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."

Part A - Brainstorm

Because of time and familiarity, my group chose to use Skype.  During the session we decided that we would look for applications to improve our different areas of teaching.  For instance, I will be looking up applications to enhance the science curriculum; someone else will focus on English, another math and social studies.  Currently, we are in the process of discussing how we are going to put our project together.  Our first thought was Google docs but because there is nowhere to include audio, we are looking at PowerPoint or Keynote.  We are however using Google docs to setup a timeline and as a discussion forum.  This helps for us to leave messages without having to meet every time.  As of right now we are in the process of researching and plan on meeting on Tuesday.

By using Skype, we did not have to worry about learning how to use it before we all met.  It gave us more time to focus on our project.  I also thought the setup of seeing everyone's face was nice because I felt like they were sitting on the couch with me.  It helped to create a more comfortable feeling which was nice because it was the first time I had met any of them face to face.  I would however like to use another web-conferencing tool next time.

There were a few disadvantages to using Skype.  The first was that we were trying to look at our screens to see the assignment and talk at the same time.  It would have been nice to have one person share their screen and then we could have all discussed what we needed to do.  I would have also liked for someone to be the leader and create polls so we could make quicker decisions.  Most decisions were made after someone made a comment and we all said, "Sure that will work."  By having a poll, I felt like we could have voted anonymously to make a more sound decision.   Overall, I did like Skype for the first meeting because it was more about brainstorming but I feel we will need something more formal next time.

WPP Part B

1. What is the TP knowledge for the solution?  (i.e., how does the technology you have chosen support the teaching strategies and methods you have chosen?)

I know that feedback if done right can be essential to students’ progress. I have experienced this in my class first hand when going over the homework from the night before.  By doing this, most students get a better understanding of what it is I want them to know.  Classmarker.com allows for students to get the information of what they missed while it is still fresh in their head. Studies show that students retain information better when they are excited and I believe that we are most excited right before the quiz is handed out and when we hand the quiz back in. Because their adrenaline is still running from them completing the quiz, students are more likely to remember the feedback given to them.  Another essential to feedback is making it relevant.  With Classmarker.com, I can post answers with explanation of why the correct answer is the best choice.  It also allows for me to answer any clarifying questions that may still arise.  Lastly, it is essential that I get feedback so I know what it is I need to change or re-teach.  By using this program, I can quickly see the data of questions missed and overall scores.  This allows for me to make modifications in my teaching to better reach my students which hopefully will raise their scores.  

2. What is the TC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically does this technology make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible?  Be sure to think about representation.)

I want for my students to do better on their quizzes and unit test.  With Classmarker.com my students will have access to technology that can help them do this.  Students will not only get feedback on their answers, but they will be able to see their progress from quiz to quiz, which will give them a better understanding why their grade it what it is. Students can also see what quizzes they did poorly on and know what part of the unit they need to study the most.  Parents are also a factor in a child’s education and they too can have access to the quizzes and their child’s scores.  By posting a parent quiz that can be done multiple times, parents can experience the quiz and then take the opportunity to review the answers with their child.   Because there are other teachers who help students with special needs, it is crucial that they have access to the quiz.  Their access can help to determine what supports are needed to help out the child.  Overall, using this program will allow for multiple stakeholders to have access to the assessments so more supports can be put into place which will result in better assessment scores.  

3. What is the PC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically do your pedagogical choices make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible? Be sure to think about how the student will experience the content given these instructional strategies.

Because I feel that I am missing a crucial part of my teaching by not providing adequate feedback in a timely manner, students' assessment scores are not a high as they could be.  By incorporating an online test that provides quick and essential feedback, I am able to embed a crucial element of a good teaching practices. My students will have access to information that is directed directly at them so it becomes important.  By it being directed at them, they do not have to wait to get the information for the questions they missed. They also have the ability to retake quizzes so they can reassess to see if they have mastered a concept the second time before moving onto the unit test.  Having this access to feedback can provide better one on one help because this time is spent directly on the parts of the concept they missed and not the entire concept.  Each child will receive feedback because each child will take the quiz, how they use the feedback to improve their score is up to them but the possibilities are endless.

Web-Conferencing

As I looked through the different video conferencing, I found Vyew to be interesting and would like to try this with my next group discussion.  We used Skype with our last video conferencing but we are planning on trying something new next time.  I have however used Adobe outside of class and enjoyed it.  Instead of having all the middle school science department chairs meet at one building each month, we are web-conferencing.  So far it has been great because I can login at school or at home.  We do surveys about how the new curriculum is going or if there is a need for something.  The one thing I would change is that I would like to have more people use a camera so we can see each other.  As a new person to this group it is nice to get to know people's faces.  Adobe was also going to be my web-conferencing tools of choice for a guest speaker from the National Institute of Health, but something happen and he was called to take a trip out of the country.   I do plan to use Adobe for my next guest speaker because it opens up the possibilities of who can come into your room. 

WPP Part A

1. My problem is that my test scores are in the middle of all the middle schools in the district and I want to improve them. I want to address the issue of not having enough time to provide students with the proper feedback on test and quizzes because I believe this will help with the fix the problem.  The curriculum has one day throughout each quarter for makeup day but the curriculum does not include review days or days for assessments.

2.  My plan is to find a program that will allow my students to take an assessment and at the end of the assessment they can see what questions they missed.  Along with this, I would also like the ability to give students feedback.  For instance, any questions they missed not only had the correct answer but it would also explain why answer is correct. My backup plan would be to create a recording that goes over the quiz.  This would happen if the program did not work or if it cost too much money.  I have never heard of someone doing anything to solve this problem, I just know that they either sacrifice time in another lesson or they just decide to not go over the test like I do.  

3.  The plan is to implement this with my eighth graders.  Right now they are taking a course for high school credit and they have to be prepared for the final exam.  Without us going over the quiz together, the students will not know why they missed what they which could cause them to fail the final.  My experimental group would be about sixty students in an earth, space systems class.  To start this off, I would like to implement a few small quizzes, have them retake them and then move onto bigger quizzes and possibly the unit test. 

4a. According to Tom Woisly's article, How Do Teachers Provide Feedback, the best time to provide feedback is when a student is engaged in a task.  This means that I will need a website that can provide immediate feed to the students when the test is over.  The article also goes on to say that all students need feedback, not the ones who are struggling.  This should not be problem, because all students will take the quizzes so everyone should get the feedback they need.  According to Fred Jones, teachers should praise, prompt and leave when giving feedback.  I will have make sure that I somehow I see their scores, praise them, find out what they need help with and then leave so I may have this interaction with other students.  In order to do this I will need a program that will have some type of message at the end to tell them how they did on their assessment.  Most articles talked about feedback as a way to tell students what they need to improve upon.  With this being said, I will need a program that does not just give the correct answers but will also allow for students to see the areas they are a missing.  After looking at what feedback is, I know that I am going to have to have a program that provide feedback that is quick, meaningful, positive, and for all students.  

4b. As I searched for a program that would offer everything I needed to provide my students with appropriate feedback, I stumbled upon http://www.classmarker.com/.  It is a free website that allows for you to create multiple types of quizzes.  Teachers can put in feedback at the end that can tell students the correct answers or they can place a little explanation of why each answer is correct.  There is a section to create a class and import the class roster so that each child has their own password which allows for them to take their own test and see their results along with the results from previous quizzes.  Quizzes can have time limits and limits for the amount of times a student make take the quiz.  At the end there is a place to put a comment if a student gets a certain score or higher and one that may explain to the child the need to retake the quiz.  Even though it is free, a person may upgrade for a $25 fee.  Another website that is also available is Google forms which can provide a lot the same resources but it was not as user friendly. 

When I Google searched classmarker.com, it was one of the first few websites that came up but now when I go back, I am having a difficultly finding it.  Many of the websites want to provide me with different assessment tools or ideas, not a program that can give quick feedback after a quiz.  After many Google searches I found that the best way to find programs is to type in “test and quiz makers.”  

5.  In order to test to see if this works with my students, I am going to give a quiz on different types of rocks and see what their scores are.  I am then going to ask that they redo the quiz a few days later to see if their score increase.  My goal is to have everyone pass the test with a 60% or higher which can be a challenge for some of my lower level students.  The ultimate test will come when they take their unit.  If I get a passing rate of 70% of my students, then I will know that this is something that worked.  

 Try it out 

http://www.classmarker.com/