Thank you

I appreciate the wealth of knowledge shared between everyone in the class via our blogs.  Thank you everyone!  Over this course I have saved your sources and learned so much about so many topics and I am extremely appreciative! Best of luck!

 Kara Cashwell,
During this course I had the pleasure of discussing various issues with my colleagues, some we all agreed on and some we were able to politely discuss our opposing views and come to an agreement.  For that reason, the first person that comes to mind that I would like to thank is Kara Cashwell.  I even wrote about how much our week six debate helped me in feeling more secure and assertive with being able to express and explain my beliefs at work, listen to feedback, and be more open to understanding where someone else is coming from.  I appreciate you for sharing your opinion while still being open minded to listening to mine.  I also really enjoyed reading your blog entries and discussion posts!  Wishing you the best on your journey!

Kind Regards,

Sherria Green

Lisa Brownell,

During this course I looked forward to reading your blog.  Your entries are always full of information that I can take with me and utilize in my own research and at work.  You explain everything and support your findings with superb sources, and I am extremely grateful to have gotten to learn from you a second time.  I have also saved (and fallen in love with) your Dr. Seuss quote, "a person is a person no matter how small". Thank you for always making your entries interesting and descriptive, while getting straight to the heart of the discussion quickly.  Wishing you the best on your journey!!

Kind Regards,

Sherria Green

Education, creativity and learning!

       I enjoyed learning about Piaget's view on education and learning, so what better way to end this chapter of my Walden University journey than to use quotes from Jean Piaget.  I will be taking everything I learned from this course along with me as I continue my way through this exciting field. Everyday in my classroom is a refreshing experience and my time at Walden is enhancing every moment.  The deeper I get into this journey the more I am able to assist my colleagues and feel more comfortable leading my class.  Piaget encouraged creativity and letting kids take the time to learn on their own and giving children the tools necessary to aid them in finding out who they are and how they learn.  That belief is what I pride myself on, helping my class learn how to question everything and to think for themselves without being told how to think and accepting everything for face value.        

        I've enjoyed this course and appreciate everything I have learned so far at Walden. Wishing everyone the best of luck as they continue on their journey, hope you enjoyed my blog as much as I have enjoyed reading through yours!

The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered.  All while remaining creative and thirsty for more knowledge. 

-Jean Piaget 

"Play is the answer to how anything new comes about"

-Jean Piaget 

Reference 

Jean Piaget Quotes. (2014). Jean Piaget Quotes (Author of The Psychology of Intelligence). Retrieved June 28, 2014, from http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/12064.Jean_Piaget

Standardized testing

Considering a commitment to viewing young children holistically, in my opinion, should not include standardized testing.   There are children that can recite everything they learned over the course of the year with their eyes closed and hands tied behind their back that get nervous when they are expected to sit in a timed exam knowing their advancement into the next grade depends on their scoring.  It has a negative impact on their anxiety, it can be overwhelming, and stressful to make children take multiple exams on various subjects.  

When I was in high school I went to what was called a "portfolio school".   Where everyone else had to take many regents, outside of math and English, we had to put together a presentation under a rubric created by the school that gave each of us a chance to utilize everything we learned over the course of the year and present it to a board of teachers that were not necessarily the ones we learned from.  That to me was a true assessment of what was learned over the year. I believe that is the type of assessment kids should have to undergo. There were options on how you could present what you learned, it was always fair because you were presenting to teachers that did not know you but knew the material that u needed to know, and it wasn't as stressful because you were showcasing exactly what you knew. As opposed to a three hour long test full of 100 random questions that you might not be comfortable with. 

As I was finding information that would support my opinion I stumbled across ascd.org. The website explained why standardized testing did not measure children holistically. "Recognizing the substantial pressure to sell standardized achievement tests, those who market such tests encounter a difficult dilemma that arises from the considerable curricular diversity in the United States. Because different states often choose somewhat different educational objectives (or, to e fashionable, different content standards), the need exists to build standardized achievement tests that are properly aligned with educators' meaningfully different curricular preferences.  The problem becomes even more exacerbated in states where different counties or school districts can exercise more localized curricular decision making" (www.ascd.org).  How can you measure kids on a whole and everything they've learned over the year with one test when the curriculum varies by school? It simply does not make sense. 

In 1975 the Netherlands created a national curriculum for everyone to follow (http://Eric.ed.gov). Along with Sweden and Germany the educators believe that standardized testing does not always tie into what they teach during the school year. I Originally tried to find more information on St. Kitts and Barbados (my parents islands of origin), but wasn't able to, but I also have family in Europe so that was my next step. Apparently the consensus (of the internet at least) is that only America doesn't seem to understand that the standardized testing of children is ineffective and unfair. 

I loved that my high school gave us the portfolio option. I believe children as young as eight and nine would be able to decide on a project and showcase what they learned over the year and explain it to their educators. Giving them a choice and allowing them to show their strengths allows the educators to witness their weak points and explain them to them and decide if they learned enough over the year. A standardized test doesn't let you know what you messed up on, you just get placed in a percentile.  

References 

1. http://Eric.ed.gov/?id=ED304455

2. www.ascd.org