EDLD 5397 - Research

Draft Action Research Project Progress Report

a.    Title – Provide a clear, brief title that describes your Action Research Project. This title should describe what you are trying to find out, not what you think you will find.  (5 points)

a.    Paperless Classroom – is it possible?

b.    Needs Assessment – Indicate how the need for an improvement was determined. Note the data collected to support the need. Present the data in a disaggregated manner in terms of ethnicity, and gender. (5 points)

a.    The need for going paperless stems from

                                  i.    The cost of paper to the campus – data being collected includes number of copies made in the 2^nd 6 weeks compared to 3^rd 6 weeks after iPad distribution in my classroom

                                 ii.    The technology being provided by the district to all students i.e. iPads 1-12 and iPods pk-k

                                iii.    Worksheet vs. technology review

                               iv.    eClassroom information vs. paper newsletters

c.    Objectives and Vision of the action research project. (ELCC 1.1) – After completing the needs assessment, develop a vision relating to the improvement needed and develop an action research project that includes measureable objectives in terms of expected results. (5 points)

a.    The vision of the research project is to see how much paper on classroom can save by using district issued technology. The objectives can be measured using copy count and cost when compared before and after the iPad distribution. I expect to see a great cut in the amount of paper/copies being used and the value added to students who learn better through technology than through worksheets.

d.    Review of the Literature and Action Research Strategy – Apply Best Practice to Student Learning (LCC 2.3) – Review recent literature related to the topic of your research project. The research should support why your action research plan would be described as a best practice or possible solution to improving achievement or culture. The review of the literature should be written in APA style with a reference page listing the sources. Explain the decision making process for implementing the action research project. Who was involved? What was considered? What decisions were made? (5 points)

a.     

e.    Articulate the Vision (ELCC 1.2) – Describe how you communicated the vision of the action research project to staff, parents, students, and community members. (5 points)

f.     The vision was discussed with my mentor at the end of last year. Once this year began I began talking to the parents in my classroom about how I was going to be moving to a more “green” classroom as the year progressed and the iPads were distributed. I began this move by stopping paper newsletters and moving to using my eClassroom as well as email and texting for any announcements that the parents needed to be aware of. I also placed my newsletter in PDF form on the eClassroom. As the school year progresses there will be continued conversations with the parents of my students as well as the rest of my grade level and administration as I begin to move from making copies to working on the iPads. I intend on holding a parent meeting to completely “kick-off” the project once a majority of many students have their iPads. My administration and mentor are kept up to date through mentor meetings, and at this point it is all about the plan and implementation as the iPads are not distributed yet. The school secretary is helping me by keeping me informed of the amount of copies I am making each 6 weeks so I have data to compare. I have also placed information on my eClassroom for any parents or community members who may be interested.

g.    Manage the organization (ELCC 3.1) – Describe the strategy used for organizing the implementation of the project noting responsibilities given to self and others and how you managed any monies, time, materials, and people. Give examples of how you put a priority on student learning and safety. (5 points)

a.    The organization of the plan really revolves around my copy count and the iPad distribution. This is a structured strategy because the district decides when my 4^th graders will be getting the iPads and the copies I make are being counted automatically. I do not require any money, but I am asking the campus secretary to assist me by keeping my copy count. Once I begin switching to the iPads I can calculate the cost of the paper used against the six weeks that I will be comparing. I have not had to manage any other aspects; I am for the most part, waiting for the district to issue the iPads.

h.    Manage Operations (ELCC 3.2) – Describe the strategy used to lead the operations of the project and set priorities. Include a brief description of how you used the needs assessment, data, group process skills, built consensus, communicated, and resolved conflict. (5 points)

a.    In order to lead the operations, I simply held a meeting with my mentor, my principal and the campus secretary in order to begin gathering information needed to keep a copy count. The priorities I set revolved around the iPad distribution for the school/grade level. I discussed my idea and the needs of cutting the paper cost down for the campus. Most of the money allocated for supplies goes to paper. A consensus was met when we realized how much the iPads could help cut the need for worksheets and meet the needs of the digital natives in our school, namely my classroom.

i.      Respond to Community Interest and Needs (ELCC 4.2) – Describe how the action research project will serve the needs of students with special and exceptional needs and students with diverse backgrounds (cultural, ethnic, economic, or special interest groups) Elaborate on methods used to address any specific needs of the school or community. (5 points)

a.    This project is very important and extremely helpful to students with exceptional needs and diverse backgrounds. We have already seen how the iPads help our special populations as they were given the iPads last year on a trial basis. It turns out that they are blossoming with the help of the iPads and are gaining more knowledge by using the iPads for their work. The district took care of this for me by deciding to pass out iPads to special populations last year. Once I found out these students were beginning to use the iPads I asked out Resource teacher to keep me informed of how the iPads have helped these students. We have seen growth and understanding gained faster with the help of the iPads compared to not using them. 

EDLD 5362 - Week 5

5364 - Week 4 Part 1

The quote that got may attention in this week’s reading was:  “To be prepared for the fast-paced, virtual workplace that they will inherit, today’s students need to be able to learn and produce cooperatively” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). Working cooperatively is something that I am constantly trying to improve in my 4^th grade class. The students are learning to be good group members and tot trust each other as a group, believing that the work will get done and done well. As the students continue in their education, as well as entering the work force, they have no choice but to be a team player and work with people. It is a little bit of a challenge for some students and others seem to do well with it as some like working together while others prefer to work alone. It is a skill that must be practiced and rehearsed in order to learn to do it well. Personally I do not like group work because my past experiences have left me feeling like I am carrying my group and that I do most of the work while others skate by on my grade however, I have found that the groups at Lamar University have all had professionals in them who do their part, a welcome change.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. (p. 139). Alexandria, VA: ASCD

5364 - Week 3 Part 3

Week 3 Part 3

Creating a book using the Book Builder was not difficult. I felt like I could have added a lot more content and made a much more interesting book that would allow students to feel like they are learning The Writing Process, if only I had more time. I am encouraged to see how easy it was to make and that there are so many more features that I could have used and built a great book with. In the future I could see using this to make learning easier for some students, and even allowing students to build books for each other. I think a place like this has a lot of potential and I would like to have more time to use it, maybe after I graduate....

My Book

5364 - Week 3 Part 1

Week 3 Part 1

In the weeks past we have had some terrific readings and videos to watch, this week is not different. The reading consisted of: 

• “Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning”
• “Center for Applied Special Technology: UDL Book Builder”
• “Center for Applied Special Technology: Model UDL Lessons”
• “Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools”
• “Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works”

In the reading "Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works", the quote that stuck out to me was "we cannot overemphasize the wisdom of using rubrics to provide feedback on student attainment of the objectives set.  Because rubrics provide detailed descriptions, they help teachers meet the classroom recommendation of giving feedback that’s specific to a criterion as opposed to giving a simple grade or score.” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). Makes so much sense. Without the detailed descriptions that are provided by rubrics, a lot of students will be asking a lot more questions that the rubrics could simply answer. Also, students will know exactly what is expected of them and exactly what the grading will look like. Students, especially in the 4th grade, are learning to become more independent and require guidelines to follow. If they have a rubric to which they can refer, they will be able to know where to look, what to do and this enables them to begin to build their independence. I have learned that using rubrics could be a great thing to implement and in the future I think more teachers just may use them, even in lower grades.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 41-58, 217-225. 

5364 - Web Conference #2

The web conference started a little rocky, the sound was not working. I thought it was me at first but the rest of the class stated that they could not hear either so Dr. Borel took a "Time Out" to try to fix it. She got sound to us but we had a bad feed back so she worked on it some more. The conference began with a slight echo so Dr. Borel ended up typing as well as talking to us. Dr. Borel told us to check the setting of our email on Blackboard in order to not have to check our MyLamar email. She asked us about what we knew as far as the main google site, the field supervisor.
She then went on about this weeks assignment. She asked if there were any questions. We were still having trouble so she tried another computer to see if it was any better. She was not too happy and stated that this was the worse web conference she had ever done. I think we all understand, things happen and sometimes they are just out of our control.
We ended up doing it through chat since the sound did not work. It was a little confusing and Dr. Borel tried really hard to answer questions. I ended up turning off my camera and speakers and just reading what was going on, I left soon after that. Dr. B apologized but you know how it it...stuff happens.

5364 - Week 2 Reflection

Week 2 also brought with it some wonderful reading and videos.

• "Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works"
• "Technology-Enriched Classrooms: Effects on Students of Low Socioeconomic Status”
• “The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement: What the Most Recent Research Tells Us”
• “Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning”

 I found most of the reading interesting and full of great ideas as well as things to think about. I really liked the article "Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning" by Rose and Meyer. 

This article, as well as many others, brings to light the fact that there are so many chances for students to learn with technology. Technology can be used to focus in on the different learning styles and learning disabilities that inhibit learning in some students. Using different kinds of media, to either use in initial teach or student created, can only help support what is being taught in a classroom. I know that we are all looking into the future and expecting student to have more access and more experience with technology, so it is up to us to be able to offer what is needed and use it to our/their advantage. We can’t’ stop it so, as they say, if you can’t beat it, join it! I guess that would be a great reason many of us are getting our Master’s in Educational Technology, to join them.

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Chapter 1. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/

5364 - Week 1 Reflection

WEEK 1 Part 1

During week one we had many readings to sort through.

• "Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works"
• "Learning as a Personal Event: A Brief Introduction to Constructivism"
• "How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School"
• "Social Networking Technologies in Education"
• "If I Teach This Way, Am I Doing My Job: Constructivism in the Classroom"
• "Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools"

One of the best reading was the one titled "Learning as a Personal Event: A Brief Introduction to Constructivism". I liked this one because it allows students to be more involved with their learning. It shows how students in a Learner-Centered classroom benefit more and participate more in the learning. The students are going out and about to gather information instead of filling out worksheets and watching videos. the Learner-Centered classroom gives students the chance to get their hands on real situations instead of simply listening and watching.

 Another article, "How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, pp. 194-218" continues to discuss the way students learn suing technology. this article is different and helpful because it not only talks about the good of technology, but also points out things that need to be considered when adding technology to a classroom, namely how people can use technology to learn by doing. Technology provides receive feedback, and helps students sharpen their skills while helping them learn.

Citation: Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school(Expanded edition). Ch. 9, pp. 194-218. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9853&page=206

Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism. Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html

5364 - Web Conference #1

When the web conference began Dr. Borel thanked the class for being patient as we all transfer from EPIC to BlackBoard. She mentioned that the discussion board has been a little messed up and that everyone will get credit for the discussion this week.
Next she went through some areas of Blackboard and how to find information about submitting assignment. She let us know that there are videos to help us out, and talked to us about making sure we check that the assignment actually gets sent. She then went on to explain how the announcements will go to our email and that we could change the email in order to have announcements sent to an email of our choice. This way we are guaranteed to get the announcements as she puts them up.
Next she reminded us that all assignments are due on Sundays and made sure all students have information on how to go to the educational leadership google site that is set up for each course.
Next she went thorough the field supervisor requirements and who to contact if we have not heard from our FS. She also went through forms that we are required to have in order to graduate and that information is in the handbook.
Next she went through the week's assignment and what is expected from us, mainly the expectations from our group project. We have a lot of work to do, but together we can get it all accomplished.

5366 - Web Conference #3

I was not able to attend the web conference this evening but I watched the video. Dr. Cummings again asked us if there were any questions pertaining to the week 3 assignment. One student asked if we needed to add music to our animation and Dr. Cummings stated that we didn't have to, but we could if we wanted.
Next she asked us if we wanted to add something about where we are on the animation. No one added anything but a question about the tutorial for the website came up and she clarified who the audience would be. The answer is to just make it pertain to who we want to teach it to, mainly teachers and students. She also wants us to learn the software so we can use it in our classrooms.She also made sure we had the movement of the animation be at least 10 movements. Some students shared what other software they were using and Dr. Cummings asked if it was something that should be added to the course in the future, she will add it to the next course. 
Next she asked if there were any questions about the website. She clarified that the website would be for a school setting because it addresses teachers, Parents, students and community. As questions were asked, they were answered and she made things a lot clearer for students that were uncertain.
Next she discussed the course embedded documents and is going to send them as an announcement for those of us that do not have them or are unclear about them. She also discussed the EdTech wiki and clarified that the forms must say ET for EdTech.
Also, we need to show our collaboration for this project on a google doc. We have not actually done this so I will cut/paste our collaboration so they can see what we have done.

5366 - Web Conference #2

7-24-12 - 5:30 pm
Dr. Cummings began the discussion asking for any questions pertaining to week 1 which we just finished. There were no questions so she moved forward.


Week two is logo design and week four website group formation. She stated that is students do not have a group to contact our IA and try to get 5-6 people in the group. She discussed "Self-Branding and how everything students put online is a "brand" and how the logo represents who we are. She opened the floor to questions. She answered yes to the question about using wordl and introduced "tuxedo". She also made sure we knew that we were going to need a logo for the website. She answered other questions about the logo and helped people understand what they are needed for. She suggested making our logo into either a .jpeg or .pdf to help with scalability and how to avoid distortion by using the shift key while making changes.


With the website the ultimate goal is to be a resource to use with other teachers in our schools as a technology facilitator. She described the uses for each of the six pages and how they can help the different departments in the schools. Dr. Cummings is going to send us resources that we can use on our websites to help us in the development of the websites. She reminded us to document the course embedded internship hours as well as the campus supervise hours for our internships and let us know she is a co-coordinator for the internship. She also gathered information from us about our field supervisors, whether or not we have had contact with them. I have not only had contact but I have finished my three required meetings with him. 
One student asked about a newsletter, but there is not to be a newsletter in this course.


She clarified other questions that people had about the website and internship, and our action research projects.She gave us the website to the EdTech wiki so we have access to our correct forms for our documentation hours.


She ended by making sure we know to get in touch with her for anything we may need. Meeting ended at 6:01

5366 - Reflection

EDLD 5366 was a lot of fun. When I started the class I was dreading it a little because I have taken Microsoft classes ranging from all of Office in one semester to one semester of each of them (PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Access) and Cisco I and II for networking. I have also taken Microcomputer Application I, II and Advanced so I was thinking it was going to be like those classes. BUT as I started my assignments I realized that they would be more fun and I was going to be learning some newer things, which excited me. The readings provided were very informative and easy to understand.

I had worked with animations on my daughter's LeapPad so this was not that new, but the website STYKZ made it so easy and I kept finding myself playing with it and making more animations. I know I have so much more to learn and I can see that my students will also have a lot of fun making little animations. 

To complete the assignments I found that all the information provided by the professor kept me on track. I could easily read the articles and then go back to the assignment and try out what I had learned. I also liked that there were tutorials that I could find on YouTube to also assist me in what I was learning. Learning about the new Digital version of Bloom's Taxonomy was interesting and helped me see a fresher look at something I have seen all through my education and career. 

Learning about personal branding was also helpful I was not aware that this was even a term used when looking at and thinking about online activities As stated in the article “Authentic Personal Branding”, Marshall Goldsmith points out that having a brand that is strong and relevant helps people associate this brand with the person, remembering them when it is important. (Goldsmith, 2009). “The Art of Self-Branding: Part One” (Alcantara, 2012) is helpful for a person to define who they are. Gathering the information from others can clarify what a person thinks as well as introduce new thought and ideas about a person to explore further.

When building the website as a group we spent a lot of time sending emails back and forth trying to make sure we all had what we needed to make the website the best it could be. We worked well as a group and everyone was reliable. I have learned that working with a group is not as bad as I expected. My past groups in under grad courses gave me a bad taste of group work, but working with real professionals who also wanted to get the work done early if not on time was a dream. 

            Working in a K-12 classroom I would implement the use of websites with my students as learning tools. In our school each student is going to be issued an iPad in the Fall, and I look forward to using apps on them, but I also see how using websites like AAA Math or Spelling City to handle some of the activities and practice.

Alcantara, L. (2012). The Art of Self-Branding. Retrieved 7 18, 2012, from lealea's blog: http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/the-art-of-self-branding-part-one/

Churches, A. (2008, April 1). Bloom's Taxaonomy Blooms Digitally. Retrieved July 18, 2012, from Tech & Learning: http://www.techlearning.com/article/blooms-taxonomy-blooms-digitally/44988

Goldsmith, M. (2009). Authentic Personal Branding. Retrieved June 18, 2012, from Bloomberg Businessweek: http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/sep2009/ca20090929_228578.htm

5366 - Another Animation

I was having fun making animations with STYKZ and made this one. Although there is more to learn, I really thought this one was pretty funny.

5366 - My Animation

We had to create an animation and I chose to use the website Stykz.

It was fun to make the "styk" figure fall out of the sky.

Hope you enjoy!!!

5366 - My Personal Logo

    I believe I achieved what I was looking for. Of course it is hard to know if other can look at it and see what I am trying to say. I feel that I created a heart that is colorful and gives an idea who I am. I like my name and the colors I used to express my name. I feel that the goal of showing a sweet, colorful and simple version of me is shown in the symbol.

    I used the principals of contrast with my color pallet and I used alignment by making sure everything is aligned and finally I feel that the proximity of each item is in a position that is pleasing and understandable. I also used repetition in the two sides of the heart.

    I feel that this logo shows my personality. I feel it is simple, but yet colorful and happy. Those are great ways to describe me. I am usually a very happy person. I like to lead a colorful life and I also enjoy the simple things in life. I hope that the person who sees this will feel happy and think that I feel happy too. This logo does a great job in identifying my personality.

5366 - Web Conference #1

July 17, 2012. 5:30 pm.

Dr. Cummings went through some of the questions that she had been receiving during the week. She discussed the first assignment, the "Teaching Tool" and then opened the floor for any other questions that might be arising.

She told us that the reflections on the ancient manuscript needs to be in the wiki but I have decided to put it in both places. It is easy, just cut/paste!

She discussed assignment 1.4 - identifying members for our group project that will be done in week 4.

She told us to divide the group to develop the pages. We will need to get our group together and think about planning for the website. She suggested we look at the assignments ahead of time to give us an idea what is coming up. She is allowing people to work outside of our section, which seemed to make others happy. So far I have nancy and Dawn and I am waiting to hear from Turkessa and Laura.

She discussed what we are going to be doing each week and emphasized that everything is to be incorporated into the web design. She said that we will probably like this course.

Dr. Cummings made sure we had her email address for any questions we may have.
DON"T PANIC - Her Montra

There were not many questions so the meeting went pretty quick.

5366 - Ancient Manuscript

The manuscript website I chose to evaluate was "Manuscripts & Manuscript Copying Timeline". I chose this website because it has a lot of wonderful information and so many different manuscripts to look at.
My first impression of the ancient works on this webpage was nothing more than being in awe. I have always found Egypt to be an interesting place and to see some of the manuscripts that are there, being uncovered and translated has always sparked my interests. I find it so amazing that even way back in the early days people used pictures to tell their stories. As far as design elements go, I assumed that the manuscripts would not really have much design in them, but I was quite intrigued as I looked further to see that there are actually some versions of design in the earlier manuscripts.

• Contrast
• Contrast was used many times. They did not have as many colors as we do, but there were many manuscripts that used black for some words/pictures and red for other. An example is The Oldest Surgical Treatise Circa 1,600 BCE which discusses the earliest of surgical procedures. It has red text as well as black text.

• Repetition:
• When I looked at some of the early Egyptian manuscripts found, they use a lot of symbols for their words. These symbols would be repeated over and over. there are also a lot of repeated symbols on other manuscripts that I viewed. I realize that these symbols stand for certain words and are repeated to give a understanding of what is being discussed.

• Alignment:
• Many of the manuscripts use the element of alignment. In fact, for the most part the manuscripts that I viewed were each using this element. The pictures, or old script always seemed to be aligned. I do not know if they were being read left to right, right to left or top to bottom, but they definitely were in alignment. I never thought of it before, but studying these elements really made it noticeable for me.

• Proximity:
• These manuscripts almost always used the elements of proximity. Every word went with the next. Every symbol was used in a group with like symbols. There was no confusions with what went together and what did not belong. 

The authors/artists gave many examples of what the manuscripts meant and how they are translated. They also gave us links to click on that go further into detail about the manuscript, the author of the manuscript and other things that were discussed in the manuscript. I was able to learn a deeper meaning about how these manuscripts were discovered, where they were discovered, who translated it, and what was being said in the manuscripts.

Norman, J. (2012). Manuscripts & Manuscript Copying Timeline. Retrieved July 7, 2012, from Jerry Norman's From Cave Painting to the Internet. Chronological and Thematic Studies on the History of Information and Media: http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?category=Manuscripts+%26+Manuscript+Copying

5363- Course Reflection

     Boy oh boy was this course a doozie. Not in a bad way though. There was so much to learn and do using technology and I loved every second of it.

Before this class started I had some experience with making videos and voice-over recordings. I had used GarageBand, and iMovie. Mostly I used them for the fun of it, creating small movies for my family or just to have for myself.

     This class has really opened my eyes to so many more options and I have learned so much!

First we made a digital video over anything we wanted. I made mine over my educational journey. I chose this topic because I did not take the usual track. You can view it on previous versions of my blog. I learned a little more about how to use a different software than I had used before, Stupeflix, which I picked because I liked the name. however, I was disappointed to find out that in order to make more movies I would have to enroll friends and gain "points". Luckily I got "points" for enrolling and that gave me enough to make and share one video.

     Next I made a short podcast, a tutorial about how to edit videos in Microsoft Movie maker. This was as much of a learning experience as it was a teaching one. I was able to learn about and use Creative Commons, and am so glad I know about this website. Creative commons helps you label your creations with copyright so you can upload them and share them without worrying that they will be used without your permission. My podcast was cute and quick, and it gave me some great experience on creating podcasts using Audacity.

     The final and biggest project was the team video. We had to find 2-3 other classmates and spend time creating a team video. I am not the biggest fan of group work because in the past all of my groups have involved people who don't do their work and either I end up doing it or if the credit is given individually for the work each member does instead of an overall group, the end project is not good and sometimes not even complete. Well, this was different. my group was definitely full of go-getting overachievers who like to finish ahead of time as much as I di. We each had strengths and were able to combine these strengths to put together a video for students on Photosynthesis. It took a lot of work from everyine, but in the end we pulled it off...and early!!!

     I can certainly see using everything I learned with my students and I look forward to seeing what they come up with. I hope to start a video library of units, using my students, that can be shared and can help mine, and other students learn.

5363 - Team Video

The ScienceQuad Team Video 

 Photosynthesis 

5363 Web Conference #4

The first thing discussed is credits given from IA and she wants to know who does not have credit for both the script and the video. There is a possibility that she cannot see the video and we are going to get full credit as long as it is given to her. She clarified that as long as we communicate with her then we will always have a chance to get the credits due. Sometimes it may be after the course is over so not to worry,. She wants us all to be successful and she will make sure we are. Especially since this is a team effort, the whole team should get the same credits. Also if we are having trouble getting email from our IA to let her know and she will make sure she takes care of it.

She clarified about the work that is turned in, just to update the work we are supposed to be doing and show the updated work on the assignment forms.
She also stressed the using the Creative Commons to ensure that we always get credit if someone uses our work. Also, don't forget the citations that are necessary for giving credit for using other people's work. 
She wants to make sure we are doing the collaboration document so that our IA and our Professor can see our collaboration with our group. My group is using google docs, which I like because we can use the google drive to pass information, photos, videos too.

Also she discussed the length of the video. She stated that she likes 90 seconds but will allow for 2 minutes. She does not want them to be too long and wants us to practice condensing them. The reason for this is for her convenience, she and the IA will have lots of videos to view. Also, to ensure that the audience keeps their interest. An audience member, especially a student does not want to sit too long to view any videos. Students must get the information quickly and be done. Plus a lot of the places that videos are uploaded only allow for very short videos.

5363 Assignment 5.9

1.    Describe how you would implement the use of a video project with other teachers in professional development or with students in a PK-12 classroom.

a.    The video my group made was a video rap on photosynthesis. I learned so much about producing this video, and I can see how much fun it could be to make other videos for students, using the students. I can see how giving the students a starting subject and seeing what they come up with could be so much fun. The iPads that the students will have include software such as iMovie and GarageBand as well onboard cameras including video cameras. Taking that software and allowing the students to come up with videos as part of their learning process would be a great learning experience for them as well as a lot of fun.  I used YouTube as a reference for a lot of my learning. YouTube is such an amazing resource to use when learning new things. I was able to use videos from YouTube to learn how to use iMovie, MovieMaker and Audacity. I love being able to watch the videos and go step by step in my learning process. I can pause the video and try it myself, or rewind the video to see it again. Having this at your fingertips allows me learn things I never knew before. As I learned to use the different software I began to realize that this was not only fun, but so useful as far as teaching processes.

2.    Reflect  and report status upon your progress with your campus-supervised Internship activities and your action research project. How many hours have you completed? What competencies and performance indicators have you covered in this campus-based activities? What have you learned? How will you use this learning in the future?

a.    IINTERNSHIP: I have completed all of my internship activities at this point. I worked very hard with my principal and mentor to get it done by the end of the school year because there was a possibility that I would be moved to another campus and we did not want me to have to do the work somewhere else, plus it would have been difficult to keep up with my mentor and she would have had trouble keeping up with my work. I have learned so much in this process. Being an administrator is so much more than anyone who has not experienced it could imagine. There are so many aspects to consider from testing to parents to ensuring that the teachers have enough professional development. It is also interesting to see how test scores affect the school as well as the district. I was not in the dark with this information, but I was not completely aware of the depth of it all. It gives me a new and better respect for people in an administrator role and will also help me understand what is expected of me in the future. I will be able to look at reports such as the AEIS in a better way, and be able to desegregate more than just my own data but the data from the school and the district. I have also completed my internship needed for my Technology hours. This was not too difficult because I worked in the computer lab and was the campus technician at the same time. The technology side of things came easily and getting the hours done was a matter of working it in my normal school day. I enjoyed doing the hours and I gained so much knowledge from looking at the different aspects of the requirements. I was able to show teachers new and exciting ways to implement the TA-TEKS as well as giving my students some newer and fresher ideas about how to use technology.

I am relieved to be finished with my internship, but I look forward to using the knowledge I have gained in my future endeavors. I am moving out of the computer lab into a classroom this next school year and I feel this will give me a better idea how to coordinate the information I learned from the Principal Competencies s well as the Technology Standards. I look forward to using them and becoming a better, more well informed educator.

3.    What parts of your action research project have you completed? What has been successful? What would you do differently? Do you need to change some of your processes or steps to complete your research? What changes will you make if any? What steps are remaining to be completed? Is your work beneficial for your campus and in what ways is your work beneficial?

a.    I have completed the first part of my Action Research project and currently I am on hold for the final part. The first part required me to gather copy count of the last six weeks for a classroom; I chose a 2^nd grade class, to compare to the copy count from a “paperless” classroom beginning in the Fall. I will probably use the second six weeks count because the first six weeks will include getting ready for the school year to begin. So for now I am on hold because we are on Summer Break.

b.    I have successfully gotten the last six-weeks copy count, a task that was easy because the teachers have their own individual accounts and they are registered on a computer in the office.

c.    If I were to do anything differently I would have done this in one school year instead of two. The reason for this is that I may not be able to use the same teacher that I chose. I wanted to obtain the copy count already so that I could begin implementing a paperless classroom as soon as possible and since we started out research in March I was able to get a quick count. Ideally I would have tried to do it in the first couple six weeks of a semester, but doing it at the end of one and the beginning of another also sounds interesting.

d.    I do not need to change any processes at this point and I can’t think of any changes I may need to make either. I am sure I will have some tweaking that needs to be done, but I am unaware of it at this point

e.    The final steps for completion are guiding the teacher to use less paper. We need to figure out what can be done in place of making copies. The teacher is going to have iPads for every student in her classroom and we need to come up with ways to use them in place of making copies. We should be able to find apps or websites that the students can access to practice spelling or math instead of doing it on paper. I have also discovered that our local library has ebooks available to the students, and many of them are AR testing books.

f.     I would say that my research is very beneficial. Since all students in the district will have either an iPad or an iPod touch, there are going to be so many ways to cut down on paper use. This benefits the school because the cost of paper is extreme. Our administrators are always telling us that the biggest expense is paper. Not only will this help our paper cost, but it will also give our copiers a break. If there are fewer copies being made then the copier will not have so much work to do. The copiers are always breaking down or needing toner. Less use could cut down on the cost of maintenance, again saving money that can be used towards the students. Also, being an example to students is something that cannot be measured, but will benefit the school, the district and in the long run the world. If students learn how to cut down on paper, why to cut down on paper and the impact it makes on the environment, they will be able to take this with them into their future and share it with others.

Works Cited

SBI. (n.d.). Video Editing Made Easy. Retrieved June 2012, from http://www.video-editing-made-easy.com/download-movie-maker.html

Siegchrist, G. (2012). Retrieved June 2012, from Learn to Edit Video With Windows Movie Maker: http://desktopvideo.about.com/od/moviemakertutorials/tp/mmtutorials.htm

tutpc. (2012). YoutTube. Retrieved June 2012, from Learn how to use Windows Movie Maker like a Pro : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiVyqQmCuw8