Action Research Update Sept. 25th

My final project looks at the difference between small group tutoring, large group tutoring, and adding technology to both. Each year my students take the 8^th grade Math STAAR. They have three chances to pass this test to move onto 9^th grade. We start off the year identifying our at-risk students and enroll them in an online program or tutoring. After the 1^st test, we then take our failures for small group instruction that integrates technology. After the second test, the failures then go to large group instruction. What I am looking at is the difference in tutoring and how that affects the passing rate.  Many teachers each year devise plans to structure their lessons towards our tier 2 and tier 3 students. Also, many of us are now required to provide RTI time each week for our students. I want to see the effect it has on the passing rate and what I think is the best for our students. Again, we differentiated how we did this throughout the year and I wanted to streamline our efforts in the future. The data will tell me what is most effective in targeting these students to raise our passing rate. The date may or may not lead me to a finite conclusion but may lead me to explore other routes or make me have more questions for my research. I think this will not only help the math department but will be able to provide insights for other subject areas on how they should target their interventions.  

Final Reflection: Teaching with Technology

I know technology is an integral part of teaching these students in the 21^st century but the most important aspect is using technology to support learning objectives. Technology offers alternate ways to assess students and “we are able to more accurately evaluate both student performance and the processes that underlie that performance” (Rose 2002). In our trainings the focus is on engagement and the fun technology brings to the classroom. The real support for technology for teachers is the way we can better monitor their progress and help fill in the gaps. After this reading I will be looking for more projects and collaborative assignments to help me measure their progress rather than just games or one time individual assignments. As James Paul Gee said have students “ work in group where the group is smarter than the smartest person in the group.”  Collaboration and meeting objective goals with technology is how we are going to move our students forward in the global work force and “today’s teachers need better tools to address this growing problem”(Solomon 17).

My approach in this assignment was to use all of my facts and combine them with the group knowledge. I have learned each time I work in a group I find the strength of the group and how it drives my learning experiences. I like to be the leader in assignments but know it is more important that the person with the most experience in the area should take the lead. I felt I contributed fairly an accurately and once I felt more comfortable I started taking the lead towards the last few weeks. Once again I was in a group whose goals and objectives were the same and we really turned to one another for help and ideas. We all took the collaboration piece seriously and this is evident in our final site.

The growing trend for our students to work collaboratively also applies to teachers. Working in groups produces more solutions and better results so I will be pushing for a more team based unit at my school. These group projects will help me to become a better leader and follower in my groups at school. I am interested in seeing if we could form a core subject group where we would have one teacher from each core class work together and see if we can produce more cross curricular assignments.

 Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-james-gee-video

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 7-44.

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Chapter 7. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/

Week 5 Wrap-up

Week five brought together the reasoning of why need technology in schools and how we are moving our traditional classrooms to 21^st century classrooms. Not only does using technology empower our students but also we are helping them connect globally with students across the globe. When we have the students work in groups or in online communities, they are connecting and learning at a higher level.   We as teachers are becoming more like coaches and mentors and letting our students discover and explore to find solutions. This creates excitement and engagement in learning and propels students to continue to strive for excellence. The main reasons we need technology in schools is prepare our students for future jobs. We need to provide training and skills for them to be successful in any path they choose.

How to Assess Every Learner

School districts across the country are increasing their reliability on state standardized tests to measure student and teacher performance. In turn, many teachers have the resources to assess their students other than paper and pencil but don’t so they can prepare them for the state tests.  If we do this we are not getting an accurate assessment of the students’ knowledge and thought process and therefore are unable to tell their real understanding. If we offer them multiple tools for their own styles and needs “they are not hindered by the medium of expression and are more likely to be able to demonstrate what they know and know how to do”(Rose 2002). Although this takes times and multiple variations of the test, it is crucial to measure what they know and where we can help them. 

I have done this in my math class using whiteboards, partial credit, no multiple choice, and aids among other things to measure their performance.  I have found letting them have the help that I use when teaching gives me a better idea of not just what they remembered but if they can apply it to the concept. Although it takes extra time, I feel like it cuts down the time I am re-teaching because I have specific data on their weaknesses and know where to pinpoint my efforts.

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Chapter 7. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes

Week 3, More than Just Teaching

The reason I believe educators are so willing to integrate technology into our classroom is because of the response we receive from students. It is not enough anymore to just use technology but to let our students choose their own path of learning.  In “giving the students the flexibility to pursue their interests is an extremely successful teaching technique” ( Hayes Jacobs, 1997) and I think gives them ownership of their learning. Students who have ownership and feel like they control their own learning are far more interested in their work. When I give my students options for completing the assignments I see maximum effort from my students and overall better mastery of the concept. Even if it is a simple math concept, some of my students like to use manipulatives, some use computers, and some can master it through print. It is worth the time and effort to do this because it cuts down considerable re-teaching of the concept.

o   Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Chapter 6. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/