Web Conferences

When I was first introduced to web conferences I was not sure if I would like them or not. After participating in a few of them I am starting to see the advantages of using web conferencing. As with any technology there can be little glitches in the system and a few minor issues can pop up at times, but they can be very beneficial and convenient. Take an online class for example. All of the assignments and information is sent using Blackboard or another type of software. There is no interaction with the professors or TA’s except through email. For some this can take some getting used to. Having a web conference can help with this transition and also help the class feel more personal. If students have questions, it can be easier to clear these up through a web conference rather than use email. A web conference is almost the same as sitting in the same room with another person. Dialogue can continue in a timely matter until all parties are satisfied with what is taking place. If using email, this same process may take hours or days before items are settled. So in my opinion let’s keep having them!

Photostory for EDLD 5363

Action Plan Part Two

Action Planning Template
Goal: To determine if the computer program Study Island is an effective tool for preparing students for the science TAKS test.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Discuss topic and strategies with site mentor	Myself and site supervisor.	March 7-11, 2011	Laptop	Interview
Gather data from Study Island web site, SHS school site.	Myself	March 21-April 22. Data will be gathered from January 2011-April 22, 2011	Computer and access to web site.	Objective scores from each high school student.
Gather data from student science TAKS scores.	Myself and campus TAKS coordinator.	End of May? This depends on when scores are returned to us. End July 2011	Computer and TAKS scores	Student objective scores from science TAKS test.
Compare objective scores from science TAKS test to objective scores off of Study Island objective scores.	Myself	June 2011-July 2011	Computer	Test scores

Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: To determine if the computer program Study Island is an effective tool for preparing students for the science TAKS test.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Discuss topic and strategies with site mentor	Myself and site supervisor.	March 7-11, 2011	Laptop	Interview
Gather data from Study Island web site, SHS school site.	Myself	March 21-April 22. Data will be gathered from January 2011-April 22, 2011	Computer and access to web site.	Objective scores from each high school student.
Gather data from student science TAKS scores.	Myself and campus TAKS coordinator.	End of May? This depends on when scores are returned to us. End July 2011	Computer and TAKS scores	Student objective scores from science TAKS test.
Compare objective scores from science TAKS test to objective scores off of Study Island objective scores.	Myself	June 2011-July 2011	Computer	Test scores

EDLD 5301 Week Two

This week I learned how important it is to make time during the week for reflection and to research ideas or thoughts. Schools are entering a time period when there is a lot of student data available for teachers use. As a teacher I need to know how to access this data and how to apply it to teaching my students. There is also a wealth of information out on the internet over issues and problems that I may be having in my classroom. Chances are if I am having problems in a specific area another teacher has also. It can be a big time saver by doing a little research to see if another professional has come up with a solution to the problem. There is no point in re-inventing the wheel if someone has already found a solution that may work.

Action Research

Working in a school setting, teachers and administrators make multiple decisions in a day and are faced with many problems. In reality they do not have time to sit down and research every issue that comes up to find an acceptable solution.  This is where action research comes into play. Action research is a way to make organized evaluations of how an individual (or group) is doing.  What professionals should do regularly if not daily is to sit back and reflect on the work and decisions that they are making. Reflection is a key part of action research. My current superintendent always encourages us to take time to think about our students and how we can improve instruction for them. It is standard for all of the teachers and myself to go through regular professional development to learn new skills and techniques. But you have to ask yourself after each session, will this work with my students? It is easy to put a blanket approach to teaching but teaching this way does not work in reality. A teacher has to know what kinds of students they have in their classroom and what their needs are. Once this is accomplished the teacher can then take the skills that they learned, modify them if necessary and then apply them to their classroom. This is what action research is all about. Take information from the outside, but then add in your own information that you have gained through experience or other ideas from the members of your campus. Use all of this information to make the best choices possible for the particular situation that you are in. Maybe you have already acted and the outcome was not quite what you expected. Again, by reflecting and adding in research the outcome can be changed or next time you will be better prepared to handle the problem.

There are many ways in which educational leaders can use blogs. A principal could post a blog each week on ideas or thoughts that would be good for the campus to think about.  A science leader could post lab or demonstration ideas for science teachers to do in the classroom. English teachers can let students post journal entries on blog sites instead of writing them out in journals. Of course this would have to be monitored closely. There are many useful ways in which blogs can be used to share thoughts and ideas throughout a school system.

Course Reflections

Coming into this class I wasn’t sure what to expect. It had been a while since I have been in college and was a little apprehensive about starting up again. I knew the class would be introducing us to the technology that is available to schools, so I was excited about learning new techniques and ideas. Now that I am wrapping this class up I can honestly say I have learned a lot. I had heard about the wikis and blogs but I probably would not have gone out and made them on my own.  I learned more about the administrative side of technology issues than I was expecting. I knew about the technology TEKS and ethical issues but I understand them a lot better now than I did before the class. Overall I have to say I learned a lot more out of this class than what I originally thought.

One of the things that I liked about this class is that everything I learned I can use in my job. To be honest I was getting to a point where I was questioning if I wanted to stay in the classroom or move onto something else. After this first class it has given me a spark to want to stay in the classroom and keep teaching. I have learned a lot of new techniques that I think will be very useful in the classroom and help the students along the way. Not everything I learned will be going straight to the students but some of the information learned in this class will help with moving my students and school in the right direction as far as technology is concerned.  Our campus has just started a technology committee and all of the material we covered in this class is relevant to what we will be discussing.

The biggest complaint I have about the class is that everything is rushed. This isn’t anyone’s fault, it’s just the way it is. Trying to teach and take care of a couple of organizations outside of school, it can get to where I am just trying to get the work done on time. I would like to have more time to practice using the new tools and techniques I have learned to make sure that I master them and I don’t just forget them in a few weeks. I don’t believe this will happen, but in an ideal setting a person would have more time. Again, this is my own fault for being so busy.  I do believe that by doing the internship and other classes coming up that all of these new tools will be put to good use.

Overall, I have been happy with the outcome of this first course. I have learned a lot and haven’t lost the rest of my hair yet. It was a challenge getting back into the swing of things since it has been a good eleven years since I have been in school on the student side.  The first couple of weeks were stressful in starting a new schedule and adding on to the to do list, but by the third week I started to settle down a bit. Seeing that my grades where okay helped a lot too. It would get frusterating at times because I was using newer software and  I was having to learn the changes with it while trying to get the assignments done. I would have got some of them finished a lot sooner had  I been using the older version. Again, it’s all just a learning curve.  I survived and am ready for the next class, although I am looking forward to the break in between the classes.

I learned a lot from this class. It was hard taking the first step in starting this program because I wasn’t sure if I had enough time to fit everything in. It is hard at times but I have learned that it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. There are a lot of new ideas and techniques that I have learned that will be very helpful in my classroom. Hopefully, these ideas will help my students succeed along the way too. At times teachers can get very frustrated with the technology department at our school. Some of the things I learned helped me see things from a different perspective and I am more understanding about some issues. There are still areas that need to improve and hopefully I can use the ideas that I learned from this class to help things out at my campus.