Assistive Technology - Loriana Noriz-Diaz

Part 1:

    My CT has been getting sick recently which means her voice cannot be projected as it normally would be for the class to hear. Rather than yelling and hurting her voice even more, my CT has microphones that hang like a necklace; however, I have seen different types of microphone such as a headset being used by the special's teachers to project their voice. My CT's microphone is connected to the classroom speaker so the whole class can hear everything. I haven't seen this kind of assisted technology in other schools in order to take care of teachers when they need support. It's a small technology tool that helped my CT not strain herself and the students still get the projected and clear voice to listen during lessons. When my CT used it, she was reading the test questions to the students so it was very important every student could hear her read the questions, if they needed it. I consider this mid-tech as it does take microphone technology and knowledge to use, but it is easy to use and accessible to all teachers. 

Part 2: 

    One misconception I had about assistive technology that changed after this lesson is that assistive technology can be used for any students, even if they don't have an IEP or 504 plan. I never realized how technology around us is assistive such as our phone alarms, smart watches, or audio books. Technology was made to help students and teachers in education by making the impossible a possible goal to reach, such as communication AAC devices for students who can't verbally communicate or using a graphic organizer in a lesson plan. I didn't think that assistive technology can be used at a low level of pencil grips, so I'm glad my view changed as I'm more aware of how supported teachers are in any kind of technology support. 

    One assistive technology tool I would realistically use in my first year of teaching is a structured note template or form for the students to follow along while learning how to take notes. This kind of assistive technology is in the low-tech category that can be used for any students. It's a form of assistance that doesn't need to be targeted towards a specific student and can be adapted to the different lessons. A note template guides the students towards the information they should be taking in and how they could remember the information given to them. A low-tech categorized assistive technology is used daily without realization, so I would implement a note template in my first year in order to guide me in how the students learn best and give options for the students on how to retain information. It's a simple support item that doesn't need to be for a specific student, but open to all students. 

Creating My Own Rubric - Loriana Noriz-Diaz

1. Explain your calibration check
    I decided to edit the presentation criteria to have specific examples of what will get you a proficient, emerging, beginning, or not completed score. I don't want students to get confused about the way they should be presenting or shouldn't be presenting. I think it was vague on how students should act when they are presenting, especially with how the students may not be used to giving a presentation. I listed how they should read their presentation, what voice they should have, and the eye contact they should have.

2. Where might bias or interpretation still enter your grading process?
    I still believe the presentation and teamwork categories can be subjective to how the students believe they are presenting themselves. The students may believe they are performing at a proficient level when me (or their team mates) might believe they are a beginning level. These two categories seem very subjective to how others perceive the student and can be argued. I still find it important to pay attention to presentations at the grade level I set the rubric at, but I would give them a chance to talk with me if they feel their scores aren’t correct. 

3. Creativity vs Structure: Did your rubric risk limiting student creativity? Why or why not?
    I do believe I could limit my students by forcing them to include a certain amount of vocabulary words. The students may only want to fill the criteria of included content we learned as I am giving a quota to fill for full points. I do want the students to include what we have learned in order to assess them, but my goal isn’t to make it only vocabulary as I could’ve just given them a test. My goal is to have them be creative with the knowledge they know into their presentation, but it may do the opposite. 

4. Practical Reality: Would you realistically use this rubric in your practicum/methods classroom? Why or why not?
    I would not use this in the classroom as it isn’t specific enough to every assignment the students may do. I believe a good rubric could be used for anyone's assignment, but this rubric is for group assignments. I also believe it is too subjective and I would consult my cooperating teacher to get more eyes for the rubric. 

5. Technology: Did the tool you chose make assessment easier, harder, or simply different?
    The rubric maker tool did make the process easier as it gave me a template to base my own decisions on how the students should be assessed in the boxes. I didn’t have to split the score numbers for each category, where I could’ve made a math mistake to where the scores were all wrong. The rubric maker also made it easy to make quick edits without redoing every single rubric. 

Exploring Digital Tools (Padlet) - Loriana Noriz-Diaz

1. Give a general overview of your activity (include a link, QR code, screen shot, or access code)

My Padlet Discussion Board


2. Where would this activity fit into a lesson? (Before instruction, during, after, review, exit ticket, etc.)

I would put the Padlet discussion board before a lesson on how to compare or use fractions in real word problems. I want to gauge what the students see as fractions or how they use them without even knowing. Students are seeing different ideas or examples everywhere, so I want to know where they are starting in order to build off math they see at home to make the transition the lesson easier. I may also use this as a starter and an exit ticket (or cool down) after they have learned about fractions. This gives me and the students a way to see how their thinking was and how we built off their understanding. Everyone can see how ideas are constantly growing with new information given with Padlet being an outlet to put everything on.


3. Why did you choose this tool for this purpose? (What does it do better than a paper-based or non-tech option?)

Padlet gave the students more free range to see other students on ideas at their own pace and have a connection button to their peers ideas. I wanted the students to visually see how their ideas have similar themes or seeing different ideas they would've never thought of. On the discussion board, they are connecting in terms of fractions which is heavily visuals orientated. The students would be able to add picture and videos to support their answers if needed, which could benefit the fraction lesson on the Padlet. This discussion could be verbal or paper base, but I believe Padlet gives better options to visually show different layouts or options for the students to look at, such as picture, videos, or the connection layout.


4. How does this support student learning or engagement? (Reference something you've seen or experience in your field hours if possible)

Students are afraid to participate even when they have a good comment or answer, so Padlet gives them the anonymous nature and free range to speak their thoughts and interact with their classmates. With math there is a fear of being wrong, so the students have a low bar with a discussion based platform where there is no wrong or right answer. In my math methods placement, I see students afraid to speak or share their correct answer, so giving them an option to participate anonymously could slowly build their confidence to not need prompting to share their ideas or answers in class.