Final Reflection

GAME Plan:
I feel that my GAME plan has helped me develop a vision for how I would like to incorporate the edmodo website into my classroom this fall. I am really excited because it will allow me to improve communication with my students and their parents.  It will also serve as  great tool for delivering content information to my students.  An added bonus is the ability for me to get my students to collaborate and interact with one another asynchronously.  I feel that my GAME plan has served me well and I do not feel that are anythings I would change at this point in time.  I can envision using the GAME plan process with my students when I assign them a large task such as a problem based lesson.  I think that the important thing to remember when introducing students to the process will be starting out small.  I will need to slowly introduce each part of the process and continually model what each step looks like for them.

Classroom Practices:
The biggest aha I had while taking this class was the power of social media in the classroom.  I really like the way that it forces my students to think about writing for an audience (Laureate Education Inc., 2010a).  I know from experience that when I tell my students that we will be posting work in the class or in the hall the quality of that work dramatically improves.  I also like the freedom social media gives students.  It allows them to complete their work on their schedule not mine (Laureate Education Inc., 2010b).  I think problem based learning is a powerful tool.   I like the way it puts students in the driver seat of their education.  I envision myself using problem based learning as a way assess stduents' understanding at the end of a unit.  I see digital story telling supporting and being the format that my students use when sharing through social media and finalizing their problems in problem based situations.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Spotlight on technology:  Social networking and online collaboration, part 1. [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Spotlight on technology:  Social networking and online collaboration, part 2. [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

Are you finding the information and resources you need?
I have been having great results with finding information that I need.  There is an Edmodo blog that I have been using as a great guide.  This week I have been searching youtube for videos on edmodo to get new ideas and tutorials on how to use it.  One teacher at my school has been particularly helpful in showing me how she uses it in her class.  Since edmodo is a great way to share resources with students I am always on the look out for unique and helpful websites for students.


Do you need to modify your action plan?
I feel that my current action plan is still sound and will help me reach my goals of delivering content to students and improving communication with parents.

What have you learned so far?
So far I have learned about the capabilities of edmodo and ways I might use them.  This week I have been experimenting with the poll feature that allows me to pose a question and quickly get responses from students.  This would be a great way conduct quick checks for understanding at the beginning or end of class.  Also I have started uploading files to the library that I can then post and share with students.  I envision using this next year to give students a place to locate assignments they have lost or if they are not in class.  I like the idea of posting lessons that we do in class so students can still participate even if they are not in school.  I also learned that there is an edmodo ap for Iphones Ipods and Android phones.

What new questions have arisen?
Most of the questions that have arisen for me are about the engagement of my students when I use edmodo.  I am really excited to see how they respond and if it helps their understanding of the material we are studying.  Also I am also wondering if I am going to need to do a tutorial night to show parents how to use edmodo and all it has to offer them as a communication tool.  Finally I am wondering how can I might use edmodo to assess my students.  Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer write that threaded discussions are a way to assess students using open-ended responses and edmodo makes it really easy to conduct a threaded discussion(Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p 145) .

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

Carrying out your game plan

Resources:
One of the biggest pieces to executing my game plan will be access to computers next year.  This year it has been difficult getting the tools that I want to use when I want to use them.  The computer labs in our school are constantly full between classes utilizing them and students testing on them.  In the fall I plan on mapping out time in the library for each of our units to ensure access.  Also each team has four netbooks for student use.  This year I have not taken advantage of these as I did not always know how best to use four netbooks with a class of 30 students.  Next year I will make sure I have access at least once a week and devlope stations that students can rotate through to achieve the goals that I want my students to.
Additional information:
I need to obtain more information on how to obtain more technology in my class.  I know that teachers in my school have utilized our district technology coordinator to receive more technology.  I need to be in contact with her and also keep my eye out for possible grant opportunities.
Actions:
This week I have spent some time examining the capabilities of edmod.  I continue to be amazed at some of the capabilities this program has.  This week I spent some time reading the help page on the edmodo website to learn more about the capabilities of the program.  There are a few interesting things that I would like to highlight. First being that parents can be issued a specific key that allows them to access the edmodo page but only allows them to see what their student sees and only interact with me.  Another really cool feature is the ability to create assignments that students submit online.  I know that currently I have student email things to me and it can become quite a pain finding them when I get around to grading them.  I have also gone a head and started to set up my own personal edmodo page.  I have even convinced some of my teammates to look into using the program next year for their classes.  One really cool feature we discovered was that assignments for different groups will show up together on one students calender.  I feel like I have made a good start and will continue to search out video tutorials and fellow teachers who are using edmodo so I can get a better grasp of how specifically I want to use the site in my class next year.  I am really excited about this because I will give me a venue to provide students the choices of media and contexts to learn about our curriculum which a key aspect of using the Universal Design for Learning (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 123)

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

Personal Game Plan

While reviewing the NETS for Teachers two of the standards really seem to align to some goals I have for my classroom next year.  They were Standard 2 Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments and Standard 3 Model Digital-Age Work and Learning.  The two specific sub-standards that plan on focusing on are, design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity and communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats (International Society for Technology in education. 2008).

Goals:
Use edmodo to deliver content to students utilizing videos, websites.
Use edmodo to improve communication with both students and parents.

Actions:
The first step to delivering content to students and improving communication with parents is to create an edmodo page.  The next step that my teammates and I plan to do next fall is sign parents and students up for edmodo at our back to school night.  To deliver content to students I plan on using edmodo to list the daily objectives, agenda, and homework.  I will also use edmodo to share usefull links to videos, tutorials, practice websites and assign some tasks.  To improve communication I will use the email and text feature to remind students and their parents about upcoming due dates, big projects, and provide feedback on assignments submitted through edmodo.

Monitor:
To monitor my progress I will need to see if I am not overwhelmed with updating edmodo daily.  I will also need to monitor the use of edmodo by students and parents to help determine if it is worth while using.  Observe if students seem more engaged in class activities using edmodo.  Observe if parents are more involved in communicating about their child's progress.

Evaluate and Extend:
I will collect data on the rate of assignment turn in and overall grades to see if edmodo is helping to improve upon these two categories.  Determine if more class activities and assignments can be incorporated into edmodo.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Prompt #5 Questions: There were four observations that Sienna conducted over a two-week period to document May’s redirection behaviors. First, you will examine the series of observation reports. Second, identify any trends and themes you find in the data. Be sure to consider the observational notes that Sienna included. Look to find and share any triangulation processes in May’s data collection and analysis work. Third, evaluate the data and provide reasonable explanations for what you think might be happening over time that would explain the story the data are revealing.

Response:

The first thing I noticed is the number of redirections is decreasing with each observation.  This is evidence that whatever strategies are being implemented in the class are having a positive effect on time spent on task.  The next trend that I notice is there are some phrases that are using quite often as a redirection that seem to serve the role of getting students’ attention.  May frequently uses the phrases guys, excuse me, and listen up.  These phrases are usually repeated more than once in succession.  I think it might help if May introduced signal that means she needs the classes attention and having students practice coming to attention when they hear it.  Sienna also notes more than once that student seats need to be moved to help minimize redirections.  May should take Sienna's advice and try to make some changes to improve the class dynamics.

Prompt #6 Questions: Describe May’s class graph. What happened over time, and what are some possible reasons for the trends and patterns you notice? What new goals do you think May should set for the class as a whole based on her students’ response to the timed agenda challenge?

Response:

May’s graph shows the number of students who can write down the class agenda in 5 min minutes or less over a period of nine days.  When may started the five minute challenge there were 11 students that were able to complete the task.  As the days went on the number of students completing the agenda increased.  By the end of the nine days the number of students completing the agenda almost doubled.  This process of timing students for this task has had a positive impact.  May might be able to try the timing strategy with another task.  May mentioned that she was having an increase in redirections during transition times.  May might be able to time students during these transition times to see how quickly they are ready for the next activity.

Prompt #7 Questions: Describe Anthony’s and Leah’s data. What happened over time? What do you think May might do in the future to capitalize on Anthony and Leah’s success and keep them on track during the entire class period?

Response:

Both students were able to drastically reduce the amount of time they were spending writing the agenda.  Both students were using around 8 minutes at the beginning of their experiment.  They were able to decrease the amount of time spent very quickly.  By the end of the experiment both students had achieved times of less than a minute.  While Leah did have an increase back to 2 min on the last day 2 min is still better than the 9 it was taking her at the beginning.  The goal setting for these two students seems to be important.  The students set their own goal and then receive positive feedback when they achieve it.  This might be a good strategy to use for motivating these students in class.  May identified these two students for tier 2 interventions because they were having a more difficult time remaining of task than others.  Time on task might be a place for May start setting goals with these students.

Prompt #8 Questions: Pretend you are May, and it is now the start of the next school year. Your assistant principal, Mr. Brown, asks you to talk about your inquiry journey at the first faculty meeting of the year. Discuss a plan for your presentation. What will you share and how will you share it? Refer to Chapters 6 and 8 of The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research for support in responding to this prompt.

Response:

If I were May I would try to keep my presentation and write up simple because the inquiry was relatively short.  In addition, it is the beginning of the year and teachers are excited about the possibility the new year holds.  By keeping sharing process simple I might be able to inspire others to join in the action research process alongside me.  I feel a brochure would be the best form of write up because she can quickly and concisely describe the study, data, and findings (Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2009).  I addition I would give a quick presentation to the staff explaining my research and findings along with a more in depth description of the data that support my findings.  I would try to use this presentation as a means to recruit other teachers to ranks of action researchers taking control of their own professional development.

Dana, N. F., & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2009). The reflective educator’s guide to classroom research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Case Study Chapters 1-4

Prompt #1 Questions: Why is it important for May to look at literature as a part of her inquiry journey? What insights did May gain about her inquiry topic through her readings? In what ways might May’s readings inform how she will collect data for her study?

Response:

It was necessary for May to read literature to help her define her wondering and see what research had been done relating to her initial wondering.  By reading research May was given strategies to help her better understand why her students behaved the way that they did.  It also allowed her to better describe and diagnose behaviors students were exhibiting.  The biggest impact the literature had on May’s data decisions was to use the students as teammates in her research.  She decided to use the students as a way to collect data and share in the decision making progress in how to improve the science class.

Prompt #2 Questions: May, Naomi, Margaret, Darby, and Mr. Brown formed a professional learning community that met regularly to plan May’s first inquiry and to support one another in their work as educators. What specific benefits did May receive as a result of collaborating with her colleagues? Why is collaboration an important component of the action research process?

Response:

The most significant impact May’s collaboration team had on her inquiry was how they helped her develop a manageable research plan.  May’s inquiry was going to take place near the end of the year.  She wanted to be able to complete the inquiry before the year was over.  Her team helped her decide to research one class period as oppose to all five.  They then assisted her in the selection of which class she would investigate.  Collaboration is important when conducting an inquiry because it provides the researcher support in a difficult and sometimes overwhelming process.  Collaborating partners also provide a point of view that is removed from the classroom where research is occurring.  Partners may illuminate things the researcher did not see or interpret data in a different way that lead to conclusions that would have been missed  (Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2009).

Prompt #3 Questions: A critical component of the inquiry process is designing a plan for data collection that is doable! Explain the importance of developing a data collection plan that is meaningful but practical to the life of a classroom teacher. Address the following:

·         What part of May’s data collection plan do you feel will be most meaningful? Why?

May’s journal entries will be an invaluable source of data.  A big part of teaching is reflecting on what happens in class each day.  By taking the time to journal about experiences May is creating a record of what is occurring in her class.  There are many details that are forgotten after a few days pass and this journal will serve as a record of things that have happened and individual student reactions.  This record can then be shared and analyzed by not only May but her cooperative team as well.

·         What parts of May’s data collection plan do you believe to be the most practical? Why?

  What parts of May’s data collection plan do you believe to be impractical? Why?

Response:

Developing a data collection plan that is doable is the most important part of action research.  If one does not make a plan they feel they can accomplish the action research will fail to take flight (Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2009).  One of the most important things to remember when developing a plan is that one must be comfortable doing and it should not be a large intrusion into the day to day responsibilities one already has.  If it is intrusive it can quickly become a source of frustration and hind the research.  May’s journal entries will be an invaluable source of data.  A big part of teaching is reflecting on what happens in class each day.  By taking the time to journal about experiences May is creating a record of what is occurring in her class.  There are many details that are forgotten after a few days pass and this journal will serve as a record of things that have happened and individual student reactions.  I think the two sources of data that require Darby to come in to the classroom are the most impractical.  While I see great benefits from having Darby come in I think it is unrealistic to rely on her for multiple observations and interventions with the students.  Darby has many other responsibilities in the school and as time goes on I fore see situations arising where she is unable to attend class and fulfill her data collection role.  I think May should consider using a survey of the whole class as another form of data.  She has chosen to do a small focus group with students who are receiving more intensive interventions but is missing an opportunity to collect data from the whole class.  One great benefit of a survey is that she can quickly administer it to her entire class and not lose much instructional time.  It also does not require her to pull students into her room at other times during the day.

Prompt #4 Questions: Download May’s “Wish List” Student Response data.

Follow a modified version of how to conduct a data analysis as described in the course text, The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research.

ü  Begin reading through the entire class’s wish list responses.

ü  Next, read through the data set a second time. Ask yourself, What am I noticing about the student responses? Do the responses seem to fall into different categories? How would I name the categories? Select your categories.

ü   Code each category with a different color.

ü  Finally, read through the data a third time, highlighting each response in a different color to correspond with the categories you created above.

In your journal responses, share the categories you named, as well as examples of responses that were included in each category. If you were May, what do you think your analysis of this initial data is telling you to do next?

Response:

The four categories that I labeled are respect, homework, starting on time, field trips, and grades.  Many students had responses that related to respecting the teacher and one another.  One student said that they wished they could give respect to the teacher and other classmates.  Many students also stated that they wished there was less homework.  Other students mentioned being on the same page when class begins and starting on time.  Some students expressed a desire to go on field trips.  Lastly many students expressed a desire to receive an A.  If I were May I would take this list as a good indicator of the potential the class has.  Almost all students’ wishes express a desire to do well in class and be successful.  The responses relating to respect and starting class on time warrant a conversation with the students about what these two things look like and how they can be achieved.  The desire for students to go a field trip is valid and May should look for opportunities in upcoming curriculum to take a field trip.  The student responses toward the amount of homework should cause May to look at what she is giving for homework and why.  She may decide not change anything but the students’ responses should promote her to take another look.  Finally the student responses towards grades need to be addressed.   Many students expressed a desire to earn an A in the class but did not necessarily want to earn that grade but rather be given it for reason.  I would suggest that May talk to students about the value of hard work and try to help them experience the feeling of accomplishment when they finish a task well.


Dana, N. F., & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2009). The reflective educator’s guide to classroom research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Reflection

In week one of this course I described my personal learning theory as closely aligning to constructivism.  While I still strongly believe, “Knowledge is a constructed element resulting from the learning process,” (Duffy & McDonald, 2008) I have added some elements from other learning theories as well.  I have come to realize the role that behaviorism serves in my classroom.  I use it often to help my students understand what the classroom expectations are.  Cognitive learning is another theory I will continue to incorporate into my personal learning theory.  Cognitive learning theories revolve around processing and in math there is much processing that my students must do.  I must remember that only a few items can be processed in short term memory.  The goal is always to move items to long term memory which is often done through practice but I can help that along by using images to dual code information and help students make connections to other information (Laureate Education, Inc. 2010a).

The biggest adjustment I will make in my use of technology is to give students more opportunities to create products using technology.  My class has been mainly student centered but my use of technology has not always required my students to create products that showcase their understanding.  I want to as Dr. Orey says see what my students can do with technology (Laureate Education, Inc. 2010b).  VoiceThread is one tool that I will try to use often with my students.  I find this tool helpful for two reasons.  First, it is simple to learn and use.  Second, it allows my students to show their work and at the same time explain their thought process.  This is very important to me as a math teacher because it allows me to see if students truly understand.  The other tool I plan on incorporating into my classroom is Webspiration.  This tool is helpful because it allows students to make concept maps.  This is important because as Dr.Orey states, the concept map is a visual example of the network model of thinking (Laureate Education, Inc. 2010a).  This course has opened my eyes to many new tools and how to incorporate them into my class.  What is most important is that I can effectively use these tools knowing they are firmly rooted in learning theories that align with my own.

One of my biggest challenges to my incorporation of technology is the way I plan my lessons.  I plan mostly on a day to day basis because my student’s needs change all the time.  This sometimes hinders the activities I can do with my students because access to computer labs is limited and requires advanced planning.  My plan to help avoid this is to use my plan time with my fellow math teacher to map out or units and find ways to incorporate technology in advance so there is a time when students have individual access to a computer so they can use technology to create.  The second difficulty I have is providing immediate feedback.  As a math teacher it is very time consuming for me to grade every problem I assign and give individual comments on every problem students have difficulty with.  Pittler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski write that feedback must be corrective, timely, specific, and students can effectively provide some of their own (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski. 2007. pg 41).  I need to begin capitalizing on student feedback.  To try this out I will give each student in a group a slightly different homework assignment.  Students will then post their answers to their group wiki page and then comment on each of their group members’ work.  I would still look at their work individually but they would receive feedback from their peers sooner.  I will also use web based quizzes and games to have students practice the drill and kill processes so they can receive immediate feedback.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Program five. Cognitive learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Program thirteen. Technology: Instructional tool vs. learning tool [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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

Lever-Duffy, J., & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.