2.  The roles of teacher and student should have been and always will be ever-changing roles. “Not only do teachers need to possess twenty first century skills of applying knowledge, critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration” (Newman, 2013), they also have to be able to teach these skills to their students effectively. I believe that teachers must provide guidance and a judgment free zone, as well as keep up with the standards of quality education. I am approachable and work very well with my peers and my colleagues and parents of my students will be able to come to me for advice and feel comfortable enough to discuss any issues they may have with me, the classroom or anything that they may be experiencing with their child. The parents will know that I truly care for the well-being and future success of their children.  My teaching expectations for myself are to create intrinsically motivated students. A teacher must positively reinforce behaviors that promote learning and find the best methods to ensure maximum retention of the information presented. As a teacher, I plan to design learning plans designated to teach students using the three ways of learning, visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Students of the same learning styles can be grouped together allowing me to create plans for each of the three style of learning. This allows the reinforcement of collaborative skills and the ability to create plans geared toward each student’s way of learning. Koller looks to online courses as a way of researching how people learn; I find this to be an incredible idea (Koller, 2012). This will ensure that I am aware of the learning situations of my students and that I can provide quality education in ways that will be understood by every child. I value many things in life and as a person I value my family, my health and my happiness the most.

3.  As a parent, I value the upbringing and education received by my child. I want my child to have teachers who will challenge and encourage her to think and use her ideas to learn more. As a teacher I value the help and cooperation of the parents of the students that I teach. Together teacher and parent we can bring up a struggling child to a place where he/she will be able to reach their maximum potential. The collaboration of the parent and teacher is just as important and helpful as student collaboration and peer grading in the classroom. As a learner, I value my ability to read and to continue to learn. If I couldn’t read I feel like I would never learn anything, I take in the entire world through my eyes using words that I see. They create questions and ideas in my mind.  I love to learn and to read books on herbs, nutrition, social ideologies. I feel that continuing to learn will provide me with ways of improving the quality of life for me and my family, ensuring my present and future happiness. I value my persistence to achieve whatever it is that makes me happy in life, I have never given up on anything that seemed to hard or even impossible and I want my students to value their future achievements as much as do. I will create a classroom full of interested, excited students who look forward to the desire to continue to learn and use that knowledge to better their lives and the people around them.

4.  My method of teaching would be one that resembles the model of the flipped classroom. It allows me to effectively use my time and resources. The flipped model is one that I have been using for the majority of my tutoring career; it has proven to be very effective for me. I give my students access to resources online, which will give them the lessons and provide them with examples and step by step explanations. A tutoring session will consists of the homework or what I like to call “Doing The Work”, so I am able to see what and how they are learning, how they think and what is given them the trouble. Determining how students learn is the first step in helping them overcome the obstacles they will face in life. I find that it may take weeks or months to pick up on a student’s strengths and weakness looking from a traditional classroom perspective; here the student does not participate as much in the class because the teacher is speaking the majority of the time. When the roles and classrooms are shifted, students are able to ask questions and engage in conversations, this is crucial for the development and the exercise of their twenty first century skills.  I had to tutor a set of twins and collaboration was a key factor in their individualized education program. I worked with their teacher to set up assignments that required them to work together and eventually they began to help one another even on things that they did not have to work together on. This increased their desire to learn by helping one another. I want students to learn the skills necessary to enhance their quality of life. My students will live my classroom knowing how to live, how to think and how to believe in themselves enough to know that they can learn anything they wish to know and succeed at anything they do. I congratulate the little achievements just as if it were big achievements. I feel that today’s teacher need to provide extreme encouragement and confidence. Students will leave my class knowing how to communicate organize information as well as life’s necessities. They will know how to prioritize and will be prepared to create and fulfill happy successful lives.  An engaging and enriching environment can be created for my students by providing the supportive environment needed to build self confidence and the ability to leave their bad experiences with education behind and embrace the news. Students need to be comfortable enough to ask questions when they need to and just say “I need help, can you help me?”. I have experience with children who have been broken down by society, their parents and their teachers, they needed that inspiration and support to help them grow out of the mindset that they cannot do anything or that they are just incapable of understanding anything and know they actively embrace learning and are ready for the world ahead of them.

5.  Plan Purpose and Philosophy  According to the National Education Teacher Standards, teachers must promote, support and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness (2008). As a teacher I will encourage and guide every student to reach his maximum creative and academic abilities. I will assess and learn how each student thinks and learns. I will try to teach all students in the style that they learn the best; different learning styles require various methods to keep students motivated and successful in the classroom. I will be the person who provides the preparation for the students’ future success and encourage the growth and development of their twenty first century skills. I will also “promote an engaging classroom climate, each student needs to feel comfortable and supported” (Newman 2013). My students will feel comfortable enough to ask questions and engage in discussions with me as well as their classmates.  Implementation Plan  I will first introduce students to class rules, provide assessments for each style of learning and have students complete one for all three. I will have my students produce an initial writing sample about something that they believe so I can see how they think and how well they can express themselves. Students will introduce themselves to one another and complete an icebreaker and work on their first group assignment. I will also require parents to fill out a survey about their child and home life. I need parents to be in engaged as well, but if they are not, I will be able to tell and try to provide more of what I think a student is lacking. Students will be seated in groups based on their learning styles. I will plan and create assignments for each style of learning. Ken Robinson believes that teachers are “education out the creative capacities of students” (2006). I want to be a teacher that promotes creativity, and I believe the first step is taken when I discover the student’s way of learning.  Student Roles and Expectations  Students will be encouraged to follow classroom rules and procedures. They will also learn and adapt to using their classroom time wisely and complete all assignments in a timely manner. I expect my students to engage and encourage other students, ask questions and develop new questions for old ideas. Daniel H. Pink says that “social scientists have found that abstract thinking leads to greater creativity. That means if we care about innovation we need to be more abstract and therefore more distant (2011). I expect students to do well creatively as well as academically, make friends and grow as a student and an individual by altering their ways of thinking.

6.  Teacher Role  My role is to educate and encourage every student, teach each student in the style that they learn the best. Make students aware of their learning style and encourage them to explore other styles of learning to see if collaboration between styles can be achieved. A teacher must properly introduce and implement rules and procedures to ensure that classroom time is not wasted on correcting undesirable behaviors. I will also give positive and negative feedback to students and parents, and encourage their feedback of me, the class or anything else about school that they are concerned about. Robinson says we need to develop student’s creativity as well as their academic ability (2006) and Pink believes that extrinsic motivation in most cases does not work or does harm (2009). I agree with both speakers and will create an environment that will develop students who are intrinsically motivated. I will set high expectations for my student and will not accept failure. The message that teachers communicate to students are important; they affect their self-image and ability to be successful. Conveying positive and high expectations in a classroom and school environment can affect students’ beliefs in themselves (Newman 2013).  Classroom Rules  Rules will be communicated on paper as well as verbally by the students each student will read a rules until all are read and then explain why they feel a rule has been created and what they think would happen if these rules are not followed. Students will be allowed to add to or create a rule. I prefer to use a positive phrasing when addressing rules because it encourages the students to respond to what they can do instead of what they cannot do.  Rules  Listen and follow directions given from the teacher and students appointed to give direction  Raise your hand before speaking and you must ask to leave your seat unless group collaboration is required  Keep hands, feet and your property to yourself. Sharing is not permitted unless the teacher is asked and agrees.  Respect yourself, your class mates and your teacher.  Encourage your fellow students, help when you can and if you need help you ask for help.  Always use appropriate language when addressing your teacher and classmates.  Put back all supplies borrowed from the classroom during class work and activities  Successful days lead to no homework at home, if all class work gets completed for that day, students can go home simply to a reading assignment, movie or activity to complete instead of traditional homework handouts. If no student interruptions deter classroom progression everything that I had planned can be done throughout the school day.

7.  Classroom Procedures  Mornings: Students walk into the classroom in double rows, organized by alphabetical order. Cubbies will also be in alphabetical order to and students must remove all outer wear and place it in the cubbies. Book bags are allowed at their desk for the first five minutes of class then they must also be placed in the cubby. Written assignments due for the day will be collected by the first student on the alphabetical name list and morning assignments will be handed out by the last person on the list. Students will complete the every morning assignment as a group they will go over their answers and address any questions that I may have and then present the assignment as a group.  Before and after lunch: Students line up by the cubbies and we exit and enter class in  End of day: Last assignments are collected or put away for the next day unless instructed to complete at home. Any assignments missed will be handed out to be completed at home. Students leave that class the same way they come in the morning.  Classroom Arrangement  The National Education Teacher Standards require teachers to develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all student to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning and assessing their own progress (2008). Students will enter the classroom seeing vibrant colors of maps, boards and large patterned rugs, inviting them in, encouraging them to want to continue to explore the rest of the room. Cubbies and bookshelves will line two of the walls in primary and secondary colors. Lab space, projectors and computers/laptops will be against the two other walls and taking up at least two corners. The teacher’s workspace will be a circle desk in the center of the classroom with the student’s desk arranged around that center point. I prefer the teacher’s space in the center of the room so that I can be a part of all the action of the class, students will see that I am involved just as much as they should be.

8.  Different School Models  Visiting two different schools and asking the right questions has allowed me to see the school from an administrative point of view as opposed to being a student. Talking to teachers and other school staff, I have come to the conclusion that most schools are not addressing all the issues and standards are being overlooked. Parents and students come into the school under an impression that is for the most part totally false. The schools are willing and able to create intrinsically motivated students, they may not have enough time for every topic or skill, and they may even lack funds and equipment to do everything that they would like to do. However the one thing that these two schools have in common is that they are pressured into “teaching the test” for almost every subject, they are not teaching for the students’ experience of pure learning and understanding; they are teaching them to answer the questions to pass the test.  Jennifer Martinez, Student Teacher at PS 201, in Queens is confused about the way her school is handling state exams and the IEP students. She feels that the teachers in her school are made to “cut corners to meet the standards for testing to take place, forgetting about standards that they are supposed to have for their students’ development and the parents of those students; the students are suffering because they are being pushed along even if they did not pass.” After the No Child Left Behind Act, everyone was under the impression that children who were struggling would get the help they needed to pass and they wouldn’t just get left back, but now they are being pushed through school even when they don’t understand the basic things taught in the previous grade. Jennifer believes that the learning gap sometimes can be more than three grade levels; a child who is that far behind will need a great amount of help and support and there is no time for students like this in schools who are influenced to produce test takers. That student will get good at taking the test and barely passing and still never understand anything that was being taught.

9.  “The preponderance of research on the impact of testing rather than the impact of standards reflects the emerging realization that “standards- based reform” has largely given way to “test-based reform,” a system in which the test rather than the standards communicates expectations and drives practice” (Hamilton, 2008). These high stakes tests greatly influence what teachers and school administrators do and how they decide to meet these test based standards. Students who do not meet these standards are drilled with questions and answers until they manage to show improvement, I do not think that is how we are going to create children who are creative, critically thinking adults who can communicate and work well with each other. The pressure applied by the standards driven by the state exams, make creativity become an after school hobby. Students are not able to think for fun or explore new knowledge, the areas of new knowledge that I plan to explore are in education, technology and marine life. I cannot wait to see the next ten years, I am curious to know what new type of education and technology is going to be developed and what else there is to be discovered in the depths of the ocean.  For my own teaching and learning, I intend to create lesson plans that will engage my students, encourage the use of the 21 st century skills as well as prepare them to take a state exam. I can incorporate video and audio lessons that require a written or oral answer and then have my students grade each other’s multiple choice and short answers. They can also have discussions about their answers and respond with more questions and answers, all of which can be done online and in class. Enhanced choice and competition, in an environment of equitable resource allocation, will fuel the innovation necessary to transform result (Klein, 2012). I will give my students a choice of how they want to complete and present an assignment. They will want to work hard and compete against their classmates for the highest grade and level of understanding. They will not require a large amount of extrinsic motivation, if they require any at all. They will understand that taking a test is just a way to measure your understanding of a specific subject or area of interest and it does not define you as a person. Students lose self-esteem when they fail test and I refuse to continue to let students who fail think that they are incapable of learning. I have high expectations for myself as teacher. The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. I see this being used as a guide so that everyone involved in the students education will know what is being expected of the student and his educators.

10.  My thinking is similar to the thinking of the teachers that I have interviewed, they also agree with Robinson, “we need to develop student’s creativity as well as their academic ability” (2006). Degrees aren’t really worth anything, anymore people spend their whole lives fighting on that ladder of success. We are told that if we do well in school, we will get good jobs and make a lot of money. In today’s society that is not the case, there are people who only have a GED, that make more money than someone who has a Masters degree simply because they learned to do things in the right field at the right time.  We are a part of what Robinson calls “Academic Inflation”, every few years the same job requires a higher amount of education, then the year before to do the same job. Schools need to promote innovations and abnormal thinking so that our students do not continue climbing up the ladder that never ends. According to the National Education Teacher Standards, teachers must promote, support and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness (2008). As a teacher, I will encourage and guide every student to reach their maximum creative and academic abilities. I see that other teachers are trying to lead their classrooms into the 21 st century it is not going to be easy but the education system will see the change that it needs.  I would address the high stakes testing issues in my classroom by having my students take some of pretest at home instead of taking up a whole day of class time to do it. After they take it we can discuss what needs to be done for improvement. I will use the “interest inventory” to create learning plans that will help bring up test scores as well as appeal to the interest of the students. “A teacher may break students into different groups based on their readiness levels, interest, needs, or learning profile” (Newman, 2013). My student groups will have the same information and concept to grasp but will have different paces and learning modalities so that students have the chance to learn in their comfortable intelligence and be challenged by one that they are not so comfortable with. I will not train my students to behave, comply and work in factories as Godin believes is taking place right now (Godin, 2012). I will train my students to have their own minds, thoughts and opinions.

11.  If I were the teacher, I would prioritize the work in the classroom by what needs to be understood first to build a great foundation for my students’ education. I believe that a child with a strong foundation may not understand everything but they will still be able to relate to the information by using what they have already learned. Students need to be able to build upon what they have learned, “the commission found that less than a third of high school students were completing algebra and only 6% completed calculus. Additionally, remedial college math courses had increased by 72% over a 5-year period, signaling the dire predicament of school and the fact that students were not being prepared for post-secondary education” (Newman, 2013).  Ms. Martinez and Ms. Lopez both agree with me, students need help building and maintaining their educational foundation without it they cannot assess what they have learned properly, then they end up in remedial classes because they have been in school for ten years and never understood where to place the decimal. Seth Godin believes that we are taught to hold back a little of ourselves, I believe that students who think that they are dumb hold back from asking questions and for help when they really need it and standardized testing is showing them that they can continue to hold back but just pass so that they can continue on to the next grade.  Technology plays an important role in assisting with my teaching, not only will it engage my students in the lessons I plan but I will have access to many sources of information that will allow me to better prepare my lessons. My students will not be expected to memorize and repeat everything that I have taught them. Seth Godin suggests that “there is zero value worth memorizing anything ever again. Anything worth memorizing is worth looking up.” He also shares that “we should measure experience instead of test scores” and “grades are an illusion.” I want to create lesson plans around experience and hands-on activities so that my student get to really see, feel and believe in what they are learning.

12.  A teacher’s lesson is only as effective as the assessments used. Students need to be challenged and allowed the ability to think for themselves and apply what they have learned to what they are learning.  “The ideal is to challenge your students with higher-level learning objectives, questions and assessments as well as prepare them for growing amounts of high-level questions and problems provided in testing situations” (Newman, 2013).  Newman and other authors suggest that students be assessed on their performance rather than test scores. It will provide a better understanding of the student and the way that they think and learn.  “In a performance assessment, rather than choosing among pre- determine options, students must construct an answer, produce a product, or perform an activity. From this perspective, performance assessment encompasses a very wide range of activities, from completing a sentence with a few words (short answer), to writing a thorough analysis (essay), to conducting and analyzing a laboratory investigation (hands-on)” (Darling-Hammond, L., & Adamson, F., 2010).  Allowing students to provide a constructive response to the question instead of answering a multiple choice question for a test, this allows the teacher to measure students’ cognitive thinking and reasoning skills and their ability to apply knowledge to solve everyday problems, that they may experience.  “Lessons must begin with the end in mind and have a clear objective because an engaging activity does not guarantee students learning” (Newman, 2013).  The teacher must know what they want their students to learn before they can provide activities to teach them.  The learning objectives need to meet educational standards and allow for the growth of 21 st century skills. Students need to have developed learning objectives so they are able to practice all the skills that they have learned and apply them to what they are currently learning.  Good learning objectives help to create the foundation needed to progress successfully in their education.

13.  “This type of planning is a three-stage process that begins with the end in mind” (Newman, 2013)  Stage One: teachers define what they want the students to learn. What are the enduring understandings that students should retain?  Stage Two: focuses on developing a plan to assess when the outcome has been met. How will students demonstrate their understanding when the lesson or unit is complete?  Stage Three: focuses on planning the learning activities in which students will engage. What experiences will students engage in to master the skills and understand the key concepts required on the assessment shape as well as its location  Applying Knowledge: Pairs shapes with everyday items.  Learning Activity  Students are asked to color, trace, draw and connect the dots of three shapes.  What shape is below the triangle?  What shapes is besides the square?  Draw on the back of the page:  A rectangle below a square  A heart above a star and next to a triangle.

14. Traditional ModelBackward Design Approach Select a standard or topic to cover Select a standard or topic to cover and determine the learning outcome Begins with the INPUTS, the learning experiences and activities for students to engage in Begins with the OUTPUTS, the assessments that will be used to determine student success for the outcome Teach the lesson that has been created Develop learning experiences and activities for students to engage in Provide an assessment (usually one that has been provided) Teach the lesson that has been created Determine the results and provide the class with the feedback Assess results using assessments developed in step 2 Begin a new topic to coverProvide class with feedback Reteach topic or begin a new topic

15. Stage 1: Established goals  CCSS.Math.Content.K.G.A.1. Describe objects in the environment using names and shapes and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind and next to. Understandings  Analyze, compare, create and compose shapes. Identify basic shapes in the environment, demonstrates understanding of relative location (above, below, besides, etc.) Essential Questions  How many sides of a triangle, rectangle, square?  How is a circle different from the other shapes?  How would you describe this object?  What are the differences between 2D and 3D shapes? Students Will Know  Relative location, identify shapes in the environment Students Will Be Able To Do  Identify, model and locate shapes in the environment Stage 2: Performance Tasks  Identifies and describes the twelve shapes  Recognizes the shapes in the environment  Creates original art using shapes  Identifies the location of shapes in reference to other shapes Other Evidence  Worksheets, quizzes on name of shape and locations  Group projects finding shapes in our environment and why it is important for that object to be a certain shape? Stage 3: Learning Activities  Technology Used: OERCommons.com, IXL.com, ABCMouse.com, FisherPrice.com accessible by pc, laptop or tablet.  Books to Read: Shapes are all around us, The shape of a Circle, The case of the missing shape.  Things to Create: A Shape Book, Song about Shapes, Develop a Game that requires the use and name of the shapes.

16.  School Improvement and Measuring Educational Quality  “We want assessments to have reliability. In other words, assessments must yield consistent results over time. This is important because using assessments to guide instructional decisions is one of the most significant elements of teaching and ensuring a cycle of continuous improvement” (Newman, 2013). The No Child Left Behind Legislation was supposed to help students who are falling behind academically but its accountability measures have placed unnecessary pressure on the schools, the teachers and the students. Some schools have completely dismissed their curriculum to address the standards provided so that their students will be prepared to take their grade level test at the end of the school year. Imposing high- stakes testing does not allow the teachers to address student needs that fall outside of math and reading. Dr. Stecher mentioned one change he noticed in schools after the legislation was pasted; recess is taken away from students as an attempt to provide more time to reading while many students also continue to suffer from obesity (2011). The lesser of two evils but it is not very effective.  High-stakes tests are summative tests that take the final understanding of the students in that grade level and use them to help future students, but those students who have taken the test do not receive feedback that will help them in the current situations. Teachers are pushed away from formative assessments throughout the year because they are primarily focused on summative assessment, which only occurs once a year. What was supposed to improve education is doing the exact opposite; one test cannot effectively evaluate the knowledge and skill level of every student. Students need multiple formative assessments, especially at the beginning of the school year, this way they will have an accurate understanding of where they fall in their academics and how they can improve. Discovering weaknesses in the beginning of the school year allows the student time to progress towards his academic expectations.

17.  Perspectives  Advocates of summative assessments believe that these assessments are adequate in assessing the academics of students nationwide. “Opponents have argued that the emphasis on high-stakes testing has narrowed the focus of teaching and forced teachers to teach to the test” (Newman, 2013). This author’s statement have shown to be true, teachers have stopped teaching outside of math and reading, students are being denied basic physical activities in school to focus on math and reading so that they can do well on the state test and the school a good report card. This is what is to believe to happen but students are actually struggling more because they are pressured to learn; learning has now become a chore and not an investment. Students need to see their education as an investment in their futures and be actively engaged in what they are learning.  Dr. Stecher uses a doctor’s visit as an analogy to education al assessment (2011), the doctor has to run a serious of test to find out a possible cause of sickness; this is mirrored in education by the use of formative assessments they are used to determine the next steps that need to be taken. If the doctor finds that a patient has a iron deficiency, they may prescribe a vitamin and encourage them eat more lean protein and dark green vegetables; if a teacher finds that a student is having trouble understanding fractions, they can review the basics of division and view and participate in making fractional models. Both are formatively assessed and given feedback to effectively help the problem, usually the doctor will schedule a follow up appointment and the teacher can give a small quiz to check for improvement.

18.  Role of Assessment in the Classroom  “The role of assessment in the classroom is to help students improve and achieve greater success” (Newman, 2013). The teacher as well as the students should be aware of the students’ needs and adapt to allow learning to take place.  Formative assessments like quizzes, surveys and end of lesson questions are used to identify what the student should have learned after the lesson. This information can be reviewed by the student, the teacher or a group of students that can help students who need help.  Summative assessments can be used throughout the year and become formative assessments as well as at the end of the year to help future students. During the school year summative assessments like midterms, essays and projects are used to determine what a student has learned over a unit of lessons. Summative assessments are necessary to evaluate things learned as whole; they become formative assessments, when teachers provide students with feedback from their term papers and projects. This will guide them towards improving their work and grasping a better understanding of the material, even if it does not change their grade. Some formative assessments are provided twice as a second chance for the students, who performed very poorly, to get a better grade.

19.  Both formative and summative assessments have a value in the classroom because they are both needed to collect data, which informs the teacher of their method of instruction and encourages student learning. We want students to be engaged in their learning process and take responsibility for their own learning; this cannot be achieved without the use of formative and summative assessments.  Assessments allow the student to see where they stand in the class, in the state and the nation against other students as well give them the necessary information to improve things that they may not be doing well in at the time of the original assessment. The feedback received from the assessments is beneficial to the students as well as the teachers. “The best feedback is given to the teachers, collect and read the work of the class, then plan and adjust your next lesson to meet student needs”(Rystad, 2013). I believe that teachers should teach to the needs of every student, by providing “multiple checks for understanding” (Wormeli, 2010).  As well as knowing and understanding the expectations, teachers and students need to constantly check the understanding of everything taught and learned. You will not be aware of what you need to learn if you do not know what it is expected of you to learn. Students need to do self checks at the end of every lesson and the teacher needs to provide a rubric for student reflection.

20.  Learning in the Classroom  “Students must be taught the skills they need to be in control of their own ultimate academic success: self-assessment and goal setting, reflection, keeping track of and sharing their learning” (Stiggins, 2006). As a teacher, I need to ensure that students are understanding the information being presented and not simply memorizing things to pass a test. Formative assessments will provide my students with the necessary information needed for improvement. Every lesson given will come with the K, W, L chart, this chart will require the student to think about what they know and understand what they need help with and what they just do not get. The student and the teacher will be aware of the students’ areas of achievement and needed improvement. This form of assessment builds students confidence by allowing them to compare how much they already know to what they do not. When you can see and understand that you have grasped almost everything expected of you, you are more likely to continue striving for success.  Rick Wormeli believes that without descriptive feedback, assessments do not hold much instructional value (2010). I agree with his beliefs because I have experienced this method and I know that it works. Students enjoy learning when they are aware of the objective to be accomplished, their understanding of it and what they can do to improve their chances of success. As a tutor for the NCLB, I used many formative assessments in preparation for the state test; I noticed that students were able to accurately tell me what they feel they need help with as opposed to not knowing and assuming that they need help with everything. My students were very comfortable by the end of the year and were confident that they could do well on the state test because they have done well on over fifty formative assessments and were able to go over things that they did not understand the first time it was taught.

21.  Week Four Assignment “CCSS.Math.Content.K.G.A.1. Describe objects in the environment using names and shapes and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind and next to”. My next steps for developing an assessment are to mimic the expectations provided by Dr. Stecher description of a thriving school. A thriving school is one that produces students who know things, who can do things, who are healthy citizens that can work well with others and who are psychologically resilient (2011).  As a teacher of a thriving school, I need to create assessments that touch on every aspect of a thriving student. My assessment has changed to not only provide the shapes and test knowledge of them, but to incorporate the use of shapes into healthy lifestyles, environmental awareness and psychological resilience. Students will be required to provide a vegetable or fruit for every shape learned; they may even have to look up some which will allow them to learn about different vegetables and fruits in the process of finding one to match their shape.  An assessment that requires students to go outside and find shapes in the environment will let students discover what these things are and what they are used for in society. Incorporating psychological resilience into the learning of shapes is a tricky but can be accomplished; I have decided that the best way to teach students this young about pressures and influences of society is to have them create their own advertisement. They are required to use two or more shapes and try to persuade their classmates why their product or idea is worth mentioning. Each student then can response to another classmate’s idea with a reason why they think their product or idea is not necessary. Students will learn the difference between things that they need and things that they want.

22.  Common Core State Standards Initiative (2012). Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org Common Core State Standards Initiative  Darling-Hammond, L., & Adamson, F. (2010). Beyond basic skills: The role of performance assessment in achieving 21st century standards of learning. Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. Retrieved from https://scale.stanford.edu/system/files/beyond-basic-skills-role- performance-assessment-achieving-21st-century-standards- learning.pdfBeyond basic skills: The role of performance assessment in achieving 21st century standards of learning https://scale.stanford.edu/system/files/beyond-basic-skills-role- performance-assessment-achieving-21st-century-standards- learning.pdf  Hamilton, L. S., Stecher, B. M., & Yuan, K. (2008). Standards- based accountability in the United States: History, research, and future directions. RAND Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reprints/2009/RA ND_RP1384.pdfStandards- based accountability in the United States: History, research, and future directions  International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education teacher standards. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-t- standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2National education teacher standardshttp://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-t- standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2  Klein, J. L. & Rice, C. (2012). U.S. education reform and national security [Independent task force report No. 68]. The Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/united- states/us-education-reform-national-security/p27618U.S. education reform and national securityhttp://www.cfr.org/united- states/us-education-reform-national-security/p27618  Newman, R. (2013). Teaching and learning in the 21st century: Connecting the dots. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.Teaching and learning in the 21st century: Connecting the dots  Pink, D. H. (2011). Daniel H Pink: Employees are faster and more creative when solving other people's problems. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/business- thinking/8527500/Daniel-H-Pink-employees-are-faster-and-more- creative-when-solving-other-peoples-problems.htmlDaniel H Pink: Employees are faster and more creative when solving other people's http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/business- thinking/8527500/Daniel-H-Pink-employees-are-faster-and-more- creative-when-solving-other-peoples-problems.html

23.  Rystad, M. (2013, April 7). Assessment for learning [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcLMlY6R7RMAssessment for learning  Stenhousepublishers. (2010, November 30). Rick Wormeli: Formative and summative assessment [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJxFXjfB_B4Rick Wormeli: Formative and summative assessment  Stiggins, R., & Chappuis, J. (2006). What a difference a word makes a word makes: Assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning helps students succeed. Journal of Staff Development, 27(1), 10-14. Retrieved from http://ati.pearson.com/downloads/What-a-difference-a-word- makes.pdfWhat a difference a word makes a word makes: Assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning helps students succeed  TED. (2006, June). Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creati vity.htmlKen Robinson says schools kill creativity http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creati vity.html  TEDxTalks. (2011, August 14). TEDxSoCal – Dr. Brian Stecher – Cultivating thriving schools [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmYdW871pL4TEDxSoCal – Dr. Brian Stecher – Cultivating thriving schools  TED. (2012, October 17). Stop stealing dreams: Seth Godin at TEDxYouth@BFS [Video file]. Retrieved from http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/STOP-STEALING-DREAMS-Seth- GodinStop stealing dreams: Seth Godin at TEDxYouth@BFS  TED Talks. (2012, August). Daphne Koller: What we’re learning from online education [Video file]. Received from http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning _from_online_education.htmlDaphne Koller: What we’re learning from online education  TEDtalksDirector. (2009, August 25). Dan Pink: The puzzle of motivation [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkrvAUbU9YDan Pink: The puzzle of motivation