to fill out. However, it should require much less time and should not time the students out if they do not answer the question. Many of the students need more time to read and understand what the questions are asking.

Our School Fusion website provides us the opportunity to administer surveys to our students. They can easily log on to the website, complete the survey, and we get a report of the results. Our team will create the student needs assessment together and then invite students from each of our classes to participate. Data from this survey will provide us with three levels of information: first, it will inform us about the needs of our individual students; secondly, when we share our information we will discover needs for our building; third, we will share information with the High School grant team and we can discuss needs for our district.

On the topic of constructivism, I thought it was really interesting that this topic came up in an article I read for last week: Reaching the Reluctant Teacher. One of the things it mentioned was that constructivism and student-centered classrooms are not concepts that are welcomed or trusted by all teachers. Often technology is presented assuming that teachers will see the value not only in the technology but in the use of it in student-centered classrooms. I believe that we need to consider each concept independently of one another. A teacher who has masterfully created a student-centered classroom may be leery of upsetting that environment by introducing uncertain technology. Also, certain teachers may be very interested in introducing technology into their teacher directed style of teaching.

As I examine my own classroom, I find a very interesting dilemma. When I introduce topics in what I would consider a student-centered manner, there is little to no technology involved. When I use technology, the lesson is usually teacher driven so that I have control of the technology. I have to find ways that I can integrate technology into my student-centered lessons.