The first group project of creating a rubric from an online educational game and presenting it to the rest of the class was beneficial for me since I am aspiring to become a Secondary Education teacher in the field of English as a Second Language. This project was essential because I acquired three skills that is useful in my educational career and will fundamentally become valuable in my professional career as a teacher. These essential skills include the importance of group work, creating a rubric for an assignment and building the confidence to present in front of an audience.
Group work is vital not just for students or teachers, but for everyone. People must have the skills to work with others in order to complete important tasks. For students, group work is essential in school because it teaches the importance of cooperation, responsibility and fairness. According to John W. Santrock, “Vgotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) theory, which refers to the range tasks that are too difficult for an individual to master alone, but can be mastered with the guidance and assistance of adults or more-skilled peers, emphasizes the importance of social contexts of learning and the construction of knowledge through social interaction” (2010, p. 101). For teachers, teaching the importance of group work to students is not only advantageous for the students, but for the teacher as well. The educational profession is not an autonomous position in society. Teachers are constantly sharing ideas with one another, interacting with the faculty, and cooperating with parents and the rest of the community. Having the skills to work in groups makes reaching the common goal an easy and trouble-free task.
Learning how to create a rubric will definitely be valuable for my future profession as an educator. Although it was challenging to decide what should be included in the rubric, I learned in class how to search for ideas online. With the many tools that were introduced in class, my group and I were able to develop an educational online game rubric and successful create an engaging and fun presentation. Because of this assignment, I now understand the importance of rubrics and can confidently create them for my classes when I begin my professional career as a teacher. From the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS*T), the objective of standard 2a is “design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity” (2011). I strongly believe that this objective was right on target concerning this first group project for our ED271 class.
Confidence is certainly a great asset to have, especially if one decides to become a teacher. Teachers must illustrate confidence to their students which eventually allows the students to have complete trust in them as well. Teachers must assure their students that they know the content well enough to teach and demonstrate confidence in their students’ ability to learn. They play a vital role in their students’ lives and having confidence only makes teachers better at what they do.
The three essential skills acquired from this assignment which includes group work, creating a rubric and confidence building are vital for both students and teachers. These skills teach the students how to become self-sufficient adults and allow teachers to become more enriched and knowledgeable professionals.
References
Santrock, J.W. (2010). Adolescence. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
International Society for Technology in Education. (2011). Retrieved
September 30, 2011, from
