Action Research Project Update

I have been more surprised while doing this Action Research Project about what I have learned. I had chosen the project that dealt with children in low socioeconomic backgrounds knowing if they are ready for the technology that is required in secondary schools. This is mainly due to the fact that many of my students can play a video game either on a smart phone or a game station, but when they are put in front of a computer and ask to write a report, they have no knowledge or very limited knowledge about Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, or Publisher. So we have spent each month on learning technology with the help of the COWS (computers on wheels) and the computers in our classroom. We have been teaching them by doing research writing reports on their research or even doing posters or power point presentations for the class on their topic. The higher students are catching on very quickly where as the lower students are having a harder time being creative but in the end they can create something usually just not something as detailed as the other students. Once the STAAR test is complete next week, we are really delving into fun part of learning. We are researching famous people and doing a presentation on the person. Which will be eventually presented to the other students in class. The students are actually very excited about it. We also have website that they log onto during literacy centers to learn how to type more proficient and different programs. We learned how to make posters in November using Publisher and then printed them all off and we hung them around the classroom.

Week 5 final project - EDLD 5362

Classrooms of the Future

Classrooms of the Future Stacey Gove Week 4 Assignment EDLD 5362 Informational Systems Management   By: Stacey Gove While reading all the documents and research on the Classroom of the Future, I noticed one thing; everyone’s classroom of the future may look different, depending on their district. Faith Family Academy is a 2500 student charter school on two campuses, both having a majority of economically disadvantaged students. This makes my Classroom of the Future a different view than that of a large district like my childrens district where they attend, where they go to a magnet school. My school district doesn’t have as many resources and money as some of the larger school districts, thus my classroom of the future for my school may already be a classroom that does exist in a district that has more access to available funds. But in this paper, I will discuss what a normal Classroom of the Future would be like if there were no obstacles in their way. The Horizon report talked about 6 important topics for the future of the classrooms and the future of technology in the classrooms; Cloud Computing, Open Content, Game Based Learning, Mobiles, Learning Analytics, and Personal Learning Environments. I will be discussing each of these in regards to the Classroom of the Future. Cloud computing “refers to expandable, on demand services and tools that are served to the user via the Internet from specialized data centers and do not live on a user’s device”. (Horizons, Page 11). This is a great program to use, everything you do is said “in a cloud” which basically says it just floats around until you need it, but it is not on your hard drive or USB drive. This makes documents so much easier to access from anywhere, your home, school or even your mobile device. I see where many districts are beginning to use this way of storing information, unfortunately, mine is not one of them. Which can be a problem, when you are trying to work on something at home and if you didn’t email it to yourself or download it to a USB drive, then you can work on it until you get back to school. There is no way of pulling it up anywhere else. I would love to see my district in the future figure out a way to use a Cloud. The timeline recommendation on this is one year or less to see it work its way into the districts, if not being used now. Mobile Learning is letting students use their tablets, mobile phones, the biggest reason that mobile learning is growing is the apps that are out there. I know that in this class we use Blackboard, which is what many colleges use, some middle and high school use Edmodo, which is a way to turn in and take tests for classes as well. You can download textbooks, do online assignments all the click of a button all because of mobile learning. This timeline is one year or less in most districts. Again, my district doesn’t use either any mobile learning right now. They are looking into it, but for now, there is no mobile learning, unless a teacher keeps their website up to date which could include assignments. One of the quotes from the report was, “Access to devices is noticeably different between higher and lower income schools; 52% of teachers of upper and upper-middle income students say their students use cell phones to look up information in class, compared with 35% of teachers of the lowest income students,” (Horizons, page 19) this percentage is probably even lower in my school than in most. Learner Analytics is to “use data and analyses to adapt instruction to individual learner needs in real time” (Horizons, page 20). This means that using mobile and online learning a learner’s education can be adapted quickly to how the student is learning. Move faster if being successful in the work, or slow down if the student doesn’t understand it and needs extra help. For teachers, this “learning analytics has been crucial to gaining insights about student interaction with online texts and courseware” (Horizons, page 21), we use this knowledge in order to have a better understanding of where our kids are in their educational lifetime. Game Based Learning is where the kids are learning thru the use of video games, you say really how they can learn but it is amazing how they can learn thru games. We kind of use something like this called Istation in our school but it is not the actual TEKS being taught, it is a Reading and English and Math program that is set but it can tell where a child is and help that child better understand what they need. Everyone is on different levels and everyone moves at their own speed when on the laptops on this program. But I understand where it would be great to offer this in all areas of education and how it could change at the drop of the hat for a child’s learning level. So the children are learning, we also use Mr. Nussbaum and Spelling City and then we have a website that is designated to nothing but games on all subjects in k-5. They can get on and play interactive games while learning, the game only moves when they answer the correct questions. Open Content has timeline of 2 to 3 years. Open content is where teachers can share educational materials, education ideas, pedagogies, and experiences in education. This is a way for smaller districts to find out ways of teaching from larger districts or richer districts to poorer districts. It is a way of sharing what is out there with all educators. This is already out there, there is Teachers Pay Teachers and Share My Lesson, are just two of many ways you can share your lessons or look at others materials for teaching. This is huge for me and my district, we don’t have a set curriculum, we do have textbooks but we must go by the YAG and make up our own lessons and find our own resources to teach these students. So for me, this has been a great way to find educational resources. It may have a timeline of 2 to 3 years but for me I and several of my teacher friends are already utilizing this technology. Personal learning environments are where the students are learning. It is how they use the Web 2.0 tools in order to be at their fullest potential when learning. “Personalized learning environments—a new approach to understanding how and where education is delivered, how students learn, and the roles of teachers, parents, and the broader community in supporting students’ academic success, (AIR, page 1). PLE’s will be great for students that have access to all the technology but for my personal school my families, must decide whether or not to put food on the table or to get internet and a computer, I am sure you can pick which one they choose most of the time. All these aspects together are the future of education and the one reason I decided to get my degree in technology education to be able to watch students learn more about technology that is the wave of the future not only in education but also in the real world.   The NMC Horizon Report 2013 K-12 Edition © 2013, The New Media Consortium. http://k12.wiki.nmc.org/ For Low-Income Kids, Access to Devices Could Be the Equalizer, Tina Barseghian, March 13, 2013 http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/03/for-low-income-kids-access-to-devices-could-be-the-equalizer/ American Institute for Research. Are Personalized Learning Environments the Next Wave of K–12 Education Reform? August 2013, www.air.org/files/AIR_Personalized_Learning_Issue_Paper_2013.pdf

Donesa Rodriguez - Teaching Then and Now

Donesa Rodriguez then and now in the teaching world. I had the pleasure of interviewing one of my best friends and who is also one of my greatest supporters in my teaching career, Donesa Rodriguez. She has been teaching at Spring Creek Elementary for 21 years in Garland ISD and teaches 2nd grade inclusion. When Donesa began teaching, they didn't even have a "teacher computer" in their classrooms. They did have a computer lab, but only went once or twice a week. They had thier chalkboards, and if you were lucky, had an overhead projector. They taught as if the kids were in college. Lecture to them what you wanted them to know by showing it on the chalkboard or overhead and then have them complete a worksheet. Now, she has a computer with a web cam and document camera which is standard in every classroom as well as 4 computers in each class for the students to use. They also go to the computer lab for lessons every day for 30 minutes. The lessons are taught through the use of computers by such things as powerpoint, videos, or even research. Technology in the classroom has redirected how we teach and think. Kids would rather work on a computer playing an educational "game" rather than sit and do worksheets all day. When Donesa started teaching 21 years ago, the teaching style was a "whole language" approach. She would pick a topic and create lessons in each academic area that related to that topic. It would all center around one theme. She didn't have the TEKS or STAAR to prepare for...she just taught however she wanted. There weren't really any "guidelines" to follow. They just picked topics that they had some books for in their classroom or that were next in the basal readers and created lessons around that of what the kids needed to know according to the state. Now they must cover certain TEKS that the state has set out for the students to know. Her district even has curriculum they must follow when teaching their students. Now, it is more individualized instruction in teaching. They look at each child in the class and see what ways that child has the most success in learning. We center our lessons around our TEKS and also try to get our kids to use higher-order thinking skills in every lesson, Blooms. There is also so much more that is required of our kids. We don't have a choice but to raise the rigor in our classrooms. We lean more towards project-based assignments or working with a partner or group, rather than a worksheet after every lesson. Donesa has been one of my greatest inspirations in teaching, she loves her kids like they were her own. I used to go by and see her during the day when I wasn’t teaching and the kids were always so respectful in her class and they really enjoyed learning what she was teaching. I know that if I ever have a question she will be right there to show me how to go about figuring it out. Teaching has been her life and her students have been richer for having her as a teacher.

What I learned week 5 of EDLD 5364

“Perhaps the most obvious use of Web 2.0 tools for assessment would be for students to be able to show what they know in a wide variety of media." (Solomon and Schrum, pg 168). What we learned this week was that we need to pull in assessment of all types of media to assess our students. We need to see what all they know on all the types of techonology. Which would be great if and only if they all had access to computers and the world wide web. At my school I give students a chance to work on the internet at home for spelling but many come to me and say they have no access to computers or some to the internet. I tell them no problem, it isn’t a grade just something fun you could do at home to help you learn what we are working on. In a perfect world where kids have access to the internet it would be great to assess them with all types of media. My class loves it when they actually get to play on the computers with the different softwares and programs and websites I have set up for them. Web 2.0 new tools, new schools. 2007 Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum, International Society for Technology in Education

Week 5 Reflection

“Our students must learn not only how to use current technologies, but also how to evaluate which ones work best for particular tasks or projects.” (Pitzer, Hubbell and Kuhn, 2012). We have learned so many ways to incorporate technology into the classroom this semester, but found that not only do we need to teach our students how to use the technology of today but we need to learn how to use the technology of today. Technology is changing so quickly that we need to make sure we are just as up to date as our students. But by giving students so many choices when teaching a lesson to learn and to make it where it was a student centered lesson we have given the power of the learning to them. When planning this lesson, we tried to include as much technology as possible, in doing so we gave the students and the teachers teaching this lesson enough that they should be able to reach every child in the classroom with one or other of the technology tools. We pooled our knowledge of different schools, positions in the district as well as the number of years and type of experience we each possess and in turn made a great team. The lesson that we planned will be one that teachers could use now in 5th grade to teach the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

What I learned this week....

The videos this week were all very informational, in collaborative classroom, we have to remember that not only are we teaching kids academically, but also teaching them how to deal with the social, emotional and economical part of their lives that affect our teaching them to become a whole child. We practice this at our school so this video really hit home to us, we have a purpose to make sure we not only teach the child but also to empower them to be a successful lifelong learner and a responsible citizen of their community. As they discussed in the video about integrating students across social classes, they talked about how all kids know how to play video games and they are right all kids at least know how to use one type of technology, now we need to teach them the other kinds. In the project based learning video, I loved that they chose a project and worked on it all year, with research, etc. This teaches these kids responsibility and how to use all their knowledge to succeed and come up with ideas for a project. I also learned and really knew it but needed to be reminded that all children learn differently, not all are the pencil and paper kind of learner, I forget that sometimes but looking back I do think the kids learned more in my classroom when we were more hands on and not so much note taking. In the readings, I took the most from the Web 2.0 book, in regards to the professional development. That is one of our problems at my school is that the administrators are leary about some types of technology and websites and our school doesn’t have the money for some other kinds of technology and software. I had recently sat down with they technology administrator and asked about several types of software and websites I would like to use in my classroom and he loved the fact that a teacher wanted to use different kinds of software and websites and hated the fact that for some we couldn’t afford to purchase them for the school. I work for a charter school that has been around for 15 years but still money is always tight, since we don’t get property taxes like regular school districts. But he told me to prepare a list of things I might like to see at our school and he will research and hopefully be able to fulfill some of them. I was more surprised when I knew of sites he didn’t even know about. I hope to be able to use what all I have learned from the books and readings, in my class.

Web conference reflection week 4

I unfortunately was not able to attend a web conference again this week due to them being scheduled on the weekends and during church hours on the Sunday. I wish that she would schedule them on a weekday at least every once and a while, it is hard on a phone, because the webcast is dropped several times, and I have yet to find them on the announcement page of our class to actually view the web conference, I can read the text but can’t watch the conference and then this Saturday something mmust have happened during the conference because now we have no text to even be able to read, because it is not going to be posted and apparently we are to tune in tomorrow night at 6:00 but my husband is being ordained as a deacon at our church so I won’t be online during his ordination service. Obviously. So I am definatley not sure what this week will hold for me and apparently nobody else does either.

book builder - wonder

http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=81338&page=1

What I learned week 3 edld 5364

This week I have learned a lot to say the least this has been a very busy week with all the readings and videos and then the massive assignment that is due along with being a teacher with a classroom, but I must say that I enjoyed creating the book builder and will definitely use that in my classrooms in the future.  I enjoyed listening to the kids and parents abuot how technology has influenced and enhanced their childs life. I think technology is the way teaching is headed  one of my favorite quotes was

Technology is more than a tool. It is an essential component of everyday life, that frames thier world view." Found in Welcome to the Digital Generation, Citation: Edutopia.org (nd) Welcome to the Digital Generation. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-project-overview-video. I think this is so true, technology has become more than a tool to students today, it is thier way of life, with Facebook, twitter, Edmodo, texting, Google, internet, all these together have become the norm for kids in todays society. Without a smart phone or computer, they do thier homework and even submit all thier work over the internet. If they don't have a computer now a days they are considered the minority. I remember growing up we didn't have smart phones and computers, when my students ask when I received my first computer or phone and i tell them in my 20's they are like No really Ms. Gove when did you. Unfortunately, they don't know a world without all this technology, so not teaching them how to use it will be a disservice to these kids, technology is a part of their life now and we need to make sure we are helping them be successful in thier technology training and learn how to use it correctly and safely.  

I think I loved the part in the book “Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works,” pp. 41-58, 217-225 where they give you lotsof different web pages that so you different ways of putting it all together.

I also enjoyed reading about the blogs and wiki’s etc. that you can incorporate into your classroom. Unfortunatley, I can do that if my kids can get on my computers at school, because my group is economically disadvantaged that most have computers but hardly any have the wifi to be able to get on the internet to access the sites.