Things I'm Learning Today

I'm actually sitting in class now, and listening to fellow classmates present. I thought it might help me to write down what they are saying in an effort to learn something. So here's what I am learning from my classmates.

So I just learned about this cool web site called Prezi. A teacher, Angelyn, in my class has made her presentation using this software, and it's really cool. Temple, who is sitting next to me, said that there's a version made for educators. I think it's free. I'll have to check it out. Angelyn also mentioned all these cool free Web 2.0 sites for making online portfolios. She mentioned:

Glogster
wkik
wix
prezi
voicethread
wordpress
youth voices

Ashley is sitting on the other side of me. She showed me this cool web site called alien rescue. This is something I want to use for my TAG science class.

And Brett spoke about online note taking. He told us about Diigo.com. Another thing I'll have to look into. I don't think my 5th grade students will use it, but I might find it beneficial for myself.

Stephanie spoke about a program called Gaggle. It's a network which allows the teacher to control what is written and who can correspond with the students. It is not a free program except for the email function which is its primary function. The upgraded version is $5.00 a student. Besides email, the upgraded version has homework drop boxes, blogs, a calendar, SMS texting, message boards, and a social wall. Because it's web-based, it can be accessed at home and in school. The drop box feature of the homework drop boxes reduces paper used by students, papers can't be lost by teachers or students, students can't say, "My printer isn't working, or I didn't have any ink." Teachers can grade from home without taking any papers from home. The blogs are a little plain, but get the job done. I'd like a blog to b customizable because I think it helps the student feel a sense of ownership.

Texas A&M has a great vocabulary program for 5-8 science vocabulary. I need to research this because she didn't tell too much about it.

Blog Post #10

In keeping with the theme of Blog Post #9, I wanted to include a picture of the cabin we toured this summer at the lake. I tried to include this in the previous post, but I got an html error. I don't know enough about html to go in and edit the error, so I thought I would try again.

This cabin sits on 1.5 acres filled with red and white pines, birch trees and rolling terrain. If I win the lottery tomorrow, I'm buying the cabin, no plumbing and all. I have wanted to live on this lake since I was 10 years old. I'm tired of waiting.

Blog Post #9

It was rather coincidental that Yahoo posted this video on their news page yesterday, because I have been mulling over the possibility of downsizing my house to something smaller. You see, when we are in Minnesota, we live in a small, two-bedroom house that has a tiny kitchen, one bath, and one living area which also doubles as the dining room. We love it.

This year, as I was floating on a raft in the middle of the lake, I met a man who had been coming to the same lake as me since 1958. He's the first person I have ever met who had been vacationing at the lake longer than I have. I started in 1970. Turns out this man is the owner of a lovely hand scribed log cabin that's about 180 square feet, and coincidentally, he's looking for someone to buy it. He's getting ready to move to England and will no longer need it. I told him I'd be interested in looking at it, though I am on the five year plan and need to wait until all of my kids are through high school. He quickly informed me that the cabin had no plumbing and was surprised when I said, "Doesn't bother me. There's a lake to bathe in, and I love to camp."

So my husband and two of my three boys toured his little cabin and spent the ensuing evening talking about what we could and couldn't do in a place that small and would it be worth looking into leasing it next summer if it didn't sell.

So that's how the wheel in my head started turning. Then the video on Yahoo, and now I'm ready to go purchase Jay Shafer's book. Lots of people are "going green" these days, and I suppose that's a good reason for wanting to live in a place so small. For me, it's more about shedding the unnecessary material things. I think there's a lot of freedom in that. I'm tired of being bogged down by "things." I think if I lived in a place like the homes Jay Shafer builds, I would have more time to get on with living my life.

I think this guy is on to something and the world needs to pay attention to him.

Blog Post #8

Of all of the things that I have been learning about in class, I think I've enjoyed the digital photography and videos the most. I've used this trip to Minnesota to practice making videos in Movie Maker, and I've taken lots of photos. For my second video, I am creating an educational video about the flora and fauna of the woods of northern Minnesota.

I don't think one can take a bad picture with a setting as beautiful and serene as the one I'm currently in. There are numerous opportunities to photograph plants and animals in their natural settings. And with an amatuer photographer like my husband to help me understand lighting and effects, we've amassed quite a collection of photos.

What I'd really like now is a high quality video camera. My one disappointment is the zoom on the digital video camera I am using. I can't keep objects in focus when I am zooming. My kids tell me that's jut how digital zoom is, but surely, with all of the technological advances being made in the world today, there is an idiot-proof digital video camera that allows the videographer to zoom AND still be in focus, right? I have included some shots we have taken this summer.

Blog Post #7

According to Wikipedia, experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience. My son was lucky enough to be a pupil of one of the most masterful teachers I know. My son, Jeffery, spent 4 consecutive summers in Colorado experiencing the classroom of the earth. There was no set curriculum, rather, Jeffery and his two friends decided each year what they wanted to learn.

The first year they learned about shooting rubber duckies. Now how can that be educational? Think about it. The boys spent hours sitting on the front porch of the log cabin, shooting BBs at yellow, rubber duckies of all sizes that had been hung from a crossbar. The boys thought it was all great fun but they were learning at the same time. They learned about gun safety, gun cleaning, resilience (of the duckies to the BBs), physics terms like trajectory, drag, arcing, velocity, acceleration and more.

One year they shot and killed 4 beavers that were damming up a very important water way. The boys learned how to clean, skin, and tan the hides of beavers, they learned the importance of water in the high mountains in Colorado, they learned about water rights and municipalities. They learned how beavers can effect the lives of people and vice versa.

One year all of the boys were turning 15 and dying to get their learners permits to drive. That summer, they all learned how to drive a stick shift. They learned how to ride ATVs, build bridges, mend fences, build campfires, and cook food in the outdoors.

My son's senior year, this teacher took him on the trip of a lifetime. They spent 10 days in Alaska photographing Grizzly bears, fishing for salmon, and learning about glaciers. This man gave my son the precious gift of his time, knowledge and expertise, but most of all, he helped my child understand that our world has so much that it can teach us if we reach out and experience it. The mundane comes alive and truly inspires students to learn.

Blog Post #6

I would like to learn more about virtual field trips. Our school allows us to take only one, or at the most, 2 field trips a year with our 5th graders. It is the administration's opinion that we ask for far too much in the way of school supplies each year and that asking for additional field trip fees is unnecessary. I disagree. I think children benefit from experiencing firsthand the concepts that they are learning about in school. I especially like the idea of getting students out of the classroom and into the rich tapestry of our world and allowing them to experience firsthand what our world has to offer. Children can learn so much from nature.

I teach 5th grade science. We take a field trip to the Trinity River Audubon Wilderness Center. This is a fabulous learning experience that really connects with the learning strands in the 5th grade science curriculum. I feel that students get so much more from their experiences when they are able to connect with science in the real world. I'd like to learn about virtual field trips that would cost nothing, yet allow my students to experience science in a real world setting.

My favorite unit is Earth Science. This also happens to be one of the most difficult units for my students. I'd like to specifically find field trips that would help my students understand the rock cycle, the tectonic plates, and forces of nature. I cannot pack them up and head to Enchanted Rock in Llano for an overnight, but if I could find the next best thing online, I'd like to help my students experience these concepts to further their understanding.

Blog Post #5

Online or distance learning has its advantages as well as its drawbacks. One huge advantage is that it allows the learner to work when it is most convenient for him or her. For example, I would have been unable to complete any hours toward my degree this summer had it not been for the ability to do it online. Even though I am on vacation, I have time to work in the mornings on grad school, without interfering in family time or vacation time. I get to enjoy all the summer fun, while at the same time, I am earning hours toward my masters degree.

One major drawback is sort of the opposite of the advantage. Because I have no set times that I have to meet in a classroom, it's easy to let the work go for another day rather than working on it consistently. I have gone a week now without working on anything, and now find myself in a bit of a bind, wondering how I'm going to get it all completed by the deadline. One thing I know about myself, however, it that I need to be under a little bit of pressure in order to get things done. These next 10 days will be busy, pulling my hair out kind of days, but in the end it will all be worth it since I'll be 6 hours closer to graduation.

Blog Post #4

Monarch butterflies migrate from Mexico all the way to these woods in northern Minnesota and other states in search of milkweed where they lay eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae spend all of their time consuming every part of the milkweed plant until they are ready to become pupae. Once transformed into butterflies, the monarchs start their trips south for the winter.



The milkweed plant is very important to the monarch as it is the one of the only types of plants on which they feed. Sadly, farmers in the northern states have been slowly diminishing their habitat as they continue to eliminate milkweed from their fields.

Blog Post #3

The north woods of Minnesota are home to several types of birds. Bald eagles have made a significant comeback in the past decade and nest high in the pine trees here. Their nests can reach up to 12 feet across and weigh as much as a car. Bald eagles mate for life and once their nest is built, come back to the same nest year after year to raise their offspring.

Juvenile bald eagles do not look like the parent. They are a mottled brown and white and do not have the trademark white plumage in their heads until they are between one and two years of age. In this picture (top right), you can see a pair of juvenile birds that are trying out their wings and practicing the movements of flight. Sometimes when there is more than one bird in the nest, the stronger of the two will push the other one out of the nest at a very young age. This particular nest traditionally has two eaglets, and we have yet to observe one pushing the other out of the nest. This pair of bald eagles have been nesting here for about 4 years.

photos courtesy of Jeff Stager

The Classroom of the Future

In some ways, the classroom of the future can be scary to contemplate. While online learning and distance learning would be beneficial, I worry about the lack of actual human interaction. When I asked my 13 year-old son what he thought the classroom of the future would be like, his response was that students would be taught by robots, or online teachers, in the comfort of their own homes, isolated from one another. I hope this is not the case. Students learn from one another and benefit from working together on problems. My vision of the classroom of the future will still maintain the traditional school building where students congregate to learn each day. Human beings are social animals and living in isolation- even if connected by the Web- would be a detriment. We need to view technology as a tool, not a replacement for people.

I see the future of learning as a daily multimedia event where students come to school to work with one another to discover the world using technology tools. The teacher acts more as a facilitator, presenting real world problems to the kids that the students must solve by working together. Constructivist learning will be more prevalent as students work together to build understanding. With technology shrinking the world, I see more interaction on a world-wide basis which promotes the need for students to understand one another. I see an emphasis on learning about different cultures, races, and religions so that students from different parts of the world can learn to work with one another. Students will be able to "attend" classes in other parts of the world and collaborate with students in other parts of the world. I see technology as a supplement to help students learn through use of hypermedia but not as a replacement for daily human interaction.

Student Learning

Our district collects data in a few different ways. To begin with, in 5th grade stduents take a CoGAT test which basically measures IQ. We use this test as a reference when determining placement for students in special education programs and talented and gifted (TAG) programs. Additionally, all students in the district take the state-mandated TAKS tests in Reading, Math, and Science. Teachers review TAKS scores of stduents from previous years in an effort to anticiapte any learning problems, or any need for tutorials for specific students. Occasionally these may also help make decisions when place students in special ed or TAG classes. A third way our district collects data is through MAP testing, which is a self-regulated test that assesses the current level of student knowledge in math, reading, and science. The program helps teachers to differentiate lessons for students so that all students are learning at the appropriate levels. This program is relatively new, and there is some work to be done to create differentiated lesson plans, but the hope is that our district will be able to show individual students growth in low-performing through high-performing students.

Creating Videos

This was INCREDIBLY frustrating for me. I LOVED making the video. The boys and I had a great time. What I didn't anticipate was the spotty Internet service, and the inability to upload my video to my blog. Now we are in a real city and I am able to upload it.

I've learned a lot from this experience despite my frustration. One thing I've learned is that it takes a lot of time to up load a video. I understand the reason now of the importance of band with and quick up loading and down loading. As I was trying to upload my vidoe, I canceled the up load several times because I thought it wasn't working, when in fact it was just up loading so slowly, I didn't know it.

The second thing I learned is how much FUN it is to make a video. I used Windows Movie Maker and it was very easy to figure out how to put all the components together. I found the program very easy to use. I had used it in the past, but I never added music AND narration to a video. With a few random clicks, I was able to figure out how to lengthen and shorten the clips, mute the narration which eliminated the noise from the camera, and by mistake, I learned how to have both the original sound tack with music in the background. Adding the subtitles was very easy to do also.

The next thing I would like to try is combining both still pictures and video into a movie. I can see several ways to use this in the classroom by either making my own movies, or having the students make movies that illustrate concepts we are learning in class.

I hope you enjoy my video. Click on the link below to see a piece of my summer road trip!

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mgzjmctqk4y

Blog Post #1- Church and Technology

Someone sent me an email with some funny cartoons, and this was part of the email. I thought I'd post this as it relates to technology. I thought it was funny. I do not know the original source for the picture.

Podcast with Graphics

After a recent trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, I made this podcast about the Ironman Triathlon. I could not figure out how to edit the sound quality, so that is something I still need to learn, but I thought I did pretty well with the narration and timing of the graphics.

School or District Improvements

Blog: School or District Improvements

Our district in currently seeking to improve the ability to show growth in high-achieving students. When students are performing at a low level and intervention occurs, it is much easier to see growth and progress in their achievements than it is if the students are already high performing. Since the new trend may well be to reward districts based on individual student growth, this has moved from the back burner to the front burner.

One way they are attempting to show individual growth over the school year is through the use of MAP testing. The test is administered in the beginning of the year and then again at the end of the year, and scores are compared. The test is a computerized, self-adjusting test, meaning that as the number of correct answers a student gets, the harder and higher level the questions become. Subsequently, if the student begins answering incorrectly, the questions become easier. This way, a 6th grader who may be reading at an 8th grade level, is still challenged and assessed at the level that is currently appropriate for that particular student.

One of the strengths of MAP testing is that it helps educators understand exactly where their students are performing on an individual basis and can aid in tiering lessons to be sure that instruction is optimal for all of the students. Lessons can be differentiated easily into at least three tiers using this system. The current problem for our district is that our students are already performing at a very high level and capping out the ability of the test to assess their level of understanding. In other words, a majority of our students are already in the highest tier, so showing growth will still be a challenge.

Future assessment will need to show growth in each individual student. Our district focuses a lot on technology so I can see the feasibility of using e-portfolios in the future. I chose to take these technology classes because of this focus on technology. I need to be able to keep up with the advances in technology use in education and right now I am seriously behind. Our chapter readings have gotten me very excited to start implementing some of these ideas in my own classroom. I'd like to see how the use of techniques like PBL, blogging and e-portfolios can help my students achieve their potential and to become lifelong learners as well.

Managing Assessments

One thing that my school introduced this year was the use of a program called Aware. This is an online file cabinet where I can add notes on classroom behavior, test scores, look up previous tests scores (TAKS), or enter information about tutorials. All of the administrators are able to log on and view any information anyone has entered on a particular student or group of students.

We have an online grade book that we use as well. I appreciate the ease of calculating grades, entering assignments, and the ability the parents have to access the grades online. This saves a lot of time that could be spent emailing or phoning parents regarding grades. I can email specific parents in blind copy emails all at the same time. For example, I will send an email to all parents on the day a project is assigned that includes due dates for specific parts of the project. This eliminates the "I didn't know there was a project due" syndrome. Another frequent use of the email function is notifying parents that their student may have performed unsatisfactorily on a test. I can write one email that is sent to all of those parents which saves me a lot of time.

One drawback of the online grade book is that parents often do not read the key at the bottom of the pager which tells them what specific markers are. For example, if a box is blank, it means the assignment has been assigned, but not graded. Many parents think this means that the assignment wasn't turned in even though the key clearly says that a missing assignment is marked with an "m."

One other drawback is that there is no place to write original comments. There is a list of standard comments, but often I want to say more to my parents and the grade book has no option for that.

Blog Post #2- Blackberry Picking

I want to practice adding pictures and videos to my blog, so this is just a practice run to see if I can add a picture and video that I took last week when I went blackberry picking with some friends.

Audio File

This was one of the most frustrating assignments I have done. It took me several hours to figure out how to open this file in Audacity. As it is, I didn't edit it at all as I thought it sounded fine. Now I am attempting to link the audio file to my blog. So wish me luck.




So here, I've created a video that incorporates the audio clip, because I couldn't figure out any other way to link it to my blog. I have a lot to learn.

Audio and Animation

I am getting ready to try my hand at the audio. The animation took some time for me to do, but I think that's because I wanted to try something new. I still haven't perfected my animation to exactly how I want it, but I have used PowerPoint a number of times and feel like I have a good handle on that aspect of the assignment.

The next part will be more of a challenge. I've added music before, but I'd like to narrate my animation. I do not have a microphone, so I am going to record my voice using my iPhone, and them email the recording to myself. (to be completely honest, that was my son's suggestion) Hopefully this will work. I think it would be helpful to make these short animations to explain what is happening in some of the cycles I have to teach. I usually draw each cycle as I explain it, but if I could have the cycles already drawn and animated, it might be less distracting for the students rather than waiting for me to draw something first and then explain. I can see how this would keep my kids more focused.

District Data Strategies

I tend to compartmentalize my duties as a teacher and district security is not one duty I spend my time thinking about because we have two technology gurus in the building who are in charge of things like this. Each teacher has his/her own computer in the classroom and can save things to the C drive of their particular computers, though the district would prefer that we save things to the H drive on the main district server as it is more secure. The only way to access the H drive is to provide a specific user name and password to get into the system. If there are items on the C drive, anyone can access them by using that specific computer and therefore it's not as secure.

All students and teachers have their own user names and passwords to log into district computers. In the past, the students were assigned student IDs to use as their passwords, however for the first time this year, students have the ability to change their passwords. This is a good thing from a security standpoint, but I find that each time students change their passwords, they forget to write down the new password, and then can't remember how to log in when the time comes.

We are increasingly going paperless at our school and storing more documents on the computer or specific web sites to which our district subscribes. This is helpful because I am able to access student records without having to remember where I put a particular folder. It will always be in the same place.

Our district is moving away from using the social security number as identification and has given each teacher an employee number. I think this is a good thing and will help avoid identity theft.

Teachers have specific drives that have been set aside for different purposes. We have drives for video storage, flip chart storage and personal storage.

My main challenge is remembering all of the different passwords for all of the different web sites and subscriptions. Many of these are assigned by the administrators, and teachers do not get to choose their passwords. This avoids anyone from guessing what the passwords can be, but can be hard to remember all of the different codes. I have a password protected application on my iPhone that I have recently started storing all of my different passwords, but it would be great to only have to keep up with one.

Each teacher has a web page that is accessible to anyone who wants to view it. I post student pictures and student work on my web page, so I must be very careful to remove names from work and word captions carefully. My district in is the process of password protecting all of the web pages, so this is something that I soon won't have to worry about as much.

In the past year, we have had students hack into our system twice, so I know the district is carefully revamping our security protocols. While we want to be on the cutting edge of technology and offer our students access to all the Internet has to offer, at the same time, they are working to keep student records safe and private documents private. We have a Deep Nine subscription that blocks questionable sites from being accessed at school.

Many of the problems I see happening is due to Operator Ignorance. You hear all the time, do not open an email if you're not sure whom it is from, and yet we still have teachers that fall for it all the time. We had three viruses attack the system this year because teachers did not heed the aforementioned warning. Sometimes I get frustrated by the lack of common sense in some teachers. I don't feel I know enough about data management to really make feasible recommendations. I leave that to the experts and do what I'm told.

If you're still reading this, good for you. If you're not, I don't blame you!

Lesson Accelerators

As with all technology, there is the good, the bad and the ugly, and today I feel the UGLY! I am so frustrated. I joined Atomic Learning, and I have tried all sorts of different ways to access the material I'm supposed to be reviewing/learning for my two technology classes this summer, however, either the links aren't working, or I'm denied access to the material. For example, I clicked on the link to show me the list of all the lesson accelerators found on Atomic Learning, and lo and behold, the link is no good. Got an error message.

I moved onto Module 3 and accessed the tutorials for Searching the Web. Sad thing, I could only watch the first two tutorials. All others have denied access. I need more than a "try and see if you like Atomic Learning" subscription, since my subscription doesn't appear to allow me access to the very material I am supposed to be learning. Is anyone else experiencing this frustration?

The Beef on Assessments

My school uses a variety of standardized testing. In the first week of school, student take the CoGAT test which is similar to an IQ test. We have recently implemented MAP testing. This test is taken at the very beginning of the school year and then again at the end. Fifth graders take MAP tests in Math, Reading and Science. This test is helpful in measuring individual growth of students. And finally, we have the TAKS test administered like everyone else.

I teach only science to 5th graders. In the late fall, the students take a science benchmark test which is the most recent released TAKS test.This is the only benchmark we give in science, though I am under the impression that every subject area has a benchmark test.

Currently our school does not use portfolios. I could easily implement this in my classroom though, since I do not let the students throw anything away. At the end of each unit, I have the students clean out their folders. We make folders out of manila paper, and I keep these stored all year until open house. At open house, the parents have at lease 4 units of work that they can look through to see what we have been doing in science.

Project-based learning is beginning to happen more each year in the science department. One of the most favorite activities we do in my class is during our unit on electricity. The students demonstrate their knowledge of circuits, batteries, and wires by building houses and wiring them with lights and switches. This project takes about three weeks to complete. A few days before winter break we set up all of the houses in the hall, make street signs and have a complete town. Then we send out invitations to parents to come to our "Parade of Homes." Some children do commercial places like stores and movie theaters while others make residential homes.

Part of the reason I am taking this class is to learn how to use technology to assess. I occasionally use activotes but I use these more for review than to actually assess their learning. I look forward to learning different ways I can assess students using technology.

Our school subscribes to learning.com and this is the only curriculum I know if that our school has to teach students about technology. The administrators broke down all of the learning strands and assigned them to the different core classes. I found that this year, no one on my team directly taught any of the kids their assigned technology strands. I plan to implement this in my lessons in the upcoming year since my team is reluctant to embrace technology. At 45, I am the youngest on my team and the most willing to try new things.

A personal goal I have is to rewrite the major unit tests that my department gives. When I started teaching here 4 years ago, I was handed the curriculum, and being the new kid on the block, I questioned nothing and did what I was told. Each year my department does a fabulous job of tweaking the curriculum to dispose of ineffective lessons and adding new lessons and ideas, but we've never changed the tests. As the years have passed, and as I have learned more through my masters program, I can better understand just how poorly these tests are written.
I'd like to recreate these tests and add more performance assessments to the curriculum.

A second goal is to see my school make better use of the MAP testing that we spend so much time on. The program can only be effective if we utilize the information we obtain from it. I'd like to have more time to review the results, see where my students are, and create differentiated lesson plans for my students so that I can be a more effective teacher.

My third goal is to learn more about how I can integrate technology into my classroom on a more consistent basis and to learn how to use technology for assessment. I love using technology, but I do not have a creative bone in my body when it comes to integrating into my lessons and assessments.

Welcome to Summer School!!

You've probably stumbled across this blog because you're involved in the MTT program at SMU! I hope you enjoy it. More later...