WPP Final

Problem:  Students' unit test scores are not at a level that is acceptable 

Solution:  Provide students with instant and constant feedback

TP:  Re-teach and reinforce past objectives

TC: Allow more stakeholders to have access so students can be better supported

PC: Students have access to constant and immediate feedback


http://screencast.com/t/2Ms5CSC7

Professional Learning Plan

Group Leadership Project

1. What tool did your group use to deliver the PD tutorial?  Why?

My group decided to use PowerPoint because we were all familiar with the program and most of us had it on our computers. We at first thought about using Google Docs but because we could not get the sound to work as easily as we wanted, we went back to PowerPoint.  After we submitted our part of the presentation to Michelle, she put it together with Camtasia.    

2. What did you learn during the development process of the final product?

The first thing I learned when doing this project was PowerPoint has a tool where you can record your presentation while adding audio.  I was able to see my notes as I clicked from one slide to the next.  I was even able to pause it so I could gather my thoughts and look at the next slide. Using the storyline and script taught me how valuable these two procedures could be when putting together a group project. This may seem obvious but I do not think I have ever done this before. Many times with a group project, we put it together first, then disassemble it and reconstruct it over again.  A lot of times this means redoing the entire project.  The last thing I learned was, you can do a group conference with skype.  It was very helpful to be able to talk our way through this project.  Overall, the way we went about putting together this project was a learning experience because it allowed for me to develop ideas for my own classroom.

3. What would you do differently if you had to develop a similar product again?

The first step I would have taken to change how we did this project would be to change the program we used to conference.  Skype was very helpful but we could only see each other’s faces and not each other’s screen.  I would have liked to have to put the rubric up when we first started brainstorming; this would have helped to keep everyone on the same topic of discussion. Another idea for change would be to have one person narrate the entire presentation.  This to me would have made if flow a little better.  A final modification I would have made, would be the program we used. We ended up using PowerPoint because three out of the four of us had it but because one person did not, they only had to research the topic and put together a rough draft.  My feeling is that there are many programs out there that would have allowed for us to share the workload more evenly.  While minor, these are a few changes I feel could have made the product better.    

WPP Part D

•   Did the project get implemented as planned?

So far everything is going as planned. All but two students were able to take the quiz online.  Entering all the students’ names was simple and took about fifteen to twenty minutes.  Creating the quiz took no longer than any other quiz has before.  I was also provided with the data needed to assess my students.   One of the ideas for this plan was to have students understand the reason behind them missing the questions they did.  As I walked around I asked each student if they understood why some of their answers were wrong and if they could get them correct next time.  Every student said yes and some were even anxious to explain their thought process for answering the way they did.  The data will not be complete until they take their unit test in the next couple of weeks but so far everything has been implemented as planned. 

•   Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice

Because the students are on spring break, I will not know if they are getting higher scores on their retake quizzes until they get back.  I only had one student who retook her quiz before break and her score went from a 6/12 to 10/12.  She did not study before like I would have wanted her to, but she was so confident that she knew why she missed what she did and she claimed she would get an A. I was quite impressed with how much she improved.  This is a girl who fails all of her test and quizzes.  Even though this is only a small sample of my student population, it is a silver lining to solving the problem of students improving their assessment scores.  I also shared this with my administration and they are asking that I share this program with other colleagues.  

•   How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?

I would research and try a few different programs before I chose one.  I feel that I got lucky and found a program that met most of my needs.  By looking at multiple programs, I feel like I could get a better understanding of what it is that I really want and what it is that I could really get from a program.  Next time I go to do this, I would like to start it in the beginning of the year so modifications can be made through out the year. 

•   What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?

The first suggestion is to do thorough research for a program that can meet the most needs of the students in order to solve the problem.  I got lucky and found a program that did more than I had planned which helped when implementing the project.  Another suggestion is to constantly try new things and assess how well it works.  I created a few quizzes that my wife and I took so I could find as many glitches as possible before I actually created one for my students.  The last suggestion is to be patient.  I would have not gotten the results I did had I not taken my time to look at everything the program had to offer.  Using these three areas will help to determine whether a program will solve the problem. 

·      In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?

This project has taught me that if I want to improve something in education, there is probably a solution out there that I need to find.  I think that a lot of times we accept that a problem occurs within our curriculum but we never try to solve it.  Doing this project gave me a new philosophy on solving these problems.  I plan on doing similar projects because I have seen the success it has had on my students already.  The only area I would change is that I would do more research to make sure I have the best program possible.  As for changes, I am not sure I will change anything for next time.  I am extremely happy with my results and as of right now it looks like my test scores are going to improve.  Out of all the projects I have done throughout this program, this is the one that has inspired me the most to improve the quality of education for my students.  

Mobile Lab

1. When I was looking at all the great mobile tools I could use in my classroom, my brain was spinning with ideas.  The first was the texting polls.  I thought this could be used for activators and summarizers.  I am currently using journals, which works alright but now I have the problem of students losing them or stealing them.  Another tool came from the classroom discussion board, the text fee.  The person had used the Ipad text free service to text the students who owed money for books that had not been returned. I thought about doing this as a friendly reminder with students who currently have a science book checked out.   Since I now know how to use podcasting, I am thinking about setting up stations around the room where students can listen to different concepts explained.  I of course would need them to be downloaded the day before or have laptop setup.  The last tool that I investigated was the flip camera.  We have about eight at our school that never get used.  I want create some type of documentation of erosion and weathering on school grounds.  I even thought that I could incorporate the few GPS systems we have by having the students give their filming location.  These are just some of the tools that I could implement into my classroom right away but there are many others that I want to look at over the summer. 

2.  I believe the one big problem with mobile devices is the limited supply.  Because the mobile integration should be interactive, students will need to be grouped so they can all participate.   Another problem that comes along with limited supply is the limit amount of money we have to buy these tools. Currently our budget is now frozen until the end of the year but I plan on adding some of these tools to the science budget next year.  Using cells phones for voting would be great but we have a no cell phone rule in our school.  I am not sure how or if I want to try to get around this problem.  I am already fighting the battle of students texting while I am teaching and we know that students cannot multitask.  

Link to the web 2.0 cell phone and screen shot

http://www.classroom20.com/group/CellPhonesinEducation

Link to Polls Everywhere and a screen shot 

Currently my students are on spring break so this data is incomplete.  I tried to post it to our website but I did not get students to answer the way I was expecting.  

http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/LTU5MjM5NzIyOA/table

Part B - Storyboard and Script

Here is a link to the storyboard and script.

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWCYZrNJnvoWZGhuYnh3NGhfMWhyeHdyamhn&hl=en&authkey=CJCX8KEH

Each one of my slides has my name posted to it, along with a step-by-step process for what will happen in each slide. (This is located in the note section.)  My part of the presentation is on how to evaluate applications for the I-pad.  I have broken down the evaluation process into three different areas, ratings, consumers’ reviews and experts’ reviews.  For the final product, Josh and I are going to add audio to our PowerPoint slides, which are already created.  We will then send them to Michelle who will put them together for the final presentation.  I also believe that because McKenzie does not have PowerPoint, she is going to create her slides in Google Presentation and Michelle will finalize them. 

WPP Part C

WPP Part C Podcast or

Podcast with Video

My project was to create an online quiz with classmarker.com.  The goal of using this site was to give feedback to my students as soon as they took the quiz.   

•   Surprises

When I first started I was a little concerned with how well this was going to go and wondered if it would not be easier to use Google forms.  What surprised me was how easy it was to create a class and assign a test to them.  I also was surprised at the amount of information that was provided back in such little time.  I actually got more feedback than I think the students did.  Overall, I cannot explain how surprised I am that this one website could forever change how I assess my students.

•   Unexpected bumps in the road (What you would revise)

The one big glitch with using this site is that I still cannot figure out how to add pictures from my files.  The only way of adding pictures is by finding a web address and entering it in. Another problem I have is with a fill in the blank question.  Some students came up with answers that were correct but were marked wrong because it was not an option.  The only way I can get around the picture problem is to start posting pictures on yahoo Picasso or other photo sharing websites.  As for my solution for the fill in the blank problem, I will have to go back and change the scores of some students but I also am adding their answers as an option for the next class.

•   Delights (What went well)

Overall, everything went great.  Compared to other quiz scores, these scores were much higher which was an unexpected surprise. Another positive was that all my students were in favor of taking a quiz like this next time.  Because students are able to take it online, I have given them the option to take it over spring break, which frees up some of my time that I would have spent reassessing.  I am extremely happy with how everything went and I am looking forward to using classmaker.com again.  

Here are some screen shots from classmarker.com

Here is a picture of my classes who I registered.

These are the results from some of my students.  

Here is the question that some students got wrong because I did not add an "s" to "rock."