Reflection 6714

This class, Reaching and Engaging all Learners through Technology has been so enlightening and eye opening. I have learned so many different tools and resources to use and implement into my classroom. Being able to work in a social network group and learn from each other has been really helpful and important. I always thought I was doing a pretty good job of trying to meet the needs of all of my students especially the ones who have IEP's, but after taking this class and learning about all new tools and resources, I feel as though I am falling short on my responsibilities as a teacher. This class has made me realize that I have the classroom environment conducive to learning, but now I need to focus on the needs of the individual students to make sure they succeed and learn.

The first thing that I am going to change and implement into my classroom is giving my students a learning styles survey in the beginning of the year. Starting the year off with a starting point of where each of my students is and how they prefer to learn will be a key component of meeting their learning needs throughout the year. Another tool I will implement a lot more of is technology. Our school has so much technology available to us, that I need to take advantage of it and use it. I have started implementing the use of a SMART slate which is a mini smart board. The students can participate in interactive games using the SMART slate. I have also let the students participate in projects using the programs powerpoint, kidspiration, and word.

After taking this class I have so many new ideas for my students to participate in using technology that I have to slow down and think about how to go about them and if my ideas are grade appropriate. Dr. Stephanie Throne and Dr. Grace Smith stated that we are "falling short at our jobs if we don't give them the tools they are capable of learning." This is so true. If we don't give our students the tools they are able to learn, then we aren't doing our job. We live and teach in the 21st century so we need to teach to what the student are growing into, not what was appropriate in the past.

GAME Plane Reflection Week 8

Looking back at my GAME plan and the goals that I set for myself, I am very satisfied with the final outcome. My 2 goals were to integrate creative lesson plans using technology and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness. I have accomplished these goals with confidence and am very happy with the outcomes. Not only did I incorporate creative lessons using technology, but I also got to use my Unit Plan lessons that I created in Week 7 in my classroom to see if they worked.

Not only did I accomplish my GAME plan goals, but I learned so many more activities and ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. Technology is really a great tool when dealing with differentiated instruction. It gives so many different options and tools to students that have different learning abilities. One tool that I find to fit the needs of most students is Voice Thread. The students have options on how they do it. They can either record their information or they can type it. Depending on what kind of learner they are, they can choose which one best fits their need.

After taking this course, and becoming more familiar with the different technology programs and tools that are out there, I will make it a point to incorporate technology into every subject area. My students love learning different things on the computer. According to them they don't think the computer is actually learning. They think its play time. So as long as they are learning while "playing" then I am doing my job. Of course I will always monitor the students as they "learn and play". This course has really got me excited for more technology interaction.

Using the GAME plan with Students

After going through the GAME plan process of setting Goals, taking Action, Monitoring progress toward achieving goals and Evaluating whether the goals were achieved and Extend your learning to new situations, (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009) I have learned a lot. I really felt that the GAME plan kept me on track of meeting my goals. I could always look back at the goals I set and alter them depending on what I felt needed to be done. I didn't want to let myself down by not achieving my goal, so continually looking back at my goals was motivation to successfully achieve them.

The GAME plan process would be very beneficial with students. If they can set there goals early and understand what it takes to meet their goals, they will be more likely to take action on how they are going to go about achieving their personal goals. Does anyone have any good ideas for lower elementary in creating their GAME plan for the NET standards?

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Revising my GAME Plan

At this point I don't feel as though my GAME plan needs to be revised. I feel very strongly about my progress and success of my GAME plan and integrating technology into my lessons. I really like how the book Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach has broken down the chapters into content area specifics and how to incorporate technology into each separate content area. Since I teach 2nd grade, it was very helpful to me to see how it is used in a variety of the content areas since I teach all of them. I really enjoyed learning different ways to incorporate technology into the social studies curriculum, because sometimes, I find it harder to get good solid lessons for social studies. This has given me some really good ideas.

My two NETS-T standards that I chose were:

• Teachers promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.
• Teachers design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

I really feel like with all the technology integration that I am incorporating into my lessons the standard of promoting, supporting, and modeling creativity and innovative thinking is really coming to a head. The students are getting so excited about the use of new technology. I don't feel as though I am quite ready to add new goals, but I will extend my previous goals by adding in another form of technology. I would like to try and incorporate digital cameras within in my classroom. I guess this could be considered a new goal or an addition onto my previous goals. I would need to find some good lesson plans that involved digital cameras. That can be on my next GAME plan.

All in all I am really please with myself on how I approached my GAME plan and how I have achieved my goals. I was definitely a self-directed learner. "You are self-directed anytime you learn a new skill or pursue more information about an intriguing topic, sparked by something you read or heard." (Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer (2009)

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Evaluating my GAME plan progress

Well, I can finally say that I think my GAME plan is almost mastered. I have my students using the slate board daily. They are using it to solve math problems, edit sentences with grammar and correct end punctuation, drawing life cycles in the correct sequence, and creating their own t-charts of living and non-living things. It is amazing what technology does to the atmosphere of the classroom. When the students are using the slate board, they know that their are rules and that if they break any of the rules and aren't working as a group or a team, they lose their privilege to participate using the smart slate. Technology engages the students on content area that with paper and pencil was boring to them.

I have not quite mastered using the mimio bar and finding lessons that go a long with it. One reason is because I am still waiting for one to come available to keep in my classroom, and two I haven't had the time to learn how to use the smart slate as well as the mimio bar. Our school uses the program microsoft OneNote to communicate and share different lessons and activities, so slowly people are adding their own personal templates that they created or found to OneNote for us to use with the Mimio bar. I am hoping that soon I will get the chance to integrate the Mimio bar into my lessons and use it with my students for interactive activities. "As a self-directed lifelong learner, you'll be able to respond to the rapid and continuous technological changes that inevitably will occur during your professional career, keep your skills up-to-date, and better meet the needs of your students today and in the future."

In order to master my GAME plan I am going to have to adjust my goal of finding lessons for the Mimio bar and strictly stick with lessons that go along with the smart slate, since that is the tool I have available right now. Availability is key with technology in our school. Our school is so large that it takes awhile to be "my turn" with using the different technology tools.

Monitoring my GAME plan

Well, I have some pro's and con's about my GAME plan. There have been a few bumps in the road. While I have been so excited and pumped about learning different lessons that incorporate technology, the technology that I have checked out and wanted to learn more about has been a little difficult. The Smart "Slate" that I checked out from the media center wouldn't hook up to my laptop so I couldn't get it to be "interactive" for the students to use. Today, our technology coordinator came to help me and now it is up and running. I need to play around with it a little more before I let the students play with it. Then the mimio bar that I was planning on checking out, there is a waiting list for people who all of a sudden want to try it. (Can you tell I am a little bitter, because I just want to jump into this technology with both feet). On a positive note, I am learning different lessons that I can incorporate into the curriculum and let the students use. I am familiarizing myself with a whole new world of technology integration.

I need to modify part of my plan, which is involving our media specialist, while she is willing to work with me and help me find books that go with our curriculum, she doesn't really seem to have the time right now. I think I am going to have to set up a meeting with her to just jot a few book titles down and see if I can go from there. Otherwise, I am going to have to go and make myself comfortable in the library and find these books myself.

So far I have learned that if achieving my GAME plan involves help of another staff member, things may take a little bit longer. I am beginning to realize that I have to teach myself about the latest and greatest. They have always said that to be technology savvy you must play and create trial and error. "You can pursue informal learning opportunities by reading books, completing tutorials, asking others, or searching the web to find answers to your personal questions." (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer (2009) So that is my next step.

1. Cennamo, K., Ertmer, P., & Ross, J. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Carrying out my GAME plan

In order to carry out my GAME plan I need to have access to more technology and become more familiar with lessons involving technology. In order to design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity I will need to work closely with our technology coordinator. She will be my best resource at knowing what all technology tools we have in our school. The other contact that I would use to help me would be our Media specialist. She knows of great books that go with different standards and incorporates our GPS (Georgia Performance Standards). She would also be able to teach me how to use the different technology tools.

So far, I have been able to check out from our Technology Coordinator a "Slate Board" which is an interactive board that the students can use to project their information onto the big board. I like to think of it as a mini smart board. It has been a great tool not only to get them engaged and motivated, but it keeps them quiet because they all want a turn. My next step is having a Mimio bar put up in my room so that I can do interactive games and lessons with my students. Our school is ordering a few more, so I am waiting on that. Hopefully the more and more I get comfortable at using the different technology that is out, the better I will become at creating lessons to go along with it.

Personal GAME Plan

After reviewing the National Educational Technology Standards, there are still quite a few standards that I need to become stronger in and grow as an educator. I try and incorporate as much technology as I feel my students can handle considering they are only in 2nd grade. I probably don't do as much as I should considering today's day and age and how it has become so technology based. I love using technology just as much as the students do, and the students seem to be more engaged when involved in different technology activities.

The main NETS-T standards that I want to get more comfortable and confident in are:
GOALS:

• Teachers promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.
• Teachers design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

ACTION:

In order to achieve my goals I will conduct some research on different lesson plans that incorporate digital tools that the students can "play" with. I will also need to figure out what kind of digital tools and lessons fit in with our student curriculum.

MONITOR:

I will monitor my progress by reminding myself of the goals in which I have set for myself, as well as how engaged the students become while trying to succeed in trying to incorporate more technology and digital tools.

EVALUATE:

I will be able to evaluate my GAME plan when I attempt to incorporate my goals into the classroom. If my lessons go well and are a success, then I know I have mastered my goal. If the lesson doesn't not go well, I will know that I haven't mastered it and that I need to do a little more research and tweek the lesson in order for me to achieve success in my personal goal.

Reflection 6712

After taking this class I feel more comfortable using the internet with my students. I have learned multiple ways to teach my students how to tell if a website is reliable and valid. I have also realized how important it is to teach the students the ethic and rules of interent use in the classroom.

This class has given me the confidence to go outside my box and incorporate the new technology skills in my classroom. Letting the students explore the internet and answer their own inquiry questions about certain topics gives the students more interent in learning.

One professional development goal I now have after this class is to learn how to create a website. I would love to have my own classroom website and have my students help me in creating it. It would be a great way of keeping the parents up to date and involved. It would also give them other links to useful resources and information.

Application 7- EDUC 6653

In this weeks application we are to review all the different research methods we have learned in this class. We were given 4 different scenarioes to interpret and determine which research method would be the most effective.

Scenario 1: Ten students are available for in-depth interviews. Participants will be selected based on their involement with the peer mediation program. They will be observed over three weeks. Analysis will attempt to determind issues concerning peer mediation.

This scenario I find would use the qualitative research method. It gathers data over a 3 week period from a group of students who already have knowledge on peer mediation.

Scenario 2: Two classrooms of students are selected. There are 30 students in each class; each group will have similar demographics-age, sex, race, socio-economic background, etc. Classes will be randomly divided into two groups of 15 students. Of these two groups, one randomly selected group will get training on peer mediation and the other group will not. Thus in each classroom there will be one group that is trained in peer mediation and one that is not. Analysis will occur on which groups have the fewest office referrals.

This scenario would use the quantative research method. It has a specific subject its gathering research from as well a plan in analyzing the data. "Designing quantative research involved choosing subjects, data collection techniques, procedures for gathering the data, and procedures for implementing treatments." (Mcmillan & Schumacher, 2006 p.101)


Scenario 3: A school counselor is interested in knowing how student attitudes affect the value of peer mediation to decrease the number of office referrals that are being filed for inappropriate interactions.

I find this scenario to use the mixed-method of research. It starts out using the qualitative research method when finding out how attitudes affect peer mediation, but then uses the quantative method when trying to decrease the number of office referrals. Therefore, it uses the mixed method of research.

Scenario 4: Peer mediation has become widely used in many schools. The feelings of those involved in the process are little known- either from those doing the mediation or those receiving it. The ZASK-R Acceptance Preference Survey will be given as pre- and post-tests to 40 students participating in mediation. Follow-up interviews will be conducted on a bi-monthly basis.

In this scenario I have found that mixed-method of research is used again. Only this time it uses the exploratory design. It used both quantative and qualitative research in the exploratory design. They will be gathering the #'s or quantative data from the ZASK-R survey. "Qualitative data collection and analysis is followed by a quantative phase." (Mcmillan & Schumacher, 2006 P. 163)

This class has taught me so much on educational research and all the different methods that can be used. Before this class I had very little to no research experience. I am looking forward to learning more and hopefully will become more comfortable with it. Right now, I am still pretty nervous about it.

Research Qustions

After posting my possible research questions on the db, I have gotten a lot of feedback on more questions that I can probe when trying to solve my problem statement.

My problem statement is " I plan to determine the impact of standardized tests for students whose districts are cutting technology funding vs. those in districts that are maintaining or increasing their funding."

Research Questions:

1. If given technology funding in some school districts and not in others, will the schools with technology funding score higher than the schools who do not have the funding?

2. Did districts that reduced technology funding see a decline in standardized test scores?

3. Did districts that reduced technology funding, see technology use drift mainly towards remedial technology use?

4. Is there a difference in test scores from the previous year with technology funding vs. this year without technology funding?

Most of my questions use the quantative methodology and use difference questions. I am trying to find out the difference in test scores with technology funding vs. no technology funding.

EDUC 6653-EDUC Research Topic

I have chosen to research the topic of school districts that are cutting funding for technology equipment vs. those school districts that still have funding for tech equipment and the impact each has on students when taking the standardized tests.

Who: school districts

What: funding for technology equipment

Why: impact on students when taking the standardized tests.

Reflection: Personal Theory of Learning

After reviewing my Personal Theory of Learning, I still stand firm with and feel strongly about creating differentiated instruction for each child. Every child has a different learning style and technique. Some need small group instruction or one on one instruction. Some need visuals and pictures, and others are auditory learning. One thing I would like to include or add into my theory of learning is technology.

After taking this course and getting more familiarized with different technology tools, I have noticed that technology could be another form of differentiated instruction. In addition to pictures, repetition, and hands-on manipulatives, I believe that concept mapping, blogging, and taking virtual field trips are all other great tools to help in differentiating instruction for the students. Concept mapping I find to be a very important skill. The students can not only break down information and pull important parts, but they can then add pictures to go with the text to help them to remember the information.

My long terms goals in incorporating technology into my classroom are creating a classroom blog that my students have to participate in daily. After creating my own classroom blog for EDUC 6711 I have found them to be a very fun and interactive way to discuss and comment on different classroom topics. The other long term goal I have is to let go a little bit and give more responsibility to my students when letting them use technology. For example: after giving a tutorial on how to use a concept mapping program, let the students go and "play" and figure out how to use the program. Once they are given a little free time to explore the program, they will have a better understanding of how to use it. I hope to continue to learn about more technology tools as my MS in Technology continues.

Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning is a key component in having a successful classroom. "When students work in cooperative groups, they make sense of, or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others." (Johnson, Johnson, & Stanne, 2000) Students learn from each other and gain confidence in themselves when put in cooperative learning groups. In my classroom I incorporate math centers as well as literacy centers every other day. I have put the students into groups that I know they will work well together with confidence and collobaration. I do have the one or two students who work better alone and I let them do that most of the time, but I am a firm believer that those "loner" students need to learn how to work in groups and be successful just like the other students.

Another idea that was talked about again was using student rubrics. "Rubrics help students understand what is expected of them and how their participation will be evaluated." Pitler,Hubbell,Kuhn & Malenoski (2007) Giving students self evaluated rubrics makes them aware of what is expected of them and how to succeed in cooperative group assignments and projects. Letting the students know what is expected, leaves less of a chance of misbehavior and failure than letting the students just "go" with no instruction or guidance. I found "Cooperative Learning" to be very interesting and full of information to help with successful collaborative groups.

VoiceThread:
voicethread.com/share/892833/

Constructivism in Practice

"Generating and Testing Hypotheses" reminds me of teaching science and figuring out what's going to happen in each experiment. I'm not really sure how I could use hypotheses in other subjects. Using technology when generating and testing hypotheses is a great idea and very twenty first century, but I am not sure how as a 2nd grade teacher I would incorporate using hypotheses with my students. "Using technology to maximize instructional time and meet learning objectives" is a great concept. It's just a matter of modifying and differentiating for each grade level and each student.

I beleive that "Generating and Testing Hypotheses" relates closely with constructivism/constructionism with the whole role reversal mentality. Instead of the teachers teaching the students and having templates prepared for the students, the students are creating and building their own templates and own learning style.

If anyone has suggestions on how I can incorporate "generating and testing hypotheses" with 2nd graders in more than just Science, it would be greatly appreciated.

Cognitivism in Practice

Cues, Questions, and Advance organizers gave a lot of great ideas when introducing a topic or lesson. They talked about using a KWL chart when introducting a key concept. What do the student's already know? What do the students want to know? and what did the students learn? Of course adding to those questions would be my EQ (essential question). Probing the students with the EQ can really pull out information that the students didn't even know they knew about a certain topic. Another great idea was using a graphic organize or advance organizer. Starting out with a picture and the essential question get's the students mind running with questions and answers based on that lesson or topic. Using cues, questions, and advance organizers can help students get prepared and want to go further into the topic than what the original EQ asks.

Summarizing and Note taking is another key component in understanding and learning a skill. Summarizing is very important when reading a large amount of information. Finding the key points in a reading and then writing them in your own words helps the brain to remember the information in ways that work best for the reader. One of the ideas that they mentioned in the book was taking notes in a word document and write them not verbatim, but in your own words so that you can understand them. My school was given projectors last year in every classroom. We can hook up our lap tops to the projector and whatever we have on our lap tops is then on the big screen for the students to see. With my class, we read our weekly story together and the students will stop throughout the story and tell me the key components they think I should type in my word document. By the end of the story the students either tell me to add more or they tell me to delete some of the notes that aren't very important pieces. It has been a huge success with helping the students to undertstand how to summarize a story and how to write or note take the important ideas.

As I continue to learn different ideas that involve technology, I hope to use them more frequently in the classroom and feel comfortable doing so.

Behaviorism in Practice

I found "Reinforcing Effort" to be a very important tool in the classroom. Students need to see their progress and be able to chart their scores or efforts on their own. If they are held responsible for grading their own effort based off of a rubric they will be more apt to try harder. Some students can do really well in school naturally, but yet put no effort into their work. I beleive that if they had to chart their effort and achievement, their scores would sky rocket. If students were responsible for their own success I think it would cut down on behavior problems, because they would be more concerned about learning rather than being disruptive. Granted, I do understand that there will always be some form of a behavior issue.

Homework and Practice is another crucial part in students being successful. In Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works they stated that "Mastering a skill or process requires a fair amount of focused practice." I think the homework that is sent home weekly should closely relate to the standards or concepts being taught that week. The more practice and repetition they have, the better chance of them learning the skill. I differentiate my students homework depending on which students are grasping the concepts and which students need a little more help. I will send home either remediation work or enrichment work depending on each student. Sometimes I send home both, in hopes that after a few nights of remediation homework they can then do the enrichment homework.