Final Blog

This class has been very informative. I completed two action research projects, one on creating a successful classroom management plan and the other on student engagement with interactive whiteboards.

The support I received from my peers was outstanding. I enjoyed reading other's work and giving them support, by emailing and adding comments to their projects. I found editing my peers work helped me with creating my own write up. I enjoyed having critical friends in this class.

I have finished looking over my work, reviewing, analyzing and reviewing more. I am extremely pleased at the result and look forward to sharing my information and knowledge with other colleagues.

I have to say, while this has been an incredible journey, everything that you could possibly imagine has gone wrong while writing and finishing this project. It all started with losing a bunch of data on my computer, but thankfully I had kept a log on google drive, which saved from many hours of work being lost. Then it was almost at the end of finalizing my paper, making corrections and finishing the last touches, when my HD disk was full and I wasn't able to save any of my work. I had to copy all of the information I had onto a google drive document, I tried saving it to a jump drive, but that wouldn't work either. I watched tutorial videos on how to make more space on the HD... it suggested to go to the activity monitor and delete the trash and download bin. I did that, nothing changed, closed out other programs, still nothing changed. I clicked on another program and saw "force quit" well I clicked on this button and shut down my whole computer. Thankfully, google drive saves automatically. I didn't lose anything, but did have to copy and paste to get my paper back to where it was before the shutdown. When the computer shutdown, it made more room on the HD. So I was finally able to save my project to the HD and a jump drive, you can never be too safe.

Then I went to the final touches and presented my information through screen-cast-o-matic. This was great, I explained my reasoning for the project, my findings and results. I encoded and uploaded it to youtube. Before I ever turn in something, I always review many times. I clicked on the link to the video and it came up "private" oh brother. I tried to change the settings, but once screen-cast-omatic uploads it is final. So I had to encode and upload again. It has been a long journey and quite stressful and chaotic, but I am very pleased with the results.

I enjoyed the two research classes I took. I have changed my classroom plan and set up during this action research. That is what action research is about.

Thank you for the strength building journey and I hope you enjoy my two wonderful research action projects.

Below are my two action research projects

Final Research Paper for ED 626 and 636

Final Research Paper for ED 626

Final Research Paper ED 636


Student Engagement with Interactive Whiteboards Presentation

Reflection and Data Collection Week 7

This week I collaborated with my colleagues and peers through the weekly twitter feeds.  I received information on other tools to use in my classroom and I explained how Promethean boards and certain tools could be used in my colleagues’ classrooms. One of my colleagues said it was amazing how the online module helped their students stay engaged, rather than discussing as a class. I tried a couple of the ones I received. I found that using the interactive whiteboard as a screen to view something, keeps students engaged. This helps with reading as a whole class. Students are able to see the correct page number and follow along together. If they lose the page number, they can glance at the Promethean board and view the area the class is reading at. I also tried some new math game sites on the Promethean board. My students and I can play these games in teams and as a whole class. When my students go to the computer lab, they are able to play the same games individually.

Data Collection – Week 3, responses from survey (http://surveymonkey.com.) 

Do you use your Promethean Board in the classroom? If no, why not?

1.     Almost everyday. It has been extremely helpful during math this year. I also use it a great deal during WTL to get different lessons from Promethium Planet.

2.     No Promethean board in my Gym.

3.     Yes, everyday.

4.     Yes.

5.     No in a gym setting

6.     No, I do not have one in my room.

7.     Yes, but I am not in my classroom very often.

8.     I do. For signing-in in the morning, using the document camera for Read-Alouds, completing worksheets together as a class, teaching and reviewing math concepts.

What types of technology do you use to keep your students engaged?

(8 responses)

1.     I use the Promethium Board and computers. Students are able to go online to several reading and math sights. We also go to the computer lab once a week. I also use the doc camera which is very helpful for visual students.

2.     No computers in the gym.

3.     Promethean interactive lessons computers in the classroom to do word processing projects keynote presentations google apps educational websites to do at school and home digital cameras to use in projects.

4.     I make flipcharts and download flipcharts from promethean planet and Discovery Education videos. Go Math! videos, flipcharts, and math models. Document camera.

5.     As little as possible, we want these students moving . Not sitting behind a screen or on a ipad.

6.     Websites, movie clips, interactive quizzes, and powerpoint presentations. I also use document cameras when I have access to one.

7.     We only have computers and the Promethean Board.

8.     Promethean board, document camera, music.

When you are using your promethean board, what percentage of the time are your students engaged?

5 responded 75-100% on task

Why are students off task when the Promethean Board is being used?

1.    They all get to participate in one way or another so it really keeps their attention.

2.    When there is technical errors with the board or computer, too small of images on the screen (GoMath), and distracted by the fact that the board is in the back of the room right by the door.

3.    Not enough opportunities to participate and be actively engaged since only one or two people have the pen.

4.    If there are technical problems.

5.    Too excited about activity and they loose focus of the lesson at hand, or when the lesson is not interactive enough and they are just sitting and looking at a the screen.

From this data collection this week, I had eight respond to my survey. Most of the teachers use their Promethean board in the classroom. I didn’t get any responses on classroom management skills being used with technology. I was surprised to hear this. A lot of the responses I received were from rhythm claps, counting down, turning the lights off, positive behavior rewards and table points. The response of why students are of task has to do with the program not working correctly. When I have my students sign in on the Promethean Board in the morning, sometimes it will automatically shut off. This tends to start off tasks behaviors. Some of my students have figured out how to turn the flip chart back on. This week I tried playing an instructional song without giving direction before hand. My students were off task and needed a brain break. I turned the song on and watched my students’ response. 20 out of 23 students stood up and started to follow instructions from the song. Three students needed to be redirected. I didn’t sing the song out loud, like I usually do. 21 students out of 23 followed the instruction. Two students had to come and stand by me while I did the movements to the song. I found this management tool very effective. I let the song give the instructions to my students without explaining the instructions.

During our Math lesson on the Promethean board I had 10 students off task and 13 paying attention. When I asked the 10 students why they weren’t listening in an exit slip, they replied bored, too difficult, hard to see the board and wanted to play with the Promethean board. I have found when I have my students use the Promethean board during a lesson, they all want a chance to write on the board. It is difficult to have one board in the room. It would be nice to have Ipads for each student and be able to access the sites that I show them on the Promethean board.

Data Collection Week 6

This week our twitter session was very informative. I collaborated with some peers and helped define deadline dates and certain locations for resources. The school week with my students was very short. Our district had Parent Teacher Conferences two days and my students were at school for only half days. We had two full days during the week and no school on Friday. I was able to collect some data on the first two days and the conference days, not very well. My students were full of energy and excited to go home. My students were in my classroom from 9:00 - 12:30 without any breaks. They didn't get their pull out or have recess. Data these days, were not of the norm. Analyzing the data from the past few weeks, I have started to notice that my students are engaged when they are up out of their seats and moving. All of the brain break songs for this week, were songs with instructions in them. Tooty Ta, gives rhythm, beats and instructions for the students to follow along with. I played the Casper Line Dance and the Cupid Shuffle. The Casper Line Dance all students were engaged and completed the instructions. With the Cupid Shuffle, I had six students off task and not following directions. I had a conversation with these six students after an exit ticket. The conclusion was, the song was too repetitive and it got boring for the students. With the Casper Line Dance, the students didn't know what was coming next, so they were all engaged and waiting for the next instruction. It also had them clap to a beat, count and learn new dance moves. During lunch this week, my students were in the classroom. I had the lights on and let them eat with their friends. This didn't work. I found free animated books online. I played the book on my interactive whiteboard and turned the classroom lights off. Immediately my students were engaged in the book, the noise level had dropped and all of my students were in a seat eating. The animated book, played as a movie. The characters moved on the screen and a narrator told the story. The stories were aligned with Social Emotional Learning. I wasn't sure if my students' were going to like the books, but they all did. When the story was over, every single one of my students asked to play another one. The stories are quite short. They only last for ten minutes. The students liked these stories so much, that when one finished a student got out of their seat and clicked on a new story.  I have found my students are responding and engaged when they are up and moving and watching an online story. I read a story to my students and found half of my students were not engaged. When I played the same story online, through wegivebooks.org every student was engaged and listening to the book. The survey I sent to my colleagues has a few responses, I'm hoping with a full week and conferences complete the survey will receive more responses. At this time, I don't think I have enough data to analyze from my survey. I will continue to explore new songs with instructions and fine different ways to keep my students engaged using our interactive whiteboard.

Week 5 - Reflection

This week was an interesting week to collect data. At first our power went out from a windstorm for 30 minutes. The activity I had planned on completing with the interactive whiteboard was changed to using a whiteboard and individual whiteboards at student’s seats. Engagement was at fifty percent, with the lights flickering on and off.  Then due to it raining sideways, we had students indoors for recess. The afternoon was full of energetic students. For management I turned on music, but that didn’t work to get the students attention. Instead I put on my teacher hat and made a decision to do sprints outside. After coming inside, my students finally started to calm down and get to work.

            What I have noticed from this week is during brain breaks, playing songs for students has worked well. I received a long list of other songs from a SEACCR peer. I’m very grateful to receive this list. I will try these songs in the next couple of weeks.

I played the cupid shuffle and all of my students were moving in the classroom. When my students sat down to start work after the song, they were engaged. While my student’s worked, I played music.  The exit slips explained twenty-one students were not distracted from the music, but two of them were. I had a discussion with the two students that put distracted on their slips. The reasoning was, it was too noisy; they were not able to work with music. They would start singing the song and lose their focus on what they were supposed to do. I asked the students if I were to play classical music (music without words) would it be better. Their response was “yes, I can do that.” I have found that if I knew the song that was being played, I was distracted. While walking around I really had to listen to the students question. I would find myself singing the song in my brain. I think the change to classical music will work for everyone. I cannot write or read when there is music playing in the background.

            The end of the quarter is this Friday. Grades are due on Monday and we have a Professional Development Day on Friday. The survey I created for colleagues has not been completed. I expect the survey to be completed by next week.

            This week I have rearranged a lot of my students’ desks. I made sure every student was able to see the interactive whiteboard. Before, I had students move to the back table.  I realized after this week our back table would not work every time during an interactive whiteboard.

            From another exit slip my students informed me that they enjoy the interactive whiteboard lessons better when they are whole group interactions. I have noticed my students are engaged during whole group interactions as well. I’m interested to see what next week’s data collection will show.

            

Week 4 - Rationale, Methodology and Experience

This week was very confusing and extremely difficult. The webinar on Tuesday helped explain the process and outline of the proposal. It would be nice to have the webinars explain the requirements for the next couple of weeks.  It’s stressful and overwhelming when we’re only given a few days to complete the assignment.  When I read the information and requirements for week 4, I was a little confused on how to set up a research question. I read through the resources that were given, but I was guessing when creating my rational for the proposal. It wasn’t until after the webinar on Tuesday that I finally figured out how to design my proposal. The twitter session helped a lot on Thursday too. I noticed a lot of my colleagues were a bit confused. I’m glad we have the twitter sessions. I finished writing my proposals and sent it to two colleagues to review in LiveText. Finding how to send the review took more time. I sent the proposal for the review and turned in my assignment.  I appreciated the comments I received from my peers. It has helped me look at my research proposal through different points of view. I enjoyed reading the proposals I was reviewing. It’s amazing to see many different topics being studied in one class.  I wrote two proposals this week. The first proposal was about five management skills that use technology. The second proposal was how do interactive whiteboards keep students engaged. The methodology collections I have decided to do is create a survey for my colleagues to take, observation of my students, try the skills I learned from the literature and have my students complete an exit ticket. I will keep the data in a google drive document and excel sheet. 

Rationale

This study needs to be done because it is important to know and have effective management skills that use technology in the classroom.  The purpose of this study is to discover different types of technology management skills that work in a classroom for students who are not engaged in learning.  The participants in this study will be my first grade students at Bayshore Elementary. At this stage in the research, I would like to identify five effective management skills that use technology to keep students engaged in the classroom. I have found when music is played from the Promethean board for the students moving brain break, it has helped keep students engaged. With the Go Math curriculum, clicking on the speaker icon lets a narrator explain the essential questions that are aligned with the common core state standards through the Promethean board. The different voice and image on the board helps the students’ stay engaged.  Discovering these different skills will give me the opportunity to share with my colleagues and keep students engaged. How do the first grade students in my class respond to the five management skills that use technology? Does it work and keep them engaged or do these skills disrupt from their learning?

Methodology (data collection)

I am going to collect data for three weeks. I will send a survey to my colleagues. And have them explain their management skills that work in their classroom and what types of technology do they use in the classroom to keep students engaged. I am going to experiment with the skills that I have learned from the literature and from my colleagues. I’m going to keep the daily log on a google drive spreadsheet. The log will explain if the skills worked, what time it worked and why? I am also going to keep a log of my students’ reactions. I will have my students complete an exit ticket. They will explain to me if they liked the technology management skill and why or why not. This will help me understand what management skill my students respond to the best. I will present the data I collect from this research experiment through a bar graph. The bar graph will show the top five technology management skills, what time of day the specific skill worked the best and if it was more effective with male or female students.

Rationale

The purpose of this study is to discover how effectively interactive whiteboards engage students in the classroom. This study needs to be done because it is important to know if interactive whiteboards are engaging students or distracting them when they are learning. The participants in this study will be my first grade students at Bayshore Elementary. At this stage in the research, I would like to identify how interactive whiteboards are engaging my students and how it could be disengaging from their learning. I have found when using the interactive whiteboard in my classroom, students are ready to learn. When I write the objective for the lesson or information on a regular whiteboard, I have students off task. Most of my students are engaged, but a fourth of my classroom is off task. With the interactive whiteboard, it is a new tool for my students to use. All of my students want a chance to use the interactive whiteboard. When my interactive whiteboard doesn’t work or shuts down during a lesson, I find that my students become off task and disengage from learning. Discovering how to keep my students engaged with the interactive whiteboards, will give me the opportunity to share with my colleagues and help keep all students engaged. How do interactive whiteboards keep students engaged in learning?

Methodology (data collection)

I am going to collect data for three weeks. I will send a survey to my colleagues and have them explain if they use the interactive whiteboard in their classroom. I will have them tell me how many times a day, are their students on task. If they’re off task what are the teachers doing at that time? I will also have them explain in the survey if they feel comfortable using the interactive whiteboard, and if not why do they feel this way? I am going to experiment with the programs and classroom set up that I have learned from the literature and from my colleagues. Is the set up of my classroom engaging to my students when the interactive whiteboard is being used? Can all of the students see the interactive whiteboard? I’m going to keep the daily log on a google drive spreadsheet. The log will explain if the students were on task during the interactive whiteboard lesson. If students were off task, what were the reasons and problems during the lesson? I will observe my students during the interactive whiteboard lessons. I will keep track of how many students were on task and engaged during the lesson.  I will have my students complete an exit ticket. They will explain to me if they liked the interactive whiteboard lesson and why or why not. This will help me understand what kinds of lessons keep my students engaged.  I will present the data I collect from this research experiment through an excel sheet. The excel sheet will list all the different activities that were completed on the interactive whiteboard. Were the students engaged during the lesson and if they were disengaged, what were they doing? This data will help me understand how interactive whiteboards keep students engaged? 

Week 3 Reflection

This week was probably the toughest. Trying to find articles that would work for my question was difficult. I was not able to find articles that worked for my question. I found some of my peers having the same trouble. I explained how the Egan Library was the best resource to use when searching for full PDF articles.
When I started researching for articles, I had to modify my question and ended up changing it completely. Once I changed my question to "what are effective management skills used in the classroom"? I was able to find a lot of information. Google Scholar only gave me articles I could purchase. When I started researching for articles through the Egan Library, I found many articles with very in-depth information on my new question. Next week, I plan on creating a new survey for my colleagues to complete due to changing my question completely. I also plan on researching for more articles and adding it to my annotated bibliography.

Week 3 Annotated Bibliography

As I was reading the literature for my questions, I found that my question has started to change and be more focused on the importance of having an in-depth classroom management plan. My first question was based on effective classroom management skills for energetic students. As I started to read the literature, I was not able to find evidence towards my question. When I narrowed my search to effective classroom management techniques, I found a lot of resources. These are a few articles I found. I will continue to read more articles and add them to my research. The first article was a guide on how to read research articles and what information to look for. This article helped me when I started reading the literature. I would not read articles unless it had an Abstract and Introduction. This guide was very helpful.

Franzoi, S.L. & Ratlif-Crain, J. (2003). Guide to reading research articles. In Instructor's manual to accompany social psychology. 3rd ed. (pp.29-30).  Boston:McGraw-Hill. This article explains what to look for in a research study article. If these components; Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and References are not in the article, then it is not a research study article. It also explains how to read a research study article. Instead of reading page by page, first is to read the introduction, then the ending for the hypothesis and skim the discussion throughout the article. The last part suggests reading the whole article first page to last for deep comprehension understanding This article will be helpful.

Emmer, E.T. & Anderson, L (1980).  Effective Classroom Management at the Beginning of the School Year.  The Elementary School Journal. Volume 80. Number 5, The Universtiy of Chicago. This article explains techniques, ideas and management tools to use and have in place at the beginning of the school year. Behavior might be caused for lack of management skills or not setting the expectations in place right away. This article will be helpful.

Schroeder, D.L. & Granger, M.J. (1995).  A New Generation of Network Technology Requires New Generational Teaching. (pp. 406-407). Idea Group Publishing. This article outlines how this generation needs to be taught with technology in the classroom. It explains when educators are not up to speed with technology; students are not ready for the workplace. This will be helpful during my research.

ONES, K. A., JONES, J. L., & VERMETE, P. J. (2013). Exploring the Complexity of Classroom Management: 8 Components of Managing a Highly Productive, Safe, and Respectful Urban Environment. American Secondary Education, 41(3), 21-33. This article outlines eight components for successful classroom management. It explains how student-teacher relationships are important and gives many ideas on how to have a successful managed class. This article will be helpful.

GARRETT, T. (2013). CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT: It's More Than a Bag of Tricks. Education Digest, 78(9), 45-49. This is an article on different ways to conduct classroom management without using bribery. It describes how positive communication with parents and explaining to students what to do rather than what not to do creates successful management.

Erdoğan, M., Kurşun, E., Şışman, G., Saltan, F., Gök, A., & Yildiz, İ. (2010). A Qualitative Study on Classroom Management and Classroom Discipline Problems, Reasons, and Solutions: A Case of Information Technologies Class. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 10(2), 881-891. This article described the reasons why the classroom management can be ineffective. It explained how timing, classroom size, and design could be factors to an unsuccessful classroom management plan.

Week 2 Reflection

This week we discussed the shifts in Language Arts with the new Common Core State Standards. I explained how my students use the text when answering questions after they have read something. I got an over view from my colleagues that there is a major shift with the new state standards. The posts I read on my colleagues blogs, discussed how our students would be behind and have too many items to complete. I think once our students understand the expectations and requirements it won't be so cumbersome for them. When I start something new or take on many different projects, I'm overwhelmed at first, but once I find a rhythm and a way to finish all of my projects I am stress free. The resources I shared with my colleagues this week was our new yearly planning guide for language arts. The planning guide was developed over the summer with many different educators k-12th grade. The planning guide describes in detail certain skills to be taught throughout the week that align with the common core state standards. I also shared a website to view and purchase the six trait writing kit. I use this kit in my classroom and it really helps my students use all six traits when they are writing. This will help with all the writing requirements our students have with the new standards. This coming week I plan on creating a survey and having my work colleagues fill it out. The survey will give me information to use in my research papers.

#seaccr How does the shift in the Alaska Language Arts standards impact teaching and learning in my classroom? What is the question I would like to research over the next eight weeks?

In my classroom during Language Arts, my students read non-fiction and fiction stories. Michael Gurian says it’s “important for students to read fifty percent fiction and fifty percent non-fiction during the school year”. It is difficult to find non-fiction stories. I am pleased to see Science and Social Studies Links in their Houghton Mifflin Anthologies. When my students read the Science and Social Studies Links, we always discuss how to read these links. I always have the following discussion with them: “It’s not a story, there are no characters, so what are we reading and why are we reading this”?  I think it’s important for students to know why they are doing something and how it’s going to help them. I always have my students use the text when completing an activity after they have read information or a story. “The Common Core’s expectations reveal that today’s document places a much stronger emphasis on higher-level comprehension skills. Even young children are asked to analyze multiple accounts of an event, noting similarities and differences in the points of view presented, assessing the warrant behind people’s ideas” (Pathways).  My students were learning about comparing and contrasting events from a story the other day.  When my students completed their diagram, I had them use their text. “Students need to develop the skill of grounding their responses in evidence from the text” (Dr. Anner Jones).  I found that having my students use the text helped them understand the similarities and differences and they were not using short- term memory to complete the activity. It also, taught them how to use their anthology as a resource when learning. These are tools they will understand and be able to use in future classes.

The questions I will be researching over the next eight weeks:

1.     What kind of technology tools are we using that help students be successful or not? 2. What are some different management tools to challenge students with a lot of energy.

If you saw two questions, you are correct. I am enrolled in both classes and required to research two different topics. The topics I chose were created to give me resources in my classroom. I plan on collaborating with my colleagues at school and in the class. I will create a survey for my colleagues to complete. From the survey, I will be informed of the technology tools that are used in their classrooms, if they help their students be successful or not. I will also, be informed of management tools that are working to keep students with a lot of energy engaged.

Resources:

Gurian, M. (2013, 07/12). In Dakota Hoyt (Chair). Literacy. Presentation delivered at the Institute Gurian institute, all about boys and girls, Colorado Springs, CO.

Jones, D. A. (2013). Ela shifts Power Point presentation. In ELA Shifts.

Calkins, L., & Ehrenworth, M. (2012). Pathways to the common core. Retrieved from http://www.heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources/E04355/PathwaystoCCch1re.

Week 1 Reflection

This week the question was what is action research? At first, I didn't really know how to answer the question. It seemed so broad, until I could relate it to education. The definition was a lot easier to understand, when I pictured myself doing action research in my classroom and during the school year.
Action research to me, is the same outline of a student support team committee. I also, had better understanding watching videos, reading other posts, communicating with my peers and hearing their opinion on action research. I think it is important to conduct action research as an educator.

This week I was introduced to LiveText, Twubs and TweetDeck by Twitter. When I started the Tweet meeting on Thursday, I felt overwhelmed. It was difficult to read everyone's conversation, but once I was told to only follow a few people and start conversations with them, it became easier. I look forward to the many tweet meetings ahead. Tweeting is a perfect way to get a question or idea across quickly. This tool gives responses a lot quicker than an email. It's the same design as a chat room, but anyone can tweet anything. The most important thing to remember is always # the name of the group your tweeting. If you don't, you could tweet your information to everyone. Stay tuned next week for the two research projects I will completing in this class.

#seaccr What is Action Research?

Action Research is a process of collaborating with colleagues and administrators.  It is a time to reflect on immediate practice and what tends to work well and what needs to be changed or discontinued.  It is important as a teacher to reflect on each lesson given to students. Reflect on what went well during the lesson, what took away from students’ learning, and what could improve their students’ learning.  Action Research works best when each student reflects on his or her learning experience. Grade level teams or the whole staff at a school can collaborate and find new implementation strategies during Action Research. There are five specific stages with Action Research:

1.     Problem Formulation

2.     Data Collection

3.     Data Analysis

4.     Reporting Results

5.     Action Planning            

When I think of Action Research, I think of the Student Support Team. When a teacher refers a student to SST, the teacher explains the problem, takes data on the student, and brings the data to the meeting. The committee looks over the data, and gives immediate and practical feedback. The teacher is required to try the new interventions and report the results back to the team during the next meeting.  If nothing has changed and there is still a problem an action plan is created.  The student is either referred for special services or the interventions are changed. This process is Action Research.

http://www.lab.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ed/act_research.pdf

http://infed.org/mobi/action-research/

http://seaccr.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/becoming-a-teacher-leader-through-action-research.pdf