Monday, March 22, 2010
Post 5
A successful meteorologist uses more than just a barometer to predict weather changes in conditions to accurately forecast weather for his viewers. In addition to a barometer, he utilizes Doplar Radar as well as satellite data and an anemometer to measure the wind speed - all in conjunction to be as accurate as possible in his forecasts.
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I believe a meteorologist and a teacher have similarities. Both careers require different methods and tools to figure out information. Hopefully a teacher gets his/her information correct more often than a meteorologist. Like a meteorologist uses barometers, Doplar Radar, and anemometer; a teacher uses different forms of assessment to figure out the information needed for that student. A teacher can use running records to gather information on a student’s fluency and words read per minute and this is an important tool for teachers. Teachers also can use reading inventories such as cool tools to learn about a reader’s interests and how the student views reading. All of these tests used together gives us the forecast for our students success and we can predict what we need to work on with a student. A teacher uses assessment to predict future outcomes similar to a meteorologist uses his tools to predict the future weather patterns.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anthony. I think that a teacher and meteorologist have many traits and skills in common. One thing that we have in common is that we have to have some level of common sense. If the Doppler radar is telling meteorologist that it is suppose to snow, they come on the air and tell everyone the truth. You don’t tell people information that is not true. Also, meteorologist prepares the public for what is ahead. Such as rain, snow, hurricanes, tornadoes, ect. It is there job to make sure that we know what to expect and how to deal with those situations as they arise. As a teacher that is also our job. We are to prepare students for any situations that they might encounter throughout their life. Also, in both professions we had to deal with technology. The meteorologist uses it in their job settings everyday. Teachers also use technology within their classroom. By smart boards, computers and many other ways. Meteorologist and teachers also need to watch their reputation. Both professions are held in the eye of the community, and they need to have a high reputation. Teachers and meteorologist need to be people who can be trusted, one with children and the other with the weather. These can be local celebrities and are often involved in community events and activities. Therefore both need to be approachable and have good communication skills.
ReplyDeleteMeteorologists do have many tools at their disposal to predict the weather as accurately as possible, but sometimes their weather forecast can be completely wrong. They do need to use all the tools available to them to predict the weather as accurately as possible, but they need to know that there are some factors that they can’t always account for.
ReplyDeleteA teacher also needs to use all the tools available to decide how best to work with his or her students. No one test can really predict how a student will progress in the future. Reading is such a complicated process and involves so many factors that we can’t just measure progress with one test. AimsWeb testing is being heavily promoted at this time, but those tests are really just a snapshot of how that child did at that time. In my opinion the results of this testing is being too heavily relied upon. Teachers need to use running records to determine what level of book each student should be reading at. If a student is reading text that is too difficult for them, they just become more and more frustrated and will not make the progress that they need. Teachers also need to look at a student’s writing and spelling to assess their reading. A QSI can give a teacher important information about where their students are developmentally. We also need to use many methods to determine if students understand what they read. We have many students that read fluently and can read almost anything, but do not comprehend what they read.
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ReplyDeleteIn reading this prompt, you realize the similarities among meteorologist and teachers, as well as, the similarities among weather prediction and results on assessments given to students. As a meteorologist, it is your responsibility to use several different tools to predict different aspects of the weather to prepare people for what to expect. As a teacher, it is your responsibility to use several different assessments and tools to help recognize the strengths and weaknesses of students to provide them with the most valuable education. However, in both professions there are possibilities of inaccuracy and factors that cannot always be accounted for that can skew the overall outcome. As all habitual weather checkers know, predictions are not always accurate and at times need to be taken with a “grain of salt.” Meteorologists use numerous different tools to predict weather, but people are aware that it is only a “prediction”, meaning there are possibilities of changes that are unforeseeable. These ideas are the same when using assessments to address the progress and ability level of students. No matter how many different assessments and tools are used, there are still possibilities of inaccuracy. The similarities this prompt has with the field of education demonstrates how critical it is for schools not rely solely or heavily on various assessments; mainly because of the several underlying factors that can effect results. There are several undetermined factors such as: testing environment, personal struggles, and a lack of motivation that can affect the way students perform on assessments. There is the same possibility of undetermined factors that can affect a meteorologist’s prediction of the weather. The use of assessments and tools are being used “in conjunction to be as accurate as possible”, though changes and errors are always possible. Therefore, as a meteorologist or an educator, you need to be open-minded and flexible. It is evident that not every tool used to predict the weather or used to assess the progress of students will go as anticipated. However, it is how you utilize those results as a learning opportunity to analyze and reflect on your predictions or plans to make it more useful and accurate in the future.
ReplyDeleteMost people when asked would not think that meteorologists and teachers are in any way related. Like my first reaction to the two professions, people would say that meteorologists are more often wrong than right and hopefully our teachers are more often right than wrong. Having said that, the two professions have something in common; they both use many tools to arrive at a well thought out conclusion. Meteorologists use barometers, Doplar Radar, satellite data, and anemometers to put forth their best effort to make a conclusion about what the weather will be. Similarly, teachers use many different tools (standardized tests, CBM's, chapter tests, etc.) to determine what adaptations/accommodations each child in his/her classroom needs. Again, they use these tools to make the best possible prediction about what will best suit their students. In both professions those predictions can be wrong. When a meteorologist is wrong they blew their one shot to get it right. In contrast, a teacher can make further adaptations to meet the needs of his/her student.
ReplyDeleteA successful teacher uses more than just AIMSWEB or Basil tests to predict each student’s reading ability. According to Gillett et al and Peter Afflerbach, teachers should use a balance of assessments. Our assessments are used to guide our instruction, to determine placements for children, to communicate with parents, to monitor success, and to check in on our own teaching. These assessments may include more formal tests such as norm-referenced tests, informal reading inventories, or standards-based tests but should also include authentic assessment like kid watching or rubrics as well as running records. One of the best ways to determine the weather is to go outside, just like one of the best ways to determine a child’s reading ability is to read with them. Assessments also need to cover all areas of the big 5 instead of being strictly limited to one area such as comprehension. When you think about it, a teacher’s job seems just as scientific as a meteorologist. A variety of assessments need to be in place to accurately predict student’s reading ability, and excellent instruction needs to be in place to improve it.
ReplyDeleteA meteorologist takes many factors into account when making a weather forecast. I believe that this is similar to the way that a teacher takes various factors into account when tailoring instruction to meet the needs of each student. Weather instruments are helpful tools that meteorologists use to predict the weather. Weather instruments are similar to the various forms of assessment that a teacher uses to draw conclusions about a student and his or her abilities. A variety of information about a student combined with a number of assessments are used in much the same way as a meteorologist uses weather instruments to make forecasts. When measuring any subject that is unpredictable, it is crucial to include numerous data points. As meteorologists continually monitor the weather, teachers must also continually monitor student progress. The results of these observations require changes and modifications by the examiners in both professions. I believe that these notions are summed up well by the following quote: “All assessment is a perpetual work in progress” (Linda Suske, Unknown, 2005).
ReplyDeleteA meteorologist has all of these tools and yet still “predicts” the wrong weather conditions. Although they have the tools that they believe are accurate in giving information as far as weather conditions, the tools sometimes fail. This is similar to the acts of teachers as they search for ways to accommodate their student’s needs by using different strategies and assessments. There are many tools available for teachers to use to assist their students, but choosing the right instrument for the right student is sometimes difficult, and may provide room for the instrument to fail. It is then left up to the teachers to back track and provide students with successful ways to accommodate their particular needs. This is also seen when weather personnel provide the wrong information, because they are able to make corrections during daily news shows and sometimes during breaking news to back track and make corrections as needed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most people in this blog. Meteorologists have to use a lot of different tools to find out what the weather is going to be like for us. They spend their days trying out things to be able to report back to us what to expect as far as the weather. As special education teachers we are right there with them. We have to think of all of the ways we can reach students and try them out. Children who are in special education do not learn the same as other students. So as their teachers we need to use our tools to find a way to help them. Terri made a good point in saying that meteorologists are sometimes wrong. They go through their whole process and then report it to us and it turns out wrong. This can happen to us as special education teachers. There are going to be times in our career that we will be wrong. We may make a lesson for a student that we think is going to work wonders and it may go horribly wrong. This is something that can be turned into a good thing though. You learn from this and you will learn a new way to deal with this student’s problem.
ReplyDeleteI feel that a meteorologist is similar to a teacher in this way. The meteorologist uses as many different tools as possible to help make the most accurate predictions and also to try and make a successful career. If a meteorologist does not use different methods then it becomes reliant on one device that may not always be the most effect method. A teacher is just like a meteorologist in this way because a teacher needs to use as many different tools as possible to find the most effective learning methods for their students. Also teachers are trying to predict what will make their students learning the most successful. Also like the meteorologist the teachers are not always right, but they have to keep going to try the find the most effective ways. A teacher and a meteorologist will neither one be successful if they use only one device and do not rely on diverse bag of tools. For a meteorologist and a teacher to be successful they must utilize their skills and try to find the most effective ways to predict successfully and be effective at what they do.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the two fields of study may seem very different they have many things in common. A meteorologist is an individual with a specialized education who uses scientific principles to explain, understand, observe, or forecast the earth’s atmospheric phenomena. A teacher is an individual with a specialized education who uses principles to observe, understand, predict, and teach our children. Many of the tasks that teachers have meteorologists also have. Teachers have to plan, develop, and organize instruction. Meteorologists also have to plan, develop, and organize the weather that they are going to report to the public. Just as teacher’s present subject material, meteorologist present the material that they are knowledgeable about. Meteorologists make predictions about the weather and based on the equipment they can use, make future predictions. Teachers also make predictions in instruction, using predictions to come up with different types of instruction and choosing a type of instruction that will be helpful to students. As with teachers, meteorologists constantly have to monitor the progress of weather, like teachers monitor the progress of their students.
ReplyDeleteA meteorologist uses many different tools to predict the weather and in this case they are very similar to teachers. Teachers are expected to use many different assessments and teaching strategies in order to provide the best possible instructional outcome for their students. Meteorologists are expected to use the barometer and doplar radar and other tools to provide their viewers and the world with the upcoming weather events. Both occupations require many different skills and the ultimate goal is for both to lead their viewers in the right direction. I believe they are also, unfortunately similar in the way that given the many tools that they have to utilize both occupations sometimes fail. Meteorologists often predict the wrong weather, and while hopefully teachers are not wrong as often, sometimes the tools and the strategies that they have and they utilize will still not work for every student. In my opinion both occupations are the similar in a lot of aspects and neither one can expect to always be right and always succeed because realistically that is just not going to happen for everyone.
ReplyDeleteMeteorologist has it easy compared to teachers! We do all that and more on 25 plus students. They are only performing those assessment on one targeted area. When they can do all that on 25 plus areas in the world and teach all the people in those areas how to read the maps, tell them how to dress, and how to commute to work I will be impressed! They are able to go home with a smile on their face and a swing in their stride whether I understood the report or not. Not that easy for teachers!
ReplyDeleteAs educators we have to do all the cross checks, pre and post assessments, RtI, CBM and the list goes on and on. The crazy thing about being an educator is that education must continue to be successful. Yes, meteorologist have to learn how to use new tech tools but as a teacher we have deal with new technical support, new laws, the new times that have produce new types of students, and that list goes on and on. From the outside looking in, we do more work than they do in one day from 7:30am to 3:30pm than they do in the month!
Insert you own analogy here. The same comparison could be made with nearly any skilled trade: carpenter, geologist, physician, mechanic, etc. Yet there is one profession in which the above logic doesn’t hold. That is, the teacher. Like the other professionals, the teacher has a vast array of tools in the toolbox. The difference is they (i.e. the other professional) all know what their tools are meant for and precisely how to use them. Take the mechanic, for instance. A skilled mechanic knows exactly size wrench he’s going to need to tighten that loose bolt, not to mention what areas of the hot manifold to avoid, what lines not to cross, etc. You wouldn’t see a mechanic using a screwdriver to tighten a bolt or a doctor using a butter knife to perform surgery. This is because individuals in these professions receive extensive training in their crafts. They shadow master craftsmen and women long after their initial introduction to the field. Then, only after they demonstrate their level of expertise, are they allowed to practice independently.
ReplyDeleteThe same doesn’t hold true for teachers. In education, teachers are rushed through barely two years worth of in-class “methods” training where they practice simulated experiences. Actual hand-on experiences come in the form of observations and student teaching placements where pre-service teachers either: 1) sit and watch; or 2) are thrust into planning instruction without any supervision. Student teachers are presented with lectures on the vast array of strategies and techniques teachers supposedly use to diagnose potential learning deficits. Then they go out into the field where they see veteran teachers who either have never heard of the instrument let alone know how to administer it, or teachers who learned the “proper” way to administer an intervention but are quick to point out that it never works out the same way “out in the real world”. Can you imagine a surgeon learning this way? Who in their right mind would visit a physician who learned his/ her skills “along the way”?
To make matters worse, not only are teachers not taught how to select the correct tool, they often wouldn’t know what to do with the results even if they got lucky in their selection. Week after week, observation after observation, I see and hear experienced teachers talking with colleagues about having to do this inventory or that assessment. They complain right up to the point of giving the assessment then they act like that’s the end of it all. Never have I heard a teacher say, “I’ve got these results from such and such. Now what?”
When teacher training programs reach the understanding that their ultimate goal should amount to more than seeing how many dollar signs they can graduate from their institution; when pre-service teacher realize just how important their mastery of their craft is on the lives of their potential students; when veteran teachers who’ve reached the end of their careers, who show up because they’ve got nothing better to do retire or become current; when administrators stop caring about public image more than what’s best for their constituents, then and only then could we begin to consider teachers in the same league as other skilled professions.
Like meteorologists predict the weather using tools of the trade, teachers use assessments to predict a student’s success. Most of the time they are right when predicting the weather but sometimes they are wrong. Sometimes the weather changes too rapidly to know what will happen next. Just like the weather student future achievement can sometimes be predicted inaccurately by testing assessments. There are several factors besides critical thinking skills and knowledge that lead to the score on a test. If a student is tired or hungry the score may be lower. You might give the same assessment on another day when the child is feeling better and the score will be different.
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