My game plan has been coming along but not as quickly as I would have liked. I have been able to find lessons that I teach that would work nicely with technology. The only issue that I have is that a lot of sites that I would like to use with my students are blocked. I am tired of using Power Point and Word as my technology pieces but that seems to be the only type of technology that my school district is allowing for me to use. With creating tutorials for parents on my website I must admit that I have been slacking on that part of the game plan. It is not that I do not have the resources to complete this part of my plan because I could always get onto the sites at home and create them there to publish on my webpage, but the fact that I can never find time. This is something that I am going to have to make time for and figure out a way to make it work.
When looking over my game plan I think I might modify sending out progress reports to parents. I would like to modify this by sending home monthly progress reports instead of quarterly reports. It seems that even though I send home Friday folders with students graded work in them parents still like that communication with teachers. So at the end of each month I will send home a report that gives the students behavior, current grade, upcoming assignments, and events. This way parents will feel up to date. I could always get these out during my planning time and for those students who do not have internet access I could send home a hard copy for their parents to sign and return.
The one thing that I have learned so far is that you may start out with an amazing plan, but something will always have to be changed or modified. This goes along with teaching as well. No matter how great a lesson can be for one group it will more than likely need to be changed for the following group of students. Same with my game plan. Depending on how knowledgeabe my students are about technology next year will determine how quickly I can get into lessons with technology in them. If the students are unfamiliar with technology then I will need to take some time to teach them the basics before getting started. I also learned that your colleagues are a great resource. I have spoken with many of my colleagues who are having the same struggles as me. It is nice to know that I am not the only one out there who is frustrated with not being able to get on certain educational sites. Hopefully we can ban together to get something done about it.
Does anyone else have similar struggles as I do with sites being blocked? If so how did you manage to incorporate technology into your lessons? Are there other technology devices that I may still use without the internet that I am unfamiliar with? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Carrying Out My Game Plan
Resources:
In order to achieve my game plan I am going to need to use a few resources. In order to allow students the ability to use technology in my lessons I will need to create time in the computer lab in order to allow all students the ability to work with a computer. I will also need some feedback from my colleagues on what lessons they may have used that worked well with technology and what lessons did not lend themselves to good technology lessons. I would also like to do some readings on what might be some helpful tips when teaching technology lessons. Since this will be something new to me and my students I would want to make sure that I am giving them the best teaching possible.
Additional Information:
Since working with technology is something both new to myself and my students I would like to give my students a questionnaire on how comfortable the students feel in using the technology. I hear some of my students talking about Facebook and some other Internet websites that they use. But I would like to see how they really feel about using technology in the classroom. If students responses come back that they are uncomfortable with using technology then I will need to make sure I prepare them before I just start a lesson.
Steps So Far:
I have been able to take a look at some of the lessons that I already teach that I could add some technology into. I have also started to create a questionnaire that will help me identify how comfortable the students feel about technology. However there is still a lot more that I need to focus on in order for this Game Plan to be a success!
In order to achieve my game plan I am going to need to use a few resources. In order to allow students the ability to use technology in my lessons I will need to create time in the computer lab in order to allow all students the ability to work with a computer. I will also need some feedback from my colleagues on what lessons they may have used that worked well with technology and what lessons did not lend themselves to good technology lessons. I would also like to do some readings on what might be some helpful tips when teaching technology lessons. Since this will be something new to me and my students I would want to make sure that I am giving them the best teaching possible.
Additional Information:
Since working with technology is something both new to myself and my students I would like to give my students a questionnaire on how comfortable the students feel in using the technology. I hear some of my students talking about Facebook and some other Internet websites that they use. But I would like to see how they really feel about using technology in the classroom. If students responses come back that they are uncomfortable with using technology then I will need to make sure I prepare them before I just start a lesson.
Steps So Far:
I have been able to take a look at some of the lessons that I already teach that I could add some technology into. I have also started to create a questionnaire that will help me identify how comfortable the students feel about technology. However there is still a lot more that I need to focus on in order for this Game Plan to be a success!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Game Plan
Two areas that I need to improve on in the Technology Standards:
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity-Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student
learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.
Goals:
1. Allow students to experience lessons that require them to use technology in order to learn.
2. To communicate with parents, peers, and students through a variety of digital medias.
Action:
1. Students will participate in webquest and research projects through the Internet.
2. Students will be asked to use blogs to communicate their thoughts through the lesson.
3. I will place video tutorials on my web page for parents and students to view with step by step examples of math concepts that we have covered.
4. I will send home progress reports to parents via email to those who have Internet access.
Monitor
In order to monitor my progress I will set out a few days a month to ensure that I have lessons planned with some type of technology activity planned. This way I am sure that I will include technology into my lessons. I will also plan one day a week to send out progress reports and update my web page with the tutorials. As well as ask for parent comments on if the tutorials and progress reports are helpful to them.
Evaluate and Extend:
Students will be able to identify what they find beneficial to technology lessons and whether or not they like using the technology or find it difficult. I will also communicate with other professionals and research other ideas on how to keep communication with parents and students up to date with the digital media that is available to date.
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity-Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student
learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.
Goals:
1. Allow students to experience lessons that require them to use technology in order to learn.
2. To communicate with parents, peers, and students through a variety of digital medias.
Action:
1. Students will participate in webquest and research projects through the Internet.
2. Students will be asked to use blogs to communicate their thoughts through the lesson.
3. I will place video tutorials on my web page for parents and students to view with step by step examples of math concepts that we have covered.
4. I will send home progress reports to parents via email to those who have Internet access.
Monitor
In order to monitor my progress I will set out a few days a month to ensure that I have lessons planned with some type of technology activity planned. This way I am sure that I will include technology into my lessons. I will also plan one day a week to send out progress reports and update my web page with the tutorials. As well as ask for parent comments on if the tutorials and progress reports are helpful to them.
Evaluate and Extend:
Students will be able to identify what they find beneficial to technology lessons and whether or not they like using the technology or find it difficult. I will also communicate with other professionals and research other ideas on how to keep communication with parents and students up to date with the digital media that is available to date.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Evaluating Research Methods
Scenario 1: Ten students are available for in-depth interviews. Participants will be selected based on their involvement with the peer mediation program. They will be observed over three weeks. Analysis will attempt to determine issues concerning peer mediation.
In this scenario the qualitative method would be the best research method to use. This scenario is a case study design where "the data focuses on one phenomenon" ((McMillan & Schumacher, 2008,
p.136). This scenario is looking at the interviews of the students rather than number data. For qualitative research, "most of these data are in the form of words rather than numbers"(McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p.26).
Scenario 2: Two classrooms of students are selected. There are 30 students in each class; each group will have similar demographics—age, sex, race, socio-economic background, etc. Classes will be randomly divided into two groups of 15 students. Of these two groups, one randomly selected group will get training on peer mediation and the other group will not. Thus in each classroom there will be one group that is trained in peer mediation and one that is not. Analysis will occur on which groups have the fewest office referrals.
For this scenario quantitative research would be best used to answer the question. Within quantitative research the experimental design with more specifically being a true experimental design would seem to be the fit best. The reason for this is that there are two groups being looked at: one a controlled group and the other an experimental group. With a true experimental design there are random assignments. With this being a random assignment it "helps to ensure that there are no major differences between subjects in each group before intervention begins" (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p.24). Since the researcher is manipulating who will receive the training the results will conclude which group has the fewest office referrals without any interferences.
Scenario 3: A school counselor is interested in knowing how student attitudes affect the value of peer mediation to decrease the number of office referrals that are being filed for inappropriate interactions.
This scenario would use the mixed-method design. The mixed-method design "combines quantitative and qualitative methods" (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p.27). The counselor in the school is going to be collecting data on the attitudes of the students then will look at the data of the number of office referrals that are being filed.
Scenario 4: Peer mediation has become widely used in many schools. The feelings of those involved in the process are little known—either from those doing the mediation or those receiving it. The ZASK-R Acceptance Preference Survey will be given as pre- and post-tests to 40 students participating in mediation. Follow-up interviews will be conducted on a bi-monthly basis.
I also feel that this would be mixed-method research with a explanatory design. The research is still using qualitative and quantitative data. The researchers would first give out the survey and use the data that was collected (quantitative) and then the qualitative data would be collected second to "elucidate, elaborate on, or explain the quantitative findings" (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p.28).
References:
McMillan, J., & Schumacher, S. (2008). Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry (Laureate custom edition). Boston: Pearson.
In this scenario the qualitative method would be the best research method to use. This scenario is a case study design where "the data focuses on one phenomenon" ((McMillan & Schumacher, 2008,
p.136). This scenario is looking at the interviews of the students rather than number data. For qualitative research, "most of these data are in the form of words rather than numbers"(McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p.26).
Scenario 2: Two classrooms of students are selected. There are 30 students in each class; each group will have similar demographics—age, sex, race, socio-economic background, etc. Classes will be randomly divided into two groups of 15 students. Of these two groups, one randomly selected group will get training on peer mediation and the other group will not. Thus in each classroom there will be one group that is trained in peer mediation and one that is not. Analysis will occur on which groups have the fewest office referrals.
For this scenario quantitative research would be best used to answer the question. Within quantitative research the experimental design with more specifically being a true experimental design would seem to be the fit best. The reason for this is that there are two groups being looked at: one a controlled group and the other an experimental group. With a true experimental design there are random assignments. With this being a random assignment it "helps to ensure that there are no major differences between subjects in each group before intervention begins" (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p.24). Since the researcher is manipulating who will receive the training the results will conclude which group has the fewest office referrals without any interferences.
Scenario 3: A school counselor is interested in knowing how student attitudes affect the value of peer mediation to decrease the number of office referrals that are being filed for inappropriate interactions.
This scenario would use the mixed-method design. The mixed-method design "combines quantitative and qualitative methods" (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p.27). The counselor in the school is going to be collecting data on the attitudes of the students then will look at the data of the number of office referrals that are being filed.
Scenario 4: Peer mediation has become widely used in many schools. The feelings of those involved in the process are little known—either from those doing the mediation or those receiving it. The ZASK-R Acceptance Preference Survey will be given as pre- and post-tests to 40 students participating in mediation. Follow-up interviews will be conducted on a bi-monthly basis.
I also feel that this would be mixed-method research with a explanatory design. The research is still using qualitative and quantitative data. The researchers would first give out the survey and use the data that was collected (quantitative) and then the qualitative data would be collected second to "elucidate, elaborate on, or explain the quantitative findings" (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p.28).
References:
McMillan, J., & Schumacher, S. (2008). Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry (Laureate custom edition). Boston: Pearson.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Research Questions
My focus will be the impact of laptop use for student achievement with every student in the classroom having their own laptop.
I will be using the quantitative research method and the following questions will guide me in my research:
-Do students prefer to use laptops to learn rather than using the paper pencil method?
-Is there a difference in student achievement when using technology (i.e laptops) during classroom instruction?
-Does using laptops while learning keep the students motivated and engaged while learning?
Here are a few questions form this weeks discussion that will also guide me in my research:
-What is the best ratio for student to laptop? Is it 1:1?
-What happens to collaboration when each student has a laptop? Increased? Decreased?
I will be using the quantitative research method and the following questions will guide me in my research:
-Do students prefer to use laptops to learn rather than using the paper pencil method?
-Is there a difference in student achievement when using technology (i.e laptops) during classroom instruction?
-Does using laptops while learning keep the students motivated and engaged while learning?
Here are a few questions form this weeks discussion that will also guide me in my research:
-What is the best ratio for student to laptop? Is it 1:1?
-What happens to collaboration when each student has a laptop? Increased? Decreased?
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Problem Statement
Problem Statement:
I plan to determine what the impact of student achievement is on third graders when every student is given their own laptop in the classroom for learning purposes.
Who: 3rd Graders
What: The impact of student achievement when each student is given their own laptop for learning purposes
Why: Impact of student learning
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