INTASC SELF-ASSESSMENT FORM

The following link is my INTASC self-assessment form.

I want to thank Barry Jahn for an outstanding class that taught me more than I could have imagined. I look forward to using technology to inspire my students!

INTASC

OTEN 2010

So I battled the fog and made it to Pacific University for OTEN 2010, on time I might add - yay me! I was battling the first stages of a head cold which is apparent my be raspy voice on my yodio. Even so, I thought it was a time well spent and I am excited to bring technology into my classroom.

One thing I will add that I forgot to say in my yodio below is how great SMART boards are for teaching ESOL students. There was an example where the board displayed what happened to water as it is heated and how the particles are displaced, it was amazing! All I could think about was what a great tool to use for students who struggle with English, or just plain struggle with science! I definitely left the conference inspired, and then I got to go eat lunch with my sister which made it a great day indeed!

Oregon Technology Standards & Requirements

Oregon Technology Standards and Requirements:

1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
3. Research and Information Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and Concepts

I look at the standards above and I think of them as ensuring our students are technologically literate. It is proven that literacy should be brought into education in every content area and technology is not different. In order for our students of tomorrow to succeed in the ever-advancing, technological world of today (and tomorrow), they must have the tools listed above to succeed.

If it is possible at my school, I really want each student to have their own blog. If that is not possible then I will try to have a class blog. I think a blog is an easy way to introduce middle school students to different technologies.

1. Creativity and Innovation

One of the easiest ways to meet this standard is to have kids create a digital research project (or any approved project/report) using Screenr, Tokbox, or (insert cool web tool here). As I recently learned there are many easy options to create digital presentations.

2. Communication and Collaboration

This could be the students creating their own individual blogs. Or if that is not possible, using the classroom blog to showcase reports, individual projects, or just commenting on teacher posts. A blog is a great way for students to communicate and collaborate. Another great way to meet this standard is Google Docs - and we all know how much I love Google Docs.

3. Research and Information Fluency

One way students could easily research information on the web and store it would be Delicious. I could make a class Delicious account and they could label all their research links with their name or initials. Not only would this make one large research bank, but it would make it very easy for me to assess their research skills AND review their research content to make sure it was appropriate.

4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making

This is where it is my responsibility to show my students how to effectively use the web. It is one thing to stick a topic on a search drive and pull up related information. It is another to know what is valid information and what is biased and unusable. By helping them decipher what is usable information and what is trash, I can help my students develop critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making.

5. Digital Citizenship

I think a blog is a great way to teach about Digital Citizenship. Facebook would be another great area to educate students on this topic, especially legal, ethical and socially responsible behavior, but I do think Facebook would be a harder sell than an individual blog. Even if it was a classroom blog, it would still be a great arena to teach the students these important issues.

6. Technology Operations and Concepts

My main thought for this last standard is for the students to create a short lesson on a topic of their choice. They would do the research, create the lesson, and then present the lesson in a digital medium of their choice. Not only would they be using technology to learn, they would be illustrating their understanding of this new knowledge by teaching it to others. Plus, how easy would it be to assess this project?

To sum up, I must add that since I am very new to a lot of these technologies myself, it will be a great learning experience for both the students and myself. It will also be a great time for me to listen to student ideas and try new things that even I have not done yet. If I keep my mind open as a teacher I know I will be amazed at what my students and I will be able to learn together in the ever-growing field of technology.

Multimedia Project

I created a presentation about Google Docs on Screenr. Screenr is a great tool and very easy to use. It could be useful for the classroom in many ways: science lab make-ups, student projects, independent study assignments, presentation for parents, etc. (as long as they didn't have to be longer than five minutes). I really like how it shows how much time you have used as you are recording. I have found Google Docs to be extremely helpful, as I talked about in my presentation. The two things I like the most about Google Docs is the ability to work together on an assignment without having to meet (having a family, this makes my life so much easier) and Google Calendar. I feel so much more organized now that I have put all my assignments on Google Calendar - I should have started using it from day one.

Two things I found out when I was using Screenr to make my presentation are:

- three minutes goes by really fast

- I do not recognize the sound of my own voice!

Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

This assignment was both simple and difficult. Creating the spreadsheets and graph were fairly simple, although I will admit I do not know how to manipulate the graphs as well as I would like. Hiding columns and rows, sorting, changing format - these things were all fairly easy and very much like my experience with Excel. The most difficult part of this project was embedding the three-page sheet into my blog. I finally had to google how to embed a spreadsheet which told me how to get the sheet embedded, but then I had to figure out how to make the frame bigger. After about three tries I figured that out as well.

My original spreadsheet can be found here.

Looking at the data, I found out growth measured in actual points and then by percentage. I then sorted the students by growth percentage. Eight out of twelve students actually improved by 20% or more during the five tests, with one student improving as much as 50%. This would lead me to believe that these students are improving and overall understanding the material better. Although not where I would like them to be, if they continue to improve at the current rate then what I am doing in the classroom is working for them. As for the four students that experienced a growth rate of less than 20%, the current lesson plans are obviously not working well for them. I think finding some time to work with each of them individually would be needed to try to figure out the best learning style that works for each student, or ask them for their input; what are they struggling with, what would they like to try, are there things in their life that is making it difficult for them, or are they just not trying at all. These are things I would need to find out at this point.

My Favorite Web2.0 Tools

Web2.o means that all of my computer needs are stored on the web. It enables me to have access to anything important from any computer that has internet access. It also enables me to invite people to share documents so we can work on them simultaneously from different locations.

Personal Productivity: Delicious

I chose to Delicious as my personal productivity tool. This website from Yahoo enables you to bookmark all your favorite websites so you access them easily even if you are not using your computer. This would be a great tool for person productivity because you don't have to have your own computer to have all the websites you use on a regular bases on one page. It would also be very helpful for a classroom as you could bookmark specific websites for research or other various uses for the students. It allows you some control over what websites the students go to as well.

Screen Recorders: Screenr

Screenr is a website that lets you record images on your computer screen and sound, publish it, and then save on your computer or publish to youtube. You can then link the recording to a website or blog and for other people to view. This would be a great tool for students to use when presenting a report or group project. It would also be very useful to share presentations on a teaching blog so other teachers could see presentations that you have created. This is a screencast that I did (with no sound) from a picture in Lake Tahoe of my wedding.

Google Spreadsheet has all the bells and whistles of the popular spreadsheet programs, but is accessible by multiple users at the same time. It also allows all users to access the most recent version so there is no confusion as to if the user has the most recent copy. In addition, users can create a document to present pertinent data in a variety of forms--whether this be though a bar graph, pie chart, map, picture, or other, Google Spreadsheet offers users many options in which to present their information to groups of people.

Improves productivity and enhances learning by:

1. The group can work together without having to be in the same place
2. Can use as a to-do list for multiple people; each person signs in and determines what still needs to be done
3. Could use for agendas in meetings, in which each member of the meeting puts a topic they want addressed into the agenda, which makes the meeting go faster since everyone can do it at the same time instead of going around one by one
4. Group members can chat and communicate ideas together while working. Also, if members are not working together, comments can be left on the spreadsheet for members to look at later
5. Data, pictures, graphs, and a variety of information can be presented in this user-friendly program. With having all of these handy tools available in one location, information can be presented in an aesthetic fashion (whether this be in a classroom, during a meeting, etc.)

My learning curve on this project was very much like a hockey stick. It took a little bit to get used to Google Documents but after we got our documents created and shared it was fairly easy. I have a lot of experience with Excel and it seems very similar to that program.

As for my contribution, I set up the Google doc, started with the basic information about out team, and then shared the document with them. After the spreadsheet created and shared I built the first table and graph. I then sent out a quick email (very easily by telling Google to send it to everyone on the shared list) to let everyone know to populate their information so our table and graph would populate.

Easy as pie!!!