@jhezjc

With the current situation that our county and the rest of the world are facing right now, I never imagine that we will be able to reach the end of EDS 113. I have difficulty adjusting during these trying times. At times, I was very anxious because of the sudden changes in my daily routine due to COVID-19, and my mind was filled with doubts if I will be able to adjust myself from an alternative work situation while finishing all the training courses I was enrolled in. 

This first quarter of the year 2020, aside from PTC, I was enrolled in different training courses such as TESOL, Speech & Language Specialist Course, and Special Education Needs Course. These pieces of training helped me realized that I need to develop my skills in three main areas: teaching instruction in the classroom, classroom management, and assessment. Although these pieces of training were very informative, I still felt that there was a lack of emphasis on the importance and purpose of assessment. Fortunately, EDS 113 was able to fill the missing gaps in my other training.   

Over the past weeks, I gradually understood the real meaning of the assessments. I found out that an effective assessment plays a vital role in demonstrating how a teacher teaches and how students learn. And I should not limit myself to a single assessment method, but preferably a combination of different types of assessment. Also, I have learned that a teacher’s responsibilities towards the students in their care involve:  

I am very grateful that I have learned a lot from this subject, EDS 113. I will cherish this new-found knowledge and use it accordingly. 

~Jess

 These past few days have been overwhelming for me because of the events happening right now. I have a well-planned schedule for this year, which includes my travel plans, how to be updated with my online classes, and work designations to avoid any conflict. But when you think everything will go according to your plan, then unexpected events happen. Due to an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases in other Asian countries, one of my travels was canceled due to the travel ban. I was well aware that it was necessary to protect my health from the virus. However, it was still so frustrating because of all the planning, such as booking tickets, making an itinerary, securing a visa, and the money spent was put to waste. So, I thought it was better to change plans, which is to visit places here in our own country or maybe visit my parents in the province. However, a new security measure has been imposed, the enhanced community quarantine, which caused me to stay at home with limited supplies. I become anxious and had panic attacks because of these events. If you have read my previous blogs, you will know the reason for this. Please visit https://jhezjc.home.blog/2019/06/06/i-had-ptsd/.

I tried to cope up. Because of these attacks, I was missing out on some of my online classes aside from UPOU class. I was thinking about my parents’ situation if they are okay, and also I was thinking about how to get more supplies while on quarantine. For a couple of days, I tried to calm down, recollect myself, and avoid visiting social media platforms. It felt very toxic when seeing all my news feeds regarding COVID-19, the comments and rants of the people contributed more to my anxiety.

With a condition like mine, severe stress and fear can cause anxiety and sometimes triggers mild to severe panic attacks. Though it’s hard, I still tried to avoid any contributing factors to my anxiety. I practice relaxation techniques and get more restful sleep. Then, I listed all the things I need to do, such as frequent communication with my family, setting up my workstation at home, stocking food that will be good for a couple of days, then checking all my online classes, and then making sure I am up to date.

The truth is I am still feeling anxious, and I am afraid to commit any mistakes even during this crisis. But mistakes are inevitable, and I should not think about mistakes as always a negative thing, but rather it will help me gain more knowledge and help me prepare for my plans. Therefore, if I thought about anxiety only in negative terms, I wouldn’t feel very good about myself as a person. And there are many, many ways that anxiety helps me: My anxious tendencies cause me to be appropriately cautious, to always have backup plans, and to double-check details. Feelings of self-doubt help me stay open to diverse ideas and propel me to work hard.

~Jess

Back when I was a student, I would prefer summative assessment, multiple-choice tests, and other traditional forms of written assessment because I only need to spend time reviewing topics that were already discussed previously. Unlike doing projects, role-plays, exhibits, these assessments are very time-consuming and cost a lot for a student like me. I would prefer something that would not cost any money to spent to have a good grade. However, it frustrates me when some teachers make examinations more difficult, such exams with right minus wrong, and identify incorrect statements then correct the statement. For me, it’s easier to have a multiple-choice type of examination. 

In this module 5-b, I see how important to have both types of assessment in teaching. As a future educator, I should not limit myself by using one assessment tool to determine what we can improve. We must remember that assessment is a continuous process. It does not end when the learning objectives have been met, but rather, it innovates in such a way that both the teachers and students will gain a deeper knowledge and promotes a higher-order thinking skill. And, if traditional and non-traditional assessments complement each other, these assessments are no longer simply tests that students fret about or neglect to study for. These assessments can be powerful (and even fun!) tools to evaluate how well our students are mastering the material we’re covering in class and how well we’re doing covering said material. 

~Jess

As a student, assessing oneself or others can be difficult at first. I, myself, have difficulty assessing my strengths and weaknesses without being biased. I may overlook some of my negative sides and only highlight my accomplishments, development, or progress. The same goes for making peer assessment. It’s common for me to be too nice during peer-review sessions. Maybe because I am afraid to hurt someone’s feelings or unwillingness to think critically about their work, which often becomes a result of default to vague and unhelpful praise.   

We had this kind of self and peer assessment activity last year in EDS 103. I was very uncomfortable with this final phase of the assignment. Even though our assignment turned out great, we had a rough start. We had some arguments and misunderstandings that made it difficult for us to pick a topic. But we compromised and finished our assignment just in time.   

I was hesitant to submit a self and peer assessment. But I did, anyway. I was surprised by the assessments submitted by my groupmates. It was fair, and they objectively reviewed and listed each of our strengths and weaknesses. And our grades were almost at par with each other. 

Again, for me, self and peer-assessment can be difficult at first, but it becomes easier with time. If students can look at their work, and judge the degree by which it reflects explicitly stated goals, they can assess the quality of their work, and revise it accordingly. 

~Jess

Photo credit to Ms. Humaties https://mrshumanities.com/2016/10/15/3725/

When I started taking units in teaching, I still have doubts about myself if I will be able to gain the skills and knowledge to be a teacher. So, aside from enrolling in UPOU, I looked for other online classes or related classes that will help me establish and build my foundation in teaching. PTC, TESOL, and Speech & Language Specialist courses help me realized that to be a teacher I need to know and develop skills in three main areas: instruction in the classroom with teaching, classroom management, and assessment. While I have strengths and weaknesses in these areas, I know with the right knowledge and experience, I will be confident in all three. 

In these three areas, EDS 113 kicks start my knowledge about assessment. As teachers, we must monitor our students’ progress. Classroom assessments are one of the most crucial educational tools for us. However, we are often at fault for attempting to solely test our students instead of assessing them, to certify our teaching abilities. Testing focuses on what we do to learners after learning has taken place, whereas assessment focuses on what we do with learners before, during, and after learning. Hence, if the assessment is merely a kind of benchmark to see ‘how well students can do’ and teachers are moving on, then it’s primarily an assessment of learning. We must include methods of assessment as learning. We need to get our students to self-monitor and compare progress with each other. By implementing activities such as making journal and having more group discussions, students can compare their work and gain an insight into their learning.   

EDS 113 – Module 3 showed us that the purpose of assessment is to gather relevant information about student performance, progress, and to determine student interests to make judgments about their learning process. And with the gathered information, teachers can reflect on each student’s level of achievement to customize their teaching plans. Therefore, our assessments should reveal how well students have learned what we want them to learn while instruction ensures that they learn it. And for this to occur, learning objectives, assessments, and instructional strategies need to be closely aligned so that they reinforce one another. 

~Jess

A good assessment aims to provide a balanced and fair evaluation of each student. As educators, we can use a variety of strategies and tasks as our assessment tools. This gives students multiple opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do. It also enables teachers to be confident in the accuracy of their judgments about each student.   

However, most teachers use summative assessment as one of the many important tools of assessments to assure that students are learning with all of the things they have taught them. Is this enough to assume that if students passed the exams, they have gained the knowledge they need? Well, I guess not. There are better ways to measure student learning. As educators/future teachers, we are capable of many things to help students to learn, prosper, and be on the right path. Through assessment, we can achieve this goal by determining the objectives, gathering, analyzing and interpreting evidence, reflecting on findings, and making informed and consistent judgments to improve student learning as well as the teacher and the school. 

By now, we, as future educators, must have the willingness to dedicate our time and use our techniques that best serve the learning needs of our students. We must be able to present our lessons in different ways, accompanied by a fair assessment. 

I finished my TESOL certification just a month ago. However, even though I learned a lot from it, I still felt that something was missing. Days passed the feeling started to fade because I was pre-occupied with an enormous workload in my current job. Until EDS 113 started.

While reading the first module, I was starting to figure out what was lacking. It was the lack of my understanding of the importance of assessment, and how methods of assessment will help align my learning objectives and goals in my lessons. 

I must say that assessment is a great tool to monitor and evaluate students’ learning reinforced with realistic and effective feedback. It allows us, teachers/future educators, to identify our students’ strengths and areas of improvement, as well ours.  It also helps address students’ learning difficulties promptly. Therefore, it encourages students to meet their optimum capacity to learn and unfasten their potentials. 

Though, I still believe that exams are as important as other assessment tools. It creates stress that influences negatively to our student’s performance, that is why I am in favor of using classwork, group projects, and task-based activities to assess students and not only the grades obtained in an exam. Assessment should be a continuous task that will make a student a person capable of auto-assess and self-correct his/herself as well as an instrument that helps the teacher to self-assess his or her teaching strategies. 

Now, I understand that assessment has always been considered a key part of education. However, the approach regarding such a relevant term has changed over time. First, it was considered only to measure the knowledge acquired by students. But nowadays, assessment is a much more powerful tool!

At first, I always have doubts if I am going to finish this course. I wasn’t sure if my body will able to handle another stress since I am still recovering from illness. However, my mind was very persistent that I need to continue this journey. And now, surprisingly, I am writing my final e-Journal for EDS 103. 

I have mixed emotions towards the end of this subject, EDS 103. I wasn’t sure if I have done my best to learn the theories. Learning theories require some detailed study to be understood, and I feel like I still need more time to understand and apply these theories. However, if I recall the experience and the lessons I have learned, I am quite happy and satisfied.

One of the struggles I’ve had with learning theories is how they relate to one another. I believe that learning theories are propounded in an evolutionary sequence. We always begin with behaviorism and social learning, then cognitivism, followed by constructivism. Each theory described as an “advancement” on the other. Therefore, one was created after the other to describe something that had missed. That’s why cognitivism came about because behaviorism didn’t describe everything.   

The modules were well-presented, and the forums were well-organized. I was able to organize my thoughts and evaluate myself after each module. Even though, sometimes I felt uncomfortable with the pedagogical activities that require us to reflect on what we learn and to share our reflections with our teacher and fellow students, the blogs and blogging, whether as group exercises or for individual journaling activities, have evolved into appropriate tools for my reflection, and lead to my deeper learning of the modules.  

Over the past weeks, I have come to realize that to become an effective educator – I should not limit myself to a single teaching approach. But, preferably a combination of different learning theories will help me customize my lesson based on my students’ level of comprehension. Behaviorism and constructivism approaches are the top theories on my list to incorporate in my teaching methods. In behaviorism, I will enforce the concept of reinforcement rather than punishment. Also, I believe that students construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.  

I am very grateful that I have learned a lot from this subject, EDS 103. I will cherish this new-found knowledge and use it accordingly. 

~Jess

I think epistemological beliefs change with age and education. During my primary and secondary education, I was taught with beliefs that knowledge is simple, certain, and handed down from authority or teachers. The knowledge was simple and certain because my study strategy was memorization of facts, and I believed that I knew the materials when I was able to recite the facts and, therefore, I can stop studying. However, when I entered college, these beliefs are gradually revised to a position that knowledge is complex, relative and that learning requires substantial time and effort. And at this stage, the possibility that information is uncertain and that my own interpretations of matters are accepted. 

Furthermore, my epistemological belief has changed when I become a nursing student, and eventually, a licensed nurse. In holistic nursing, we believed that a patient’s environment influenced a patient’s health. Consequently, we recognized that a patient is more than just their illness.  Holistic nursing is based on the principle that a patient’s biological, social, psychological, and spiritual aspects are interconnected. These aspects fit together to form a unique person. Thus, holistic nursing focuses on individualized care by understanding each patient’s diverse needs. This is I could say why I was drawn to the idea and belief of constructivism. Holistic nursing is patient-centered while constructivism is student-centered approach. 

Photo Credit to https://medium.com/@stangarfield/knowledge-management-and-epistemology) 

Learners control their learning, the core of the constructivist approach to education. However, education has deep roots in other theories of learning. During my developing years, grade school and high school, I had experienced a direct instruction. Though it may seem a very traditional way of instruction, it was very efficient. I observed and learned that direct instruction assigns a central role to the teacher in explaining, modeling, and providing opportunities for practice with feedback. The goals are understanding, logic behind skills; automaticity, skills are over learned to the point that they are used with little mental effort; and transfer, something learned at one time is applied later in another setting.  Particularly in my college years, I had a taste of constructivist approach where I became the center of the learning process, and it helped me developed my skills, broaden my knowledge, and improved my attitude. 

Would I be a constructivist educator? Maybe I do or perhaps not. But I will not limit myself to a single teaching approach. If it will improve my ways of teaching, I will incorporate both direct and constructivist approaches. I think we all learn by doing, and I prefer child-centered activity if the class can handle the responsibility and are clear on learning objectives.   

Furthermore, children learn in different ways. And an important part of constructivism is authentic learning tasks. These authentic tasks are classroom learning activities that require understanding similar to thinking encountered outside the classroom. Therefore, by gradually shifting from direct instruction to constructivist ideology and practice will promote meaningful learning.