Thursday, December 6, 2007
Reflections on EDUC 649 "Video Project"
Well, it's done!
I have a huge sense of relief and a (slightly smaller) sense of accomplishment now that I'm done creating a 6 min video. I estimate that I spent about 4-5 hours interviewing people and about 11-13 hours editing to achieve this "final" 6 min video. In hind-sight, I should have signed up to do the paper instead. I enjoyed the process of interviewing subjects and really learned a lot of interesting information about my topic (MI School Funding), that I may not have found simply through "traditional" research. However, the process of spending so much time in the editing phase of the project really did not add to my learning. I did need to cull through all of the various interviews and try to get the most concise, important clips - but I'm not sure that this really changed what I learned either. I am pretty happy with my video, and I hope I get a good grade on the project - but in the future, I will probably not sign up for a video if given the choice.
I did enjoy the presentations of the SMAC 649 videos on Tuesday. I was SO impressed by several of the videos, we really have some skilled folks in our cohort! I would say that the videos were more "engaging" than the PowerPoint presentations (on offense to anyone). I know that people who did make videos all spent a lot of time making them and editing them. I know several people had frustrations (and shed tears) during the process. I know that Charlie said "The technology should NOT be getting in our way" , and we each choose to make a video vs. write a paper.... Let me know what you would choose if you had to do it over again!?
Lynne
I have a huge sense of relief and a (slightly smaller) sense of accomplishment now that I'm done creating a 6 min video. I estimate that I spent about 4-5 hours interviewing people and about 11-13 hours editing to achieve this "final" 6 min video. In hind-sight, I should have signed up to do the paper instead. I enjoyed the process of interviewing subjects and really learned a lot of interesting information about my topic (MI School Funding), that I may not have found simply through "traditional" research. However, the process of spending so much time in the editing phase of the project really did not add to my learning. I did need to cull through all of the various interviews and try to get the most concise, important clips - but I'm not sure that this really changed what I learned either. I am pretty happy with my video, and I hope I get a good grade on the project - but in the future, I will probably not sign up for a video if given the choice.
I did enjoy the presentations of the SMAC 649 videos on Tuesday. I was SO impressed by several of the videos, we really have some skilled folks in our cohort! I would say that the videos were more "engaging" than the PowerPoint presentations (on offense to anyone). I know that people who did make videos all spent a lot of time making them and editing them. I know several people had frustrations (and shed tears) during the process. I know that Charlie said "The technology should NOT be getting in our way" , and we each choose to make a video vs. write a paper.... Let me know what you would choose if you had to do it over again!?
Lynne
Friday, November 30, 2007
Scavenger Hunt #19
Contrary to the title below, the following is a Gabcast "post" that I recorded about the Podcasting Ed Tech Session - please take a listen!
Gabcast! Scavenger Hunt #19
Enjoy!
Lynne
Gabcast! Scavenger Hunt #19
Enjoy!
Lynne
Friday, November 9, 2007
What would I use from what I've seen...
Hello Blog Readers!
I've just returned from visit #3 to David's classroom at Kensington Woods charter school, and this time I focused on David's use of a class web-site http://www.couplands.net/ to provide info to students (and parents). I questioned students about their use of the website and most students said that they used it to check their grades (and for missing assignments) or for finding assignments. Some said that their parents use the website as well. David said that he updates the website almost daily for assignments and usually weekly to transfer reports from Zangle that show grades and assignment completion. He told me that the web-site offers him the ability to save time in class by "always having the same answer" for student that need assignments or want an update on their grades. Unfortunately, there is a task in transferring from Zangle to the website because student names need to be removed from the reports. I would encourage you to take a look at his web-site. He has set it up with a syllabus for each class, assignments, grades and a link for the Robotic Club that he sponsors. He also includes a nice link to his Appalachian Trail hike, which I thought was a nice personal connection.
The Robotics site actually was pretty amusing, showing some animated "games" created by students. To me this was a good example of ways to engage those otherwise perhaps "disengaged" students that are the creators or technology for this generation - they made cool stuff without attending Jeff & Liz's wonderful Tech Workshops!
As a parent, I use the website that my son's teachers have set up and find it very useful. My husband probably checks it nightly to see if Ben has accurately recorded his homework in his planner. We can also use it to see what activities he has done during the day (great dinnertime converation starter when you kids say "I don't remember what we did today"...). Ben is in 6th grade and one of the teachers updates the site daily for the whole 6th grade staff. Check it out at http://benjaminlaframboise.blogspot.com/
In response to Jeff's questions from my last blog post, I do feel that some of the technology I've seen at Kensington Woods enhances learning. I also think that each teacher will have their own style and what works for one teacher might not work for another. I think a Web-site will be part of my teaching practice. I like David's use of the CPS "clickers" for homework correction - but I think that the usefulness in Math is probably better than it would be in Chemistry. I would really need to weight the prep time needed for setting up the CPS vs. the learning goals that students will get out of it. From the little I saw of the SmartBoard, I would really like to try using one and see a direct application in Chemistry. It would be like using a blackboard that is capable of saving the written solutions and merging it with a datashow projector.
I will also add at this point that "old fashioned" technology items (blackboard & chalk, overhead projector) seem like the most straighforward and useful teaching tools that I have witnesses so far in my observations. David uses the overhead projector daily in his lessons to work out problems for students and likewise, my mentor Mr. Morgan uses the chalkboard almost exclusively. These 2 teaching tools allow the student to see how you solve a problem and take note is "real time". I sure that I will use them along with other more "technology based" tools in my teaching practice.
Maybe a mix of old & new will work for me!
I've just returned from visit #3 to David's classroom at Kensington Woods charter school, and this time I focused on David's use of a class web-site http://www.couplands.net/ to provide info to students (and parents). I questioned students about their use of the website and most students said that they used it to check their grades (and for missing assignments) or for finding assignments. Some said that their parents use the website as well. David said that he updates the website almost daily for assignments and usually weekly to transfer reports from Zangle that show grades and assignment completion. He told me that the web-site offers him the ability to save time in class by "always having the same answer" for student that need assignments or want an update on their grades. Unfortunately, there is a task in transferring from Zangle to the website because student names need to be removed from the reports. I would encourage you to take a look at his web-site. He has set it up with a syllabus for each class, assignments, grades and a link for the Robotic Club that he sponsors. He also includes a nice link to his Appalachian Trail hike, which I thought was a nice personal connection.
The Robotics site actually was pretty amusing, showing some animated "games" created by students. To me this was a good example of ways to engage those otherwise perhaps "disengaged" students that are the creators or technology for this generation - they made cool stuff without attending Jeff & Liz's wonderful Tech Workshops!
As a parent, I use the website that my son's teachers have set up and find it very useful. My husband probably checks it nightly to see if Ben has accurately recorded his homework in his planner. We can also use it to see what activities he has done during the day (great dinnertime converation starter when you kids say "I don't remember what we did today"...). Ben is in 6th grade and one of the teachers updates the site daily for the whole 6th grade staff. Check it out at http://benjaminlaframboise.blogspot.com/
In response to Jeff's questions from my last blog post, I do feel that some of the technology I've seen at Kensington Woods enhances learning. I also think that each teacher will have their own style and what works for one teacher might not work for another. I think a Web-site will be part of my teaching practice. I like David's use of the CPS "clickers" for homework correction - but I think that the usefulness in Math is probably better than it would be in Chemistry. I would really need to weight the prep time needed for setting up the CPS vs. the learning goals that students will get out of it. From the little I saw of the SmartBoard, I would really like to try using one and see a direct application in Chemistry. It would be like using a blackboard that is capable of saving the written solutions and merging it with a datashow projector.
I will also add at this point that "old fashioned" technology items (blackboard & chalk, overhead projector) seem like the most straighforward and useful teaching tools that I have witnesses so far in my observations. David uses the overhead projector daily in his lessons to work out problems for students and likewise, my mentor Mr. Morgan uses the chalkboard almost exclusively. These 2 teaching tools allow the student to see how you solve a problem and take note is "real time". I sure that I will use them along with other more "technology based" tools in my teaching practice.
Maybe a mix of old & new will work for me!
Friday, October 12, 2007
Tech Internship Visit #2
Hello Again!
Well, I'm just out of visit #2 to David Coupland's classroom at Kensington Woods charter school. This visit has been focused on technology - but of course that is mixed with general observation on teaching style, school atmosphere, and student engagement (or lack-thereof). It's impossible for me to separate these things at this point.
From a technology perspective, David does some pretty snazzy stuff and let me have a try at the CPS system for grading homework today. He let me input a couple of questions into the system (which was pretty easy) and showed me how the student scores and be reported (he uses a weekly score) so that they can be recorded into his gradebook. The explanation of correct answers on the overhead machine was more of a challenge to me than the CPS system - but I'm sure that in a daily math class that I'm teaching it would come a bit easier. As I saw before, some students seem to like using the clickers and others think "it's stupid, we're not little kids" - but those students might not like anything David tries...
I visited Shawn's classroom again and she was teaching a lesson using the SmartBoard an the TI-84 calculators. She had a nice intro about an activity on body proportion based on Leonardo DiVinci's work (full height:kneeling height = 3/4) and used the SmartBoard to do an intro using some artwork (Mona Lisa and Human Body sketch). The large scale calculator on the SmartBoard really allows the students to see how to get the statistics and graphs for the activity. I wish I'd paid more attention to how to use the graphing calculator - it might have come in handy during my MTTC test today...
Outside of technology observations, the charter school is an interesting contrast to Wayne Memorial. David has generally smaller class sizes (12-25 kids), but seems to have a less motivated set of students than I have seen at Wayne Memorial. I guess that might be due to the fact that I'm with 11-12th graders and college-bound type kids in my placement with Tom Morgan; David and Shawn have mixed grade levels in their classes (depending on ability), and some kids have been kicked out of public schools for behavior or attendance reasons. Shawn has a more in-control group from what I've seen - but she is also teaching pre-cal vs. algebra & geometry. The small school atmosphere of a charter school hold some appeal to me - but I think that my impression of the public school is better at this moment.
That's all for now - my next visit will be later this month! Stay tuned!
Well, I'm just out of visit #2 to David Coupland's classroom at Kensington Woods charter school. This visit has been focused on technology - but of course that is mixed with general observation on teaching style, school atmosphere, and student engagement (or lack-thereof). It's impossible for me to separate these things at this point.
From a technology perspective, David does some pretty snazzy stuff and let me have a try at the CPS system for grading homework today. He let me input a couple of questions into the system (which was pretty easy) and showed me how the student scores and be reported (he uses a weekly score) so that they can be recorded into his gradebook. The explanation of correct answers on the overhead machine was more of a challenge to me than the CPS system - but I'm sure that in a daily math class that I'm teaching it would come a bit easier. As I saw before, some students seem to like using the clickers and others think "it's stupid, we're not little kids" - but those students might not like anything David tries...
I visited Shawn's classroom again and she was teaching a lesson using the SmartBoard an the TI-84 calculators. She had a nice intro about an activity on body proportion based on Leonardo DiVinci's work (full height:kneeling height = 3/4) and used the SmartBoard to do an intro using some artwork (Mona Lisa and Human Body sketch). The large scale calculator on the SmartBoard really allows the students to see how to get the statistics and graphs for the activity. I wish I'd paid more attention to how to use the graphing calculator - it might have come in handy during my MTTC test today...
Outside of technology observations, the charter school is an interesting contrast to Wayne Memorial. David has generally smaller class sizes (12-25 kids), but seems to have a less motivated set of students than I have seen at Wayne Memorial. I guess that might be due to the fact that I'm with 11-12th graders and college-bound type kids in my placement with Tom Morgan; David and Shawn have mixed grade levels in their classes (depending on ability), and some kids have been kicked out of public schools for behavior or attendance reasons. Shawn has a more in-control group from what I've seen - but she is also teaching pre-cal vs. algebra & geometry. The small school atmosphere of a charter school hold some appeal to me - but I think that my impression of the public school is better at this moment.
That's all for now - my next visit will be later this month! Stay tuned!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Tech Internship Visit #1
On Friday Sept. 21 I visited with David Coupland at Kensington Woods High School in Howell, MI. This charter school seems to be well equipped with technology items for instructor use. David is a former MACer who worked in industry before becoming a teacher, he developed and ran an after-school program with robotics and encourages students to learn about technology. Another interesting coincidence is that he did his MAC student teaching at Wayne Memorial HS with Scott Simons, who is a teacher that I've been observing this fall as well. It's a small world as they say!
During my visit I observed in David's classroom for the morning(he taught Geometry, Algebra, Physical Science and Physics). The school day on Fridays at Kensington is only a half day for students, so each class period is 40 min long. In David's room I saw him using CPS (Classroom Performance System)to review (and grade) math homework. CPS is a Jeopardy-type game with individual clickers that students use to "ring in" on multiple choice questions. He used this system to review about 8 out of 40 math homework questions; students would ring in their answers and if there were incorrect answers chosen, he would explain the correct answer as well as the reason the other answers were wrong. Some students seemed to enjoy this method of homework review. Some students that had not even completed the homework were answering by clicker and getting most answers correct. David told me that he uses the student's scores along with the physical homework page turned in to grade the homework, and that this speeds up his ability to grade homework.
During David's Physical Science class, he was covering science and religion. He used a downloaded audio clip from a Creationism website for the students to listen to so that they could interpret whether Creationism overlaps with science. David was excited about this lesson and was hoping to really engage the students with the audio clip. From my perspective, the audio clip was long-winded and complicated; it seemed to me that the students were zoning out during the audio. The graphic organizer that David had provided for the project remained mostly empty for the students. I guess to me this shows that a well planned lesson may not really engage your students. It's a tough thing to be a teacher!
I very briefly visited a second math classroom at Kensington, which has a brand new SmartBoard and TI-84 calculators that hook into the SmartBoard and the teacher's calculator. I hope to visit this second classroom along with David's room during my upcoming visits to learn more about these fancy new-fangled contraptions!
During my upcoming internship visits, I would like to get an "inventory" of technology tools available to teachers, and ask students which of these really help their learning - in particular with the SmartBoard. I would like to find out from David and other teachers which tools are most effective for their teaching practice and which require perhaps more work than the results payoff. I also think it will be fascinating to contrast the technology uses in this charter school vs. the public school system in Wayne-Westland.
During my visit I observed in David's classroom for the morning(he taught Geometry, Algebra, Physical Science and Physics). The school day on Fridays at Kensington is only a half day for students, so each class period is 40 min long. In David's room I saw him using CPS (Classroom Performance System)to review (and grade) math homework. CPS is a Jeopardy-type game with individual clickers that students use to "ring in" on multiple choice questions. He used this system to review about 8 out of 40 math homework questions; students would ring in their answers and if there were incorrect answers chosen, he would explain the correct answer as well as the reason the other answers were wrong. Some students seemed to enjoy this method of homework review. Some students that had not even completed the homework were answering by clicker and getting most answers correct. David told me that he uses the student's scores along with the physical homework page turned in to grade the homework, and that this speeds up his ability to grade homework.
During David's Physical Science class, he was covering science and religion. He used a downloaded audio clip from a Creationism website for the students to listen to so that they could interpret whether Creationism overlaps with science. David was excited about this lesson and was hoping to really engage the students with the audio clip. From my perspective, the audio clip was long-winded and complicated; it seemed to me that the students were zoning out during the audio. The graphic organizer that David had provided for the project remained mostly empty for the students. I guess to me this shows that a well planned lesson may not really engage your students. It's a tough thing to be a teacher!
I very briefly visited a second math classroom at Kensington, which has a brand new SmartBoard and TI-84 calculators that hook into the SmartBoard and the teacher's calculator. I hope to visit this second classroom along with David's room during my upcoming visits to learn more about these fancy new-fangled contraptions!
During my upcoming internship visits, I would like to get an "inventory" of technology tools available to teachers, and ask students which of these really help their learning - in particular with the SmartBoard. I would like to find out from David and other teachers which tools are most effective for their teaching practice and which require perhaps more work than the results payoff. I also think it will be fascinating to contrast the technology uses in this charter school vs. the public school system in Wayne-Westland.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Fall begins...Ready, Set, RUN!
Hello SMACers & Other Friends!
The fall term at U of M has begun, and although this campus is not nearly as lovely as that other campus in East Lansing... It is quite lovely, and it's excellent to be in a atmosphere of "collegiate" vs. "corporate"! Too bad about the U of M football record though.
I must say that this program is a LOT of work! The fall so far is much more intense than the summer. The learning is great - all those buzz words... relevant, scaffolded, engaging, literate, comprehensive, etc. I especially like the Science Methods class on Monday nights (and not just for the pizza) - we have already discussed behavior control plans, positive environments, and we got to interrupt our classmates trying to teach a class!
The big thing about FALL is being in my placement at Wayne Memorial HS. I'm with Tom Morgan in several Chemistry classes, he also teaches Anatomy. I also sit in on a 9th grade class with Scott Simons. I have had a couple of brushes with "technology" in the classroom; CPS and Remark testing software.
The CPS (stands for Classroom Performance System) is a Jeopardy-like game where multiple choice questions are input into the software and students can "buzz in" with individual clickers to choose the answer. I have seen similar entertainment systems in Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant. Mr. Morgan used this system as a fun way of reviewing test items before his 1st Anatomy test. Other than the buzzer batteries being low, the technology worked well and was engaging to the students. If I were running the game, I would have put slightly more structure in place, for example having students read the questions aloud or choosing an "Alex Trebcek" from the students to run the show. It was a fun alternative way of reviewing info before a text - it especially fit well with Anatomy based (terminology) info.
The Remark testing software is an alternate to Scantron testing sheets. You make up your own testing template using "bubble" font and use the software to correct tests. The software is able to correct tests very quickly and then spit out test analysis data (by question / student, etc) which could be useful for teachers to understand how the students performed on the test. I worked with Alexandria S-M on this project - her mentor and mine were testing on the same unit. Unfortunately, the teachers in our area were "self-trained" on how to use the software (and my mentor is a bit technology-adverse),so far, we have not been able to correct the test yet (almost 4 days later...). We are hopeful that we figured it out today and will be using it for future testing in the classes. It will be interesting to see which cuts of the data are useful to us in our teaching as we move forward.
On a semi-technology note, despite my concern that PBS videos may not be the best use of Grad tuition $, I did enjoy the 'School" series shown in Potter's class. I was really moved by the video and disturbed some of the images. It is amazing to me how recent the racial struggles in our country are: I don't think that the high school students today really understand how recently in our history these events took place. I think the generation of women in our MAC cohort (not me & Tammy - you younger ones) are so amazing and really reflect the gains made by Title 9. I was also stunned to learn the when I was graduating from high school (1984), Alexandria was just born... and on that note, I will be adding my 1984 prom photo to these blog photos soon! HA!
More later...
****Liz had her baby! Megan Elizabeth is lovely and this must be the quickest email birth announcement ever!!!!*****
The fall term at U of M has begun, and although this campus is not nearly as lovely as that other campus in East Lansing... It is quite lovely, and it's excellent to be in a atmosphere of "collegiate" vs. "corporate"! Too bad about the U of M football record though.
I must say that this program is a LOT of work! The fall so far is much more intense than the summer. The learning is great - all those buzz words... relevant, scaffolded, engaging, literate, comprehensive, etc. I especially like the Science Methods class on Monday nights (and not just for the pizza) - we have already discussed behavior control plans, positive environments, and we got to interrupt our classmates trying to teach a class!
The big thing about FALL is being in my placement at Wayne Memorial HS. I'm with Tom Morgan in several Chemistry classes, he also teaches Anatomy. I also sit in on a 9th grade class with Scott Simons. I have had a couple of brushes with "technology" in the classroom; CPS and Remark testing software.
The CPS (stands for Classroom Performance System) is a Jeopardy-like game where multiple choice questions are input into the software and students can "buzz in" with individual clickers to choose the answer. I have seen similar entertainment systems in Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant. Mr. Morgan used this system as a fun way of reviewing test items before his 1st Anatomy test. Other than the buzzer batteries being low, the technology worked well and was engaging to the students. If I were running the game, I would have put slightly more structure in place, for example having students read the questions aloud or choosing an "Alex Trebcek" from the students to run the show. It was a fun alternative way of reviewing info before a text - it especially fit well with Anatomy based (terminology) info.
The Remark testing software is an alternate to Scantron testing sheets. You make up your own testing template using "bubble" font and use the software to correct tests. The software is able to correct tests very quickly and then spit out test analysis data (by question / student, etc) which could be useful for teachers to understand how the students performed on the test. I worked with Alexandria S-M on this project - her mentor and mine were testing on the same unit. Unfortunately, the teachers in our area were "self-trained" on how to use the software (and my mentor is a bit technology-adverse),so far, we have not been able to correct the test yet (almost 4 days later...). We are hopeful that we figured it out today and will be using it for future testing in the classes. It will be interesting to see which cuts of the data are useful to us in our teaching as we move forward.
On a semi-technology note, despite my concern that PBS videos may not be the best use of Grad tuition $, I did enjoy the 'School" series shown in Potter's class. I was really moved by the video and disturbed some of the images. It is amazing to me how recent the racial struggles in our country are: I don't think that the high school students today really understand how recently in our history these events took place. I think the generation of women in our MAC cohort (not me & Tammy - you younger ones) are so amazing and really reflect the gains made by Title 9. I was also stunned to learn the when I was graduating from high school (1984), Alexandria was just born... and on that note, I will be adding my 1984 prom photo to these blog photos soon! HA!
More later...
****Liz had her baby! Megan Elizabeth is lovely and this must be the quickest email birth announcement ever!!!!*****
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