Digital Story Reflection

     I used Windows Photo Story 3 to create my digital story.  It was my first time to use this type of software; I really liked using it, especially considering it's free.  I found it to be very user friendly and I think middle school and high school students would be able to easily use it in the classroom to create their own videos.  Creating videos would be a way to motivate students and also incorporate technology into the curriculum.  After using Windows Photo Story 3, I prefer it over PowerPoint and other video softwares I have used. 

Draft Action Research Progress Report

Analysis of SMART Board Use to Increase Student Motivation and Learning

     The need for improved instruction was based on the TAKS results for my campus from the 2009-2010 school year. The TAKS scores were especially low in Science with only 57% of African Americans and 58% of Hispanics passing the test. Also, the females scored 13% lower than the males in Science that year. Through my project, I hope to find methods of SMART Board use that will improve my test scores and then I can pass these methods onto other teachers on my campus. The vision for my plan is that SMART Board use in my classroom will result in increased student motivation and improved student learning. This will be measured by comparing state test results to the same students’ results from the previous year and by comparing the state test results for these students with other districts that have similar demographics. I hope to not only improve my own practices and improve my students’ test scores, but also to be able to share my results with other teachers on campus so they can improve their teaching as well. I read articles from SMART technologies as well as blogs and articles written by teachers to learn the best practices for using the SMART Board. I found games, lessons, and websites that other teachers said worked well in their classrooms. I communicated my vision by word of mouth and my action research blog to staff, parents, students, and community members.
     My strategy for organizing the implementation of the project involved making a timeline to ensure that I would best use my time to end the action research project at the end of the 2011-2012 school year. I allotted myself time to review the literature, find online resources, prepare SMART lessons, implement the lessons in my classroom, evaluate the results, and share the results with others. My school had already purchased all of the materials I would need before the action research project began. The materials that were already available are a SMART Board, lap top, projector, and internet access. To prepare for this project, I attended training about using SMART Boards in the classroom at the Region 12 Educational Service Center in the summer of 2011. At this workshop, I was able to gather ideas from other teachers. I have also found helpful resources and lessons on teachers’ blogs and on Smart Exchange. Student safety is taken into account by teaching my students proper Internet and computer usage and through the filter on the school’s Internet network. Student learning is the main emphasis and priority of my project. I made decisions and set priorities based on the goal of increasing student motivation and improving student learning. I used the TAKS data to see which objectives the students most needed improvement, which was objective 4 (measurement). The only conflict I have had is that the state test will be changing from TAKS to STAAR, which will make it harder to analyze the results from test scores. To resolve this conflict, I will base most of my evaluation on how my students performed compared to other schools the same year (as opposed to how my students did the previous year when they took a different test). I will also use other forms of data collection including observation, student participation grades, student work, classroom tests, benchmark tests, students surveys, and my own reflections.
     My action research project will focus on all students including those with learning disabilities and students who have alternative styles of learning by using several types of learning methods. I will use the SMART Board for guided practice, intervention, games, and review. My project addresses the specific need on my campus of teachers learning how to best use their new SMART Boards, because I will share my findings with other teachers. My project also addresses the need of improved instruction to improve my campus’ results on the state test.

Agreed Upon Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goals: ·       To analyze how SMART Boards can be used to increase student motivation in a 6th grade math classroom. ·       To analyze how SMART Boards can be used to improve student learning in a 6th grade math classroom. Outcomes: ·       To improve my own teaching. ·       To improve student motivation and learning. ·       To share successful strategies with other teachers.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
I will read articles and teacher blogs about using SMART Boards in the classroom.	myself	April 2011-June 2011	Articles about SMART Boards, internet, SMART Board websites and blogs	I will identify strategies and activities that were successful in other classrooms and evaluate which ones I think might be successful with my students, teachers at my school, and the school resources.
Based on what I read, I will create SMART Board lessons and games and find resources in SMART Exchange and online to use in my classroom.	myself	June 2011-August 2011, I will also continue this activity throughout the research plan	Internet, SMART notebook, SMART Board websites and blogs	The lessons, games, and resources will be evaluated after I have used them in my classroom.
I will teach the 6th grade math TEKS using self –created SMART Board lessons and lessons from SMART Exchange.	Donnie Osborn, principal/ site mentor	August 2011-May 2012	SMART Board, SMART Notebook software, wireless internet, projector, computer, classroom of students	Observation/field notes, student participation grades, student work, classroom tests, benchmark tests, TAKS scores, teacher reflections,  student survey
I will review the 6th grade math TEKS using self-created SMART Board games and games from SMART Exchange.	Donnie Osborn, principal/ site mentor	August 2011-May 2012	SMART Board, SMART Notebook software, wireless internet, projector, computer, classroom of students	Observation/field notes, student participation grades, student work, classroom tests, benchmark tests, TAKS scores, teacher reflections,  student survey
I will use the SMART Board and SMART tools to teach and review the 6th grade math TEKS using internet resources such as online math dictionaries, online math games, and other math websites.	Donnie Osborn, principal/ site mentor	August 2011-May 2012	SMART Board, SMART Notebook software, wireless internet, projector, computer, classroom of students	Observation/field notes, student participation grades, student work, classroom tests, benchmark tests, TAKS scores, teacher reflections,  student survey
I will use observations, reflections, a student survey, and informal and formal assessments to make conclusions on how SMART Boards can be used to increase student motivation and improve student learning.	myself	May 2012	DMAC solutions (program to analyze student scores and data), Skyward (grade book program), student surveys, items that I have gathered throughout the year: student work, observations, reflections	Observation/field notes, student participation grades, student work, classroom tests, benchmark tests, TAKS scores, teacher reflections,  student survey
I will share my findings and conclusions as well as SMART Board websites and resources on the technology integration wiki that I am creating for my campus.	Donnie Osborn, principal/ site supervisor	May 2012-June 2012	Internet, campus wiki, SMART Board blogs and websites	Wiki comments, reflections, and observations from campus teachers who have implemented my findings and strategies or used the recommended SMART Board resources

This is my action research plan agreed upon by my site mentor/ campus principal.  Please leave any comments, advice, or suggestions.

Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goals: ·       To analyze how SMART Boards can be used to increase student motivation in a 6th grade math classroom. ·       To analyze how SMART Boards can be used to improve student learning in a 6th grade math classroom. Outcomes: ·       To improve my own teaching. ·       To improve student motivation and learning. ·       To share successful strategies with other teachers.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
I will read articles and teacher blogs about using SMART Boards in the classroom.	myself	April 2011-June 2011	Articles about SMART Boards, internet, SMART Board websites and blogs	I will identify strategies and activities that were successful in other classrooms and evaluate which ones I think might be successful with my students, teachers at my school, and the school resources.
Based on what I read, I will create SMART Board lessons and games and find resources in SMART Exchange and online to use in my classroom.	myself	June 2011-August 2011, I will also continue this activity throughout the research plan	Internet, SMART notebook, SMART Board websites and blogs	The lessons, games, and resources will be evaluated after I have used them in my classroom.
I will teach the 6th grade math TEKS using self –created SMART Board lessons and lessons from SMART Exchange.	Donnie Osborn, principal/ site mentor	August 2011-May 2012	SMART Board, SMART Notebook software, wireless internet, projector, computer, classroom of students	Observation/field notes, student participation grades, student work, classroom tests, benchmark tests, TAKS scores, teacher reflections,  student survey
I will review the 6th grade math TEKS using self-created SMART Board games and games from SMART Exchange.	Donnie Osborn, principal/ site mentor	August 2011-May 2012	SMART Board, SMART Notebook software, wireless internet, projector, computer, classroom of students	Observation/field notes, student participation grades, student work, classroom tests, benchmark tests, TAKS scores, teacher reflections,  student survey
I will use the SMART Board and SMART tools to teach and review the 6th grade math TEKS using internet resources such as online math dictionaries, online math games, and other math websites.	Donnie Osborn, principal/ site mentor	August 2011-May 2012	SMART Board, SMART Notebook software, wireless internet, projector, computer, classroom of students	Observation/field notes, student participation grades, student work, classroom tests, benchmark tests, TAKS scores, teacher reflections,  student survey
I will use observations, reflections, a student survey, and informal and formal assessments to make conclusions on how SMART Boards can be used to increase student motivation and improve student learning.	myself	May 2012	DMAC solutions (program to analyze student scores and data), Skyward (grade book program), student surveys, items that I have gathered throughout the year: student work, observations, reflections	Observation/field notes, student participation grades, student work, classroom tests, benchmark tests, TAKS scores, teacher reflections,  student survey
I will share my findings and conclusions as well as SMART Board websites and resources on the technology integration wiki that I am creating for my campus.	Donnie Osborn, principal/ site supervisor	May 2012-June 2012	Internet, campus wiki, SMART Board blogs and websites	Wiki comments, reflections, and observations from campus teachers who have implemented my findings and strategies or used the recommended SMART Board resources

EDLD 5301 Week 2

I am beginning to see that action research can be used in any area of schools, including staff development, student learning, behavior issues, and everything in between.  The method and the degree of formality of action research will be different for different types of concerns.  With each course activity, I am seeing the differences between action research and traditional research.  Most professionals in education naturally engage in reflection and observation.  Performing action research allows this to be done systematically so concerns and problems can be addressed most successfully or even prevented.  I am excited to perform my action research on how SMART Boards can be used in the classroom to increase student motivation and maximize student learning.  In the video this week, Dr. Lewis emphasized the importance of action research being practical and important to the researcher.  Because this topic meets both of those criteria for me, I am even more certain that this is the topic I want to research.

Week 1: A Description of Action Research

                Action research is not what I expected it to be.  As a psychology major in college, the only research I learned about and participated in had experimental and control groups and involved complex statistics.  Action research, however, is based on inquiry and reflection.  Rather than an outsider attempting to perform experiments that apply to all school districts, action research is personal and applies to a specific situation.  It is a method of problem-solving and a form of professional development for educators and administrators.  It should be a continuous process for every educator and is necessary for growth and improvement.  To perform action research, one must pose questions or concerns about a particular aspect of their school, read the literature to see what is already known about this topic, formulate a strategy for improving or solving the problem, implement the strategies, and perform assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies.  Action research is beneficial because it allows educators to become proactive problem-solvers.

                After learning what action research actually is, I realize that I was already engaging in action research to some degree.  However, I feel that if I begin to intentionally and systematically perform action research in my classroom, I will greater experience its’ benefits.  I feel that I should be reflecting on and analyzing every lesson, assignment, and assessment in my classroom.  This will result in improvement of my future lessons, assignments, and assessments and will also give me feedback on how to approach the same material the next year.  As an educational technology student and a teacher that uses technology daily, I can also use action research to evaluate the use of technology in my classroom and to maximize my students’ learning through technology.

                Educational leaders can use blogs as a journal for reflections.  Reflective blogs can be incorporated into action research and used as a source of data collection.  Also, when one posts their reflections on a blog, their reflections can be shared with other educational leaders who can learn from those reflections.  Others can also comment on your reflections, allowing insights that the blogger might not have thought of before.

Course Reflections

For this course, I had envisioned gaining an overview of how to integrate technology into the classroom and an overview of the internship plan.  Through this course, I read advice and strategies on integrating technology written in journal articles and I reviewed the Texas STAR charts, the E-rate plan, and the technology TEKS for students in kindergarten through 8^th grade.  I used many web tools for the first time such as blogs, wikis, and wordle.  I believe the only way to learn how to use these tools is to start using them and learn as you go.  Also, once I used these tools, I began to see all the possibilities they create for education.  I created an internship plan that I am excited to begin working on.  I don’t believe I would have been able to create all of the activities for the plan if I had not received the basics of technology integration in the first four weeks of the course.

I already find the information and skills I received from this course relevant to my job and I’m sure I will find more and more uses for them in the upcoming year.  First, I can use much of what I learned in my own classroom.  I gained many ideas and strategies for integrating technology to teach my students 21^st century skills and also to maximize their learning of the subject area.  Also, I feel that I can use the information and skills I received from this course to help my fellow teachers.  I can inform them of information or ideas that I have seen or read about that I find will suit their teaching style and subject area.  Examples of areas I feel I can assist my fellow teachers are creating classroom blogs and wikis, finding online resources to enhance their lessons, and strategies on classroom management and safety when using technology.

I believe that I achieved all the outcomes I had envisioned for this course.  I did not expect to learn about topics in depth, I expected to learn a little about each topic and then cover these topics in depth in future courses.  I believe I was successful in carrying out the course assignments.  In the beginning, I had to relearn how to use APA style for referencing and learned the importance of including references in assignments.

From this course, I learned that I would like to work as a technology facilitator in a school.  I love to use technology in the classroom and see great benefits from it.  I believe this program will allow me to improve upon my own integration of technology and will allow me to share this information with other teachers.  While I do not like to be a leader in the sense that I am in charge of adults like a principal, I do believe that I possess the leadership skills to be responsible for technology integration in my school.  I also learned that while my attitudes about technology are much different than many of my colleagues, I agreed with a lot of the experts in the field from the articles we read.  Finally, I learned that I do not know near as much about technology as I thought I did.  When I started the program, I knew a lot about the technologies that we have access to in my school, but I know very little about technologies that we do not currently have access to.  If I want to be a technology leader, I must learn how to use these technologies and tools so that I can bring them into my district and show others how to use them.