Final Exams Have It All Wrong #EdChat

This past week was final exam time in my district for the high schools. It's a pretty standard affair. Students are given 1.5 hours to complete an exam that is supposed to evaluate all of their learning for 20 weeks. The exam is worth 20% of their overall semester grade with the two 10-week marking periods being worth 40% each. Before this year, I've never really had an issue with the setup, but it really bothers me this year. I'm not sure why, but I feel like this is the dumbest idea conceived for evaluating student knowledge. How can one test be worth so much? There has to be a better way. 

Surprise, I have a better way (in my opinion). The emphasis for a class should be placed on learning the material in the class during the two marking periods, not cramming for an exam in the hopes of bringing up a grade. I would like to see a different plan that looks like this. 

Instead of 1 exam that students need to cram for, I would like to see the average grade earned on unit assessments be taken and used as 10% of the overall semester grade. The two marking periods would be assessed as 45% each and the average grade on the unit assessments would be used for the remaining 10%. I feel this places more emphasis on the learning during the marking periods and less emphasis on cramming for one exam. 

Why I think it would be good:

- This new method would relieve these kids of the burden of studying for 7 exams take over 5 days. 

- Teachers would not be hammered with 120 essays to check in the course of one week to get the grades entered in on time. 

- Instead of spending a week of half days testing, the time could be spent on learning. 

- It's a better assessment of what a student knows. All it takes is for one bad day or one misread essay question to potentially kill a student's grade by 20%. A final exam should not be punitive. 

It seems to be me that students are getting more and more stressed each and every year and I feel that schools have a responsibility to keep the kids as sane as we can while providing top notch learning and assessment? I wonder, do we even need final exams at all? Is that discussion even happening in school districts?

- @TheNerdyTeacher

We have a winner! #Adobe

After a very close vote, M. Phillips (@bcteacher) has one the ADSC contest for her submission.

Congrats to Mary and thanks for voting everyone!

now!Board from Learning Resources - A Review #EdChat

Learning Resources is proud to offer the now!Board and they sent me a demo version so I could try it out and share it with all of you.

The whole idea behind the now!Board is to make IWBs portable and I’m happy to say that they have done a great job making that idea a reality. By connecting the camera to the computer and the computer to the projector, any flat surface becomes an IWB. It sounds like this would not be a very good set up in the classroom, but after trying it out, I can say that it works great.

Out of the box, I installed the application from the CD on my Mac (PC compatible as well), connected the camera and calibrated. There is a little red laser that helps you align the camera with the screen to make sure all of the points match up. It took me some time with trial and error to find the right distance and angle for the camera, but I was ready to go in under 20 minutes from start to finish.

I was able to manipulate my desktop with ease using the stylus provided and the pointer (not included in package). Like using any IWB, it takes some time getting used to moving around your projector and having kid learn the same thing. However, the learning curve is worth it as the now! Board allows any classroom to have an IWB.

I see the now! Board fitting perfectly on mobile carts in school districts. Instead of installing pricey boards in all of the rooms in a school building, a teacher could move to any room and create an IWB experience for their students. Here is a video with more information.

At the price of $499.00, it is a great investment for schools or teachers who cannot afford a full IWB setup in their classroom.

The portability, price and especially the ease of use make the now!Board a great option for teachers looking to bring an Interactive experience to their students.

You can find more information on Facebook and their webpage.

Facebook link - https://www.facebook.com/nowboard

Website – http://www.Mynowboard.com

now! Board is a great buy and I hope you check it out.