Bear Lloyd 2/17/14 Week 4 / Reflection 1 Quote to Remember As I prepare to begin another full week of teaching, I am very excited

about what the day holds. This morning, my seniors in web design will continue filming and editing their senior video. My students in personal finance and economics will be learning about how a company decides to go public and sell stocks, and my marketing class will be learning how to perform a strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats analysis. The next stop will be our afternoon seminar, and I will round out the day by attending an evening meeting to obtain my tobacco growers certification. It is surely a busy life we all live! However, this morning I wanted to take time to reflect on some words of wisdom given to me that I believe will be an encouragement to us all. While I was at Winterjam this weekend in Knoxville, I attended a short meeting for youth ministry leaders. During this meeting, the lead singer of Newsboys reminded us that young people cannot be our future unless we take care of them in the present. The truth and the power of these words certainly hit me. So often we hear adults discuss how young people are our future and how they are unsure these young people have what it takes to live wholesome and productive lives. Yet, how often do we hear many adults discussing what they can do to take care of children and young people in the present? I believe that we should all remind ourselves of the importance of touching young people in the present and never leaving it to be tomorrows responsibility. In fact, this passion is why each of us is doing what we do. It is why I now spend my days helping students learn how to manage their finances. It is why I spend my weekends telling students about Christ. It is why everyone in our seminar teaches the subjects they do. The fact that kids need taken care of in the present reminds us to take time to encourage them, to lift them up, and to make them feel important. These simple but profound words from the Newsboys bring home the fact that teaching, parenting, coaching, and discipling are not tomorrows responsibility. They are todays duty. So lets go out and make a difference!

Bear Lloyd 2/18/14 Week 4 / Reflection 2 Teacher Evaluation / Goals As we discussed this past evening during seminar, teacher evaluations and goals for student learning are now an integral part of educational administration regardless of our opinions toward these programs. At the beginning of every year, each teacher must establish goals for student learning. The accomplishment of these goals constitutes a substantial portion of that teachers evaluation. Although many may have preconceived notions that Career and Technical Education is an elective area free from testing, that is certainly not the case. This field is also full of teacher goals, evaluations, and testing. All students taking Personal Finance and Economics (which is now a requirement for graduation) must take the Wise Financial Literacy Test. In essence, this test is our SOLs. My mentor teacher ties her goals for teacher evaluation to students passing rate on this test. With this in mind, she very successfully accomplished her goals for evaluation last semester. During that semester, she taught one section of Personal Finance and Economics and had all but one student pass the exam. This is a significant accomplishment on her part and shows excellent teaching. I am very thankful to be mentored by a teacher with such a proven record. As I work to prepare my students to take the Wise Financial Literacy Test, I am very appreciate of her guidance and knowledge of what material to cover and when. In addition, I am blessed to have wonderful students in my Personal Finance and Economics course and am excited to see how they perform on the financial literacy test. Other business teachers may have different goals depending on what particular courses they teach. My mentor at Patrick Henry High School did not teach any sections of Personal Finance and Economics, so she tied her goals to students passing rate on the Workplace Readiness Assessment. In addition, my mentor in marketing education has students in certain classes take an industry assessment related to customer service. Career and Technical Education (CTE) may not have SOL tests, but we certainly have many industry assessments that are just as important. Part of me is very thankful that students are required to take these industry assessments because they do showcase their learning and provide them with notable credentials as they enter the workforce. However, part of me is also disappointed that testing has become so prevalent in these classes because it has greatly reduced CTE teachers ability to have students engage in meaningful activities and projects because we must place such a heavy focus on covering the material and preparing students for a test. However, being a CTE teacher is still an incredibly rewarding experience!

Bear Lloyd 2/19/14 Week 4 / Reflection 3 Assessments Hi Eryn, I am so glad to see that you are developing creative ways to allow students to apply their learning. As you mentioned, some of the greatest assessments are those that allow students to actually exercise and apply what they have learned. As I have expressed before, application should be one of our greatest goals in teaching. We want students to be able to effectively use what they have learned, rather than just being able to memorize it for a test. Therefore, we should not rely solely on tests as a means of formal assessment, but we should use a number of different assessments. I believe your assignment of having students write about whether or not they believed the television show they watched was a myth, legend, or folktale is a great example of a creative assessment that allows students to exercise what they have learned. Students in my introduction to marketing class are also working on an assignment that allows them to apply their knowledge and provides me with an excellent means of assessment. Recently, we have been discussing the importance of conducting a SWOT analysis when developing a marketing plan. In a SWOT analysis, businesses assess the internal strengths and weaknesses of their company and external opportunities and threats. In order to assess students comprehension of the material and to allow them to apply their learning, students have been working to conduct a SWOT analysis on a business of their choosing. For this assignment, students must describe their chosen business and list and explain 12 strengths, 12 weaknesses, 12 opportunities, and 12 threats that business faces. Students will be presenting their SWOT analyses to the rest of the class tomorrow. I have been very excited about this project because it is practical and real-world. It allows students to put what they have learned to practice rather than simply answering test questions. With some creativity and hard work, we can develop many useful and exciting learning assignments and assessments that allow students to exercise their learning. After all, in the real world they are going to be expected to exercise their skills rather than simply taking tests. Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week, Bear