Wrapping up
Learning experiences are those things that you either gain or think about in order to become a more effective person, or to do a more effective job. In my opinion, I have learned something whenever I have gained something more than I had when I started out.
In this class, I have learned a lot about technology. I have learned this through Brian's podcast (and his emails to help me figure something out) and through the various postings and projects of my classmates. Reading all of the postings have given me a lot to think about. It was also very interesting to read about what goes on within your class and on the job. Sometimes we get to be so busy that we don't realize that there are others out there facing similar dilemmas of there own.
I enjoyed this class so much. I like the online aspect of this class because sometimes I don't have the time or energy to attend class, but with it being online, I have the ability to ho online to check for any updates that I may need to do or just to have the freedom to do my assignment at my convenience, without pressure.
Activities for the week of 3/11/07
Downloaded podcast and listened to it, developed a new website to post my projects on for succesful viewing, checked email for Brian's response to my projects, emailed Brian about new website, read classmates blogs, developed my response to this weeks popdcast, responded to blogs of classmates
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Session 9
Professional Development (PD)
Professional development, aka, training... Whatever they are known as, we hate to hear that we have to attend them. I have attended many professional development seminars, for the most part I have to say that they have been pretty good, but there are those that just seem to be pointless.
I once attended a PD that was mandatory at one of our staff development days. The speaker had been paid a lot of money to come out and basically tell us that in order to reach our students, we need to develop a relationship with them. The irony was in the fact that he was an African American male and he was speaking to a Mostly African American audience and he felt that we African American teachers could not effectively teach our students because we had no idea how to relate to them on racial issues. I personally was upset by the implications that were made to the staff of our school and appalled at the fact that the district paid someone to come and talk about teaching to such issues when in fact, our students of all races have scored very well on standardized tests and those whom seem to be having problems are not having problems because of racial issues, but because they choose the actions that they are being cited about.
I guess I was so frustrated because the seminar was supposed to be on how to effectively use the data from your assessments and I was excited about finally getting some direction.
On the other hand, the PD seminars that I have had a chance to sign up for have been very informative and beneficial to me. This is not to say that everything that I have seen and heard during said seminars have been useful to me, but I have walked away with a wealth of information.
I think if we are interested in the topic at hand then it will be more of an interest to us and we can see more clearly what we needed to see from the presentation.
Activities for the week of 3/4/07
Downloaded the podcast and listened to it, read some of the posts of classmates, finished working on project focus 3, searched the web for other Acceptable Use Policies (AUP), responded to classmates blogs, responded to podcast and posted my assignment
Project 3
Professional development, aka, training... Whatever they are known as, we hate to hear that we have to attend them. I have attended many professional development seminars, for the most part I have to say that they have been pretty good, but there are those that just seem to be pointless.
I once attended a PD that was mandatory at one of our staff development days. The speaker had been paid a lot of money to come out and basically tell us that in order to reach our students, we need to develop a relationship with them. The irony was in the fact that he was an African American male and he was speaking to a Mostly African American audience and he felt that we African American teachers could not effectively teach our students because we had no idea how to relate to them on racial issues. I personally was upset by the implications that were made to the staff of our school and appalled at the fact that the district paid someone to come and talk about teaching to such issues when in fact, our students of all races have scored very well on standardized tests and those whom seem to be having problems are not having problems because of racial issues, but because they choose the actions that they are being cited about.
I guess I was so frustrated because the seminar was supposed to be on how to effectively use the data from your assessments and I was excited about finally getting some direction.
On the other hand, the PD seminars that I have had a chance to sign up for have been very informative and beneficial to me. This is not to say that everything that I have seen and heard during said seminars have been useful to me, but I have walked away with a wealth of information.
I think if we are interested in the topic at hand then it will be more of an interest to us and we can see more clearly what we needed to see from the presentation.
Activities for the week of 3/4/07
Downloaded the podcast and listened to it, read some of the posts of classmates, finished working on project focus 3, searched the web for other Acceptable Use Policies (AUP), responded to classmates blogs, responded to podcast and posted my assignment
Project 3
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Session 8
Session 8
Data Driven Decision Making
It is a necessity to make decisions that are data driven in today's classroom. With all of the federal mandates that are being handed down, teachers of all levels are pretty much forced to make decisions in this manner. I use data driven decisions in my classroom daily. My grading system is computerized and it provides me with immediate feedback on how well my students did on a certain test. The grading system that i use called "GradeQuick", also gives me the students averages, individually and collectively. Gradequick also allows me to do lesson plans within the gradebook, where I can list the objectives, goals and standards for the lesson. I am then able to see what goal or objective a large number of students failed so that I can re-teach it.
In addition to the grade book, my district requires the use of a tool called "Data Director". Data Director is a computerized program that provides immediate feedback on the various standards that are taught during the school year. The way that the program works is to input the students responses to test questions and the program lets you know where the student either understood or misunderstood the concept.
On the flip side, there can be such a thing as too much data!! All I hear about from the higher-ups is how we are to use the various tools for data collection. Tools such as Accelerated Math, STAR Math, Accelerated Reading, STAR Reading, and numerous other benchmarks and assessments. The amount of time required to look at all of the results derived from these sources is difficult to find, let alone using them adequately.
Activities for the week of 2/26/07
Still trying to post my session 7 assignment to my site, posted my project 2, began work on project 3, read blogs of classmates and responded.
Project Focus 2
Data Driven Decision Making
It is a necessity to make decisions that are data driven in today's classroom. With all of the federal mandates that are being handed down, teachers of all levels are pretty much forced to make decisions in this manner. I use data driven decisions in my classroom daily. My grading system is computerized and it provides me with immediate feedback on how well my students did on a certain test. The grading system that i use called "GradeQuick", also gives me the students averages, individually and collectively. Gradequick also allows me to do lesson plans within the gradebook, where I can list the objectives, goals and standards for the lesson. I am then able to see what goal or objective a large number of students failed so that I can re-teach it.
In addition to the grade book, my district requires the use of a tool called "Data Director". Data Director is a computerized program that provides immediate feedback on the various standards that are taught during the school year. The way that the program works is to input the students responses to test questions and the program lets you know where the student either understood or misunderstood the concept.
On the flip side, there can be such a thing as too much data!! All I hear about from the higher-ups is how we are to use the various tools for data collection. Tools such as Accelerated Math, STAR Math, Accelerated Reading, STAR Reading, and numerous other benchmarks and assessments. The amount of time required to look at all of the results derived from these sources is difficult to find, let alone using them adequately.
Activities for the week of 2/26/07
Still trying to post my session 7 assignment to my site, posted my project 2, began work on project 3, read blogs of classmates and responded.
Project Focus 2
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Session 6
Common Barriers to Technology Use
Some of the more common barriers to technology use at my site would be the inadequate upkeep of the equipment, the inconsistent access to the equipment, and the frustration over trying to learn to use it, getting excited about trying it for themselves, and then not being able to use it because it is not functioning properly. Dr. Newberry mentioned 3 barriers that surface more often than not lack of equipment, time and training. Of these three, the barrier that impacts me the most would be lack of time to implement and use to the best advantage for everyone concerned. I have received a lot of training in the use of, but actually having the time to use it to the fullest advantage is a hard thing to do. If not for the numerous meetings, trainings, and PTC's, there possibly would be enough time for implementing the use properly. Another problem is having the time to allow the students to effectively use the equipment. My district is a standards based district, which pretty much means we have to stick to our time line as close as possible. If this is done as it should be, there is no time to allow the students to use the computers within the classroom. An additional problem is finding the programs that allow the students to practice the concepts that are taught and tested on at all levels. Then there is the additional problem of keeping the students on task while they use the computers. With only two computers in the classroom for student use, it becomes difficult to continue teaching while allowing students to use them.
Solutions to the problems would be to have additional staff on hand to address the upkeep issues. We have one tech person on site and one that serves from the district office. The turn around on a maintenance request is approximately 2 weeks to a month. I was experiencing printer problems and computer freezing, I put in a request, and it took so long that I had to start carrying my laptop from home daily. Another solution would be to have the workshops on site and make it mandatory that sign-ups are done in each area of implementation (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) for whatever programs that are being used at the site. The solution to the time barrier would be to allow one of the weeks of staff development to implementing the technology within the classroom providing a beforehand submission of what you will be doing to the administrative person on campus that is in charge of the technology use. A means of verifying that this is being done would be to use the same strategy that is being used in this class, submitting some visual proof of what you did.
Activities for week 2/12/07
Tuesday 2/13: Tried to work out the problem with downloading my project focus 1.
Wednesday 2/14: Downloaded podcast.
Thursday 2/15: Worked on focus 2 project.
Saturday 2/17: Responded to podcast and student blogs.
Some of the more common barriers to technology use at my site would be the inadequate upkeep of the equipment, the inconsistent access to the equipment, and the frustration over trying to learn to use it, getting excited about trying it for themselves, and then not being able to use it because it is not functioning properly. Dr. Newberry mentioned 3 barriers that surface more often than not lack of equipment, time and training. Of these three, the barrier that impacts me the most would be lack of time to implement and use to the best advantage for everyone concerned. I have received a lot of training in the use of, but actually having the time to use it to the fullest advantage is a hard thing to do. If not for the numerous meetings, trainings, and PTC's, there possibly would be enough time for implementing the use properly. Another problem is having the time to allow the students to effectively use the equipment. My district is a standards based district, which pretty much means we have to stick to our time line as close as possible. If this is done as it should be, there is no time to allow the students to use the computers within the classroom. An additional problem is finding the programs that allow the students to practice the concepts that are taught and tested on at all levels. Then there is the additional problem of keeping the students on task while they use the computers. With only two computers in the classroom for student use, it becomes difficult to continue teaching while allowing students to use them.
Solutions to the problems would be to have additional staff on hand to address the upkeep issues. We have one tech person on site and one that serves from the district office. The turn around on a maintenance request is approximately 2 weeks to a month. I was experiencing printer problems and computer freezing, I put in a request, and it took so long that I had to start carrying my laptop from home daily. Another solution would be to have the workshops on site and make it mandatory that sign-ups are done in each area of implementation (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) for whatever programs that are being used at the site. The solution to the time barrier would be to allow one of the weeks of staff development to implementing the technology within the classroom providing a beforehand submission of what you will be doing to the administrative person on campus that is in charge of the technology use. A means of verifying that this is being done would be to use the same strategy that is being used in this class, submitting some visual proof of what you did.
Activities for week 2/12/07
Tuesday 2/13: Tried to work out the problem with downloading my project focus 1.
Wednesday 2/14: Downloaded podcast.
Thursday 2/15: Worked on focus 2 project.
Saturday 2/17: Responded to podcast and student blogs.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Session 5
Best Practice
My best practice would have to be shared by three practices that I use. The first would be the grading program that I use, Grade Quick. This program makes my life as a teacher alot less stressful. The reason for this is because it does everything that I would normally do by hand. It computes my grades, allows me to create specified reports for just about anything that I need. The second best practice is the use of PowerPoint within the classroom setting. Being a secondary level teacher, I have to give repeat performances of the same lecture 6 times a day. The PowerPoint allows me to have the notes/activity available without having to redo them after problem solving. the third would be the use of my LCD projector. We all have those days when we just don't feel like lecturing, on those days I will put a worksheet or some other assignment on the LCD projector, give the students their instructions and turn them loose to complete the given task. This also frees me up to provide individual assistance to the students that need it.
The reason that I believe other teachers don't use the PowerPoint is because they feel that it takes too much time to prepare the slides. Some teachers have thought about using it when I them how it gives me time to help other students. They don't use the grading program because they have gotten use to calculating the grades in their own way. They look for flaws in the program instead of enjoying the freedom that it can actually give. I also believe that teachers don't like the use of the LCD because of the problems associated with technology. It seems like the time when the teacher decides to use the equipment, it isn't working properly.
Activities for the week of 2/5/07
Monday 2/5: Worked on project 1
Tuesday 2/6: Downloaded and listened to podcast, read classmates blogs
Thursday 2/8: Completed project, started project 2, and wrote response for Session 5
Sunday 2/11: Published blog
My best practice would have to be shared by three practices that I use. The first would be the grading program that I use, Grade Quick. This program makes my life as a teacher alot less stressful. The reason for this is because it does everything that I would normally do by hand. It computes my grades, allows me to create specified reports for just about anything that I need. The second best practice is the use of PowerPoint within the classroom setting. Being a secondary level teacher, I have to give repeat performances of the same lecture 6 times a day. The PowerPoint allows me to have the notes/activity available without having to redo them after problem solving. the third would be the use of my LCD projector. We all have those days when we just don't feel like lecturing, on those days I will put a worksheet or some other assignment on the LCD projector, give the students their instructions and turn them loose to complete the given task. This also frees me up to provide individual assistance to the students that need it.
The reason that I believe other teachers don't use the PowerPoint is because they feel that it takes too much time to prepare the slides. Some teachers have thought about using it when I them how it gives me time to help other students. They don't use the grading program because they have gotten use to calculating the grades in their own way. They look for flaws in the program instead of enjoying the freedom that it can actually give. I also believe that teachers don't like the use of the LCD because of the problems associated with technology. It seems like the time when the teacher decides to use the equipment, it isn't working properly.
Activities for the week of 2/5/07
Monday 2/5: Worked on project 1
Tuesday 2/6: Downloaded and listened to podcast, read classmates blogs
Thursday 2/8: Completed project, started project 2, and wrote response for Session 5
Sunday 2/11: Published blog
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Session 4
Diffusion of Innovation
Let's see... which type of innovator am I? I would be a cross between an early majority and a late majority innovator, leaning more in the direction of the early innovator. The reason I would fit into this area is that I am usually the person that stands to the side and says, "uh...no!" In the past, I would say that computers and I just don't mix, but as of lately, I have really begun to understand how much fun technology can be (and I can't really mess anything up that can't be fixed!!). As an early majority innovator, I am willing to see how the technology works and how user friendly it is before I decide to try the new technology. For example, MP3 players, I can't see the value of purchasing it to download music and/or books. In order for me to adopt something new, I would need to see the value behind it and I have yet to see or understand the need for MP3 players.
After looking at Linda's response I needed to come back and update my response. As far as my work environment, I would classify myself as an early adapter because I am one of a few who use technology in the classroom on a daily basis. I use it so much that when it is not working well for some of the others, the tech guy will call me to see if it is working well in my classroom!
Activities for the week of 1/29
Monday 1/29: Downloaded and listened to podcast
Tuesday 1/30: Looked at classmates blogs
Wednesday 1/31: Started making my PowerPoint for class
Thursday 2/1: Searched the web for sounds to download for my PowerPoint
Friday 2/2: Wrote response for this week
Sunday 2/4: Submitted response and responded to classmates blogs
Let's see... which type of innovator am I? I would be a cross between an early majority and a late majority innovator, leaning more in the direction of the early innovator. The reason I would fit into this area is that I am usually the person that stands to the side and says, "uh...no!" In the past, I would say that computers and I just don't mix, but as of lately, I have really begun to understand how much fun technology can be (and I can't really mess anything up that can't be fixed!!). As an early majority innovator, I am willing to see how the technology works and how user friendly it is before I decide to try the new technology. For example, MP3 players, I can't see the value of purchasing it to download music and/or books. In order for me to adopt something new, I would need to see the value behind it and I have yet to see or understand the need for MP3 players.
After looking at Linda's response I needed to come back and update my response. As far as my work environment, I would classify myself as an early adapter because I am one of a few who use technology in the classroom on a daily basis. I use it so much that when it is not working well for some of the others, the tech guy will call me to see if it is working well in my classroom!
Activities for the week of 1/29
Monday 1/29: Downloaded and listened to podcast
Tuesday 1/30: Looked at classmates blogs
Wednesday 1/31: Started making my PowerPoint for class
Thursday 2/1: Searched the web for sounds to download for my PowerPoint
Friday 2/2: Wrote response for this week
Sunday 2/4: Submitted response and responded to classmates blogs
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