I really enjoyed our last visitations to Firestone High School. Tutoring for the Ohio Graduation Test taught me a lot about my future students and the preparation that needs to go into making lesson plans. Not all students learn the same way and at the same pace, by infusing multi-modalities into test preparation students would be able to learn more effectively. During our tutoring sessions, I was able to use technology to better assist myself and my learner with her vocabulary acquisition and critical thinking. There was a lot of vocabulary that my student just did not understand and instead of me giving her my definition of terms; I used my dictionary app to allow her to read the definition. After she read the definition, I asked her to put it in her own words and try to use it in a sentence that is meaningful to her. By doing things this way, she was able to construct her own knowledge and now she has a better chance of it being stored in her long term memory. I also used a lot of television shows and movies for examples when we were going over essay prompts. Whenever I could not get my student to critically think, I asked her to apply the question to something in popular culture. By applying these questions to the world around us, my student could better understand the content.
Now that I am reflecting back on the experience, I would have wanted to incorporate different multi-modalities that I was not able to at the time. One of the things that I wish I could have utilized was a smart board. I believe if I was able to tutor in a more hands on way, than just sitting at a desk going over a booklet it would have been a little more effective. We could have both worked on the smart board solving math problems and even brainstorming for the writing prompts. Also, I wish we were able to have some small group tutoring instead of just one on one. I believe that my student would have benefitted from acquiring knowledge vicariously from her peers. Sometimes when students are not completely motivated, other students can serve as motivators. Multi-modal literacies are relevant to every aspect of teaching and learning; therefore, I strongly believe multi-modal literacies should be incorporated with test preparation and standardized testing.
In the case of just tutoring one student, I believe the OGT booklet was the most effective. I liked how it gave the students a breakdown of how each section of the test was scored and multiple test variations. I also looked up some alternative testing practice online and a lot of the practice tests were listed on the Ohio Department of Education site. I believe that using these practice test provided by the state will help students the most with actual practice. As a tutor, it is my job to give my student good test taking skills and get them to understand that all of these practice tests are going to resemble the actually test. By familiarizing the students with what the state is looking for, they are better able to know how to respond. While I do believe it is possible to infuse multi-modal literacies into testing preparation and I definitely think it would be useful for students, I do not feel as though teachers would actually do this. Standardized tests, such as the OGT, creep up on students and teachers and time is very limited when it comes to making sure that students are fully prepared to take and pass the test. Like I previously stated, it is more important in the eyes of a teacher for students to understand content and know the types of questions that they will be required to answer, rather than being able to engage in testing preparation in a more innovative way.
The difficulties that I witnessed students face while I was observing at Firestone High School was quite alarming. I was told by one of the teachers that vocabulary acquisition was a school wide issue and every English teacher was focusing class time on this problem. Moreover, I noticed that a lot of students were not able to properly apply the writing process. They did not know about making an effective outline before they began writing, so they could begin the writing process through its first step, brainstorming. This is a place where multi-modalities could make a tremendous impact on student's success. For vocabulary acquisition, teachers can plan for interactive modules on the smart board for vocabulary lessons. Students can write in journals using all of their vocabulary words. They can maintain a blog space where they can practice both writing applications and vocabulary acquisition. There are so many different approaches that teachers can to take to better their students' comprehension and activation of long term memory.
In the case of just tutoring one student, I believe the OGT booklet was the most effective. I liked how it gave the students a breakdown of how each section of the test was scored and multiple test variations. I also looked up some alternative testing practice online and a lot of the practice tests were listed on the Ohio Department of Education site. I believe that using these practice test provided by the state will help students the most with actual practice. As a tutor, it is my job to give my student good test taking skills and get them to understand that all of these practice tests are going to resemble the actually test. By familiarizing the students with what the state is looking for, they are better able to know how to respond. While I do believe it is possible to infuse multi-modal literacies into testing preparation and I definitely think it would be useful for students, I do not feel as though teachers would actually do this. Standardized tests, such as the OGT, creep up on students and teachers and time is very limited when it comes to making sure that students are fully prepared to take and pass the test. Like I previously stated, it is more important in the eyes of a teacher for students to understand content and know the types of questions that they will be required to answer, rather than being able to engage in testing preparation in a more innovative way.
The difficulties that I witnessed students face while I was observing at Firestone High School was quite alarming. I was told by one of the teachers that vocabulary acquisition was a school wide issue and every English teacher was focusing class time on this problem. Moreover, I noticed that a lot of students were not able to properly apply the writing process. They did not know about making an effective outline before they began writing, so they could begin the writing process through its first step, brainstorming. This is a place where multi-modalities could make a tremendous impact on student's success. For vocabulary acquisition, teachers can plan for interactive modules on the smart board for vocabulary lessons. Students can write in journals using all of their vocabulary words. They can maintain a blog space where they can practice both writing applications and vocabulary acquisition. There are so many different approaches that teachers can to take to better their students' comprehension and activation of long term memory.
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