I have no TV

Yes, I will admit, I did not switch to digital! Oh the horror! All I can watch is the incessant media messages urging me to immediately call, run, check, install, just hurry before you miss the latest scandal on "Real Housewives of New Jersey" or the breaking news on how many cigarettes Obama smokes a day. Have I been missing the world? I must admit, at times, it feels just like that. So I am ready to admit: I am a T.V addict.

Without television there is strange quiet in my home; I do not have the option of the "Power" button, but instead have the power to choose what I will do. I will finish that Rasputin Biography, check on the little herb garden, write, try to teach myself "To Elise" by Beethoven. But I must hurry, the cable man is coming soon, and I may not have enough time.

My Super Hero

I got this cite from my former professor. http://plethoratech.blogspot.com/.

He suggested this as a pre or post-writing activity for elementary stduents. I'm not sure if this is an effective exercise, but I think this would be great for younger students or those who need that extra motivation to use their imagination.

This could be a great picture prompt to prepare students for the HSPA. After all, that is why we are here.

Here is what I came up with. I am getting ready to pen my first adventure.

http://www.cpbintegrated.com/theherofactory/

Final Project Google Page Link

http://sites.google.com/site/curr530finalprojectvayda/

Here is my final project! It has been a pleasure being a part of this class!

Graduation 2009 Speech

Dear Graduates, Faculty, Families, Board of Education Members and Mr. Mayor,

I would like to welcome you all on this warm June evening as we celebrate the 2009 Commencement.

In Ukraine, where I grew up, on graduation night the school bell would ring one last time during the commencement ceremony. Although students heard this bell daily warning them to go to class, go to lunch, move to the next class, or go home, this final time the bell would wail a somber farewell. So when I walked through the hallways of BHS on the last day of finals, as the remaining few students jolted out of the building, and the loose leaf notes, old textbooks, forgotten sweatshirts littered the floor, I couldn’t help but wonder what these halls have seen?


They have seen you as shy and timid freshmen enter the building with massive book-bags shuffling quickly from class to class. They have seen you come back as sophomores with a few mistakes made, a few lessons learned. As juniors these hallways witnessed you peaking into the world that awaited, filled with due dates, responsibilities, hurt, love, awareness, compassion, forgiveness, and of course tests, on paper and in life. Finally, your last year as you confidently strolled the halls of your school, they looked back on you with a familiar admiration. Everyday they heard of your future destinations: Berkley, MIT, Delaware, Rutgers, Montclair, Marines, and many others. They have watched you grow, mature, and now leave the comfort of their watch to carve your own path. We will all remember you, what will you take away from BHS?


Perhaps you will not remember that quadratic equation, or the 21 comma rules, or the atomic number for plutonium. What you will remember are the friends, teachers, teammates, coaches, guidance counselors, and anyone who has shaped you in any way through these four years. Take with you the academic knowledge you have acquired, the ability to think, solve problems, and communicate, ability to be kind, compassionate, and accepting of others.


All this you will need to enter the ever-changing 21st century world, where LOL replaces real laughter, where you can break up on a text message and where you are likely to never physically write and send a letter in the mail. While some of you will be businessmen, doctors, lawyers, engineers, artists, scientists, teachers, there are graduates in this crowd who will become search engine optimizers, green architects, or anti-hacking security specialists. You are the generation that will lead our world. As president Obama put it, “If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress.”


Whatever path you chose, remember the hallways of BHS and the last bell sending you off on an endless adventure we call life.

Congratulations and best of luck in your bright future!

My Avatar!

Although it looks like I have one eye, I guess this is pretty close. I am also missing a waste and elbow joints! That was fun!

What a Difference a Word Makes: Review

Stiggens, R., & Chappuis, J. (2006). What a difference a word makes: Assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning helps students succeed. Journal for Staff Development, National Staff Development Council, Vol.27, NO.1.

Reading this article brought forward a realization of how little I think about assessment in the classroom. I have devoted much time reflecting on the current state of education, specifically, the outdated Language Arts Curriculum, 21st century skills, or restrictive NCLB laws. Conversely, assesment has not been a major element of reflection.
In sum, the article encourages "assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning"(Stiggens and Chappuis, 2006). One aspect of the article that I found myself agreeing with is getting students involved in the assessment process. The authors of the article encourage students and their teachers to become "partners in the classroom assessments process, relying on students-involved assessmetn, record-keeping, and communication to help students understand what success looks like, see where they are now, and learn to close the gap between the two."(Stiggens and Chappuis, 2006). In my own classroom, students keep a grade sheet where they figure out their grades and keep track of their progress throughout the year. I find that keeping grades a secret from students until the end of a marking period is unecessary and somewhat elitist.

In addition to students' involvement in assessment, Stiggens and Chappuis mention four other essential aspects of successful assessment: clear purposes, clear targets, sound design, and effective communication. Most of the objectives for effective assessment are fairly obvious and what I believe effective teachers currently practice.

In Language Arts, majority of assessment includes writing samples which are incredibly time consuming to assess and grade. So when the article suggested that teachers "must figure out ways to comment on the quality of students' work and then schedule time for students to act on that feedback before being graded" (Stiggens and Chappuis, 2006), I was taken back. I was sure the next suggestion was for teachers to grow another pair of hands and an extra brain, yet the authors conceeded that it would be difficult to accomodate such practices on a regular basis. Unfortunately, this is old news. I learned to write by following my teacher's criticism and correcting my mistakes. Although I try to give my students the same opportunity, I agree that in addition to the myriad of tasks that already fill up the teaching day, this would be difficult to accomplish.

Furthermore, the article suggests use of learning teams where teachers can experiment with different types of assessment and collaborate with other collegues to improve teaching practices. I have always been a proponent of peer coaching and believe that peer collaboration is an integral part of professional development.

Although the article did not contain anything groundbreaking, the authors neverthelss agree that "if we don't begin this dialogue, this study of assessment for learning, we are relegating assessment to its accountability role and passing up its potential benefits to students." (Stiggens and Chapuis, 2006). While we have little power to change standardized testing imposed by law, inside our classrooms we can certainly maximize student acheivement through clear and effective assessment.

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