EDLD+5364


 * __Week 5 Reflections:__**

What a whirlwind ending to this course! The lack of Saturday and Sunday to complete the course requirements, along with the ending of the first semester at the school where I teach, resulted in a busy week. The revelation I had this week was in thinking about the effort of students and how I, as a teacher, can directly teach its importance. I have had alot of trouble this year with several students who are not motivated to pay attention in class, show little effort (if any) in showing work on math problems, and obviously do not study or do homework at home. I can only figure that these students have not been taught that things aren't just going to "come" to you, and that you need to work for things, especially when they do not come easy to you. I have seen the need, but never really thought about what I could do to change it, other than attempting to talk with these students about it. I kind of figured that things can't change until the parents join in the effort to reinforce this concept at home. However, after reading __Classroom Instruction that Works__, I am motivated to put into practice the effort rubric and track weekly efforts against progress on weekly assessments.


 * __Week 4 Reflections:__**

This week was insightful to me in many different ways. The two things that jumped out the most at me are professional development and online collaboration.

First, the readings regarding professional development were such a breath of fresh air. I agree with the models of professional development presented that include ongoing support, buy in from all participants, and continued follow up with the training provided. Without these items, professional development in technology is just not effective unless you are a "digital native" and can run with the technology to drive instruction. Even with motivation and technology skills, it is hard to keep focused on technology integration with all of the other demands on teacher's time, such as high stakes testing, paperwork, and parent or student issues. I myself earned a degree in MIS and am in love with technology. I try to find ways to quickly and easily integrate it into my day, but this can be a big challenge, even for me. Another eye catcher was getting administration to support these efforts and make technology integration a "common goal" within the school. These types of efforts must start at the top and trickle down, otherwise the impact will not be made.

The second thing that jumped out at me is online collaboration. I am glad to get experience in this area, as I did not fully see the impact it could truly have on students and their learning. I am amazed at how well my team has worked together, across many miles, to put together our group assignment. We are able to throw ideas out there, get opinions from one another, and provide feedback - all from the comfort from our own homes and on our own schedule. As long as we are all aware of the expectation that each one of us holds week by week, then we are able to customize the time and place that we spend doing it. We are not disadvantaged because we can't physically meet to discuss the project. I think we might even be at an advantage. We are able to work more efficiently because we don't have to sit through traffic and can eliminate travel time. The group project has been a positive experience, and I am glad that I have team members that I can count on.

__**Week 3 Reflections:**

Week 3 Reflection__

This week was quite busy for me, but it contained many learning opportunities and experiences. First of all, the readings and videos provided many ideas and tools that can be used immediately in the classroom. I enjoyed watching the videos, especially about the Youth Portraits. It is interesting to see the kids perspective on technology and the power that technology holds with their generation.

The UDL lesson builder assignment was a new way to look at lesson planning. The format is not something that I was used to, but the examples given and support provided assisted me in completing the assignment. The book builder is a powerful tool in a limited package. I think the software itself is time consuming and not as flexible as the software products we are so used to (regarding formatting especially). However, it allows teachers to create a customized book tailored to specific requirements for either a whole class to complete, or even for the needs of an individual student. The fact that is it free is another plus for educators with limited financial resources.

I think the biggest impact this week was the group project. Our team has worked well together and all contributed lots of fantastic ideas to our project. I got so many great things out of this week, many of which I have shared with my team and am taking straight to my classroom to implement in the next two weeks.

__UDL Lesson__ - The lesson I selected to create was a cumulative, end of unit project to help students synthesize their learning and serve an an end of unit assessment. The project, a Geometry Scavenger Hunt/Movie Maker project, involves many different ways that differentiate the instruction being delivered to reach all learners. As an introduction to the activity, students are asked to brainstorm real life examples of geometric shapes and terms. This helps them see why what they learn is important, and engages the Recognition Network in providing multiple examples of various shapes and discussing the attributes the shapes have. The students are also allowed to make choices based on their personal learning profiles. Students are encouraged to work on the project either with a group of 3-4, with a partner, or individually. Most students prefer to work with groups or partners, but there are many students out there who prefer to have control over their work and want to complete it alone. Certainly these students should not always work alone, but it is good to let them have the choice from time to time. This appeals to the Affective Network of the student. The students also have many choices in how to present the geometric figures within the Movie Maker project. Rather than simply take a test, students are able to construct a product to show the knowledge they have learned. Students in groups are able to provide feedback to each other during the process. Both of these appeal to the student's Strategic Network.


 * __Week 2 Reflections__**:

This week's readings, videos, and discussion gave me a few things to think about. Several of the research articles validated my belief that technology helps improvement in student achievement, but I wasn't exactly sure how until I read the articles. I had never realized that self-esteem could be intertwined with technology integration. The article "Technology-Enriched Classrooms: Effects on Students of Low Socioeconomic Status" by Michael S. Page made very clear the connection between technology integration and increased self-esteem. It can be inferred that students are not as humiliated when interacting with a computer as compared to interacting with another human. It makes perfect sense, but was not something that I had ever considered.

I also thought about exactly what kinds of technologies were implemented or what kinds of projects were so helpful to the students. One of the articles went into the hardware and software provided, but not the exact nature of the work completed. I am constantly trying to think of what kinds of projects I can implement into my classroom with the time constraints I am constantly facing. I teach 4th grade math, and I feel like there is little to no room to even review concepts. Each idea builds upon another, and in general, a different concept is taught each and every day. Because of this, there is more time devoted to whole group, direct teaching of concepts and less to small group or project-based work to reinforce what has already been taught.

I also found the section on "Classroom Interaction Analysis" quite interesting. In general, I advocate for the students to be the ones doing the work. I frequently remind them that "I have already completed the 4th grade" with a smile on my face. Unfortunately I don't always know if the time spent in their groups discussing problem-based activities is reallly worth it, but this article tells me it is. More "student to student" interactions could also contribute to the increase in achievement in the technology-enriched classrooms. I look forward to continuing the work in this course, and hope that it offers more specific suggestions on how to integrate technology into classrooms that consider the lack of time and pressure for testing that current teachers face.

__**Week 1 Reflections**__:

This week's readings, videos, and discussion validated many of my current teaching practices, but also got me thinking about what the future may hold. As a teacher, I put as much responsibility on the students as I can. It is my belief as a teacher and parent that it is not good to do things for students that they can do for themselves. Scaffolding appropriately is important for the learning process. Obviously, as teachers, we have a responsibility to teach them, but giving each individual the correct amount of assistance is essential. Asking the right thought-provoking questions is what helps students grow. This is how I teach my students, and I found this approach is supported by the readings this week.

I was glad to learn more about constructivism from this week's materials. I agree whole heartedly with this teaching method, but also feel like I don't know how to implement it within the age and subject matter that I teach. I find the lack of time to be a serious issue. Hopefully, through this class or the rest of this Masters program, I will find ways to implement more constructivism into my classroom.

I learned much about connectivism and cyborg learning theories. These are theories that I was not familiar with. I found connectivism to make sense in many ways, but what stood out more was the Cyborg theory. I was totally freaked out by this idea, and could not even believe that Warwick has already done many preliminary trials on this topic. The idea of an enhanced human species is beyond my comprehension. I would not want to alter my human state to be something superior. Even with my immediate rejection of this theory, I still can't deny the fact that Warwick is probably true. I am sure that many of the common technologies present these days were viewed as "freakish" back in the 50s, 60s, or 70s. Only time will tell what will be acceptable in the future. This week was insightful and extended my learning. The material this week is helping me to consider new methods of teaching.