Field-based+Activities+and+Reflections



Reflections:

**Activity 1 (****Standard III.D.1, Standard IV.A.1, Standard II.A.2)**

After beginning my Master’s work last February, I was really inspired to start implementing technology immediately in my classroom. I found a great group project over exponential growth involving inflation and decay pertaining to the value of a new car. Students were able to work in groups to complete the activities. The students really enjoyed being in groups, using technology, and learning how to use spreadsheets and create graphs through Excel. The final product was a “poster” which I now wish I would have made a PowerPoint presentation or Multimedia Display. Perhaps I didn’t feel like we had enough time to do it all. I conducted a follow-up survey to determine just how well the students liked it, what aspects of the project they didn’t like, and any suggestions they may have. The most important thing I did learn is that a teacher doesn’t have to be an expert or know exactly what they are doing to engage students and make the class fun. I basically decided I wanted to do this project (even though we already had the six weeks planned out), talked to the other teachers on my team about doing it, and we got together and did it! We were definitely out of our comfort level, but to watch the students figure out how to do something on their own and show others (and even the teachers) how to do it was truly what we were hoping to see. It was not a perfectly executed design, and that was okay because everyone learned in the process.
 * Planning and teaching a group project over exponential growth and decay using internet, spreadsheet, word processing, PowerPoint, and the computer lab **


 * Activity 2 (Standard V A.1) **

After attending these workshops on the CPS system, I learned how to set up and create lessons and assessments, import students from our grade book program into the system, upload a PowerPoint presentation into the system, how to give student-led or teacher-led assessments using the clickers, and how to monitor students’ activity and know exactly how each one is doing on the assessment in real-time. I also learned how to give an oral assessment or survey and post the results in a bar graph for all to see immediately after everyone has answered. For a teacher to be able to give students and receive instantaneous feedback is an extremely powerful tool. The reports teachers can run using this system is also very useful. Data can be broken down by question, objective, or student. I have used the clickers throughout the year and will continue to use this very powerful too. I have had students take an exam using the system and they really like it, especially because they know their grade before even leaving class that day. I really like it for this purpose because the tests are already graded—wow!
 * Attended 2 professional development sessions on the use of CPS (clicker systems) as an //Assessment FOR Learning// tool **


 * Activity 3 (Standard II C.2, Standard III D.1) **

A particular lesson I taught was over the properties exponents. I had students watch YouTube videos over all the properties and create an index card with examples for them to use on quizzes and tests. Then, I had students work in groups of 5 or 6 to get onto the website for their book. They had to create a student account prior to coming to class in order to easily access this site and be able to access the correct textbook. Students were able to do an activity on a laptop together to further practice the skills they had just learned in class that day. They then took a section quiz through the online textbook over exponents and were able to get instant feedback on how they did. I then had them take a much harder quiz in a group and turn it in before leaving class that day. The purpose of the activity was to use lots of different activities, have students work in groups, use technology and the internet, and to further expose students to the various tools located in their online textbook. The next class day I had them reflect on the activity and give feedback as to what they liked and didn’t like, and share what they had learned about using resources outside of class to help themselves. This is what I was hoping to truly make them understand—that there are a lot of resources out there besides me!! They can search the internet for math sites, use their online textbook, or use each other.
 * Incorporate technology into daily teaching practices that reflect content standards and teach students how to use their online textbook tools and the internet as resources for improving student success (planning and implementing in the classroom) **


 * Activity 4 (Standard IV B.1) **


 * Obtain data in the form of student feedback and reflection thoughts on using technology in and outside of the classroom for their own success (created survey, analyzed data, organized and presented data) **

After doing the previous activity, I created a survey for students to give feedback and reflect on the lesson and what they learned. I then analyzed each class individually and then looked at all the classes. I was not surprised by the number of students that enjoyed the lesson (an average of 3.75 out of 5). On the survey I asked two open-ended questions: 1) What did this lesson teach you about going outside of the classroom and teacher to get help, learn, or get extra practice on Algebra II concepts? 2) Can you think of other ways you can use resources to help you to succeed in this class? After analyzing the data, students gave the following responses:

 1. What did this lesson teach you about going outside of the classroom and teacher to get help, learn, or get extra practice on Algebra II concepts? (All classes) 
 * There are multiple sources available and it is helpful to use them
 * Resources available to fit personal learning style and to learn new concepts
 * Can use the internet/computer
 * Use familiar resources to gain a different perspective or gain further understanding
 * It’s a good idea to use various resources
 * Classzone has many tools such as an online textbook, quizzes, extra practice problems, animated math
 * A student can go other places for help
 * Use and check teacher’s website
 * Ask for help or direction when you need it
 * Can get extra practice
 * Using other resources is easy and helps grades
 * Look at lessons in textbook or on online book
 * Can do a search on YouTube to get help if you use the right key words
 * Resources helps students self-teach and get self-help
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">That the information and technology is available to get help if you just use it
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">You can use more than just your notes and the teacher to learn
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Can help answer questions about your homework
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Websites may help explain information in a different way

2. Can you think of other ways you can use resources to help you to succeed in this class? (All classes) After analyzing and organizing this data, I presented the information to each class and even made a graph comparing classes. Students not only enjoyed seeing some of their own responses, but also some things that they had never considered. I think this activity was a resounding success in terms of integrating technology, data, and using feedback directly from the students themselves.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Internet
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Facebook (to ask friends for help)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Bingo?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Classzone
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Tutoring
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Work with friends or other students
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">More examples
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Parents
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Various websites
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Textbook (paper or online version)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">More repetition
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Other teachers
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Other textbooks
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Tutor 101
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">YouTube
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Google
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">PurpleMath.com
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">“Not really. You do a lot for us and provide us with resources and opportunities to understand the work and get help.” (This one is my favorite!!)


 * Activity 5 (Standard VII B.6) **

Designing and implementing an online course was a challenging, yet awesome, experience. After attending a webinar about Schoology and a web conference given by Dr. Mason, many of the questions I had about the assignment were answered. I even called the helpdesk for Schoology and they answered all of my questions and were very professional. I learned how to create users, create assessments, load documents into a personal repository, upload assignments, retrieve drop box documents, and participate in the discussion. I think the most difficult part of this assignment for me was creating the rubrics to grade the 3 tasks. I did not want to design tasks that just measured basic skills knowledge, but created 3 authentic tasks that involved showing true and deep understanding of the topic. As a math teacher, we mostly grade to determine if an answer is right or wrong; however, using performance tasks involves a great deal more preparation time, especially to get truly great products from the students. Writing the rubrics help me determine what it was I really wanted the students to learn. I tried to use the backward design process described in Understanding by Design we have been reading for this class. I feel like I did a very good job determining what I wanted students to know and creating grading rubrics to assess that understanding. Working with the Schoology courseware also showed me how much more teachers can do to help ensure student understanding and how easy it is to reach students outside the parameters of regular school hours.
 * Design and implement an online course in Schoology including 3 tasks and rubrics and have students participate in the course **


 * Activity 6 (Standard I A.1, A.2) **

On many occasions since the start of this master’s program, I have aided new and veteran teachers in such technological areas as using Gradespeed, Eduphoria, copiers and scanners, the Classroom Performance System, document cameras, graphing calculators, and setting up and maintaining their own website. We have also learned to collaborate not only on what we teach, but on how to share documents into a common folder. We all have our own “drives” on our district server, but we also have a collaborative drive that we can upload and download documents to. It saves so much time and we don’t have to email documents to each other anymore. We may just send out an email stating that “the quiz is on the g drive.” Other collaborative team members can edit the document and save the changes, or download it first and make edits specific for them and save it onto their own drive. It works very similarly to a wiki, but only houses documents. I have enjoyed being a technological leader on my campus and showing new and old alike how to meet the needs of our 21st Century Learners.
 * Help fellow teachers (new and veteran) how to use Gradespeed, production center via the internet, use a common drive to save collaborative documents, how to update and maintain their website **


 * Activity 7 (Standard VI B.1, B.2, C.1) **

During EDLD 5364 Teaching with Technology, we were given the opportunity to work in groups to build a unit made up of technology-rich lessons, activities, and assessments designed to meet the needs of diverse learners. UDL stands for Universal Learning Design and focuses on using the 3 learning networks (Recognition, Strategic, and Affective) for student learning. We were expected to include modifications for the hearing impaired, vision impaired, and gifted students. Using the CAST UDL Lesson building model and website, we learned to design lessons to integrate into a final group project. I chose the topic of Transformations and designed a lesson that included movie clips, cooperative learning, computer games and activities, and a fun homework assignment. I learned to scaffold and differentiate activities to meet all the types of learners I have or will have in my classroom. Then, I showed my collaborative Algebra II team members how to use the software to meet the needs of their students. I even showed other math teachers how to use the software and to differentiate their lessons. I really enjoyed sharing the experience of learning the CAST software with my fellow colleagues. I truly felt like a technology leader at my school!
 * Show fellow collaborative team members how to use the CAST UDL Lesson Builder software to develop technology-rich lessons that address diverse learning styles and abilities **


 * Activity 8 (Standard VII A.2)**

Using a flash drive or external hard drive is an excellent way to store documents and presentations. In our district we all have a folder on the server, but it has been known to go down from time to time. I usually back up all my documents, PowerPoint displays, or anything I want to KEEP, because you just never know…I used to email myself documents from school to home if I wanted to work on them, but sometimes the format (especially in Word) would be messed up and I would need to spend some time adjusting what I had spent time doing. Now I just save them onto my little flash drive and can take it back and forth. Plus, I have everything right there! I don’t have to be on my home or school computer to pull up a certain document when I can put it all (well, the important stuff) all on one little portable device. It took my computer at home getting a Trojan horse and crashing my hard drive to realize how important it is to SAVE ANYTHING THAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU!! We recently bought an external hard drive that backs up all of our music, photos, and documents once a week. I have also saved my school documents on it. Mass storage devices are also great for presentations or multimedia displays that take up a lot of memory. You can save a video from YouTube and access it from there, just in case the internet at your school isn’t working that day (happens all the time at our school). With external hard drives or flash drives, you always have a “back-up plan.”
 * Use mass storage devices such as flash drives and external hard drives to store and retrieve information and resources **


 * Activity 9 (Standard VIII D.2, D.3)**

Each year, teachers are required by law to fill out the STaR Chart for themselves as a teacher and the Campus as a whole to determine their __S__chool __T__echnology and __R__eadiness level. This data is used for all sorts of things from needs assessments, funding, and professional development. When teachers fill out this survey, they have to determine whether they are in the stage of Early, Developing, Advanced, or Target Tech in four key areas including Teaching and Learning, Educator Preparation and Development, Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support, and Infrastructure for Technology. I think that it is absolutely imperative that teachers take this survey seriously and fill it out appropriately. This survey is basically like a report card of Texas schools and where they are developmentally in implementing technology into their schools. If teachers don’t give accurate responses and just blow off the survey, which can take a little time, then it does not give a realistic picture of where Texas is, where we need to be, and where we want to go with technology. I listed this as a field-based activity, even though it is required of us by law, because I feel that figuring out where we are and what we need is critical to our technological advancement. I took my time and completed the survey with the most accurate responses I could. Some of the questions aren’t the best because they assume that you know how **other** teachers use technology, which many don’t know. I think the questions should be reworded so that teachers are answering how **they** use technology. Then the data can be analyzed to determine where the strengths and weaknesses are. Asking teachers to determine the “bandwidth” at their school and questions like that will lead to them just randomly putting answers because they don’t know and don’t care. I think a much better survey could be given and much more accurate results could be obtained if the questions focused on only what each teacher feels **they** are doing with technology and worded as such.
 * Completed Teacher and Campus STaR Chart **


 * Activity 10 (Standard V B.1) **
 * Created PowerPoint reviewing 2 networks designed for helping teacher**s

One of our assignments for EDLD Informational Systems Management was to create a PowerPoint to review two networks designed to be resources for teachers. I really enjoyed this activity for several reasons. First, I had to look at all of the choices and decide which 2 networks to evaluate. I really learned a lot about how many resources teachers have available. I then picked the two I would probably use as a math teacher. We had to state the purpose of the site and highlight special features. We also had to include why we chose that particular site and how we will use it. One of the sites I chose organized helpful websites for teachers with a description for what each does. Teachers can share their favorite online resources with each other, get new ideas for teaching old concepts, and even get classroom activities or lesson plans. I really liked the site because it gives teachers a place that has the most popular or highly rated websites for teachers. Also, if you use a website that is not there, you can even post your favorites. Teachers can get feedback from fellow educators on how well a particular site met or didn’t meet their needs. The second network I chose had to do with Assessment FOR Learning strategies. This site allows teachers to share strategies and give feedback for what AFL tactics have worked in their classroom. I have used several strategies in my own classroom that were given in the website. This activity helped me be able to direct fellow educators to resources they may not have known about.

Activity 11 (Standard V C.1, Standard VIII D.2, D.3) **

Completing this activity not only made me really look at all of the technology we have available in our school district, but to really dive deep into the PowerPoint presentation software. I was able to design a presentation to include animations, fades, voice narration, music, and photos. I have done PowerPoint presentations before, but not to this extent. I feel now that I could confidently sit down with someone to show them how to create a visually stimulating presentation. I am no expert or anything, but do feel knowledgeable enough to teach students or even other teachers how to use the program. I was also able to see just how much technology we have in our school district. I suppose I knew about most of it, but to see it all in one presentation was eye-opening. I was also able to determine our district’s plan for future technology use and what the district’s goal is over the next few years. I don’t think it is 100% possible, but at least they have a plan.
 * Created a PowerPoint presentation called “Zoom” on the technology used in my school district, campus, and classroom **


 * Activity 12 (Standard VII.A.8) **

The Classroom Performance System is an excellent tool for surveys, polls, assessments for learning, and summative assessments. I have used them for most of these things, but I wanted to be able to use them for an assessment. The technology facilitator met with our Pre-AP Algebra II team (coincidentally, he used to be on our team) to discuss how we could give an assessment using the clickers. We wanted to make the last test of the school year over Conic Sections to be multiple choice and short answer. We told him the types of questions we wanted on it and about a week later he came over to show me what he had done so far. In the meantime, I was giving an assessment in the Pre Calculus class that was multiple-choice, so I decided to use the clickers for the review the day before and the test. Many of my students had used them in other classes, so they were familiar with the way the work. I was able to set up the answer key in the system, enter my students’ names and assign them a clicker. I learned how to set up the assessment to be student paced (they just need a paper copy of the exam) and I could even watch the monitor to see how they were answering the questions. The screen could be set up to show a green box if they were getting it right or a red box if they were getting it wrong. This allows the teacher at a glance to see if there is a particular problem everyone is struggling with. One of the things we discovered is that you cannot print out a paper version and get all the graphics to also print out if the questions we written directly into the CPS software. This is a good thing to know if you are giving an assessment because you definitely want it to be student paced instead of teacher paced. If you were giving a survey or polling your students, teacher-paced lessons would be better, but not for assessments, unless you want to only give them so much time to answer each question. Finally, I learned how to create reports from the results. Data can be organized by student, class, question number, objective, most missed---you name it!!! This is such a powerful resource not only for teachers, but students as well. Students can know immediately how they did on the assessment before even leaving the classroom. I think I have found my new best friend J
 * Met and planned with technology facilitator how to use the Classroom Performance System to administer a student-paced assessment **


 * Activity 13 (Standard V C.3)**


 * Introduce graphing calculator activities to students and fellow teachers**

As a math teacher, I am very adept at using the graphing calculator. I have learned how to enter data, plot the data, and find the appropriate equation (regression) to fit the data. This is very useful to show students a visual representation of real-world data and how to make inferences and predictions based on that data. I have also showed students how to graph all sorts of equations, how to use the graphs and the table to estimate and check their answers, and how to find undefined areas of a graph. Most recently, however, I have shown students how to find the sum of a sequence or series on the graphing calculator. When we were studying exponential decay, we used the probability simulator and random number generator to “decide” who got kicked out of the game. The probability simulator actually rolls a dice and the students love it. The random number generator works the same, but is less exciting to watch. I have learned how to use motion detectors and probes to collect real world data and integrate activities into the classroom using these data collection devices. I have also shown fellow math teachers how to conduct these activities in their own classrooms. Graphing calculators are such a great tool and can be used for so much more than basic computation and graphing. I hope to be able to show more math teachers just how powerful these little computers really are.


 * Activity 14 (Standard V D.2, Standard VIII C.2)**


 * Created and have been an active participant in a wiki for new hires to communicate with each other and veteran teachers for my new teaching job at Access International Academy Ningbo in China**

After being hired by Access International Academy Ningbo (AIAN) the first week in February of this year, we received an email from the man who hired all of us encouraging us to get to know one another and such. Well, after participating in this master’s program, I immediately thought that a wiki would be a great place for us all to “meet”. We could all get to know each other and ask questions of the veteran teachers who can give us insight tell us essential information about our coming move to Ningbo, China. So, I emailed all the “newbies” and asked if they would be interested in having a wiki for us to communicate about everything. Some jumped on board right away, but others were leery because they hadn’t ever been on or participated in a wiki before. Another newbie agreed to help me manage it (which has been no problem at all). So, I created a wiki and invited all the newbies and Tim, the guy who hired us all. I asked him to email all the veteran teachers from the school and it has been a great success! Everyone involved sees what a great collaboration and communication tool it is and several even mentioned setting up one for their classes. We have been able to ask questions about anything and everything about living in China and how to best make the move. I have received many thanks for setting it up and it has been absolutely essential in facilitating this huge change in the lives of us all. I have learned how versatile and easy a wiki can be, especially when communicating with people from all over the world, and I am confident in my abilities to teach someone how to use and maintain a wiki.


 * Activity 15 (Standard V D.4)**


 * Created and maintained a website for student and parent use for Pre-AP Algebra II and Pre Calculus**

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Although I have had a website for several years now for my math classes, this year I really tried to do some different things and find out more about ways I can spice up my website. I spend time updating my website every day and expect students to use it, especially when they have been out of my class. I have learned to scan in documents and upload them onto my website for them to be easily downloaded by my students. I have also learned how to create surveys or forms through the NetStart Gold web management system. This year I also learned some basic html code to change the font, size, color, bold, italicize, or underline text. I can even have a scrolling banner on my website!! I wish I could say I knew everything about the system, but have used it more for a basic way to let students, parents, administrators, and other teachers what is going in and what is coming up in my classroom. Next year, I will most likely use Moodle or Schoology to serve as a website and online tool for classroom extension and communication. I am really looking forward to learning more about those systems as well. I feel that I could teach a new teacher how to set up and maintain their own website to be able to communicate with students and parents.