Week 8: Reflection

During this course I developed a GAME plan that helped me focus on accomplishing goals towards expanding my technological abilities. While I still don’t feel I’ve completely accomplished my goals, I do feel I have made some progress towards them. These goals are very time consuming, and in the world of education, time is always the enemy. Therefore, I do need more time to reach my goals. However, in my work towards reaching my goals, I have learned a lot about myself and my coworkers.

One thing I learned is that we do not have a lot of technology available at our school. The technology we do have available is also difficult to get your hands on because of the high demand. I have also learned that my co-workers are very diverse in their technological abilities. I have also learned that sometimes I underestimate my students and their abilities. When I tried new technology activities they surprised me. I was prepared for the worst, however they picked up on the instructions and assignment better than I expected. There were still problems and glitches; however, for the most part I was pleasantly surprised.

The biggest immediate adjustment I will make is implementing more technology into my classroom. As I stated, I was pleasantly surprised by how well my students did with the technology I have implemented so far and therefore, I will continue to use more technology. I will also continue to challenge my students by increasing the independence of the work and the degree of difficultly of the assignment.

Week 7: Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

I will have students proceed similar to how we developed our GAME plan. I will have students visit the NETS-S site and read the standards (http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx). However, I will provide them with a little more direction and guidance. I will instruct them to set a goal for strengthening their confidence and proficiency in only one indicator rather than two. After they have chosen the one indicator they want to strengthen, I will have them develop their personal GAME plan. When developing their plan, I will encourage them to keep in mind projects they will have to complete in school and how they can use these projects to reach their goal. If they are unaware of what project or assignments they will have to complete in a given school year, I will direct them to their teachers to find out what types of assignments they will be completing. With these assignments in mind, students can develop a plan that will help them to reach their goal. They will need to explain the actions they will take to achieve their goals, how they will monitor their progress and how they will evaluate, modify or extend their learning. They will be encouraged to choose a goal that is attainable and that can be reached within that given school year. If possible, collaboration throughout the grade levels may make it possible for students to begin a GAME plan in their freshmen year of high school. Each year they could reach their goal and then the next year they could create a new GAME plan with a new goal. This would allow them to reach at least four of the six indicators. To further the process and if possible, students could potentially begin their GAME plan in their 7th grade year, and essentially reach their goal to become confident and proficient in all six areas.

Week 6: Revising My GAME Plan

So far, I have learning that I need to give my students a little more benefit of the doubt. I think I am nervous to try new things and as I am implementing new ideas, they are surprising me in their ability. For instance, I am begun (slowly) working towards meeting my GAME plan by testing out their tech-abilities. I have sent them assignments through email & the districts message center. I have required them to go to our online textbook to complete assignments and activities and then asked that they submit their assignment through email. As I stated, I was very nervous at first and was prepared for many questions and frustration… however most of the frustration came with the math content rather than the technology aspect.

I am still not satisfied that I have fulfilled my GAME plan, therefore, I will continue working on my current goals. As I’ve stated before, my GAME plan will most likely be a continuous process throughout my educational career. Once one goal is met, by that time another one will have come up.

To extend what I have learned so far and improve learning, I will continue to branch out of the norm, even if it is slowly but surely. For instance, instead of asking that students submit a written document, next time maybe I will give them a choice of submitting a written document, presentation, video or audio file. Sometimes I get discouraged when I watch the video resources for this course, because these classrooms that are being highlighted are at such a high level that I feel very defeated. However, I have to remind myself that that is my ultimate goal and it will not necessarily happen over night.

Week 5: Evaluating My GAME Plan Progress

So far, my actions have been pretty effective. Because I work two jobs and I am working on my masters, things are moving a little slow. However, striking up conversations and asking around helps you to learn a lot. For example, sampling starting a conversation about technology at a department meeting is an easy and effective way to see who is knowledgeable and who is not; which of my co-workers would be willing to learn with me and which ones are a little more stuck in their ways. This is one step toward meeting my goals… finding out who I can turn to for help and support.

So far, I have learned that we have a resource called Moodle (anyone ever heard of it?) that will allow me to create a class webpage of sorts and share information with my students and parents. However, that is about the extent of my knowledge so far. I have not had a chance to play around with it yet. Does anyone use Moodle? If so, do you have any advice or suggestions? Also, one of my concerns is that most of my students do not have internet or even computer access at home; therefore, I don’t know how effective of a way this would be for communicating and sharing information.

I still have a great deal to learn and in all reality, will always have something to learn. Since technology is constantly changing and evolving, I will never be at the point where I am satisfied. Therefore, I’m not entirely sure my plan will every fully be mastered. Maybe one adjustment I need to make is that there is no end time or fulfillment status… maybe my plan should be a continuous one throughout my career that is just adjusted and evolves with technology and my knowledge.

Week 4: Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

I have begun to ask around and strike up conversations with my colleagues about how they incorporate technology into their classroom. Particularly, I have asked other math teachers how they allow student’s creativity to shine through and yet still display their knowledge of mathematics. However, at this point I have not begun any formal observations of other classrooms. I do not think I need to modify my action plan, I simply need more time to carry it out.

So far, I have learned that most teachers struggle with these issues and have very different ways of dealing with the issue. I have also learned that our district has expanded our usage of the PLATO program. Instead of just being used for credit recovery, now all teachers can use it as a supplemental resource, test resource or extension of learning. This program is designed to help students get ready for the ACT and it is a way to incorporate technology into my class. In addition, I have also learned that our building is supposed to be getting two smart boards for the whole building to share. While this is not ideal, obviously, it is better than no smart board at all. Therefore, I can incorporate the smart board into certain lessons (when it’s available). By using the smart board, students who are not always capable of demonstrating learning in the traditional sense (paper and pencil) will be able to gain confidence and knowledge.

Week 3 Blog Post: Carrying Out My GAME Plan

I tend to learn best from watching/viewing others. I like to get samples of what others are doing and then adapt them based on what will work best and fit into my classroom. Therefore, I will need to gather resources and ideas from other teachers in my building, district and possibly search the internet for ideas out there.

I might also need time to go in and observe a class that is completing a similar task or doing something that I might want to adapt. As I stated, I learn best from seeing and doing. It is usually difficult for me to just hear someone talk about something and then implement it into my classroom.

In addition, I will also need some of my colleagues time. Once I have implemented my GAME plan, I would like some outside input. Therefore, I would like them to come in and observe my class to give me advice and input on how to make the lessons more effective. Working as a team of freshmen teachers, it might also be possible to create a cross-curricular project. This way, for instance, if I am doing a project with the science teacher, they could be in my classroom observing the lesson while also assisting with the science part of the project. Our freshmen team has all true 9th graders and therefore, students could create one product and get a grade for math and science.

What does everyone else think? Has anyone done any cross-curricular projects like this before? If so, what went well and what didn’t? Do you have any advice?

Week 2: Developing Your Personal GAME Plan

Even though I think I could use work in every NETS-T indicator, I chose two that I think would directly help and improve my student’s skills. I would like to strengthen my confidence and proficiency in the following two areas:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
   

The GAME Plan:

Goals:

1. Design lessons that will allow students to display their knowledge of the material in a creative and unique way while exploring real life problems and using problem solving skills.
   
2. Design lessons that will allow students to choose specific topics within a broad focus to study and allow them to use technology to display they have mastered that topic for assessment.

Action:

1. In order to take action on these goals I will consult other members in my department to see if they are doing any similar projects.
2. I will also do research on the internet to see if there are ideas, lessons or activities there that could be helpful.
3. I will also consult my IT lead teacher in order to see what, if any, software applications are available to our district that might be of use to my students.
4. In addition, I will discuss ideas with my co-teacher to see what thoughts he has and accommodations for special needs students need to take place.

Monitor:

1. Once I have developed my goals and followed through on my actions I need to monitor my GAME plan to make sure it stays on track. I will self-evaluate the lessons to make sure they are staying on track with the indicators.
2. I will also ask my co-teacher to evaluate the lessons informally to make sure they are covering all aspects and working efficiently.
3. If necessary, I will make adjustments and adapt the lessons to better fit the indicators.

Evaluate:

1. To evaluate the lessons, I will ask students to fill out a survey to see if they felt it met the criteria I had intended.
2. I will also ask an administrator to observe my classroom on that day (if possible) to see if they feel it meets the intended indicators.
3. In addition, a self-evaluate at the end of the lessons will also be beneficial to see if the student products were at the level I intended.

Week 8: Reflection - Final Blog Posting

Personal Theory of Learning
As I reviewed my personal theory of learning from week 1, I found that my views have not changed that drastically. However, in my first application, I made it seem as though modifying a student’s behavior and their learning were one in the same. Now, I see things a little differently. I don’t think a student’s behavior actually affects their ability to learn math. However, their behavior does effect the environment. If the environment is not conducive to learning, then the student may not learn math as well as they could in an otherwise favorable environment.

Immediate Goals & Adjustments
One immediate goal and adjustment I will make is to utilize a classroom webpage and our online grading program. I will keep a webpage updated with activities, lessons, goals, and news. Our online grading program also allows us to link all our assignments so students can access them and print them off. Since our school has such a high absent count, I spend too much of my time putting “missing work” packets together for students. This way, students will have access to everything they need. I will also set up a blog/discussion board so students can ask questions and get responses from all their classmates, not just me.

Another immediate adjustment I’m going to make is to complete more cooperative learning projects and assignments. At first, I was weary of doing things in pairs or groups because I thought they would be a big production and I need to do a lot of planning and preparation. However, cooperative learning can be very elaborate or very simple. It can range from a week long project to a simple pairing and comparing homework answers. The main idea, in my opinion, is to get students to problem solve together and learn from one another.

Long-term Goals and Adjustments
One long-term goal I would like to implement is to have students track their own effort. Since effort is a very important part of mathematics, it is important students realize that their effort will determine how well they learn the subject. I haven’t worked out all the details yet, however, I would like to set up a template in excel and post it to the class webpage. From there, students can download it and save it on their personal drive. Since we do not have access to computers on a daily basis, I will have students track their behavior on paper every day during the week. Then, weekly or bi-weekly we will enter the recorded data into their saved excel spreadsheet. From this data, students can track how much effort they are putting forth. As a class, we can also create tables and charts using their information. I will ask students to make honest judgments about the correlation between their effort and the comprehension of the material. When we come to the unit that discusses tables, charts and data, we can use their own graphs to answer questions and learn how to read them.

Another long term goal I have is to apply constructivism in my classroom. I want to get away from the routine of lecturing and having student’s complete 25 problems on paper. I would like to get more into constructing items students will have an attachment to. Or, taking real world items and applying what we’ve learning. For example, when discussing slopes, I could have students bring in a small house (bird house, doll house, etc.) and they could measure the slope (or pitch) of the roof of that house. This could also be done in groups to satisfy my goal of cooperative learning. By doing this, students will hopefully remember what a slope is by creating that connection with measure the slop of the roof.

Week 5: VoiceThread

http://voicethread.com/share/1191361/

Week 5: Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

The instructional strategies described in this weeks resources all deal with cooperative learning. Cooperative learning is one of the main components in the social learning theory. The social learning theory goes a step beyond constructionism, in my opinion. They both include creating an artifact, however with the social learning theory you must be able to converse with someone about that artifact and the knowledge you’ve gained.

The multimedia project described in this week’s resources is a great representation of cooperative learning and the social learning theory. Each small group of students worked together to learn a particular topic. They relied on each other to gather the information needed. This is the first demonstration of social learning. Next, they presented their videos to the class, which taught the class about their topic. This is the second display of social learning. By allowing students to teach each other so many things can happen. Students learn from their mistakes, get a break from the daily routine, work on their researching abilities, learn to work with others, learn how to teach others and gather an overall better understanding of the topic.

APP4: Constructivism in Practice

Almost all of the instructional strategies discussed in this week’s resources can be directly correlated with the principles of constructionism. The main idea of constructionism is to have students create an artifact of some kind. The hope is that students will make a connection with that artifact and have a better time recalling what they learned at a later time. Most of the strategies discussed in Chapter 11 “Generating and Testing Hypotheses” have students creating some type of artifact.

By collecting data, using the Internet and applying your findings to an excel spreadsheet you have almost unlimited opportunities for the types of objects you can produce. Not only can you enter your data to make a basic spreadsheet, but from there you can create a variety of charts, do various calculations and compare/contrast your findings. Using a program like excel when you are generating and testing hypotheses can help keep students focused, interested and on task. As the text states, using technology”…allows students to spend more time interpreting the data rather than gathering the data.” This is so true. With one click of a button, you can an amazingly accurate bar graph. However, without technology, you may have to create that graph on your own, which would take a great deal of time and allow for human error.

Using technology not only allows students to create these artifacts, but it allows them to manipulate them as well. If students are looking at the data they collected, they could change some numbers around to immediately see the effects it would have on the outcome. This will also help students to make a connection to what they are learning and hopefully retain the information longer.

Resources
•Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
•Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

APP3: Cognitivism in Practice

Cues, Questions, and Advanced Organizers

Using the right cues, questions and organizers can help get students interested and retain information. It seems that most of these concepts all stem from the basic KWL theory. If we begin by talking about what students already know and then merge into learning new information.

In this weeks video Dr. Orey talked about how integrating multiple senses will improve learning. By using advanced organizers you are essentially incorporating students multiple senses. If students create something like a brochure they can use text, pictures, tables, charts, etc. to help inform people.

In addition, it is important as a teacher to know how to cue students and how to ask questions. There are ambiguous questions and there are specific and essential questions. For example, if we are studying slopes it might be more effective to ask students “How are slopes used in the real world?” instead of “What did you learn about slopes?” Hopefully, students learned so much about slope that it would be difficult to know where to begin. In addition, connecting how people use slopes in the real world will help with elaboration and making connections.

Summarizing and Note Taking

One of the key ideas in cognitive learning is being able to make a connection and retain information. By taking an excerpt and making a summarization or taking notes, is something that the students are making their own. I will be different, but hopefully similar, to their classmates. They are looking at the information and considering what is important to them. In addition, they are taking the information presented to them and turning it into their own words. This makes it their own and hopefully will help them to make a connection later on down the road.


Resources:
• Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
• Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

APP2: Behaviorism in Practice

The instructional strategies described this week, effort and homework and practice, are types of student behaviors. In my opinion, effort is the most important strategy a student can learn. That is why I really enjoyed reading about having students track their own effort an achievement using the effort rubric. By doing so, this is helping to form a belief that their effort can pay off in the end. Not only will effort positively affect their grades, but it will also improve the way teachers view them and may help that student become involved in positive reinforcement days or activities put on by the school.

Even though I do not have anything as organized as the rubric and template described in this weeks resources, I also try to enforce and promote the importance of effort. Since I teach freshman algebra, not only is the subject difficult for most, the new environment is difficult as well. Therefore, to get more student involvement in the effort of homework, I will usually grade the first few assignments strictly on their effort and completion. Once we have practiced the particular topic a few times, then we will have some sort of assessment to see what they know. I have found that students generally respect this method of instruction. They think its fair to be able to correct their own homework but be assessed on their actual knowledge later on.

Most of the strategies in this weeks resources are operating on the assumption or would work best if students had access to a computer on a regular or weekly basis. Unfortunately, that is not the case in my situation. However, if it was, I would definitely be using the effort rubric and template. The ideas described in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works are really geared towards getting students to buy into the importance of effort. Each category on the effort rubric is a type of student behavior. In addition, the five categories on the rubric would fit perfectly in my classroom. I really feel that if students could see on a weekly basis that their behavior is directly affecting their grade then their behavior would begin to improve. By showing students evidence of their actions through tables, charts and graphs we are actually trying to modify their behavior. Therefore, technology, behavior and these instructional strategies are all directly related.

Resources:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Almost Done and yet... just beginning...

Well, school is almost out... however I am starting back up with my masters classes. Oh what a busy month May will be!