5364-UDL Lesson Post

For our group project we had to create a UDL lesson on our unit for our scenario. The template is located in http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/ This by far was the hardest for me. As teachers we differentiate our learning everyday without even thinking about it. There is no "one size fits all" for our students so this is nothing new. I really had to dissect the project for my students in order to complete my UDL lesson. UDL stands for Universal Design Learning and it has to have three network components in it; Recognition Network, Strategic Network, and Affective Network. Recognition stands for "what", how we gather the facts, the delivery of the lesson. Strategic is how the students express what we have delivered or what they learned, but they have to be able to express it in different forms in order to cover all learners. Affective Network is how we stimulate the learning and their desire to learn it, which has to be done in order for the student to actually want and be able to retain the information that was taught to them. This task was daunting, but it helped me better understand the needs of my students and that I can dig deeper and better acomodate my lessons and the delivery of them.

Reflection of Course EDLD 5366

I really have enjoyed taking these technology classes. There has been some frustration, sure, but all in all it’s been a great learning experience. I remember being in a graphics design class in nineteen ninety-nine. Things have changed so much since then. I remember sitting in class watching the professor go through the program, Director, while we sat and watched from our computers. Now I go to You Tube and watch a tutorial on whatever program I want to learn to use. The first week of EDLD 5366 we learned design fundamentals. The second week we made a logo and then the third week we made an animation. The fourth week was the website design. I have learned so much and I truly enjoyed every week’s assignment. I was especially interested in the Bloom’s Digital taxonomy. I have already shared this with my school and administrators and they were really impressed. The web 2.0 tools that I’ve learned to use I plan to share with my classes this year. I, myself, use my Smart Board everyday. I constantly resort to the internet to find lessons. Classrooms will soon all be flipped, lectures are soon to be completely on podcasts. I’ve learned so much since I’ve started this Master’s program and I can’t wait to see what else is yet to be invented.

Group Video-Telling Time

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Reflection #3

The last web conference was short and sweet. It was on Saturday, June 30th. Lots of people had questions about 4.3 and 4.4. Kay Abernathy assured us that she wasn’t a “gotcha” professor and that she just wanted us learning and growing. She also talked about how some people didn’t have grades and that they needed to email her if this was the case. She wanted to make sure that everyone had a grade. She also said that if we had trouble turning stuff in then we needed to email her with our problems because apparently there was a lot of confusion with the assignments for week 4 and what exactly we had to turn in. She stated that we didn’t have to turn in video for week four only for week five.

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Reflection #2

I was able to attend Tuesday, June 5, 2012. Professor Abernathy talked about how all the footers on our assignments should now say Lamar University June 2012 and if you had a different date then you needed the correct one. She also told us about the resources tab and that we should all go there and watch her Digital Story. It was a good example for us to watch and to help us get started. People once again were asking about the “cookbook” and if it was a requirement. A lot of the course needed to be cleaned up because it had a lot of the old class requirements on it still and a lot of the students were getting confused. Dr. Abernathy mentioned that Lamar University will be using Blackboard for the August 27th session. There were some technical difficulties with the sound but of course that happens. People in the class were being nice by answering peoples questions about posting the script to our story. They mentioned that it needed to go into the discussion board and not just put a quote into the discussion board. We also talked about forming our groups for week 3. I also learned that there is a George Williams and myself, Georgee Ruiz-Williams so that was kind of funny. The important part about this conference was that we all needed the right assignments and that we should start forming groups.

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Reflection #1

I had to work for the Monday, June 4th web conference but I watched the recording. Professor Abernathy explained that she was there to answer any questions that we had. People were confused about what assignments were the correct ones because a lot of them had 2009 printed down at the bottom. People asked about who their IAs were because apparently there were two. A lot of people had the wrong assigments because the old assignments had been posted onto EPIC. People were also asking about the readings and if the cookbook was a requirement. Professor Abernathy assured the class that the new assignments would be posted soon.

My Digital Story...Blessed-Fly Over States

EDLD 5363-8050 Week One/Digital Story

So this week has been fun and frustrating. Our assignment was to create a digital story and then post it to 3 different sites...thats when the work was work! My digital story was created with iMovie and that was very fun to me. There are so many things you can do to a movie! I loved it! Of course i got carried away with my script and my movie. I had to shorten all of it. What was hard was exporting the movie which I am STILL working on now...LOL It went to YouTube fine (took a lil while) but now I'm trying to post it to my wiki, it quits all of a sudden and says the file is too big. So I am trouble shooting on how to get it on there. All in all I LOVE my story! I am very proud of it, it was hard work but it was fun work. I can't stop watching it! I even had to edit a song in Garage Band just so it could fit in my iMovie. This week's assignment was very rewarding and I'm pleased with the result.

Reflection on "Challenges"...

So my principal and I talked about the challenges that have come up and will continue to come up with opposition to bilingual education and the need for English Immersion. My principal and I are on the same page and agree that English Immersion would work best, but she reminded me that bilingual education is the law and if we don’t follow it we could lose our bilingual funding. So with that I had to look at my action research study and make sure that I’m not too aggressive or ambitious with the plan. I am very passionate about English Immersion and I’m biased for it for personal reasons as I was once an immigrant child sitting in class trying to learn English. The method used on me was immersion, at the time I was in an ESL program so it was completely legal, but I learned and I am not scarred by it nor do I need therapy and I wasn’t messed up academically like Cummins study of English acquisition states that a child must be strong in their native language before they can learn another language or else they wont acquire English. I learned and came away pretty well! I am fluent in both languages and really didn’t learn academic Spanish until college! So I will continue to research what Atwater school district in California is doing and hopefully one day I can present this to legislators in Austin in hope for an English Immersion movement.

WEEK 3-ACTION RESEARCH PLAN

Purpose & Significance of Research Action Plan

PURPOSE:The purpose of my action research is to determine what’s the quickest and most effective way to teach English to immigrants in a way that teaches them enough academic English to understand the teachings given to them by the educator who uses a higher form of Blooms. To where the student can perform on academic tests that the state mandates us to give to these immigrant students. There are so many strategies, but I want to determine what actually works in order to facilitate learning another language whether the child is from Mexico, Burma, Somalia or wherever the student is from. SIGNIFICANCE: The significance of my action research action plan is to benefit most importantly the student. Then of course it would help the teacher, the principal, the school and any stakeholders because with state mandated exams the school needs to perform and meet AYP.

EDLD 5301 Research-Action Research Blog: Action Research & How Leaders Can Use Blogs

Action Research & How Leaders Can Use Blogs Action Research is active ongoing research by a leader that involves systematic, intentional study of his or her own administrative practice and taking action for change based on the result of his or her inquiry all while engaging in personal reflection. Its about constant movement and adjusting as the results of the inquiry and data are analyzed. Growth and improvement is the name of the game. Action research is not always a smooth road it requires adjustments to be made constantly. Action research is about identifying a problem or inquiring about a problem, gathering data, proposing a solution and then working towards that goal, then the process repeats. Leaders can use blogs for a variety of reasons. Blogs allow sharing and a constructive tool for a growing leader to share his/her ideas or problems. Blogs allow for opinions to be made and advice to be given and for more exposure without actually leaving the district. Leaders can use blogs for educational purposes in the classroom with students with teachers and with their colleagues. Blogs are a valuable resource for teachers they are quickly evolving as classroom tools.

Week 5 Assignment, Part II: Course Reflections

WOW!! This was hard...but what a sense of relief and feeling of accomplishment when it's all done!! Let's start with question #1. What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned? Honestly, the outcome that I envisioned was just an ordinary online course with your busy work and that I would be able to hold down 2 jobs, a house, and a three year old! Well was I in for a not so pleasant surprise! The first week was so strenuous that I had to have an extension on the due date. I learned my lesson the first week to not wait until 2 days before the assignment is due to start! I cut back hours at my part time, resorted to grilled cheese sandwiches and the bags under my eyes can tell you how much sleep I got. I honestly did not see the point in all the self assessments, but now that I look back it all ties together and I'm glad that I was exposed to all those surveys. It did reinforce the good qualities that I have and made me reflect on my bad qualities like time management and procrastination. Question #2. To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not? The outcomes that I achieved are very relevant to my work at school. I learned so much with this class; Wiki's, Blogs, RSS aggregators, Animoto films, embedding, copyright laws, web conferences, APA style, E-Rate, STaR chart, Texas Long Range Plan, Web 2.0 tools and I'm sure I left off about 5 other NEW things that I learned. Week 2's assignments had me excited about my choice of graduate work. I can't wait to implement these things in class next year! I even gave my brother, whose also a teacher, some ideas for his classes and even one of my colleagues at my previous school mentioned how intense my assignments were. I'm glad I did this, you can't learn something new until you try it. We read about innovative teaching with technology but are always afraid to try the new things that we just continue to teach in the old fashioned way. This class has given me the boost of confidence that I need to take my career and teaching to the next level and not continue to deprive my students of technology. Question #3. What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them? The only outcomes that I didn't achieve, besides sleep and cleaning my house, were the optional progress monitors. Every week I would be so into completing the ASSIGNMENT, that of course always had 10 million assignments in ONE! Just joking, every week the ASSIGNMENT contained many parts to it that required hours of intense work. Not something to be taking lightly! So really what prevented me was time, but that was mainly a personal flaw of mine. Question #4. Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments. If not what prevented or discouraged you? I was successful except for week one, which was the wake up call that I needed! Never again will I wait until the last 2 days to open the assignment which in week one had so many parts I thought I was going to cry. Never was giving up an option because I always finish what I start, but week one was tough. Really the whole course was! I really learned a lot about myself and about technology and as I reflect back on it I must say this was not in vain or busy work. I learned some very neat things. Question #5. What did you learn from this course...about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes? I learned about myself that procrastination is my enemy and I need help for it. I've always been a procrastinator but I really need to change that about myself. I also learned in week one's inventory about personality is that I am a rationale person. When I asked my peers if this was true the all agreed so that made me feel good. As an administrator that is a very good quality to have. I am also considering taking the principal certifications. Before this course I always said I'd never be a principal, but now it doesn't seem like such a bad thing. Is it going to be hard? You bet! But I also learned that sticking to it really does pay off. I am very excited about the rest of the 16 months, I learned so much in this class that I re-energized my passion to teach. Technology wise I learned an abundance of new things! I really do have a new confidence about technology and learning new things. As far as leadership skills go, I realized I have a very important administrative quality and that is that I am a very rationale person. On the downside, I need to learn how to manage my time better! My attitude is a whole lot better now than it was week one. I am excited and proud of myself for completing course one!

Week 2, Web Conference Reflection

Week 2's web conference I was unable to attend. I was going to attend the Thursday night one, but that got canceled. I was able to watch the recorded web conference and watch the power point through the link that Professor Borel posted in our email and class announcement. It was nice to put faces to names and see my classmates. The video was hard to understand; I don't know if it was my computer or the video itself, but the audio never really "buffered" and was in and out the whole hour and fifteen or so minutes. I was able to see and read the class' chat dialogue and watch the power point but that was it. It's my understanding that we are to do 150 hours of internship? Not really clear on that and the other thing that stuck out to me was that we are also able to do the principal test at the completion of this Master's program??? I'm not really understanding...but that's what I got. This Thursday I will be in Vegas on a quick mini-vacation with 2 other teaching colleagues of mine, but I will be taking my laptop and seeing if I can join the web conference this week. I wish there were 2 per week, but what can you do? I saw this week that a lot of people were having trouble with their mics and knowing whether they were on or not...makes me a bit apprehensive about this whole web conferencing thing. I didn't get to hear the class' introductions; like I said I don't know if its my computer or what the problem with the audio was that night. I hope to have a good experience when I finally get to join a web conference!

Week 2 Assignment, Part 4: Creating and Posting a Slide Presentation

E-RATE POWERPOINT

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Week 2, Assisgnment, part 3-Blog Posting #3-National Educational Technology Plan

The National Educational Technology Plan was released by the U.S. Department of Education on November 9, 2010.  Under the Obama administration education has become an urgent priority and it is driven by 2 goals: to raise the proportion of college graduates from about 41% to 60% so that our population holds a 2-year or 4-year degree by 2020 and to close the achievement gap so that all students graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers.  These aggressive goals were designed keeping in mind that we need cost effective and cost saving strategies that improve graduation rates for millions of Americans. 

America has finally heard the alarm and we are waking up to the fact that we are no longer on the forefront of education and technology.  Other countries are beating us in engineering programs, graduation rates and technical programs.  So the NETP calls for revolutionary transformation.

The NETP has goals in five essential areas: Learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. The learning focus is to engage and empower the learner.  Leveraging the power of technology to provide personalized learning and to enable continuous and lifelong learning. The assessment focus is not just to assess but to assess what matters.  We want to point out strengths to grow them more but identify weaknesses while there is still time to improve student performance while involving the stakeholders in the process of designing, conducting and using assessment.  Technology driven data can drive decisions on the basis of what is best for each student which will lead to continuos improvement in our entire education system.  The teaching focus is to prepare and connect.  Technology helps to build the capacity of educators by enabling a shift to a model of connected teaching.  Teams of connected educators replace solo teachers, classrooms are fully connected to provide educators with 24/7 access to data and analytic tools with access to resources to help them act on the data provided. The focus of infrastructure is to have access and to enable.  An essential component is a comprehensive infrastructure that provides every student, educator, and level of our education system with the resources needed when and where they are needed.  This of course in relation to broadband connectivity, servers, software, management systems, and administration tools.  The last focus is productivity to redesign and transform our education system.  It calls to apply technology to implement personalized learning and ensure that students are making progress so that they graduate.  Technology must be used to plan, manage, monitor, and report spending to provide decision-makers with a reliable, accurate, and complete view of the financial performance of our education system at all levels.  

Most campuses and states mirror the NETP and are very much alike.  I like that the government realizes that we need change in our education system and that they have devised a plan to help attain the goals needed for us to succeed as a nation. I'm starting to "get it"!! LOL

National Education Technology Plan Executive Summary, Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010

Week 2 Assignment, Part 3 Blog Posts-Blog Post#2-School Technology Plan

My campus' technology plan mirrors the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technolgy.  There are 4 parts to promote academic excellence; Teaching and Learning, Educator Preparation and Development, Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support, and Infrastructure.

The goal is for all learners to have access to relevant technologies, tools, resources and services for individualized instruction 24/7. To use information and communication technologies to collaborate, contract knowledge and provide solutions to real-world problems.  To use research based strategies in all subject areas to improve academic achievement. To communicate effectively in a variety of formats for diverse audiences.
 For all educators to graduate from educator preparation program that models current technology in instructional and administrative practices PreK-12 and to exit educator preparation programs knowing how to use technology effectively in the teaching and learning process.  Also for educators to develop new learning environments that utilize technology as a flexible tool where learning is collaborative, interactive and customized while ensuring integration of appropriate technology throughout all of curriculum and instruction.
The goal is also for all leaders to develop, implement, budget for and monitor dynamic technology plan to meet the needs of a changing workforce and economy.  Leaders have to offer expanded curricular and instructional opportunities to students via online digital technology, and a variety of distance learning technologies.  Leaders should also expect and plan appropriate technology use throughout the teaching and learning process as well as throughout administration while using data effectively and appropriately in decision making.
An infrastructure system provides: access to all e-learning technologies through ubiquitous broadband resources available 24/7 for all users, just in time technical assistance to support teaching and learning, measures to ensure all data is secure and accurate and that data standards to support interoperability and accessibility for all users.

In an effort to meet this academic excellence E-Rate provides discounts to assist schools to obtain affordable telecommunications and Internet access, but in order to apply for E-rate we must have a technology plan.  Our technology plan in Amarillo ISD is overseen by the superintendent and our cluster director in accordance with our Chief Technology officer.  The professional development opportunities are coordinated by campus principals and curriculum instructors throughout the district based on need and content area.  To ensure that the student is leaning and that the teacher is growing in technology we assess our campus with the Texas STaR chart.

TEA. (2006). Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020. 15

week 2 Assignment, part 3: Blog Post#1-Technology Asessments

Technology Assessments establish a framework for how well teachers are prepared to equip students with technology knowledge & skills.  These assessments are valuable to schools, teachers, and to students.  Without assessments the planning team does not know where to begin.  So many valuable things come from assessing a campus.  Assessments help plan for future growth too.  As the Texas STaR chart helps with state funded grants that schools need so desperately in order to keep up with technology in the 21st century. Without assessments like the STaR chart, the state could not fund schools with grants and monies for technological advances.  Data for the STaR chart or other technology assessments reveal overall learning conditions that affect learning, discrepancies in areas that need improvement, and ways to accomplish improvement.

There are way more pros to technology assessments than cons to them.  The assessments help schools build on strengths but also focus on what needs to be improved or changed.  Companies like Edvantia, http://www.edvantia.org/about/index.cfm?&t=about&c=home, do technology assessments for campuses throughout the nation.  They focus on growth and a shared vision of technological needs.  This company will assess the teachers and administration and design a plan for growth or an intervention for the school based on analyzing the data from the assessments they conduct.  Just like the Texas STaR chart analyzes teacher's and campus' proficiency in technology, Evantia conducts surveys as well.  The TX STaR chart tells us a lot about the campus, the staff, the administration and the students.  It's survey measures where the campus stands in this 21st century world of technology.  After analyzing the results we can see where our strengths are and where our weaknesses are.  The only con I see with technology assessments is the time it takes away from teaching and from learning, but the gains attained outweigh the cons.

Without assessments we don't even know where to begin.  Assessments are crucial to growth and improvement.  Just like we as educators assess our students to gauge knowledge attained, we need assessments to see where we stand in this technology driven world.

So here I am...trying to get my Masters in Technology.   We shall see how this goes...lol