Blog # 8

Because I will be in a different classroom this Spring, I have not officially come up with a question I want to officially research quite yet. I have only been able to be in my new classroom about 40 minutes a week. This is not enough time to observe how the students and the teacher uses technology, or any problems that they are currently facing. However, this project has helped form the basis for my research question.

Research Story: Throughout this whole student-teaching experience so far, I have come to realize that technology is used in education far more than I realized. Gone are the days of chalkboards and overhead projectors. Now we have Smart Boards where students can come up and with a pen write all over what the teacher has put up. We have projectors and document cameras. Many students can now check out Ipads from their school for the entire year. Schools have computer labs, and access to computer programs that help with math and typing.This is not to mention the internet and social media, and the vast amount of information students are able to access.

Search Protocol: I used the iSearch 2.0 protocol that I learned from this class. I first started out on the connectededucators.org site. I posted the question: "What are the most critical issues around education and technology?" I went on to the Tech and Computer forms site and posted a similar question. I also joined the ISTE website and posted a question on there as well.

Research: While waiting for responses from the question I posted, I wanted to see what was out there in terms of issues with education and technology. I went to google and typed in "education and technology issues." There are two articles I looked at that raised some good questions for me. They include:

How can schools catch up with the latest technology?
Because technology is changing so rapidly, how can the research on how technology affects students keep up? What is the benefit from full-time online education? Would my students benefit from hybrid learning? How can we be sure that the online classes that our students are using are beneficial? Is it possible for all students to have a mobile device? Is there a way to blend social networking with the classroom so that students will be more engaged?

Reflection

While doing this research, I found multiple audiences and though I am waiting to get responses back from the sites where I posted questions. During our class presentations today, I found a lot of websites and apps that would be useful to me. This is a long research process but very useful. It caused me to ask more questions, which is important as a teacher-researcher. Next time I think I would ask a more focused question and try not to become overwhelmed by all the information I find. For this assignment I know we were supposed to post screen shots but I was not able to figure out to on my MAC computer.

Blog Post # 7-Website Reflection

The goals of this unit were for the students to read the story "The Raven" and determine the tone and mood of the story, as well as begin to use a plot diagram to determine the different plot lines of the story. From this, they will use the reading strategies and the plot diagram to read several other short stories by Edgar Allen Poe. They will discuss the tone and mood of the story, as well as place the story on a plot diagram. Once this is completed, they were to create a final project. Our website was very useful in helping the students achieve these goals because we had the story broken down into passages for them, with a picture and two reflection questions at the end of each passage. One of the reflection questions was always "where would this passage go in your plot diagram"? The other question was usually asking them to predict what will happen next, or why Edgar Allen Poe wrote something in the passage. We also included a glossary, defining terms that might not be familiar to the students. Also, we had a vocabulary quiz and an audio recording on our website as well. These were all designed to help all students be engaged in the reading of The Black Cat. We had a form for the students to provide us with feedback on our website. 

We designed this website with UDL guidelines in mind. For example, # 1 which is multiple means of representation, we had the story in an e-book format, as well as an audio/visual video of the story being read. For # 2, which was to provide options for language, mathematical expressions, and symbols, under 2.5 we had multiple medias of our story available through our e-book and the audio/video link to the story. For 4.1 which was to vary the methods for response and navigation, we had a form on our website where they could ask us questions, as well as they could leave comments on our e-book while reading the story, and this allows them to communicate their ideas with us as well as with their peers. For # 5.1 use multiple media for communication, they are using our website, as well as their reading journals to communicate their progress in reading the stories. For 6.2- Support planning and strategy development, we are giving them tools to help them read the story before actually having them read it. We did this by asking them to complete the vocabulary quiz before reading the story. 

Based on the feedback our peers and Mr. Mattson gave us before our students utilized our website, we made some changes that were necessary for our students to reach the goals of this unit. We learned that we had the lower level reading students in our group, so we made our e-book more accessible for them, as well as asking the questions at the end of each passage so they could discuss these as a group. They were simple fixes on our end, such as fixing our e-book to make it easier for students to use, and making sure they could leave comments as well. We did not initially have a form on our website to allow them to ask us questions. We also added the vocabulary quiz and game. The feedback from our students was mostly positive. We asked them to rank different areas of the website and e-book on a 1-4 scale, 4 being it was really useful, and 1 they did not find it useful or helpful at all. We mainly received 3's and 4's. We asked if anything could have been done to change the website, and two students said they would want more resources, and several said they would not change anything. 

GQ #1 The core of UDL is the premise that often the curriculum is disabled (and disabling!). It is not flexible; it often poses barriers, and consequently prevents rather than supports optimal learning experiences. Do you agree or disagree with this view? Why or why not?

I would agree with this statement. I think that sometimes we design curriculum with our core students in mind. We are forgetting about our ELL and those students who are struggling with reading and writing. By having us create this website, I think we were including all of the students in the learning process. I think that we need to realize what the barriers are for our students, and design curriculum so that they can overcome these barriers and achieve the goals we have in mind for them. I think the UDL guidelines are an excellent way of making sure that we as teachers are including ALL of our students in the learning process.

GQ #2 What are the benefits of analyzing the curriculum for strengths and weaknesses rather than focusing on the students' strengths and weaknesses?What are the challenges of this approach?

The benefits to analyzing the curriculum are that we are determining if everything we need the students to learn is included and that all of our students will be engaged and focused. We are also making sure that all types of learners are included. However, if we do not include our students' strengths and weaknesses, we might miss out on some students being engaged. We need to find out what our students are interested in learning so that they will want to be engaged and focused during the lesson. We also have to keep in mind that when using the curriculum approach, this is not designed from the point of view of the students themselves. They will be able to tell us what their strengths and weaknesses are, and we can make sure we are keeping those in mind while developing our lesson and unit plans.

Blog Post 6

1. As I rated myself as "developing" on all the NETS-5, I choose the 5-a for this blog. This standard is about engaging in professional growth and leadership. As someone who has not had much experience with leadership in elementary, middle or high school, I figure I need more practice with this standard so that I can model it for my future students. I was interested in looking at some of the resources listed for professional organizations having to do with education, so I looked at two of them:

International Reading Association: Really awesome website about this organization that has been around since 1956. They are advocates about reading, and I even read a summary of their position statement. They have a section about trending topics and right now it is about the Common Core State Standards, or CCSS which we have been covering in our other classes! They have resources regarding the standards and literacy. 

International Society for Technology in Education- As this is fitting for this class, I visited this website to get more information about technology and education, and it is a great resource! They have a conference every year, and they have a blog in which they cover topics about technology in education. 

As for the section on various online chat tools I use ichat, AOL instant messenger, Yahoo messenger, and Skype. Skype being the most prevalent now because my Sister is in London and that is our main mode of communication, as well as Facebook messenger. 

I like the idea of Formal Schooling and how most states require it to maintain teaching certificates. I believe it keeps teachers updated on the most professional development resources, I also like the ideas they mention about informal professional development opportunities. I am going to look into this further. I am also going to listen to some of the podcast resources they mention on page 256. 

2. In your experience: Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now? Ten years? How do you anticipate professional development being a part of your 5 and 10 year plans?

I see myself in 5 years teaching in a classroom, probably in the Washington State area. I see myself attending professional development conferences every year, and hopefully having experiences teaching in various grade levels. I see myself owning my own apartment or home, and possibly married. In 10 years, I see myself married, and still pursuing professional development opportunities during the summer. I see myself hopefully married and having children by this point. I understand professional development is an important aspect of being a teacher, and will be pursuing the informal and formal aspects of professional development mentioned in the book. 

3. Exploration: Locate, explore, and describe one informal learning opportunity that can help you enhance your teaching practice. 

I looked into the Department of Education's Teaching Ambassador Fellowship. Their mission is to use teacher's experience in the classroom and having them lend a voice to the officials on the federal level. There are two opportunities mentioned on the website, and I have attached the link here. I think this will enhance my teaching practice because I am further practicing my teaching skills, as well as learning from other teachers about how they teach in their classrooms. It is also a chance to have my voice heard at the federal government level, which makes decisions regarding education and affects my future students and school. 

Link: Link to Professional Teaching Fellowship Opportunities

4. Final Reflection: 

“Barth (2000) describes the at risk teacher or principal as one ‘who leaves school at the end of the day or year with little possibility of continuing learning about the important work they do’” (as cited in Morhpew, 2012).

Explore the websites listed for the educational societies found in Resource List 5.1 (pg 248) and Resource List 5.9 (pg 262). Which of these societies would be most valuable to you in order to continue your learning after you graduate and begin your education career? What kind of resources do they offer? How could technology play a role in promoting your future professional development and lifelong learning?

As I mentioned in in the above section, I did review two professional educational society pages. I think they were the most valuable to me, as I am a big advocate of literacy in education, and I need to learn and keep abreast of the changing technology in the classroom and beyond. They offer books and articles on topics concerning literacy and technology in terms of education. Some are free, and some resources you can only access as a member. After I obtain a teaching position, I will probably become a member of a few of them, and utilize their resources. I think that technology will play a vital role in my professional development. They have podcasts, articles, and resources that are only available online and I see myself using technology as a way to further my professional development almost on a daily basis.

Blog Post Week 5

1. Since I rated myself as "proficient" on all the NET-S 4, I decided to focus this blog on NET-S 4c. This is because I want to familiarize myself with the proper technology etiquette so that I can teach my students how to use technology safely and effectively. I think it is important for students to know this especially since we have the issue of "cyber bullying" since social media (facebook, twitter) was introduced. It is really sad to me that students and adults would physically harm themselves because of something that was said over the internet. As someone who is involved at a job where we provide therapy for children who have been abused and have mental health needs, I thought this is most connecting to me at this point in my life. I like how in the readings in the first section on Pg. 229, they talk about "think before you speak, and think before you act" and that even though it can take a long time to establish creditability and respect, it takes a short amount of time for it to be taken away. 

2. The "In Your Experience" question was as follows: "have you ever experienced a time when you misinterpreted another person's email message? Have you ever been misinterpreted in the online environment?" 

I have never experienced a misinterpretation of someone's email, but I have on Facebook. Sometimes I read people's status updates, and I misinterpret what they are saying. I may comment on it, and it is something that is completely different. I usually get a reply back with what they meant to say, and it is corrected. No harm, no foul. I don't believe I have ever been misinterpreted in the online environment. It has never been brought to my attention if I have. I am well aware that my intentions in writing versus speaking are totally different, and the emotions cannot always be expressed in writing, so I am careful with what I post on Facebook and Twitter. 

3. I decided to do the exploration #5 which asks me to view a profile of someone on a social networking site, and indicate whether that person is portraying themselves as how they intended. 

I went onto Facebook and viewed my cousin Ashley's profile. (Ashley's Facebook) I'm not sure if you will be able to see it. I don't know what her privacy settings are. However what I can tell you is she is a very positive, outgoing, caring person who has excellent work ethic and cares a lot about my cousin, her husband Jeremy. She is always posting positive things, and they are encouraging as well. If someone posts on her profile, she is great about getting back to them. Also, we communicate a lot using the private messaging tool. It is basically like email, except through Facebook. 

4. Final reflection question: In Chapter 4, Morphew introduces the NETS-T4 with a daunting thought, “always be mindful that the impressions you give and the lessons you live are potentially long lasting and far reaching.” Reread the learning outcomes on page 192 of Morphew. Which of these outcomes has the furthest reaching consequences if not properly modeled or promoted by educators? What are those consequences? How might you structure your teaching practice to promote or model digital citizenship and responsibility to address this issue?

I think that the most furthest reaching consequences would be "promote safety and health in relation to technology". I think this goes back to what I was saying in the first section of my blog. If we are bullying and always saying negative things, and we are intentionally trying to harm someone, it can have lasting physical, mental, and emotional consequences. I have read stories online of how teens have committed suicide because of cyber bullying. I think that I would make it very clear to my class that there is zero tolerance for bullying in my class, and that I will be monitoring their conversations and social media to make sure that everyone is being safe and responsible with the technology. I would stress to them that having access to this technology is a privilege, not a right and that I have the ability to take it away at anytime if I deem they are using the technology inappropriately, as well as I have a legal obligation to report any type of abuse to the authorities. 

Blog post week 4

1. For the NETS-3D I rated myself as basic. I think this is because I need to explore and use these tools that are available. Having never been exposed to these tools before, I think taking some time and exploring them will allow me to become more familiar and utilize these resources to the fullest extent possible. One source that the text mentions on page 180 is the web Tools4U2Use. I decided to go to the website and do some exploring. I looked a the quizzes and polling section, and it is awesome! It gives literally close to 100 sites that allow you to create flashcards, multiple choice, and other types of quizzes, as well as polls and surveys. Here is the link for your reference: 

http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/Quiz+%26+Polling+Tools 

I took an example quiz on the Quia website on copyrighting and plagiarism, and it worked! This is a great example of using the internet and technology to create formal and informal assessments of your students! 

Another site they list in the text on page 181 is thinkfinity, and it allows you to find resources for games and other educational tools. I used it and found links to all sorts of fun math games!Here is the link:

http://thinkfinity.org/welcome

I have used several of the search engines they list on page 184, but I find I use Google most often. For school research, I used the library databases. There are so many websites and so much information out there on the internet and so I like how the text cautions that we should evaluate the websites before we give the information to our students or let them explore it. 

2. The In Your Experience Question is: "How do some of your favorite websites measure up to some of the criteria discussed in this section with regard to website suitability?" 

Most of the websites I use for research is through the WSU library page, and so I think these are sources that are acceptable to use when writing a paper and so fourth. Many of my teachers do not want us using wikipedia and google as primary sources of our research. This is because they can be written and edited by anyone and we can not verify its creditability. I use Facebook a lot as well but do not think it should be used by students during school hours. I would not allow them to use it for research purposes because it doesn't met the suitability criteria listed on page 187. 

3. For my exploration, I choose to do # 5, which said to use two search engines and see if the results were similar. I choose to use Google and Yahoo. Here is what I found: I did a search on "frogs" and this is what Google came up with:

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS399&q=frogs&oq=frogs&gs_l=igoogle.3..0l3j0i10j0l3j0i10j0l2.6190.6685.0.7003.5.5.0.0.0.0.79.325.5.5.0...0.0...1ac.1.12.igoogle.PmDsZqvKgrw

Here is what Yahoo came up with with I did the same search:

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=ApAel3M_vbtC9_qe_z2tgcubvZx4?p=frogs&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-900

The results were similar, with a section for images, and then the websites listed next. 

4. Finally I am going to reflect on the following questions:

Alan November, a leader in technology integration states that, “‘technology is only the digital plumbing,’… new gadgets will soon replace current ones... However... ‘What will not go away is access to the overwhelming amounts of shifting (and growing) information and global communications. Our planning focus must shift to clearly define what it means to be Web literate and to link our students to authentic audiences around the world and across the curriculum’” (as cited in Marzano & Heflebower, 2012). 

How does November’s statement relate to Morphew’s (2012) belief that, “teachers can be instrumental in helping students transfer their current knowledge to new technologies, gain new insights, and grow and develop as individuals and citizens of the world”? What are your personal beliefs about teaching in the digital-age classroom? How do you view the role that you will play in this aspect of teaching and learning? Have your personal beliefs evolved since you completed your timeline post?

I think they are related in that they both state that technology is always evolving, and that we as teachers need to be aware of new technology and how it will impact the learning of our students. I think that it would be hard to be a teacher and not embrace the new technology in the classroom. The students are probably more familiar with the technology than we are! We need to learn to use technology in a way that will enhance our students' learning. I think that my role in this will be to learn how to use the technology in my classroom and the tools that are available to us, and then pass along that knowledge to my students. I have learned that technology is changing on almost a daily basis and that sometimes it can be hard to keep up, but anymore in our culture we have to learn how to adapt and change with the technology. This is how I feel since my technology timeline post. 

Week 3 blog

For the NETS-2 standards, I rated my self as "proficient". As I have been in my student teaching classroom this week, I am realizing that I have a lot to learn about the technology that is in classrooms. It is completely different than when I was in Elementary School! What helped me realize this is they have a projector that is connected to a system that is at their desk, and they can use this as a document camera, or show the class something on their computer. I went to take it off the computer mode, and I did not know how to! My mentor teacher has been trained on the system and uses it with ease.  I am focusing this blog on NETS 2-a.

The "In Your Experience" question was this: " Describe management strategies, if any, that your former or present teachers use that you wish to adopt in your teaching practice"

To answer this question, I am going to talk about my mentor teacher, Mrs. Johnson's techniques that she has used this week so far in the classroom that I have observed. When she wants to get the student's attention, she asks them to "give her five" and they all raise one hand and quiet down.  She even says it in different languages! When it is almost time to finish up with a task, she announces "you have this many minutes to finish up!" and she holds up the amount of time on her fingers. On the first day of school, she talked to the students about how to sit on the carpet and be good listeners. There is a poster at the front of the classroom which illustrates how they are to be good listeners and how to sit on the carpet. If a student is not doing these things correctly, she reminds them to look at the poster to jog their memory on what she expects while sitting on the carpet. I have determined these to be effective and will probably use them in my own classroom. 

For the section 2a Explorations, I decided to answer number 5, which asks us to "locate a calendar or time management tool that you might use to help in your own teaching practice"

I have already been using iCalendar, which I can use on my laptop and my iPhone. It allows me to enter an event, and set up reminders leading up to that specific event. It is connected to my Facebook as well, and helps remind me when I have birthdays or events that people have created on Facebook and invited me to. The advantage is that I can see this calendar on my phone and computer. The disadvantage is if I want to use this for listing when all my school assignments are due, it would take a considerable amount of time to enter them all. I have a non-digital planner that I purchased specifically for school.  

Here is the link to see more about the calendar app: http://www.apple.com/osx/apps/#calendar

My final thoughts for this blog is on the following reflection question: "Do you see a benefit to using technology to support content learning, while at the same time helping students to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS-S? How can designing, developing, and evaluating authentic learning experiences and assessments that incorporate contemporary tools and resources support student success? What challenges might using technology in this way create for teachers?"

I see the benefits to using contemporary technology in the classroom. I think that when used correctly, it can be used as a research tool for finding out additional information that was not given in class, and as an assessment tool to see what students have learned, and what they are struggling with. It can also be used to allow students to have more creativity when doing a school project. The challenges are that technology is expensive, and not every school can afford to have modern technology in every classroom. In the same respect, many families cannot afford to have computers for students to use at home as well. We also have to make sure that technology is being used in a way that is beneficial, and not distracting to the learning of students. Another challenge is that we as teachers may not be aware of all the technology that are students are using, and we have to make sure that every student is able to use the technology that is available to us. 

Blog Post 2

I have never had the experience of guided participation with a teacher before. I think that if I had I would have definitely improved on my math skills and in science. These are the two subjects that I have always had a hard time with. If I had a chance to ask more questions, get extra help when it came to math, I think I would have had a different and better experience. I can see why having this experience as a student and a teacher could be beneficial. They are both learning and growing, and holding each other accountable for the learning that occurs in the classroom. 

Below is a table of digital and non-digital tools that I think can facilitate the face-to-face interaction I talked about in the last section. All of these can help everyone involved in the PLC or Professional Learning Community work together to create a unique learning environment. 

Digital	Non-Digital
Wiki Project	Weekly Newsletter
Social Networks	Reading/Writing Groups
Blog	Student/Teacher conference
E-Pals for students	Teacher Mentors
Prezi/PowerPoint	Team Teaching
Edmodo	Development Workshops
Class Website	KWL Charts

 

 The final question I wish to answer is : "How can technology be used by teachers to advance the creative process, inspire ingenuity, and support knowledge construction?" I think that technology can enhance learning by giving students, parents and teachers the chance to continue learning outside of the classroom, and add some more exciting and creative ways for students to express creatively what they have learned in the classroom. By having them create their own blog, for example, and having them reflect on something that was done in class, you can informally assess how that student is progressing.