CORRECTIONS: I made a couple of changes from the notes that were left.

In the
future, I will be working on my grammar, and more specifically, I will work on
pronoun usage and awkward wording.
TEL 431: Learning in Workplaces
L3 Activity: Improving your Ability to be Autonomous

Name: Sierra Willis

Date: 9/16/17

NOTE: Please italicize all your responses so that nothing is missed when your work
is assessed.

In this activity you will determine specific professional development goal(s), then seek to
engage in conversation with other professionals you find through social networks or other
Web-based spaces who might support your development in some way.

According to the article by Linton (n.d.), a PLC is composed of collaborative teams

whose members work interdependently to achieve common goals linked to the purpose of
learning for all.
Linton, J. (n.d.). Building and maintaining an online professional learning community.
Available at http://learnnc.org/lp/pages/7012

They are a structure for continual growth and development, in collaboration with
colleagues. In a PLC, educators can talk about best practices, share data, and plan for
innovations surrounding areas they believe can be improved in their practice.

Professional educators can benefit by expanding this idea beyond face-to-face

interactions, by spanning geographical distances through online tools for collaboration
such as social networks, discussion boards, etc.

ESTABLISH AN AREA OF INQUIRY

Determine one Professional Learning Standard that you would like to explore more
thoroughly for this activity. Use the language from the standards as you respond to the
following. Refer to the standards with APA formatted in-text citations and include a
reference list

What standard did you select?

I chose Data out of the choices.

Why did you select that particular standard?

I believe that this is most intriguing. The past does not define the future, but it plays a
major role in what may happen in the classroom. I believe that through comparing data
with other educators, I will be able to gain a great understanding of a Professional
Learning Standard. Data from multiple sources enrich decisions about professional
 learning that leads to increased results for every student. (Standards for Professional
Learning, 2015)

Related to this standard, what specific knowledge would be helpful to you?

As I begin my junior year of studying Educational Studies, I find it important to view how
I will work through my classroom. I would like to know the thoughts and experiences that
professionals come across with utilizing benchmarks and standardized testing. I would
like to ask them how they feel this has worked with their test scores overall and with each
individual student.

As a professional educator, in what way(s) will this knowledge be helpful to you?

We use data to monitor, assess, and plan ways to improve. We're always trying to push
the bar higher for all achievement." (Denise Thorma) As I work on my teaching degree, it
is interesting to gather data from other professionals and to see how they have found
success in their teaching ways.

FIND OTHERS WHO ARE DISCUSSING YOUR AREA OF INQUIRY

Your next step is to find at least three relevant conversations that might help you learn
more about your area of inquiry. The Linton article you read provides an initial list of
collaborative tools including wikispaces, Twitter, Ning, Etherpad, and Google Drive.
LinkedIn has both groups and searchable posts. You will also want to look at the web
sites for organizations associated with your future target job to see if there are discussion
boards or social networks that relate to your area of inquiry. For example, if your future
target job is in professional learning/professional development, Learning Forward, the
association that promotes the Professional Learning Standards, has discussions taking
place on their web site. See http://community.learningforward.org/Home/

Find 3 or more conversations. List them here. (Add more rows to the table if needed):
Originator or URL What new information did you attain by
Sponsoring Association lurking?
(if known)
Larry Ferralzzos Blog http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/04/18/talking- Through reading Larrys post in regards
Post with-students-about-standardized-tests/ to communicating with students on the
topic of Standardized Testing, I learned
that students, like educators, often have
their own opinions. Their opinions are
derived from their own experiences
through how it affects their life for the
good and bad.
Homeroom- US https://blog.ed.gov/2014/08/a-back-to-school- Nearly every state has adopted new
Government conversation-with-teachers-and-school-leaders/ standards, new assessments, new
approaches to incorporating data on
student learning, and new efforts to
support teachers. (Duncan, 2014). This
 post from the website has shown one of
the greatest fears I have through these
tests. Through it all, educators are being
supported. I have continuously heard
horror stories of how some teachers are
treated by the school they work at. This
post shows support for the work that
teachers put into the tests.
Harvard Graduate http://hepg.org/blog/ten-teacher-recommendations- This thesis of how an educator can
School of Education in-facilitating-conver balance their classroom gave major
Commented [S1]: Correction: her
isnight into how a school shouldCommented
use [S2]: Correction: INSIGHT
testing. It was interesting to hear about
testing in comparison with other topics
throughout the classroom.

PARTICIPATE IN ONLINE CONVERSATIONS

Make 3 attempts to initiate new conversations and/or extend existing conversations. You
will need to plan ahead for this, as online conversations take place over extended periods
of time. Be aware that you may not receive a response in time for this submission;
however, you will be revisiting this for your L7 activity (your PPLP), and you can check
back then.

Date & time of Paste the text you posted
your initial
post
7/17/17 5:30 EDUCATORS: Please
pm follow this link below to a
questionnaire in regards to
Standardized Testing in the
classroom and fill it out. It
would help me a ton!!
Thank you.
VIA FACEBOOK- I have
several family members and
friends on Facebook that are
creditable educators.
7/17/17 PAST AND PRESENT
6:50 PM EDUCATORS: Please take
a few minutes to fill out this
If you received a response, URL to this conversation
what did you learn, as related
to your area of inquiry?
I learned that every individual https://www.facebook.com/sierrawilli
has a unique experience with
Standardized testing. By
collecting the data in regards
to standardized testing, I have
found that every individual
has unique experiences. These
can be based off of personal
experiences by being a
student or an educator.
After it being posted for a
day, I have learned that while
I have some very creditable
educators as friends on
Facebook, others cracked
jokes.
Havent learned anything yet https://www.linkedin.com/feed/upd
:/ ate/urn:li:activity:63157270646999
36769
 questionnaire below in
regards to Standardized
Testing in the classroom
setting. Thank you.
https://docs.google.com/for
ms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfmMRC-
tjLi4Z3AxiSO_FLjriFu1atG
RLEFta5Ixyil6yswoQ/viewf
orm

VIA LINKEDIN

7/18/17 EDUCATORS: Please take Have not received word back https://plus.google.com/+SierraWillis/po
7:24 PM a minute to fill out this short yet. sts/9BE7RUqvrk9?hl=en
questionnaire on
Standardized Testing in the
classroom. Thank you.
https://docs.google.com/for
ms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfmMRC-
tjLi4Z3AxiSO_FLjriFu1atG
RLEFta5Ixyil6yswoQ/viewf
orm

VIA GOOGLE PLUS

REFLECTION AND PLAN FOR ANOTHER AREA OF INQUIRY

What worked well for you related to the process of using the Web to have collegial
conversations with other professionals? Reflect about any successes and/or struggles.
(100-125 words)
I found that using social media platforms, such as Facebook and Google, were
comparably more effective than personally emailing or messaging individuals. It was
interesting to see how most schools do enforce standardized testing. Nearly, every
individual I found on Social Media held similar views on them. I had some issues with
individuals cracking jokes on my statuses. I do not believe this was a problem on any
platform other than Facebook. I can look for the future to receive more input from other
professionals. It was beneficial to utilize technology to receive quick and easy answers
that did not put me or others out of their way too terribly much.

Reflect about the insights did you gained, as related to your area of inquiry? (100-125
words)
I gained more insights to the mutual experiences most individuals had with tests. It was
interesting to see how a few students were able to participate and compare that their
experiences matched up with the professionals. The comparison showed me more into
how alike we are as humans. Nearly every individual had a neutral thought on them and
did not sway one way or another. This allowed me to see that professionals are not the
only ones who feel as though the success of students is crucial. (Linton, n.d.) Although
the prompt was directed to professionals and that is who I attempted to reach out to
primarily, gaining more opinions has open my mind to more resources and ideas.

After this inquiry, what new question(s) do you have related to this particular standard?
When did standardized testing become regular amongst schools?
Is there a correlation to what type of schools enforce the tests? (Charter, Public, etc.)
Do all students and professionals feel similarly to the topic?
Was testing designed for the good of each student as an individual, or the class scores as
a whole?

What activities will help you address this new area of inquiry?
I can reach out to those who are in administration to see how they feel and what they
know. Activity wise, I can assist my students in what is best for them by seeing how they
excel at testing versus other activities that engage the mind in the same way.

Take one action step now toward this new area of inquiry. What did you do? Explain why
you selected this particular action. (50-100 words)
I personally emailed a handful of educators to see how they felt. I also asked a few
students to see what they had been implemented lately. I found that after reaching out to
them, I was able to gather fresh data that would not be accessible online at this time.
 References

A Back-to-School Conversation with Teachers and School Leaders. (2014, September

02). Retrieved September 18, 2017, from https://blog.ed.gov/2014/08/a-back-to-

school-conversation-with-teachers-and-school-leaders/

Linton, J. (n.d.). Building and maintaining an online professional learning community.

Available athttp://learnnc.org/lp/pages/7012

Milner, R. H. (2010, April 18). Talking With Students About Standardized Tests.

Retrieved September 18, 2017, from

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/04/18/talking-with-students-about-

standardized-tests/

STANDARDS ASSESSMENT INVENTORY (SAI) INFORMATION PACKET .

(2011). STANDARDS ASSESSMENT INVENTORY (SAI) INFORMATION

PACKET ,32(4). Retrieved September 18, 2017, from

file:///C:/Users/Sierra/Downloads/Item9_Learning_Forward_Standards.pdf.

Standards for Professional Learning. (2015). Retrieved September 18, 2017, from

https://learningforward.org/standards/data

Talking With Students About Standardized Tests. (2010, April 18). Retrieved

September 18, 2017, from http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/04/18/talking-

with-students-about-standardized-tests/