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http://delicious.com/cnmann15
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Reflection #5 How Multimedia Tools Support 21st Century Learning
I could not believe how much fun I had using animoto in class last week. These and some of the other sites like the comic strip making site really blew me away as I started thinking of how I could incorporate these forms of media into my classroom and curriculum. Every book I teach in 10th grade English could have assignments similar to the one we had last week connected to them.
For example, I just finished teaching Catcher in the Rye to my honors students. How awesome an assignment would it be to have students write an alternate ending to the story, or add another chapter to the ending (which is left wide open with the main character in a mental hospital where we have no idea what happens to him down the road) using of of the comic strip websites or a photostory where they design and narrate their own work. It would get students excited about learning, and can clearly demonstrate their knowledge of author style, events, and characters.
This could apply to many classes outside of English. Students could use similar tools like the comic or photo story or animoto to create a world or town from a certain time period with particular important historical figures for a history class. This would still require students to design places and people accordingly, and it is a great way to broaden the way we assess students. Some are so much more motivated and able to demonstrate their knowledge through hands on creating type activities, versus rote memorization and writing. I think the more we can integrate and develop assessments and assignments around these type of media creation tools, the more excitement and productivity we will see from students of all ages. The assignments can still test the same knowledge and abilities, and students will enjoy being able to design a product or save an online activity they they created themselves and can display and use for as long as they want.
For example, I just finished teaching Catcher in the Rye to my honors students. How awesome an assignment would it be to have students write an alternate ending to the story, or add another chapter to the ending (which is left wide open with the main character in a mental hospital where we have no idea what happens to him down the road) using of of the comic strip websites or a photostory where they design and narrate their own work. It would get students excited about learning, and can clearly demonstrate their knowledge of author style, events, and characters.
This could apply to many classes outside of English. Students could use similar tools like the comic or photo story or animoto to create a world or town from a certain time period with particular important historical figures for a history class. This would still require students to design places and people accordingly, and it is a great way to broaden the way we assess students. Some are so much more motivated and able to demonstrate their knowledge through hands on creating type activities, versus rote memorization and writing. I think the more we can integrate and develop assessments and assignments around these type of media creation tools, the more excitement and productivity we will see from students of all ages. The assignments can still test the same knowledge and abilities, and students will enjoy being able to design a product or save an online activity they they created themselves and can display and use for as long as they want.
Reflection # 4 Tools for an Effective Website
An effective website requires several key elements. An important part is the overall organization of the site. Can I see the name of the school clearly when I first get to the website? Can I find important phone numbers and addresses all in one place? Is there a clear section for like items? These are all things that must be considered when designing a website.
I also believe it is extremely important to include pictures of current events going in the school. At Clarksburg, for example, since out marching band had a huge trip to perform in China back in the beginning of the school year, updates and announcements about the trip as well as pictures were available before, during, and after this event. It really helped students, staff, and parents stay connected as well as proud of all the positive things that appear to be going on at the school.
Important documents should be available for parents, basic information about the school, a calendar, a newsletter online, and links to other important MCPS website are all crucial parts of designing and maintaining a helpful and competent website. I think it would be a bit harder to incorporate a link to teachers' classes from the main website since at my school there would be hundreds of pages to link, but there is a link to EDLINE, which all students and parents have their own individual login to. They cna access individual teachers' class sites from that one universal link right on the home page of the school.
I think I am going to use the googlesites tool to build my website. I really like the way my school has their site set up already, so I plan to incorporate many similar elements. The school name, contact info, vision and mission, basic history, student pictures, calendar, e-newsletter, and links to other websites and important documents are all things I plan to include in my website.
I also believe it is extremely important to include pictures of current events going in the school. At Clarksburg, for example, since out marching band had a huge trip to perform in China back in the beginning of the school year, updates and announcements about the trip as well as pictures were available before, during, and after this event. It really helped students, staff, and parents stay connected as well as proud of all the positive things that appear to be going on at the school.
Important documents should be available for parents, basic information about the school, a calendar, a newsletter online, and links to other important MCPS website are all crucial parts of designing and maintaining a helpful and competent website. I think it would be a bit harder to incorporate a link to teachers' classes from the main website since at my school there would be hundreds of pages to link, but there is a link to EDLINE, which all students and parents have their own individual login to. They cna access individual teachers' class sites from that one universal link right on the home page of the school.
I think I am going to use the googlesites tool to build my website. I really like the way my school has their site set up already, so I plan to incorporate many similar elements. The school name, contact info, vision and mission, basic history, student pictures, calendar, e-newsletter, and links to other websites and important documents are all things I plan to include in my website.
Reflection #3 Presentation Tools
One of the biggest presentation tools that a good administrator should use is Power Point. This is a tool that is extremely diverse because it allows you to present all types of media within it. You can show simple text, pictures, videos embedded, graphs, animations, etc.
At our staff meetings at Clarksburg, the most widely used and most effective way administrators get important information out to the masses is to show Power Points. These allow them to show school data in the form of graphs, to show us pictures of anything we need to see and know, and all the important text with dates and numbers and procedures can be seen as well. This supports many of the Maryland Technology Standards for School Administrators.
It supports Standard One by allowing all staff and students to actively see our school's vision of integrated technology in each Power Point presentation. We are also able to more effectively view and breakdown our school data and the components of the School Improvement Plan by breaking down each graph and each piece of data in the Power Point form. All shareholders are able to see and easily understand exactly where we need to improve and the exact steps we need to take to get there. Power Point is also an easy presentation tool to print out in outline or slide form on paper, as well as make available on the internet or e-mail out as an attachment.
Power Point usage also lines up with Standard # 3. Administrators are able to display all gathered information and data in an effective manner that makes taking necessary steps for school improvement more manageable and understandable. This presentation tool helps enhance and simplify the process of communicating and using data driven instruction to staff and anyone else.
Standard #4 comes into play here as well. Administrators who effectively use Power Point are by definition demonstrating their ability to model the routine, purposeful, and effective use of technology. Power Point can also be used to effectively share information about upcoming technologies and how to use them.
At our staff meetings at Clarksburg, the most widely used and most effective way administrators get important information out to the masses is to show Power Points. These allow them to show school data in the form of graphs, to show us pictures of anything we need to see and know, and all the important text with dates and numbers and procedures can be seen as well. This supports many of the Maryland Technology Standards for School Administrators.
It supports Standard One by allowing all staff and students to actively see our school's vision of integrated technology in each Power Point presentation. We are also able to more effectively view and breakdown our school data and the components of the School Improvement Plan by breaking down each graph and each piece of data in the Power Point form. All shareholders are able to see and easily understand exactly where we need to improve and the exact steps we need to take to get there. Power Point is also an easy presentation tool to print out in outline or slide form on paper, as well as make available on the internet or e-mail out as an attachment.
Power Point usage also lines up with Standard # 3. Administrators are able to display all gathered information and data in an effective manner that makes taking necessary steps for school improvement more manageable and understandable. This presentation tool helps enhance and simplify the process of communicating and using data driven instruction to staff and anyone else.
Standard #4 comes into play here as well. Administrators who effectively use Power Point are by definition demonstrating their ability to model the routine, purposeful, and effective use of technology. Power Point can also be used to effectively share information about upcoming technologies and how to use them.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Data Driven Instruction-Reflection #2
Data Driven Instruction is a key aspect of my school's vision and mission. Our mission is to provide a quality evolving education that ensures success for every student through teaching and learning, and our vision is for community members to receive a rigorous education in an environment that expects scholarship, promotes leadership, and fosters respectful global relationships. That being said, data driven instruction is a necessary tool we must use to gain feedback on how where we are in accomplishing our mission and seeing our vision.
We cannot know or measure the success of our students if we do not have data taken at key points throughout every year. Having certain scores from tests, broken down into subgroups and compared to other years, other tests, and other schools, lets us know where our strengths and weaknesses are. We can see what sorts of tests our students struggle on as a whole, or which subgroups have certain weaknesses and strengths. Without certain data, we would stay stagnant in our teaching styles and strategies. Data driven instruction is the best way to constantly receive feedback about our student success, and make changes accordingly to help our students be more successful.
For example, at Clarksburg, we have a goal for SAT Participation and for SAT Score. This past school year, we were able to meet our goal for participation. But we fell short of our goal for the score. Without data from previous years, there would be no way to know that we had a weakness in this area, and no way to monitor our progress. We were also able to get data from schools similar to ours to compare and see how we measure up. It lets us know that schools with our similar make-up are doing better and ARE meeting these goals, so we need to keep striving and asking questions of other schools to get where we need to be.
Certain tools that my school uses are EXCEL, for showing comparisons and finding percentages of students who pass or fail tests. We also use Survey Monkey to get feedback on our school climate from staff, parents and students. In my own classroom, I personally like to use the Promethean Board Activotes when going over certain assessments. It lets me know right away which objectives my classes are mastering, and which ones need to be retaught. I definitely thin this is a tool that is not utilized enough at my school. Many teachers have not taken the time to explore or learn about the Activotes, and I believe they are missing out on a feedback that is key at the classroom level.
These are the Data Collection tools that I am the most familiar with, and the ones that I have seen most at my school. These are used pretty effectively by administration to see where we are and where we need to go, but at the classroom level I think we need to strive to get more data and feedback about each of our students.
We cannot know or measure the success of our students if we do not have data taken at key points throughout every year. Having certain scores from tests, broken down into subgroups and compared to other years, other tests, and other schools, lets us know where our strengths and weaknesses are. We can see what sorts of tests our students struggle on as a whole, or which subgroups have certain weaknesses and strengths. Without certain data, we would stay stagnant in our teaching styles and strategies. Data driven instruction is the best way to constantly receive feedback about our student success, and make changes accordingly to help our students be more successful.
For example, at Clarksburg, we have a goal for SAT Participation and for SAT Score. This past school year, we were able to meet our goal for participation. But we fell short of our goal for the score. Without data from previous years, there would be no way to know that we had a weakness in this area, and no way to monitor our progress. We were also able to get data from schools similar to ours to compare and see how we measure up. It lets us know that schools with our similar make-up are doing better and ARE meeting these goals, so we need to keep striving and asking questions of other schools to get where we need to be.
Certain tools that my school uses are EXCEL, for showing comparisons and finding percentages of students who pass or fail tests. We also use Survey Monkey to get feedback on our school climate from staff, parents and students. In my own classroom, I personally like to use the Promethean Board Activotes when going over certain assessments. It lets me know right away which objectives my classes are mastering, and which ones need to be retaught. I definitely thin this is a tool that is not utilized enough at my school. Many teachers have not taken the time to explore or learn about the Activotes, and I believe they are missing out on a feedback that is key at the classroom level.
These are the Data Collection tools that I am the most familiar with, and the ones that I have seen most at my school. These are used pretty effectively by administration to see where we are and where we need to go, but at the classroom level I think we need to strive to get more data and feedback about each of our students.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Visionary Leader/Administrator Reflection
In today's constantly changing and upgrading school world, a visionary leader is someone who takes a sincere interest and active role in the ways technologies are being used.
Visionary leaders know that technology improves student achievement and understand that being technology savvy is what helps students compete outside in the real world. They also firmly believe that when technology is incorporated into curriculum and instruction, students are not only preparing themselves for the outside world, but they also have a greater desire to come to and stay in school.
Along with believing in students and their ability/need to have technology skills, visionary leaders believe in having and honing those skills THEMSELVES. They understand how important it is for school staff members to be properly trained and up to date on the latest technologies so they can be ready for the next level in education and in relating to their students technologically. In order to continue being up to date with technology and using it in the classroom, visionary leaders often find the challenges of funding, implementing, and maintaining new technology to be their primary concerns at their schools. By having these concerns above others, they are paving the way for the shift towards a more student driven learning style, a vision that many normal administrators are reluctant to face.
Visionary leaders also understand what comes with the desire to implement new technology. They know that the putting the technology in place by itself is not enough. They are aware that it takes the a shared vision, planning, funding, skilled personnel, professional development, support, a shift to student centered learning and more engaging lessons. And they are making these components a priority to attend to in their schools.
Visionary leaders lastly have to be extremely open. Technology is exciting and wonderful, but it also has its setbacks and risks, especially when new and untested. These leaders must encourage their teachers to try new things and take risks in the classroom. They must be ready to collaborate and ask for help when a technology system has a problem. They must be willing and ready to tread new waters with confidence, and also have a back up plan if things backfire. They also need to be great communicators, ready to hear and respond to all different opinions and ideas about what will and will not work technologically in a school from the stance of staff, students, parents, and the community.
Visionary leaders are at the next level. It is a level we all hope to be at.
Visionary leaders know that technology improves student achievement and understand that being technology savvy is what helps students compete outside in the real world. They also firmly believe that when technology is incorporated into curriculum and instruction, students are not only preparing themselves for the outside world, but they also have a greater desire to come to and stay in school.
Along with believing in students and their ability/need to have technology skills, visionary leaders believe in having and honing those skills THEMSELVES. They understand how important it is for school staff members to be properly trained and up to date on the latest technologies so they can be ready for the next level in education and in relating to their students technologically. In order to continue being up to date with technology and using it in the classroom, visionary leaders often find the challenges of funding, implementing, and maintaining new technology to be their primary concerns at their schools. By having these concerns above others, they are paving the way for the shift towards a more student driven learning style, a vision that many normal administrators are reluctant to face.
Visionary leaders also understand what comes with the desire to implement new technology. They know that the putting the technology in place by itself is not enough. They are aware that it takes the a shared vision, planning, funding, skilled personnel, professional development, support, a shift to student centered learning and more engaging lessons. And they are making these components a priority to attend to in their schools.
Visionary leaders lastly have to be extremely open. Technology is exciting and wonderful, but it also has its setbacks and risks, especially when new and untested. These leaders must encourage their teachers to try new things and take risks in the classroom. They must be ready to collaborate and ask for help when a technology system has a problem. They must be willing and ready to tread new waters with confidence, and also have a back up plan if things backfire. They also need to be great communicators, ready to hear and respond to all different opinions and ideas about what will and will not work technologically in a school from the stance of staff, students, parents, and the community.
Visionary leaders are at the next level. It is a level we all hope to be at.
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