CED0550 week 6

This was our final week, just in time for the holidays.  As always there's things to walk away with.  One of the things in the class that a lot of people commented on was the amount of time teachers work.  My thoughts are that people went from the thought they don't work a lot of hours to the complete other side of the spectrum that they work all the time.  I think it's in the middle, so for me, I'd say no more or less than a traditional classroom teacher. However, their work day would look different than mine.  They also need to be prepared ahead of time.  Based on how I currently do my job no differences other than the medium in which I'd use to teach.  I work A LOT of hours, 7 days a week for my students - no difference.  I check voicemails and emails all day - no different.  I spend a lot of time preparing, realizing it could change in a flash - no different.  Don't get me wrong, I think there are plenty of differences, but I feel like many people picked up one person's 14 hour day and have used that as the platform for all online teachers.  Online teaching still intriques me.

In preparation for the facilitation part, Amy and I spent over 2 hours playing and learning Elluminate.  We've used it before, but ours is different - not nearly as many buttons, controls, to use.  We took part of a class earlier on to do this, but I think a good assignment would be really explore it.  We discovered a lot of features we didn't use or really didn't get the full extent of until we took some real time.  This gave us ideas of what we might include if we were online teachers.

This week I had to do my synchronous and asynchronous presentation.  While I feel both went okay, I personally was a little disappointed in my cohort.  There's a reality of online teaching.  Being with this cohort for 1 1/2 years now I know how they interact when they are online.  That did not happen this week for any presenters other than Chris.  Here's what my gut tells me, many of them signed on and walked away from their computers until it was almost time to sign out.  Why do I feel this?  Because many of the people who normally don't contribute, didn't, not even when their names were mentioned.  Also, in group work before I have heard people make comments that they have done it before, especially on nights of presentations.  Disappointing really.  Out of respect for my cohorts I made sure I was an active participant during their presentations and ALL of their discussion threads.  Why did they respond in Chris' then?  Because it was the last one and the class ran past 9:00.  They were all back at the computers to sign out.  Ok so now why does all of this matter?  Well, most importantly it's very difficult to "facilitate" a discussion when very few are listening and/or contributing.  How could this be handled as an online teacher?  By calling on students that haven't contributed anything - chats or writing on the whiteboard.  Give them a short amount of time to get the mic or type and if nothing, you'd take away points for the class and in this case I'd take points away from their presentations.  After class I'd conference with them to find out what was going on and restate the expectations.  I've been taught and teach my students that part of their scores for their presentations include being a good audience and participant for others.  In spite of lack of contribution, I think that all of the presenters did a great job.  Just like everything else I've done this was a good learning experience.    

CED0550 week 5

Again this week classmates facilitated their discussions.  Due to time we were split into 2 breakout groups. Those that I was part of did a great job, as am I sure the others did too.  This coming week will be my turn. As for the work, we had to look at a list of the top 100 Internet tools.  The list was very interesting, because if someone had asked me about those tools two years ago I would have had a completely different response.  Today I can say that most of the tools on the list I have either discovered on my own or through this cohort.  Now ask if I'm proficient?  No, but that will come in time.  I've been taking notes, bookmarking, and taking copies of our syllabus for future reference.  The one I choose to look at was Wordle.  What a fun site.  I can see students having fun with this site and the possibilities for usage are limitless.  Students could use it for descriptive writings, book reports, geography and science assignments, listing activities, ice breakers, etc.  I also explored Jing due to a conversation I had.  Jing looks very interesting.  I like the idea of adding animation.  I will definitely being looking further into that one.

Our other assignment the big one was two collaborative projects.  The irony of the project was benefits and challenges of collaborate learning.  Well, the challenges definitely played out since 2 of the group members chose not to contribute until all the work had been done and submitted.  Personally I like working collaboratively and find myself doing it a lot, including individual assignments and lesson ideas.  I like having someone to bounce ideas off of.  However, the challenges are when people don't contribute or make any effort to.  Should I be the bigger person and not worry about it?  Yes, but I too have a life that's been put on hold in an effort to get all my coursework and schoolwork done.  Oh well moving on. When collaborative learning is at it's best I think great things happen.  My group created a Prezi for our What is Online Learning presentation.  Prezis are a fun way to present material instead of always using a presentation program, ie. PowerPoint or Google presentation.  

This is the final week of this course - hard to believe.  I've learned a lot as always and like the possibilities that this course may allow me to explore, even within my own school district.  

CED0550 week 4

This week our classmates began their online lessons.  Everyone did a nice job, but wow the amount of follow up work in addition to the other work, is insane.  I'm learning alot, but holy cow.  Can you say overwhelmed?  The lesson that stuck out the most for me was Mike's at-risk.  Not because it was better, but just the topic.  It was interesting to hear about other people's ideas about their district's "at-risk" population.

This week's focus was on making student centered lessons.  I felt I almost had to work backwards.  Overall my lessons tend to be student centered.  I think it's because of the population I'm working with and their curriculum.  My classes work at a slower pace than their peers, due to repetition and to help increase retention.  I also spend a lot of time incorporating technology, computers - software programs and the Internet, SmartBoard, iPods, Senteos, etc. into their lessons.  This takes time, but increases motivation and retention.  I feel the same can be true about online learning.  However, online teachers can also fall victim to same ol' same ol' just like traditional teachers.  Online learning doesn't automatically make it student centered, the teacher too needs to make it happen.  Even in this cohort I've sat through courses where it's very much teacher centered.  At times you wonder are your cohorts even tuned in or has someone else just signed them in.  That too can be the case with online learning.  Any good teacher, whether online or in the classroom, needs to be prepared and engaging.  They need to be constantly adding, removing, and changing their lessons.

CED0550 week 3

This week part of our assignments were preparing to facilitate a synchronous and asychronous lesson.  This is something we have not encountered yet in this program, so it's exciting and nerve wracking.  Right now I'm struggling with what's the best way to present and use the tools for my topic.  We have been given 15 minutes.  I'm nervous about it, but excited.  I'm seriously thinking about online teaching in the future, so this is a really good opportunity.  Lesson planning is very similar, but technical issues need to be factored in more so than in the classroom.  In the past I've thought of online programs, less for special needs students.  As I continue to learn and grow in this course I'm learning that's not the case, which is good.

CED0550 week 2

I'm really enjoying this course.  In our class last week we had small break out sessions where we had several roles within the group.  Each of us had to be a participant, a reporter (took notes on the whiteboard), and the facilitator.  It was interesting to use Elluminate as a facilitator.  I'm used to being a participant, but lots to look at as a facilitator.  I really enjoyed this and decided I need to set up sessions in my Vroom to practice this skill.

Then we learned some of the different types of online learning - synchronous and asynchronous.  Many of the ideas are the same principle as a traditional room, but the implementation is different due to the situation.  Online learning has the added challenge no body language.  We also set up an initial contact as if we were online facilitators.  Again some similarities, but than new challenges such as the technology.

Some of what makes this course interesting is that everything is new.

CED0550 week 1

This has been a good week of discovery.  In our first class we got to explore the tools of being a moderator in Elluminate.  That was interesting after a year of being the student.  I'd like to fine tune those skills, so I'm going to have to arrange some meetings in my Vroom with friends.  I could have done so prior to this course, but I guess I hadn't thought of it.

The articles in regards to online learning from the teachers', students', and parents' point of view were interesting.  I hadn't thought about the technology courses I took in my undergrad program.  The only technology course I had was in the spec. ed. part of my degree.  Just like our students, we shouldn't assume that anyone can just start using technology, and more importantly, using it correctly.  Technology is a skill to be taught and learned, just like reading, math, science, etc.  Is the problem with teaching technology to teachers, because it's constantly evolving and changing.

One of my favorite sites was the National Library of Virtual Learning.  This site provides students the opportunity to do hands on activities using manipulatives, without the constant mess on the floor.  Many of the tools in the number and operations site are tools I already physically use.  I like the patterns and graphing in particular.  I plan on using both this week in my classes.

CED0535 week 5

This week we created a classroom site.  I began mine as the new school year began, but this assignment forced me to finish it.  As I created mine, I had to keep in mind “how much information will I realistically be able to keep current?”  There are so many possibilities with a classroom website, but I also believe you can start something with good intentions and then it just becomes too much, which then leads to it being left unattended to.  Our district moved over to gmail last year, so I’ll be able to realistically use this site. 

We also explored additional web 2.0 tools.  I wrote about Draw.to and Twistynoodle.  Draw.to is a doodling site.  On this site you can create a picture and then publish it.  It can be sent to various programs.  Twistynoodle is a site where you can find coloring pages and worksheets and then customize them.  No more cutting and pasting.    

CED0535 week 4

This week was about podcasting.  Podcasting isn’t a new concept to me because I had previously created some.  However, screencasting on the Internet was.  In the past I used Garageband on my Mac and downloaded the podcast into iTunes.  It’s easy, but so was using Screenr.  In screenr I created a screencast using the same States of Matter test I had already created in Garageband to compare the two programs.  I really like Screenr.com.  It’s very easy to use.  Garageband is just as user friendly, but then I have to download it into iTunes.  I didn’t have to do that with screenr.com.  With screenr you get a box that is easy to manipulate around what you would like shown, click on audio, and record.  It’s easy to pause so that you are able to insert another image.  Once it’s done, click on publish and you’re done.  It does take a while to publish.  You are given a 5 minute time limit, but it does show the time used so you know how long your screencast is.

I like the idea of screencasts.  I have a challenging group this year.  If I were to create a screencast.  It could play for the students and I could walk around and see if they are understanding or following along.   I also like the idea of students creating screencasts.  They could read their own work or it could be used to check their fluency.  Screenr is a program I’ll use again.

CED0535 week 3

This week we learned about RSS Feeds.  RSS Feeds are easy to use and easy to subscribe to.  I have already set up 7, and can see using this in the future.  I will be able to subscribe to resources, blogs, periodicals that will provide me with specific information.  I’m still in the market for a camera.  I’ve spent a lot of time researching information.  Now with RSS feeds I can subscribe to key words and have the information appear in my public reader.  I think this will really cut down on my research time.  It will provide me with information and resources I might not have located on my own, without RSS feeds.

Currently my students don’t have access to email, but there is talk of it coming.  Once they have email they will be able to set up a public reader.  I can see them subscribing to RSS feeds for research projects.  In doing so, they can spend less time looking up information and more time reading through information.  This will provide them with an opportunity for a more quantitative research project.  

CED0535 week 2

We continued to explore blogs, and now Wikis.  I really like Wikis.  What I like about Wikis are many of the same features that you can do in blogs, but I tend to think Wikis look more “professional.”  As we continue to explore it appears blogs and Wikis are very similar.  Maybe the difference really is in how they are used overall.  Something I like about Wikis is the ability to see the history of changes made and work added or created, just like Google Docs.  I see this as a valuable tool.  One thing that I’m still uneasy about with Wikis is that, “accidents” can happen.  Since the user is changing, editing, or adding to a live “document” I’m uneasy about the possibility of students, or even adults for that matter, deleting someone else’s work.  There may be a way to solve this issue that I am unaware of at this time.  Other than that I see Wiki’s being used in various capacities in the educational setting.  Some examples are teachers can use it to collaborate with students or peers;  or Wikis can be created for students as a portfolio of their own work. 

I also started a Twitter account.  Something I NEVER thought I’d ever have, a Twitter Account.  How do you see yourself using it in an academic setting?

CED0535 week 1 Blogging

This week was all about blogging.  Blogging presents so many possibilities both with students and myself as a professional.  Some benefits of blogging are quick and instant assessments.  Students can create work and I as the teacher can respond immediately.  In addition students can assess each other’s work, and work collaboratively.  I think one of the challenges we as educators will face is getting students on board using blogging in a different way.  I know they will like the technology and the tools, but really have you seen the grammar?  The challenge will be getting them to break the “texting” habits on line.  Once we break through that, I believe they will be excited about it.  Then there are parents, the parents will finally see all the work their older children never bring home to show them.

Blogging can be used across the curriculum.  It can be used in younger grades to make sentences, spelling tests, writing projects, daily journal writing, to name just a few.  Older students could use blogging for any type of research project or writing assignment.

As a professional the possibilities are endless.  We can record and share our challenges and successes.  By doing this in a blog, I can have access to it anywhere and anytime.  It’s nice to look back and see how much you’ve grown.  In addition, by blogging others can provide feedback.  We can share resources and collaborate online.  I am currently in the process of creating a classroom website.  It takes some time to create, but once it’s done it will be nice to have.  

CED0540 week 5 – Google Trends and Statistics Sites

This week we looked at Google Trends.  Google Trends is a cool way to quickly do statistical comparisons.  Our group compared NFL, NHL, and NBA.  This was a fun way to look at data.  Google Trends creates charts with the data, making it user friendly.

The other assignment was to compare statistical websites.  Our group chose to look up diabetes.  We compared two sites and it was amazing to me how different the data was presented.  One site was great for engineers or statistical people, however, the other site contains the same information but in a much better format.  I really like the CDC Center for Disease and Prevention.  I can find so many uses for this site.  It lists the information, and then there are so many different ways to narrow the results.  It also showed confidence level and standard deviation on some of the charts.  I found myself spending a lot of time on this site.

CED0540 week 4 - Bill Tancer and survey

This week we closed and complied our surveys.  I must admit I really like the use of the Internet when it comes to surveys.  Yuck, can you imagine creating and analyzing a survey without it.  I like Survey Monkey, but the free version does have its limitations.  Something to keep in mind.  Overall there really wasn’t anything surprising in our survey.  It did leave me wondering though, about what kind of people use animal daycares?  Who are those people?

Learning about Bill Tancer was interesting.  I found it even more interesting that I had never heard of him before this class, even though he seems to have left his mark in many different places.  I found his work interesting, but I little unnerving that someone can find out so much information with the right program and a little work.  I think it does open the door to errors, just like he himself stated with his couple of examples, if you don’t break down the data enough.  I think it’s good for examining Internet trends, but wonder how much value it has in other areas.

CED0540 week 3 - Survey Monkey

As I continue through my journey through the world of statistics, we have to design, implement, and analyze a survey.  My group chose to create a survey about pets using Survey Monkey.  When designing a survey the questions are important.  The designer needs to think about the types of questions (the reason for the survey and support it), how many questions to have, and the wording.  A good survey topic can go array without these important elements.  You also need to make sure the questions have a good flow about them.  If they don’t make sense, the person providing feedback most likely won’t complete the survey.  In order to get good data the questions have to be worded well, as well as having “just the right amount of questions.”  After all these elements are in place, you need to choose your tool.  We choose Survey Monkey; it’s a free, easy, online survey tool.  Our next step will be to analyze the results.

CED0540 week 2

What is it about statistics that I just can't wrap my head around?  This course reminds me a lot of my special education courses in regards to calculating and interpreting standard deviations.  I like math and do well in it, but for some reason stats and I don't see eye to eye.  I'm really glad that the majority of our assignments this week were group work so that I have others to work through the problems with.  If I could just get my head around stats, especially the terms, I think I'd really like them (or at least I want to believe.)  The irony is that we use the stats all the time.  This week we spent more time on the central tendencies and how to calculate them, terminology, and surveys.  For my two terms I looked up market research and paid surveys.  There wasn't too much new to me for paid surveys, but I found market research interesting.  I always thought it had more to do with the product itself and marketing it, but it really has more to do with marketing the project.  Hey now I'm talking in circles - maybe I'm starting to understand stats.  :)  After I read up on marketing research, I thought no wonder people like marketing - it sounds interesting.

CED0540 week 1

This week was about stats.  The part that I find the hardest about stats is the language.  I feel like stats lingo is similar to an insurance policy – it goes around in circles.  This week we looked at the different types of stats, including the central measurements of tendencies – mean, median, and mode.  Part of our assignment was watching a video that had 9 examples of ways in which stats are used.  The reality is that on a daily basis we come across or use stats, for example surveys and polls, averages, etc.  I’ll really need to take some good notes on the statistics language.  I like math, so that part won’t be to bad.

I use stats in my classes when I collect data for assessment whether it is for grades or for some of the teams I belong on.  In education stats are used all the time by just about everyone.

CED0530 week 5

This week we put our final touches on our Pecha Kucha.  This is a time consuming project, but unlike anything I've done before.  As I continue to work on this project, I'm trying to think of some ways to use this either in the classroom or for presentations to my peers.  Any ideas?  With all this being said this really puts all of the "zen" qualities in place that we have learned thus far - pictures, minimal text, short, not reading from the slides, and story telling.  I'm curious besides voicethread, what would be some other programs that this could be creatd in?

My group is looking at iMovie and Moviemaker.  I'm looking forward to hearing about the other programs.  I know about some of them, but others I've never heard of. 

CED0530 week 4 - Delivery and Prezi

Zen presentation this week was about delivery and the next steps.  In the video Garr Reynold’s mentioned some things I already do.  He stated to practice and time yourself.  When I have to do a presentation I practice and practice while timing myself.  I do both so much that by the time I’m done I have my presentation memorized.  No, I don’t find it mechanical, because I never say it the same way twice.  I think that by rehearsing I feel I can include more of my personality in it because I have the content down.  He also mentioned Toastmasters.  I found that interesting since I have been a Toastmaster member in the past.  As a matter of fact, if I hadn’t done Toastmasters I’d never have been a teacher.  I was SO afraid to talk in front of an audience.  It still happens, but it’s better – thanks to Toastmasters.

Prezi was the tool used this week for presentations.  It’s an interesting program.  I think it could make the audience dizzy depending on how it’s used.  For me personally, I kept losing the content on the very large canvas.  I wish it had something that showed where you are (similar to video games – the small screen showing the whole track for example.)  I had to keep starting over.  For me, I think it’s a program I’ll need to use a little more before I give it a fair assessment.  I’m hoping after I read my classmates thoughts I can come up with some good ways to use Prezi in the future.  It’s an interesting program.

Now I’m working on my Pecha Kucha.  I like the concept, but I think it will be challenging.  I’m hoping I can do it justice.  I looked at some really good examples, so we’ll see where this goes. 

CED0530 week 3 - Animoto

This week we worked on Animoto.  It took me a really long time the first time around.  I uploaded pictures; then deleted a bunch of them because it stated a short video has only 12 pictures.  After all the time and work it turned out to be only "okay."  Then I decided to try and do a longer one.  I didn’t know if I would be allowed to, but to my excitement I was.  In minutes I was able to make the changes and now I really like the video.  I like it so much that my students are going to use it to describe a place (just like I did), and they’ll being doing this before the end of the year.

I REALLY like Animoto.  Now I’m thinking of all the ways I can use it.  It’s so much fun.  I’ve watched my video several times, what a geek!  My next project is going to be using some of my bald eagle pictures.  My students are fascinated with them, because I share a lot of stories with them.  I teach to underprivileged inner city students who don’t get a chance to spend time outside of the city; so I share my experiences of nature with them, through stories and pictures.  They really like the stories and will bring things up from time to time.  Animoto will only add to the stories.  

So far my favorite two assignments in this course are Animoto and Posterous.  Earlier this week I was helping a classmate edit posterous.  In doing so, I discovered quite a few features I was unaware of.  I played around with them a little, but in the interest of time I didn’t change anything.  At some point, time permitting, I want to play around and make some changes to my posterous.

Next we were introduced Pecha Kucha.  I like the idea of this, but I know it’s going to be a challenge.  The video we watched proved the point.  The presenter had a difficult time following the rules.  He was talking about slides past, talked excessively fast so he could say everything he wanted, and he ran over the time limit.  I watched a couple of other examples, I enjoyed the one on glass structures.  This will be an interesting project. 

Now I’m working on revising my presentation using the principles and elements we have learned about thus far.  Once it’s done it will be loaded into Voicethread.

CEDO530 Week 2

This week’s work took forever.  It’s now 6:30 PM on Sunday and this is all I’ve done for the past 3 days.  I can’t wait to get off the computer and put it away.  The dogs aren’t too thrilled about this computer right now either.  Maybe I put too much into it.......  Even though I'm anxious about all the time, overall I'm really enjoying this class.  I like watching all the stories in the different programs.

Voicethread was a new program for me this week.  I know we previewed it in a previous class, but this was the first time I had to actually use it.  This program allows you to add communication (text, audio, video) to a presentation.  I was really excited about the program when we discussed it in class, and I think it has a lot of potential.  In creating my voicethread, I wound up creating several copies of the same presentation.  Oops - now I have to try and figure out how to delete the extras.  I did learn, the hard way, that if you use the audio feature and try to use it for 2 pictures (meaning start on 1 and then advance to the 2^nd), when the audio is done it goes back to the 1st of the 2 pictures.  This made for a really awkward presentation – one that needs to be deleted.  Unfortunately, sometimes we learn the best from our mistakes.  Some ways I could see using this program would be with writer’s workshop.  I especially like this way of presenting for students that don’t mind reading their work aloud, but don’t want to get up in front of the room to present.  This would also be a good program for those students who are perfectionists.  By doing the work before everyone hears and sees it they will then be less anxious when doing the actual presentation.  Ooh, also good for special education students that are in inclusion classrooms for the very same reasons. 

I’m really enjoying Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds.  So far, I like his principles of making Zen like presentations.  While I like them, I think it will be more difficult to implement the principles.  It’s not just so much me making the changes, but also everyone else’s expectations of a presentation.  We almost need to move towards a presentation cultural movement.  Wouldn't it be great if everyone, myself included, did presentations like they were telling a story?

I'm having a lot of fun with Posterous.  I have to try and limit myself on the amount of pictures I'm uploading.  Posterous reminds me of the movie "Julie and Julia."  In the movie, Julie is working her way through a Julia Child's cookbook and blogging about it as she goes along.  I really like Posterous, and at the same time I’m a little nervous, and excited, about what Louis has in store for us to do with it. :)  Any ideas how this can be used with students?  How about students that don’t have access to email? 

CED0530 Week 1 - Intro to Digital Story Telling and Presentation Zen

This week was an introduction to “What makes a great presentation?” and digital story telling.  I like some of the information I learned about presentations, however, I’m tired of PowerPoint getting a bad rap.  It’s like I tell my students – computers (in this case PowerPoint) are only as good as the information put into it.  Humans create computers, so not everything is always going to be correct.  I feel the same is true of presentations.  I personally like PowerPoint, just as I do some of the online presentation programs, but it’s only as good as it’s creator. With that being said, I think that as educators we need so spend time teaching students how to correctly use presentation software effectively.

Often students tell educators they know how to use a software program, but do they really know how to use it?  They may know how to put in information, but perhaps we need to teach them how to use the tool more effectively.  I know, who has the time?  As a teacher of underprivileged students with special needs, I feel I spend just as much time teaching the program as I do making sure they have the correct content. 

As we move to creating better presentations I feel we need to keep in mind the multiple intelligences.  While I hate having someone read a presentation to me, I’d hate to see presentations get so simplistic that we leave our visual learners behind.  For example, I know I personally need to look at charts when people are throwing data at me.

One of my favorite things this week was the digital storytelling.  It took quite a while to find three different digital stories, but once I did I really enjoyed the three I looked at.  I chose to look three very different genres, a historical comic book, a brief look into a person’s life, and an animated Christmas story.  I enjoyed all three and now I’m thinking about creating one myself.  Hey Louis, I’m talking about down the road, I wasn’t hinting for an additional assignment.  :)

I also liked the assignment of writing the futuristic story.  I forgot how much I enjoyed creative writing.  Creative writing was always one of my favorites things to do in school.  Something unfortunately I haven’t ever made time for since I’ve left school. 

CEDO525 week 6

This was the final week of this class.  For one of the final projects we had to review a lesson plan to see which strategies and technology.  For the other final project I had to revamp a lesson that I had previously used or created.  I choose my Mystery Grab Bag language arts lesson.  This particular lesson did not include technology, so I was able to incorporate technology fairly easily.  Now I can do the same lesson two different ways, depending on if I have technology available at the time.

The textbook for this course was all about various strategies.  This book was very similar to Marzano’s book of very similar strategies.  While I already use many of these strategies in my teaching, I am able to take away some different technology components.  I have learned about some other programs to explore and use with my students.

CEDO525 week 5

This week’s strategies are identifying similarities and differences, homework and practice, and generating and testing hypotheses. 

Identifying similarities and differences

When it comes to identifying similarities and differences I use this strategy a lot with my students that have special needs.  This week I used it on their spelling test.  They had 16 words and within those words were groups of words that rhymed, had similar spellings, or sound the same with different spellings.  As a way to prepare for the test we used handheld whiteboards in which they had to tell me which of their words (from memory) rhymed, etc.  I wasn’t sure how well it would work prior to doing it, but it went very well and they had fun.  Then when they took their spelling test the students were able to refer back to the previous days activity.  In social studies, I recently had them do a test comparing China to the United States using a Venn diagram.  They were given a list of the words/topics and they had to correctly place them in the correct area of the Venn diagram.  They did very well with this too, and in addition they got more out of this test then they would have from a multiple choice or fill in the blank.  

Homework and practice

When it comes to homework and practice I think there are a lot of mixed reviews on this.  Students should not be learning new concepts as homework, but they should be practicing what they learned in the classroom.  Much of the homework I assign my students is class work that was not completed during class.  Working with students with special needs we do a lot of repetition throughout our lessons.  When class work is not completed they are then expected to take it home and complete it.  I make sure that before it goes home they understand what they are to do.  At times I will make additional comments on the work itself or the students’ daily reports to parents so that if the student gets stuck with the directions parents know how to help.  The problem I see with homework is that many times I get the homework back and it’s clear the student didn’t do the homework.  I’ve had students tell me their other siblings or even parents have done the work for them. 

I teach in a very poor urban school and many of my students do not own computers, and because of this most if not all, of their homework involves paper and pencil activities.  For students that own an iPod I have written down free apps for parents to download for their child, if they can get to a computer, to help practice skills worked on, for example sight words or grammar.    

Generating and testing hypotheses

I think teaching overall is all about generating and testing hypotheses.  Anytime a lesson or activity is introduced I’ve generated hypotheses, and my hypotheses are being tested by the results of the activity or the students’ scores.  As I see results I make modifications or alter my lesson or activity.  One way this year that I have generated and tested hypotheses in my classroom was by introducing the use of iPods.  I was fortunate enough to be part of a special project using iPods, but it meant creating lessons and collecting data.  One of the ways I use iPods is by creating podcasts for when students do closure spelling stories.   By creating a podcast of the story the students could work independently, before I either read the story and everyone had to stay together or they read it to themselves.  Some of the very first feedback I received was the story went to fast in the podcast.  With every podcast I created I tweaked the graphics or the recording, and the results were what I had hoped for in the beginning.  Now the students do the podcasts most weeks very successfully.  

CED0525 week 4

It’s a Wild Ride is a project based interdisciplinary unit where students design a roller coaster and then they need to convince an amusement park to accept their design.  Some of the things that I like about this unit are the collaboration of staff and students.  In order for this project to be successful all of the team members (principals, teachers, and assistants) need to be on board.  They need to see their role in the students’ success of this project.  The same is true for the students.  I like the interdisciplinary unit and that every subject is included as part of the project.  I found it intriguing that this is the unit for all academics during the duration of the project.  For a project like this to be successful everyone needs to see his or her role and want to be successful.

For a project like this to work students need to be willing to do work outside the classroom.  They also need to be familiar with project based learning before something of this magnitude could be taken on and be successful.  Currently I know of a teacher who has never used project based learning with her students and is currently having her students do a 6 week ambiguous project of their choice.  Both the teacher and the students are frustrated - for many reasons.   Some questions I have are, have all the students bought into the project?  What about those that have never been to an amusement park or have never ridden a roller coaster?   Do they care about the project?  Since the students are working on the same project for weeks throughout the whole school day, do they all stay focused on the task?  Working in a very poor urban school these would be challenges I would be faced with.

The next assignment was to watch the Clay Shirky on institutions vs. collaboration video. His overall message is that collaboration and institutions are changing and that not only should we get used to it, but we might as well get good at it.  In this video he stated not all is created equal in collaboration. This isn’t a new revelation in the world of collaboration as far as I’m concerned, but it’s definitely worth mentioning again.  He used the site Flickr as his example.  He stated while some people posted hundreds of pictures, many others posted one.  However, Clay stated if you were to look at the site, it shows an average post of 10 pictures per person. He uses Flickr as an example of how institutions and collaboration is changing.  Flickr is a website where people can share photos they have taken.  Before this site people might not have had a chance to view or use photos that are now readily available.  This changes the logistics of institutions.  Before these types of web/collaboration tools, we would have only had professional photographers pictures to look at.  He also brought up a journalist that is currently sitting in jail because they are not willing to share their sources.  He referred to this as the “shield”.  However, today people can post whatever they want on the web, for example blogs, with a click of the button.  While this provides everyone with a voice to be heard through the power of words, it also leads to a lot of incorrect or nonfactual information.  Unfortunately we see this everyday.  Before we relied on responsible journalists and today we don’t always know what is factual.  An example of this would be Wikipedia – where people have previously commented about seeing incorrect information.  Most of what Clay Shirky stated I had already thought of.  The most profound item for me was the cell phone.  Since I don’t use cell phones I hadn’t thought of this.  He stated that with the use of cell phones people don’t make plans like they used to.  Where people used to make plans, now with the use of cell phones people call when they get somewhere or when they are leaving.  That wasn’t something that had thought of until now. 

Cooperative learning and reinforcing efforts

This week’s strategies are cooperative learning and reinforcing effort.  As a special education teacher we use cooperative learning all the time in our classroom.  For students to successfully do cooperative learning they have to have a clear understanding of the assignment/project, their role in the assignment/project, and the end product.  Beginning this week my students will be doing a debate on recycling.   The students will be working in teams to research their side, put together their arguments, and present the debate, which will be videotaped.  Then they will be able to view the video.  My role is a facilitator and to insure that all the students are engaged, doing their part, helping by posing questions for them to research.  This is just one example of cooperative learning.  Other ways I have used cooperative learning in my classroom is through research projects and presentations, partner reading, labs, etc. 

Reinforcing efforts goes a long way.  I think it’s very important to reinforce a student’s (peoples) efforts, not always the results.  I feel this is an area I’m strong in.  I do this throughout the day without giving it much thought.  My students’ academic abilities are very low so we read everything aloud.  I make sure that I acknowledge when a student tries to read a word when they are really struggling, even if they didn’t get it correct.  I let them know effort is key.  I use a lot of verbal praise throughout the day.  From time to time I will give the students “rewards” (a piece of candy, I’ll make treats, a special school supply, a few minutes of “free time”, etc.), but not too often. I really want them to develop a sense of self-satisfaction, rather than the expectation of extrinsic rewards.  When students first come into my room I often hear  “what do I get?” after a couple of weeks I don’t hear it anymore.  This is one way I know that it’s working.  I also know that the positive reinforcement is working, because within a few weeks students are also providing positive reinforcement to one another.   

CED0525 week 3

This week one of the assignments was to compare and contrast three online concept map programs.  I chose to look at Bubbl.us, Webspiration, and Mindmeister.

The first program I looked at was Bubbl.us.  This program is very easy to use, whether you are new to concept maps or whether you are quite familiar with them.  Although, this program doesn’t provide much in the way of directions if you are new to concept maps.  In this program it is very easy to add a new “bubble”, change the colors of the background and text, and the size of the font.  It’s very easy to move the “bubbles” around.  Some of the features I really like is that when you move your pointer over a word or icon it states how to do the action.  I also like that the connectors grow, shrink, and move with the bubbles.  This is a really nice feature.  This program is easy enough to use for all grade levels.  This is a free program, but if you want to save a concept map you have to create an account.  Also, I didn’t see any pre-made templates.

The next program I looked at was Webspiration.  Webspiration is very similar to Inspiration with an online cloud component.  This program is easy to use, has lots of options, cloud computing (allowing for collaboration), you can make an outline from your concept map or vice versa.  Webspiration does have already made templates and I like that you can change the shapes of your boxes or use graphics with text instead of boxes.  If students already know how to use Inspiration they will not have to relearn a new concept map program.  I don’t like that you have to create an account with an email address.  My students don’t have access to email accounts at school.  This program is designed for grades 5-12.

The last one I explored was Mindmeister.  Of the three programs this was my least favorite.   Like Webspiration this program provides collaboration with cloud computing.  You can also access Mindmeiser with an iPad or iPhone, which is a nice feature.  I think this would be a good program for really complex concept maps.  What I don’t like about this program is just like Webspiration you have to create an account using an email account.  I don’t like that it doesn’t have “boxes”, but rather text or graphics.  It does include templates and a good variety of concept maps.  I think this program would be good for advanced science.  I can see cell break downs taking place in this program.  It’s easy to expand an idea, but I feel it would be easy for students to get “lost” in this program, especially students with special needs.

This week we also discussed these strategies:  Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers; Nonlinguistic Representation; Summarizing and Notetaking

In my classes I use KWL charts, Venn diagrams, and concept maps to name a few.  What I like especially about KWL charts is that it makes students an active participant in their learning.  They start with what they know and have an opportunity to list things they want to learn.  I even go so far as to make sure that we answer all of their questions, even if isn’t part of the curriculum.  After the unit they have the opportunity to see how much they learned.  I think these go well because the students are active participants in their learning.   The graphic organizers can also be used for nonlinguistic representation.  In addition to visual charts, I like to include kinesthetic activities for my students.  We might toss a ball while listing parts of speech, for example.  Right now my students favorite activity is the use of beanbags and buckets.  We use a lot of fun “game” activities in my classroom.  My students tend to be very visual and kinesthetic learners.  Some of the technologies I use to help summarize are Senteos (clickers), interactive SmartBoard activities, and iPods.  I don’t do a lot of note taking in my classes.  I work with students with cognitive disabilities, however, we discuss at great lengths everything we read and do.  Regurgitating the same material in different ways helps my students with retention.    

CED0525 Week 2

The first assignment this week was to read Feedback that fits.  This article addresses the importance of quality feedback on assessments.  According to the article not all feedback is equal or valuable.  When teachers provide students with feedback they really need to think about the objectives of the assignment, not every detail.  As educators we don’t want the students to be discouraged to do work based on the assessment, rather we want to help them improve.   The author stated teachers need to put ourselves in the student’s shoes.   I feel it’s important to remain positive and to be specific. 

I really liked that the article stated to recognize and address strategies students’ use.  This is something I do a lot of in my classroom.  I’m constantly working on strategies with my special education students.   I also make sure I acknowledge any time they use strategies, especially when a student takes their own initiative to do so.  I almost go overboard with the recognition of strategies, but I’ve seen a pay off.  The students have started using the strategies with each other to help each other.  When I make an assessment I include a couple of questions or words that require the students to use strategies.   For example, on spelling tests I include a couple bonus strategy words.  These words are words they don’t hear until the day of the test, however, they are words that can be found somewhere in the classroom, such as on the board, posters, etc.  Overall I found the article very good.  I think feedback, especially good quality feedback, can be very difficult to do.

For the next assignment I looked at RubiStar.  Rubrics provide students with good valuable feedback.  When students given a rubric with an assignment they know right away how they are going to be assessed.  RubiStar is an easy to use program and it’s free.  It can be used for a wide variety of assignments.  You can either customize a rubric or use one already created.  You are prompted at each point, from which subject matter to the set up and rating scale.  I have created several rubrics from scratch and have spent quite a bit of time on them.  This program provides lots of options, including some I hadn’t thought of.  I will be using this in the future.

Next I looked at QuizStar, a free online test maker program.  There were a couple things I really like about this program.  The first is that you can choose the type of question you want - true/false, multiple choice, or short answer.  This reminds me of the Senteo response program, which is also easy to use.  This program allows for differentiated instruction in that you can choose the language.  This is a really nice feature for ESL students.  You can also set up the time span.  This can be beneficial for students that may need extra time on a test, such as special education students.  They could work on it during class and finish during a study center.  In this manner the teacher wouldn’t have to worry about the student carrying a test around with him or her.  Since it is graded on line it eliminates hours of grading tests.  Some of the things I don’t like about this program are that the test is online.  If you teach at a school that doesn’t have a lot of computers or if it’s difficult to get computer lab time, this program won’t be very useful.  The other problem with this program is that the only feedback is whether an answer is correct or incorrect.  I would like to try this program.  I think I will give it a try for my next test. 

Reflection of strategies -  It is important to provide students with good quality feedback.  Students need to know how they did on a task or assignment, what they did well, and how they can improve.  Feedback should reflect the object of the task or assignment.  As an educator we don’t want to comment on “every” detail, as it can be too much feedback and it can send the wrong message to the student.  Another important strategy is to provide students with recognition.  This can be accomplished simply (words of recognition) to something more tangible (stickers, certificates.)  I personally like words of recognition best.  When I started teaching a couple of years ago and had students do something out of the norm, they’d ask “what do we get?”  I would reply with “the satisfaction of a job well done.”  At times I’ll provide them with tangible items, but I really want them to be motivated to do well for their sake, not the reward.  The tangible rewards are far enough apart that they are a pleasant surprise to the students.  Another recognition tool I use is a fun activity.  The activities are fun to the student, but are still educational.  For example, throwing and catching a ball while listing nouns.     

CED0525 week 1

This is the first blog for my new course.  This week I had to read two articles and write a brief reflection on each.  The first article is Principles of Teaching and Learning.  I found the article very interesting, but a repeat of some of the other material I’ve read.  With that being said, I don’t think you can be reminded too many times about these principles.  Some of the most important points for a teacher is to be flexible and to assess your own teaching.  As a special education teacher I feel I’m constantly assessing how I’m teaching and how the students are learning, especially through differentiated instruction.  It seems that everything I teach I have to present it in several different ways, which means I have to be quick thinking and very flexible.  I also use strategies all the time.  I feel it’s so important for students to have the tools to find the information, especially as more and more schools are moving into inclusion.  One of the principles mentioned the differences between classrooms.  This is so true.  Even though I teach strategies and allow my students to walk around to use tools, such as dictionaries, posters on the wall, etc. not all teachers do.  I had in instance this year with a team taught teacher who yelled at the students for doing the very thing they were taught to do in our classroom.  I had to tell the other teacher that this method is accepted.  I want the students to become independent and as I constantly tell them, we’re working on life skills as well. 

Flexibility is so important.  I encourage my students to ask questions and sometimes it gets them “off topic” but onto an important topic.  It might be something they’ve seen on the news or in the newspaper, for example the protests and rallies.  If my students ask questions we will change the course of discussion, and I will facilitate a conversation.  I’ve been very careful throughout my teaching career to not infringe my beliefs on my students while trying to get them to think and form opinions about the world around them.  I will facilitate a conversation about what they have seen and ask them what they think about.  I also encourage them to talk to their family, and it makes me feel good when they tell me the next day they did.  As a teacher it is our job to not only educate them on the subject and matter at hand, but to help them prepare for their future.

The teaching and learning principles are inter-connected.  Students bring their prior knowledge and it’s my job to learn what it is and build from there.  It’s also my job to work on making sure they master skills.  If they don’t master the skill, they won’t be able to build onto it; it will be become a lost skill.  I thought the best concept is the climate of the classroom.   My school is moving towards almost 100% inclusion next year, and I’m not in complete agreement with it based on this very concept.  I work with CDB students who I feel will be lost in the “inclusion” classroom.  In my room everyone is expected to do all the same tasks and we as a class are there to support not make fun.  I have students that are at a pre-K level and are in 7^th grade.  The rule in my room is that everyone has to read aloud.  At the beginning it’s a challenge to get the new students to do this.  However, after just a few short weeks all the students are arguing to read aloud first.  This is because of the climate of the classroom, they feel safe, and in the end it helps me to assess their skills.

The second article A theory-based meta-analysis of research on instruction. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent  Research for Education and Learning I didn’t find quite as interesting.  I found it challenging to read.  I find it difficult to read scientific studies.  What I got out of the article was that the use of technology does affect student outcomes, and it’s greater than previously thought.  This doesn’t surprise me.  Students see technology as fun, therefore engaging.  Technology helps to motivate students and today there are so many different types of technology (laptops, Senteos, iPods, SmartBoard, etc.)  If I haven’t used a particular technological tool the students will ask me when we’re going to use it.  For example, I’ll hear “When are we going to use the clickers?”  When technology is used students are actively engaged.  The other advantage to technology is instant feedback for the students and teachers.  This is important and useful in delivering instruction.  As a teacher, do I move on or do we need more practice?  For students, they see their results immediately and therefore they can ask questions if they didn’t get a correct answer.  I’m curious since this was written in 2003, I wonder how different the results would be today, 7 years later with more technology.  Would the results be the same?

CEd0520 week 4

This week it has been very difficult to keep my head focused on my graduate work.  To be honest I’ve given a lot of thought to whether or not I should leave this program before I incur too much debt.  Not because I don’t want my graduate degree, but because I don’t know if I’ll have a future in teaching or if I’ll be returning to the business world.   At this time I’ve decided to ride out the uncertainty and see what happens.

This week’s work has been about privacy issues, Internet safety, and copyright laws.  These days I feel it’s really hard for copyright laws.  For examples of this all you have to do is look all around you.  People are constantly taking parts of words, videos, etc. to serve their purpose.  As teachers we “borrow” things all the time.  Since I don’t have textbooks, I’m constantly pulling information off the Internet so copyright laws directly affect me. 

In regards to students safely using the Internet, our school does an all school presentation during the school year.  We cover such things as cyber bullying and sexting.  Unfortunately I think that many times this information falls on deaf ears.  Until students know someone that it has happened to, they don’t realize the seriousness of it. 

Privacy issues are something I think of all the time.  I choose not to do a lot of activities on the Internet that require me to provide personal information.  It’s not that difficult to do without, and I’d like to think I’m contributing to the economy since I don’t shop or bank online.  I don’t think it’s completely irrational since I know people who have had their identities stolen.

CEdO520 Week 3

This week we compared Elluminate and Adobe Connect and their value as online teaching tools.  Our group found these two programs to be very similar, with the exception that Adobe Connect can be used with various media devices and Elluminate doesn’t seem to be able to.  Both have interactive whiteboards, conferencing,  break out rooms, etc. 

We also compared various learning resources such as polling programs, cartoon creators, etc.  As usual some of these are interesting but come up with questionable material on the home page making them inappropriate for school.  This week I noticed we are looking at some programs we already looked at in previous courses.  At first I thought it was strange, but when I got to thinking about it I thought it was by design.  Every week we look at so much material that only a few really stick with me.  However, the more I’m exposed to the same programs the more it will stick with me and become part of my repertoire and go to programs.  It’s amazing how many programs are available; it really is hard to keep up with all the resources available.  My favorites are the free programs especially in lieu of recent events with our educational system.  

CEdO520 Week 2

In this course we are looking at Internet Learning Resources and their validity.  To me Internet learning resources are any site that anyone can learn from or use.  I use learning resources in my teaching for my students, but I too use the Internet to learn from.  The problem with the Internet is that there is SO much information that it is often difficult to find what you're looking for.  This week we used Google Advance Search.  If I remember to use it, this will become a good tool for me.  Google advance search is easier to use than Boolean Logic, and although we learned about Boolean Logic in another course bad habits are hard to break.

We also read an article debating Wikipedia's significance in learning.  I have only used Wikipedia a couple of times, and I've never had my students use it.  Not for the reasons in the article, but it's just not a site that I give students to use.  I provide my students with the URL's they are able to go to.  Is wikipedia a reliable source?  I guess it depends on the subject, however, students (people) should never use only one source for information when doing research.  I don't think wikipedia should be completely discredited.  The most important thing to remember when doing research on the Internet is that there is a lot of inaccurate information out there.  Choose wisely and carefully.

This week I was introduced to Google Alerts.  I don't think this is something that I will use.  Sometimes technology just inundates us with too much information.  Personally that's how I feel about Google Alerts.  When using Google Alerts you select a subject and then it will email you with information on it.  Who reads all those emails?  Not me.  There is only so much time in a day, and I don't want to spend all of it on the computer or working.  Regularly I watch local and world news so I feel on top of current events.  If I want to know more I'll research it.  If there's a subject I want to know more about, whether it be for school or personal, I'd rather research it myself.

CEdO520 What is the Value of Blogging?

During our first class Jim asked if we liked doing the weekly blogs.  Quickly I responded with a "no".  Then he gave us the assignment to come up with ways to use blogging. 

Personally I don't mind blogging, but I find the weekly assignment repetitive and tedious.  I find it very difficult to answer the same question “How can you apply what you’ve learned” every week, when many times we are working on similar types of material from one week to the next.  Unfortunately not everything that we do can be used in my classroom or school at this time, or at that moment I haven’t had enough experience with the tool to be able to really answer that question yet.  It doesn’t mean that I didn’t find the experience beneficial though.  The other part is reading and providing thought provoking questions to our classmates.  This is difficult for me to do when I’m just learning it myself. 

Since I understand that at the end of this graduate program I will have to create a capstone, I think my blog will prove to be invaluable.  I think of blogging as a “journal”.  With that being said, I think it is important to do an overview of what I learned and my experience with it.  I would like to blog more about what did I learn, how well did it work, can I use it in my teaching environment, why or why not, and what issues or challenges did I have if any.  When I look back a year from now, I believe this type of information might be more valuable to me.  With this being said, I don’t know what our capstone has to be about or like.  Perhaps that type of weekly blogging wouldn’t be as beneficial.

In regards to reading and responding to my classmates’ blogs, I do think there’s value in it.  I like reading each other’s blogs because it provides other peoples insights.  Some things I’ve learned by reading the other blogs is that person’s experience.  Did they have difficulty with it or were they able to easily manipulate the program?  From their blog, I’ve also read about ways that they might be able to use the material in their professional life and how they would use it.  Instead of trying to come up with questions on material I’m just learning, I’d like to write about something I learned or was able to take away from their blog. 

Software Evaluation

This week we studied google sites and software evaluations.  While creating a google site, at this time I don't see how it would be useful to me in my teaching.  In google documents I find it very easy to find a document, spreadsheet, etc. I'm not sure what the purpose of google sites is for.

With that being said, I can say that I did like the software evaluation.  Even though in my district teachers don't have any real input when it comes to purchasing software, it never hurts so see what else is out there. I chose to evaluate Kidspiration.  I have used Inspiration before, but never Kidspiration.  I really liked Kidspiration.  It provides cross curriculum opportunities.  It really provides students an opportunity for all students including special needs and ESL students visual and written opportunities.  Students can create web diagrams, venn diagrams, and other types.  They can do this using text and pictures, and then with a click it will change to an outline.  In the outline they can expand on the text, creating complete sentences.  In also includes math concepts - online manipulatives.

The program also has many built in activities, which include phonics, blends, parts of speech.  There are activities for reading/writing, math, science, and social studies.  The program is designed for grades K-5 and even has sound for non readers.  When the students get into different sections they can choose their grade level, so it's a program that will continue to challenge students throughout their different grade levels.  As I was demoing the program I was imagining all the ways I could use this program with my special needs students.  This program provides differentiated instruction.  This program promotes creativity, and creativity has been the underlying theme throughout this whole course.

I Love Spiders

What I liked about this video and lesson was the hands on.  The students took pictures of different spiders, researched them to find out what kind they were, and then sent them to another classroom in a different state.  This lesson gets the students involved, and I think I will try and incorporate a similar idea in my classroom.  We do an unit on animals, plants, and the environment.  The students could do something similar and then either exchange with another class or find a wiki or an online learning area to do share with.  Since I teach older students, I'd really like it if we exchanged this information with another class in a different country.  They could do science or social studies with cultures.  They could take pictures of food, costumes, decorations, etc. and share and compare with another country.  The possibilities are endless.

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets intimidate a lot of people.  I think it's the thought of using formulas.  What a lot of people don't realize is that they can be used for so much more.  I use them all the time, although I don't do a lot these days with formulas.  I use them for organizing data, tables, columns etc.  Some of the ways I currently use spreadsheets is by making flashcards for students, organizing information into neat rows or columns, create worksheets especially for science labs, to name a few.  Spreadsheets provide an easy way to add formatting such as font size and type, color, position of text, width of columns, height of rows, and amount of rows.  It's easy to add and delete information, columns, and rows in spreadsheets.  Spreadsheets also provide an easy way to sort information.  I use spreadsheets in both my professional and personal life.