Do schools kill creativity?
I'm not sure if all schools kill creativity, but I feel like my school does. The focus of my school district seems to be if students are doing well on standardized test scores. Everything that we do in the classroom is geared toward increasing those scores. Every piece of formative assessment needs to be collected in a database; benchmark scores are recorded and analyzed, and the benchmarks are written exactly as the standardized tests are. There are remediation classes and test-prep classes. We have testing coordinators and people in the school board office whose job it is to make sure teachers are basically teaching to the test. Instead of asking what are we teaching the students, my school district tends to ask, "Is this relevant to the strands on the SOL (Standards of Learning test)?"
How can I use digital media in my classroom?
There are many different tools that I can use to both engage my students and also prepare them for the test and the real world. I've used websites such as noredink.com and kahoot for formative assessments. I'm able to allow students to take charge of their own learning to by creating online research projects, scavenger hunts, and allowing students to watch videos. Students can create presentations, edit each others work, and submit anything that is assigned via Google Classroom. I can differentiate my instruction using digital media, even if I can't differentiate the tests my students are required to take.
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