Round Two

Round Two

Here we are for week two of EDUC 410 adventures, and I’m your host William Alspaugh. This week was a tough one for me as we are starting another school year full throttle. The rigors of being a full-time employee for ISS and a full-time student, have caught up to me at the tail end of the week, but I will endure. Speaking of enduring, when it comes to the laws that govern assessment and education, there have been a ton of civil public laws passed. As the focus of our studies this week, I’ve been digging and digging all throughout Google and every online site possible, that has been verified, to delve into the laws governing assessment. To my surprise, and utter lack of memory, I realized that most of the policies and laws that are applicable to assessment and even education are mostly at the state level, #The10^thamendment. With federal laws,” what’s old is new again,” as the new Every Student Succeeds Act(ESSA) is really a rebirth of the previous Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA); with some major focus equality, gap closure, and accountability. The beautiful state of North Carolina is responsible for making sure that it’s students, be it preschool to doctoral programs, excel and achieve two great levels that are satisfactory to what the federal government and world are looking for. Basically, the NCTC Standards that we constantly referred to and embed in our minds are small summaries of the expectations that the state has based on the laws and policies the legislation came up with. To get more in depth with my local area, adding some outside research and talk to one of the testing coordinator’s in the central office area. She was able to provide me with some information that startled me. For the County for which I work, their focus is to be as close to the state laws and policies as possible therefore they really don't have specific direct individual laws, but policy implementations that reflect state General Statues. Now I'm still doing research to find out if she was factually correct with her statement. I am seeing through researching the ISS Board Polices that there are many governing principles but only redirections to NC G.S. When it comes pure assessment, the code of ethics must be at the forefront and always on your mind.

So, what does all this mean now and for the future? If I’m not mistaken him, as I said before the Teacher Candidate Standards direct us to make sure that we are being affective in following the code of ethics and state guidelines to ensure we are properly testing a student and providing them with the best overall education that we can. At the reduce some of the laws and statues myself, I can see where we may have dropped the ball as a country at times. By not accommodating to the needs of the students or seeing students as individuals and not generalizing every option or path to success. I want to say I can ashore my students and future parents that I will strive to make sure I don’t get that; however, I am going to have to make sure I still stay within the guidelines that the county, state, and even federal government provide.

Before I depart, I wanted to bring up the interview that we all studied this week. Mr. Grant Wiggins, an expert in assessment, brought to life some of the most intriguing view points in his view of assessment. What stuck out for me the most was his statement about “backward design.” It connected for me some of the processes I’ve seen other educators follow when it comes to teaching and assessment. In the future, I want to make sure I “begin with the end in mind,” in any of the processes I do when I comes to the assessing of my students and striving with them in success. Knowing how the end it should work will make it easier for me to possibly teach the subject matter and know that they understand because they will discover the finished product. The previous page before the interview provided here, https://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide-importance, had a section “When assessment works best, it does the follow.” This is a great follow-up to what Mr. Wiggins were saying and how we need to really evaluate our sales when it comes to assessment and helping students achieve the standards that they have set before him. If no one else chooses to take up this charge, rest assured I will give my best to accomplish the task. My students deserve it, their parents deserve it, the world deserves it, and I want to achieve it.

All right, until next time……

Always learning, Always Growing;

William B. A. Alspaugh  

And It Begins

And It Beings

Late August has arrived and it is a new school year. Not just for myself at Gardner Webb University, but also Statesville/Iredell County Schools, which includes my beloved East Iredell Elementary. Each academic year I enter with a refreshed mind. The trend is to set a high bar for myself, even though I have a very active life outside of both schools. A 4.0 semester is always the expectation and has happened a few times in my life. But as I’ve learned as a teacher assistant, you must set wildly imaginative goals each year for what you expect to happen. You must also set goals based off your previous work and make them achievable with steps. The goal for the 2017/18 academic year is to reach the level of accomplished or distinguished in all area within my job description. With this being a yearly part of my life academically, I can see how it would be one of the best practices I can use in my future classroom with my students. If you look at the North Carolina Teacher Candidate Standards, the first standard states teachers must demonstrate leadership. By making sure that I set goals for myself yearly, I should be able to instill a similar process in my students. To have a sense of achievement for themselves in the classroom but also in their current and future lives outside of academia. If I'm not mistaken the 21st-century mandate is calling for students to be built for success academically but also in the world abroad. “Begin with the end in mind,” as my Seven Habits training rings in my head now.

This week is also brought in a new learning path for myself. For the 2017/18 year we embark on implementing more blended learning within our school. Over the last few days we have sat in many a meeting, sometimes grasping immediately and other times feeling bewildered and lost in the jungle. It is a stark reminder of how some of my first-graders feel every year; when it comes to counting to 100 and then going past 100 the first couple of days, LOL. These new practices that are being installed within our school, will help to make sure that learning is facilitated properly, make lessons diversified for all the learners we reach, and give the potential for adequate growth for all. Like we were discussing with Dr. Clark this week, it’s exactly a tie-in to standards I-V we have as potential candidates. Well, this is the first of many post I will be doing this semester. I hope not to bore your patience but to enlighten you to all the connections that I encounter in the classroom and for my future classroom. Until next time my friends.

Always learning, Always Growing;

William B. A. Alspaugh