Reflection Paper (3)

Although I am doing some co-teaching at the college in one of the courses

this semester, I will focus on a previous experience, where I have been teaching
in a primary school as a computer substitute teacher because I have been
teaching the students for nearly two months. As well, it was my class, and I was
fully in charged. There is no particular curriculum to use. However, I was given
the learning outcomes that I should cover during the semester. As well, I have
been told that the total grade should be divided as following: 20 for Classroom
Participation, 20 for homework, and 60 for projects. We, as teachers, were given
the freedom to choose the type and quantity of assessments. Unfortunately, the
teacher who was teaching them did not provide me with any grades. The vice
principal told me that I would be responsible for students first semester grades.
Therefore, I have divided each category to subcategories as following:
Classroo

10

Observations during in-class activities.

10

Question and answer activities.

m
participa
tion
2.5 X
Homewor
k

8
week

Homework exercises as review for class discussions.

s
20

20
Projects
10
10

Project 1 I have taught them how to use PowerPoint,

so their project was to create 5 slides about UAE.
Project 2 I have taught them how to use Moviemaker,
so their project was to create a 3-minute movie about
their daily life outside the school.
Test (they had a practical test about PowerPoint with
two questions covers the theory part)
Test (they had a practical test about Moviemaker with
two questions covers the theory part)

This division was very helpful to make a balance between both Summative
and Formative assessments. I have used the Formative assessments to evaluate
students progress continuously and Summative assessments to measure
competency at the end of the unit. Formative assessments were very beneficial
to let students know where they need improvement and for me to check their

understanding of content. Although it was easier to mark the tests, I usually

preferred to give them projects as well. I believe that students liked working on
projects too. For example, it was interesting to see students are very
enthusiastic to create different slides in PowerPoint by applying what they have
learned during the class in addition to what they have figured out by themselves.
However, sometimes I was frustrated, specifically, when I ask students to do the
weekly homework, and only a few students were doing it. I have noticed that the
problem was with the assessment type. Students did not like writing reflections
on what they have learned in the class. Thus, after four weeks, I have changed
the assessment to a worksheet they have to answer. I have added some images
and illustration to the sheet to make it more visual, so students will not get bored
when doing it.
I have tried to link Formative Assessments to Scaffolding. Applying The
Zone of Proximal Development will draw attention to what my students can
accomplish by themselves without any help, and what they can achieve with
appropriate support either by their peers or me. For instance, when introducing
Moviemaker, I started by showing students how I am going to create a short
movie. Then, I have asked them to follow the steps to create their movies. The
final stage was giving them the chance to create a movie by themselves.
Providing constructive feedback from formative assessments was valuable to
promote students learning. They were excited to finish a given task, so I can look
at it and give immediate feedback. They were often taking my comments into
account.
Technology has a great contribution to the teaching and learning process.
Delivering the lesson in the computer lab, where each student will be using a
computer on her own, was one of the main reasons to motivate students to
attend the class on time and stay a few more minutes after the class. Even when
teaching the theory part, I have tried to make it more attractive by using
Multimedia. As well, using the smart board has helped to deliver a more
interactive lesson and engage students. As an Educational Technologist, I was
enjoying using such tools not only to give the lesson but as tools to support both
Formative and Summative assessments. I believe that students were happy to
do their assessments using a computer rather than a pen and paper. Although
using technology was frustrating sometimes, particularly when technology does

not work. For example, I have planned to show students a video from YouTube
about Moviemaker. However, when I went to the school, I have noticed that there
is no Internet connection. It is true that I got frustrated. However, I have used the
whiteboard to draw some pictures illustrating the idea of creating a movie. Then,
I started the practical part on Moviemaker. I was satisfied that I could use this
old technology to engage students in the classroom with the absence of Wi-Fi.