Week 4 Publishing and Leadership Project

Student Response Devices
used in my ARP

Welcome to my Publication and Leadership project. Throughout the past year I have worked on my Action Research project through the EMDT MS program. The goal of my ARP was to increase student motivation and achievement in at risk populations by creating a 21st century classroom. Throughout this year I have learned many things about technology, my students, and most importantly myself. The one idea that I came away with at the end of this process was, a 21st century classroom is not all about the technology. It’s about the atmosphere, the teacher and then students all working together to use the technology to its fullest potential. If you have the technology without the previous three you have a room with a lot of fancy equipment with no one to use or the passion to find out how to use it.


In the past weeks, I have been looking at different conferences that I could present my information at finally finding the Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Convention. I feel like my research would be a good fit for this convention. Another convention that I would also like to submit my presentation to is the International Society for Technology in Education.


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PETE&C
ISTE


Think Out Loud #1
Think Out Loud #2
Wimba Week 4

Week 4 Post #4- Wimba

I received great feedback from my Critical Friends about my project.  After receiving this feedback, I went through my presentation again and made many of the changes that they suggested.  

Feedback from Marty Denson:

Hi Ashley,

Just a little feedback so you can get things together for your Pub/Leadership Presentation. Hope you're feeling better.

The following questions are geared more toward a case study analysis or scenario analysis. (Based upon 1 student as an example):

On Slide #12 you indicated "Student Choice" as one of your bullet points - 

1. Can you give me a good example of one of the "choices" one particular student made? 

2. What inspired and/or motivated the student to make that particular choice? 

3. And, what was the result of the choice that particular student made?

This question is geared more toward a case study analysis or scenario analysis.

And lastly...

In looking at the Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor learning domains, what connections did the student make in the process of your cycles? Was there a behavioral change? Did they become more or less motivated in relationship to intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors?

Hope this helps you. 

Feedback From Susan Calland

Hey Ashley,

Your Presentation looks great as always!  On slide 2 the only way I could get to your video was to copy and paste the URL into a web page.  Is there a way to make the link connect directly?  Same thing on slide 12 and 15. Missing speaker notes on slide 17.  Everything looks wonderful and very specific!

Super work

Week 4- Post #3 Response to Susan Calland

I have noticed the same thing with my students.   I love the Mr. Miagi idea! I can see you in front of your classroom doing wax on wax off!! :)  I think, especially with our age group, our "wackyness" scares them just enough that they like us, and remember us.  Middle school students are always looking for acceptance and when they see their teacher put everything out there and not care about what people think it makes them comfortable.






Original Post:
Don’t hold back & participate wholly!
The chapter that definitely meant the most to me was chapter 9. I have noticed many times that the students in my 7th & 8th grade classes who are totally uninterested in school and completely uninspired, will give me full effort when I am my nuttiest! They may look at me and roll their eyes, but every time I am passionate about what I do and really into it, they are definitely paying more attention than when I am just giving notes or lecturing. It is so awesome to see that student that really doesn’t give a hoot about being in my class, study for a quiz or look at me and say, “Hey I get it!” The crazier I am, the more I can generate a spark from them. To get my students to remember waxing and waning moon phases, I do my Karate Kid, Mr. Miagi, stance with my karate move. I may look like a goof, but they remember the moon phases! I was at an awards assembly at the high school and a former student caught my eye when the speaker talked about “wax on, wax off”. Across the gym she mouthed to me, “was on, wane off” with a big smile on her face. She was in my class three years ago. Those are the time that I know that if I don’t hold back, they understand and remember so much more. They are also more willing to take a risk since I do.

Week 4- Post #2 Response to Marty Denson

Marty, as the others have said I total agree with you.  Giving students a small amount of freedom and choice causes their creativity to explode. During my cycle 1 of my ARP I let them pick what type of presentation they wanted to do and they could also choose who they worked with, as long as I approved it.  The look on their faces was priceless. They worked 10 times harder because they liked what they were doing, and who they were working with. 


Original post: 

The practice of enrollment, in many regards, sounds similar to what I have been doing for the past several months but didn’t actually realize that I was doing it. Perhaps many of us have been demonstrating this practice unknowingly. I have always believed that when you discover what truly interests individuals, you not only add that ‘spark’ within them, but within yourself as well.

Many of my students seem to enjoy music immensely, however, I have noticed that when it was time to incorporate music technology as a learning tool, they seemed to think that everything was going to be extremely technical. They initially viewed it as all technology jargon and intense engineering protocol, leaving no room for fun and enjoyment. It wasn’t until I spoke with them and probed to find out what their musical tastes were and suggested to them that they could learn, experiment, and discover with the musical styles of their choice. Many were surprised that I did not suggest that it had to be classical music, which they had been accustomed to hearing in all of their other courses. What I was most interested in accomplishing was allowing each of them to reach their full potential in performance techniques and how to use music technology to help achieve that goal. This approach, rather simple in my opinion, lit a fire in all of them. They became eager to get started and began to invoke a sense of creativity even I didn’t expect.

Once it was understood that they could use any style of music to engage in the learning process, they started working even harder and longer to perfect their original works, which was beneficial to the overall goals. I was completely overwhelmed with the shift in attitude by simply appealing to their interests. It was if those ‘steps to the practice’ of enrollment were evident in what was a natural process at that particular time. When you are passionate about what you do, I believe you can find ways to give individuals that spark that allows them to become much more engaged in whatever they are participating in. 

Week 4 Reading- Art of Possibility Chapters 9-12

I have really enjoyed reading the Art of Possibility and hope to reread it over the summer. I have done this with many “required readings” readings over the course of my education. For some reasons when I don’t “have” to read something I enjoy it more.
I really enjoyed the way the book presents itself with anecdotal tales. While reading this week, the first story in chapter 11 really hit a cord with me. Just a refresher, it was the story about the little girl undergoing chemotherapy and her teacher shaved her head so the little girl would not longer be embarrassed by her lack of hair. One of my students is currently undergoing chemotherapy for her second bout of cancer in her 10 short years of life. I was left thinking to I have that much commitment to my student, sure I donate money to buy her a game to play while undergoing treat meant but would I commit myself that greatly. The quote “ In the realm of possibility, there is no division between ideas and action, mind and body, dream and reality. Leaders who become their vision often seem uncommonly bravest to the rest of us. Whether from the middle of the action, or from the sidelines, they are a conduit for carrying the vision forward,” (p 172) really stood out to me. If everything is possible, that line between I have a really great idea, but how do I bring it to life would not longer exist. Reminding me of the William Arthur Ward quote, “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.”

Think Out Loud Post #2

After working on my project I decided to go with a presentation. I will be submitting to the  Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Convention.  As the week progress I really started to enjoy reflecting on my work over the past year. I am excited to receive feedback tomorrow in Wimba. 

Week 3 Post #4- Wimba/ Think Out Loud # 1

After viewing the Wimba session for this week, I was left to think about my publishing/leadership project for week 4. I have to really think about what I want to do for this project. Right now I am leaning toward a presentation. I am fortunate to finally have a week of not too much planned so that I can spend a significant amount of time on my project this week. The Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Convention is a possibility for a conference to submit my presentation to.

Week 3- Post #3 Response to Joanna Puello

Joanna-
I love the idea of making your students eyes twinkle. Many of my students are special needs and really feel the pressure of doing well in Math and Language Arts. Although I know my subjects are equally as important, some in my school think they are not because they are not tested. However, I feel like sometimes my students “learn” more in my class because they are enjoying themselves. There is a teacher who has a lavatory duty outside of my room and often makes remarks such as, “well at least your kids will know how to cut and paste” (talking about one of my crafty projects my students were doing). I usually ignore him but one day I was feeling particularly gutsy and said go ahead ask them what they know. They were fountains of information about the project they were doing and my students and I were never more proud of us, they truly had the twinkle in their eye showing how much they knew!




Original Post:
I had a good laugh as I read through Chapter 4: “Leading From Any Chair” (The Art of Possibility by Rosamund & Ben Zander)! Ironically, the same day I read the chapter, my boss at the ESOL language center where I teach called me into her office. “I’ve gone by your classroom recently, and I’ve noticed you sitting a lot while you teach. None of the students have complained, but…try to stand more. You can always lean on your chair if necessary. But other than that, everything is fine!”
I nodded and said, “Ok.” (Not going to pick that one to battle!) Then I proceeded to ask her about my current group of students. When I got them, they had just failed Level 3, so I was assigned to re-teach the material. Some of the new students were ready to re-take the test even though we hadn’t finished all of the material because I had tailor-designed the classes so that their test taking would be more successful (and ultimately so that they would learn more English). “Can they re-take the test on Monday?” I asked.
“They don’t re-take the test,” she said, surprised at my question.
“They don’t?” I asked, even more surprised.
“No,” my boss responded, “Because what if they don’t pass the second time?”
Then they have a pretty rotten teacher! I thought to myself. I didn’t say anything but finally understood how my students got to Level 3 when they didn’t know many things that Level 2 students had mastered.
Later that day, I read “Leading From Any Chair”. I remembered my ESOL training through Cambridge University and how in one practice round, the trainer corrected me because I was towering of my students instead of crouching down to their desks. So which way is better? Do I stand or do I sit? Well, I stand while I teach when I need to write on the board or when the class activity naturally requires it. Otherwise, I feel honored to be “at the same level” as my students. What’s so important about standing? Is it to exert an aurora of leadership? If I’m an effective teacher, can’t I teach well from any part of the room? Evidently, standing up = effective teacher or energy or good communication or established authority for my boss. I, on the other hand, measure my success “from the twinkle in their eyes” (Ben Zander). I know that relating to my students (who are often far more accomplished or wealthy than I am) and respecting them as individual people gives me a connection with them and opens the gates to their hearts so that they will be motivated to listen to me talk about the fundamentals of English grammar. I also don’t need to stand to get control or to grab their attention. I can whisper, and they’re all ears because in the midst of the most complex grammar formula, I can insert content that touches their hearts and arouses their curiosity…and makes the keep coming back for more.
To keep my job, I’ll be sure to stand every time my boss comes around and CERTAINLY when the content inspires it. To keep my students, I’ll keep making their eyes twinkle.

Week 3- Post #2 Response to Sue Calland

Sue- I think that we are both very similar in our idea of having fun in our classrooms! If I am making a fool out of myself, it usually means my students will remember what I am teaching them. I know you usually use raps in your class, my greatest memory is doing the Metric Shuffle. My students have never laughed so hard in my classroom and I am pretty sure I have never been so humiliated in my whole life. However, my students from 3 years ago still see me and say “do you remember that day!?”


Original Post:
In reading the four chapters, one main concept I am taking away is that fact that it is always more important to ask what makes a group lively and engaged instead of asking how good am I. The students will definitely learn more if they are engaged and the focus is on them, not on the instructor. My students seem to react when I admit to not knowing something that they ask or admit that I made a mistake. Students also react very positively if one of their ideas is accepted and used.


Rule number 6: Don’t take your self so seriously! I have found in my classroom that my students respond in a positive manner when I am in a better, lighter mood than when I am too serious. The same amount of learning still gets accomplished, but laughter makes them relax and more willing to take a risk. I agree that if students can give up their pride, they stand a lot better chance of learning than if they let their pride get in the way. My students may laugh at me when I do crazy things, but they love it all the same.


Giving Way to Passion: The teacher I have taught across the hall from for 14 years is retiring and she is a perfect example of having passion for what she does. In this last year of her 39 year career, she still goes at it full force. She is very passionate for reading and language arts and can still get kids excited about reading even if they aren’t good readers. She has a gift for not holding back.


I guess it is what it is

Week 3 Reading- Art of Possibility Chapters 5-8

While reading this week Rule #6 stood out to me with blinking lights and whistles sounding, don’t take yourself so seriously! This year was my first year in a co-teach setting and working with another person all day everyday is not an easy task. The story of the business partners really made me think. We both want the same thing; we just reach that goal in different ways. My co teacher and I do really like each other, and have a lot in common. The fact is we both want to be right and we both want the best for our students. Over the past year we have figured this out, although it has not always been easy. Team work almost ALWAYS requires Rule #6!!

Week 2 Post #4- Wimba

After sending my family off to the airport, insteading of viewing the live Wimba I had to view the archive of the Wimba session. This Wimba once again covered the copyright laws and fair use. I am still a little confused on some of the ideas, but from what I gathered I think I may always be. However this class has given me the knowledge needed to answer a variety of questions my students could have about copyright while working on a project.
I did appreciate the discussion of creative commons and how to use the images from their site.

Week 2- Post #3 Response to David Holter

Response:
David-
I really like your idea that the "filters" of what you see and perceive are often uncontrollable and learned by friends and family. I also feel this connects with the idea of grades and school. Many of my students who don't "care" about school or their grades have no support at home and their parents never cared about their grades either. This is a cycle that is often difficult to break a student of. They often feel that because their parents did not do well in school they cannot either.


Original Post:




In The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander the reader is confronted with an interesting spin on self help for life adjustment. The main story line of the book is actually broken into stories that help support the through line and theme. After reading the introduction and first four practices I have been impressed with the authors’ abilities in sharing moving, eye witness stories about life and the obstacles of human nature. The book is meant to be a guide for practice and each story supports the need for or outcomes of each practice.


I like that the purpose is to identify in my life the examples shared and then practice ways to see the world differently. I have always been a believer in the notion that the world around me is created by my thoughts and desires. The reality I live in is simply my perception of the world and I have built into me a set of filters that allow me to see things based on my tendencies. I think the first part of the book is hinting at the idea that these filters are many times uncontrollable and learned from family, friends, and the many communities in which we belong.


The ideas presented by the authors about giving an A are most interesting to me. I work in an environment where students are unmotivated by the success of good grades in school. Parents are less interested in celebrating academic achievements and students in turn take things less serious. This environment presents many challenges that I think this book can help to address. To this point I have been using grades as the only factor of success in my courses. In the reading the authors share ideas about grades by telling a story of a pedagogical technique for motivating students to work hard to earn a grade. The idea is that students write a letter to the instructor as if they had just received an A at the completion of the course. The students are to outline everything they did during the time of the course to earn that A. The instructor then uses that criteria to challenge the students by saying they will earn that grade if they complete their own list. I am moved by this because the student takes control of their education and is motivated by the ability to learn what they want.


I am very excited to continue reading and finding ways to use these practices in my everyday life. Check out the book here!

Week 2- Post #2 Response to Sue Calland

Response:
The situation Heather faced was something that one of my students faced this year in french class. They were asked to create a calendar using words that they learned in their cycle of French. He decided to use some of the extra words they had learned (as they spoke during class) and was docked points. His parents and I had to fight to get the student a better grade. In the end we got the grade changed but the teacher still did not see the problem with what he had done. This student is now terrified of not following the directions to the T, for fear of losing points. I feel like the stress of getting the A often takes the creativity out of work for the students.






Original Post:


"One Buttocks Player" and "I Give You An A"






First of all, Benjamin Zander is a wonderful speaker and extremely easy to listen to. I was a bit confused in the beginning of the video with what exactly a “One Buttock Player” was, but then I caught his point. You need to look at the whole, not at the individual parts.
Being a science teacher, I am constantly telling my kids to think outside the box.


One quote from the book that stuck with me was, “…even science relies on our capacity to adapt to new facts by radically shifting the theoretical constructions we previously accepted as truth.” Although I do completely agree that a world without measurement would be really nice and relaxing, I do not feel it is actually realistic. The author states, “You are more likely to be successful, overall, if you participate joyfully with projects and goals and do not think your life depends on achieving the mark because then you will be better able to connect to people all around you.” One point Zander makes is that if grades were not given, people would be more willing to take a risk. However, I feel that also needs to be understood by the instructor. My sophomore daughter decided to challenge herself on her Spanish assignment. She refused to take the easy way by using given phrases and really worked hard on her assignment, but made some mistakes with it and was docked points for doing so. If she had stuck with the easier phrases, she would have achieved all of the points for her grade. That instructor was teaching her to just do it the easy way and don’t challenge yourself because then you will get a better grade. In my classroom, when I ask a student a question that they do not know the answer or to think they don’t know, I tell them to just give it a try, the worst thing that can happen is they are wrong and if they haven’t been wrong yet today they should try being in my life! This usually relaxes them and they give it a try. They frequently surprise themselves with being right or having a new way to look at something.


As I continued to read through chapter 3 I realized that the authors were not strictly referring to a grade, but to a teacher’s encouragement of his/her students and the manner in which the classroom is run and allowing students to be contributors.


I just hope that I can rescue one starfish!

Week 2 Reading- Art of Possibility Chapters 1-4

This weekend, I was away at an all day, all weekend workshop on Horseshoe Crabs. I was reading the Art of Possibility during my breaks, and was really struck by the third chapter- Stepping Into A Universe of Possibilities. For anyone who doesn’t know, the horseshoe crab has been around for about 445 million years!! Theses fascinating creatures can only be found in 4 locations in the world and the greatest density happens to be in my “back yard” (about an hour from my house). As I stood on the edge of the Delaware bay this weekend, holding on of these amazing creatures, I was left thinking about the quote, “ virtually everybody wakes up in the morning with the unseen assumption that life is about the struggle to survive and get ahead in a world of limited resources.” Do these creatures think the same thing!?! This book is all about the possibilities of life and what we make of it. I feel as though this weekend as well as this reading, helped refocus me on what is important I have spent the last 11 months worrying about getting an A and so focused on technology and what is next that I forgot to really look at the world and what is has to offer.

Week 1 Post #4- Free Choice- Week Reflection

My mom and I
at my wedding last June

This week I must be honest and say there were just not enough hours in the day to do everything I needed to get done. The list is so long I will not bore anyone, but some of the highlights would include a visit from my dad and grandmother (who live about 10 hours away), helping coordinate an NJ ASK (state test) Pep Rally, as well as mother’s day. I am concerned about having enough time this month, and I am worried about getting everything done on time and with the quality I expect of myself. This week I am hoping to have time and figure out what I need to get done for the next few weeks.  I also need to clarify what I have to do for the week 4 project.  Hopefully this week will be a little more calm than last week... but with state testing starting tomorrow morning, it should be interesting. :) 

Week 1- Post #3 Response to Pat Ort

Response:
Pat-
I have to completely agree with you. When I create things for school (both FSO and work), I am never completely sure if it is something I am allowed to use. Since beginning FSO, I have also learned about sites such as creative commons and iStock, but they are often more difficult to find exactly what you are looking for or cost money. I would love to create a list of copyright free websites for my students to use for future projects.

Original Post:
I think teachers really get squeezed when it comes to copyright because many don’t know where to look for copyright free material that is also cost free. The Internet is a really big place, and resources that seem obvious to some are not all that easy to find for others. FSO has really helped me with that this year. As other students have shared resources, I have finally begun to find places to get music that my students can use and which don’t cost me anything. I still need to broaden that list of resources, though.


The drive to integrate technology into the classroom puts teachers and students in situations where they may need music or images they can’t make themselves. Digital natives resist the idea that they can’t share the things they find on in the Internet freely, and in any way they like. I have spent all year reinforcing the idea that you can’t use someone else’s work without their permission. We are doing better, but often kids have a specific image or piece of music in mind when they think up a project. When they find out they can’t use those things, they have a hard time coming up with alternatives. Actually, sometimes so do I. I needed medieval music for my class movie. I did purchase some music from iStock Photo, but it was a very limited selection. And no. I can’t make that in Garage Band.


I use online videos a lot, embedding them in my school web pages or blog. I could never create all of that myself. The rules about copyright can be a little slippery, too. Colleges, for example, can do some things that K-12 can’t, and vice-versa. And the rules change. I have required my students to use copyright free sources and to document their sources. However, it is still hard to be sure every item is safe and to check every student’s sources.

Week 1- Post #2 Response to Ashlee Park

Response:
Ashlee-
I have to completely agree with you that I find the copyright laws to be a little scary and intimidating. I really feel as though copyright is something that needs to be brought into more conversations so that people know what the rules are, and not just find out the hard way after they have used something incorrectly. As the previous comments said this is something that needs to be taught in not only college, but I really feel as though it should be taught along with plagiarism.


Original Post:
Copyright is not something that I have ever really discussed with anyone. This doesn’t mean that I don’t feel that its important because I feel that everyone should receive credit for the work or time they put into something. During all my college classes plagiarism has always been the hot topic. Never, until I attended Full Sail, had I been advised to look for copyright protected works.
I can honestly say that I didn’t know much about the subject until over the past year and more so now after watching videos and reading articles. I am glad that works can be protected, but I am also amazed at the consequences. It is a little scary to me. Copyright laws actually make me want to only use things that I create myself.

Week 1 Reading- Copyright Issues Post #1

Throughout my entire education, I have always been warned to be careful of plagiarism, but I was never told about copyright, until I came to Full Sail. It was mentioned within the first few weeks of class and was always talked about, but I feel like I found out more about copyright than I have in the past. It is very overwhelming to me, as are many of the laws you read about/research. I wish that there were a more simple way for the general public to be able to view and under stand the copyright laws as well as fair use.

I really enjoyed the videos we had to watch this week. Although they contained a huge amount of information, they were not overwhelming and it was nice to have a lighter way to present the information. I really liked the fair use “Fairy tale.” As a child of the 90’s, I grew up watching many of these videos.