Understanding Learners - CEP 800

Click Here to listen to my podcast on Understanding Reading from a first graders point of view!
The music for this podcast is called Sunshine A by Kevin MacLeod from http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/.


I enjoyed doing this assignment in the first few weeks of school. It really helped get me in the mode for teaching! I had only known the 3 interview subjects for about a week when I asked them to take part in my project. I chose a student who was reading above grade level, a student who was reading at grade level, and a student who was reading below grade level.

I thought it was interesting that my lower reader seemed the most confident with the answers given while my highest level reader was more reserved in giving answers. The students were thrilled to record their voice on the computer and were even more thrilled when I played the final project for the entire class!

I recieved many answers from the students that were obviously learned in school. For example, when asked how they read each gave the 3 ways they are taught in school...1. The pictures, 2. The words, 3. retelling. One student mentioned that the reason you read is because there is nothing else to do! Taking the time to stop and understand where my learners are coming from helped me formulate my lessons to get them excited about the next step and begin to fill in the blanks of learning to read.

When I asked them who do they read with not one said their teacher! I was glad to hear that each of them had a plan for reading at home however.

This assignment took a lot of time and energy to complete. I first typed up a transcript of each interview in different colored fonts and then cut and paste them together how i wanted it. i was then able to easily find each soundbite and put them together in an organized fashion. I found a piece of music that complemented the children's voices and helped add emotion to their words.

In the end I was very pleased with the resut of the podcast and I look forward to using the technique to present learning to parents and the students in the future at open houses and projects such as digital storytelling!

CEP 812 Final Reflection

• What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?

Modeling is very important when integrating technology into education. There will always be troubleshooting necessary, but much of that can be eliminated if the software or project is first modeled for the students. The focus should be on the curriculum first with technology being the tour guide to get you to the learning objectives. Avoiding as much troubleshooting as possible will help keep the focus on the goal.

When integrating technology the students become active learners. The teacher can become a guide many times as the student takes charge of their own learning.

• How did integrating web-based technologies help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?

Evaluating web based technologies would have been next to impossible without first integrating them on my own. Through using Google documents in the CEP courses, website creation tools, survey creators, blogs, delicious, and more I was able to learn about the technologies and truly evaluate them. Exploration of the web based technologies opened up my imagination to start thinking of different ways within my curriculum that these would be useful. I even extended my thinking to helping my husband out at work! Being a pool manager he now uses Google calendars to create his employee schedule and survey monkey to collect data/available dates for scheduling meetings and parties. I will be using Google calendars this upcoming school year to do my volunteer schedule, my website to communicate with parents, survey monkey to assess technology access, Microsoft Photo Story 3 to create digital stories, and more!

• How have you met your own personal goals for learning about technology integration?
I set four personal goals for myself when beginning my CEP courses.

1. To use technology in positive ways to deliver instruction.
2. To use technology to give students practice on concepts being taught.
3. To aide instruction, not just to use it.
4. To learn to use programs to their fullest potential.

Through the CEP courses I was able to reach each of these goals. Through my work on the WebQuest I was able to use web resources to positively deliver instruction. Through my StAIR I was able to use technology to give students practice on concepts being taught. Through my TechQuest I was able to use technology to aide instruction and not just for the sake of using technology. Through the tutorials I was able to learn a great deal more about the Microsoft programs and how to use them to their fullest potential.

These were all positive experiences that I can take away from these courses and use in the future. I have already used my WebQuest, StAIR, and part of the TechQuest with my students. The success with my students from this gives me encouragement to go forward with more of these types of lessons.

• Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?

My new goals are:
1. To continue researching web based technologies and finding uses for them in my classroom.
2. To continue research on Digital Storytelling and use it in my classroom this year.
3. To do more research on Digital Voice Recorders and set up a recording studio in my classroom by Fall 2011.
4. To update and use my website as a communication tool for my classroom.
5. To complete my MAET by the Spring of 2012.

TechQuest Evaluation

Given what I learned from this TechQuest, next time I approach a project of this type I would tackle my research a little differently. It was difficult to know where to begin so I just started searching how others used technology for my similar dilemma. I didn’t find those searches to be particularly useful. I found it much more useful to start thinking about what I already had available to me as far as resources at my school. As I researched those resources and ways to use them, I discovered other programs, often free downloads, people used for similar projects such as Microsoft Photo Story 3.

Grants are available, but if your problem can be solved using what you already have then go for it! I learned a lot more about the resources my school has ready and waiting for teachers to use such as Kidspiration through this project. Your school may already have what you are seeking. If not seek out a grant.

If I were to do this same project again, I would add an element in phase 2 for students to record their voices as they talk about their story in a prewriting setting. I was inspired by fellow group member Dina Matasovsky’s research and TechQuest project. She is implementing a Recording Studio into her classroom. I endeavor to do the same in my classroom through writing a grant for digital recorders as she mentions in her paper.

I would also add more mini lessons to Phase 4:Revising. There are so many different things you can do to a story to add style and voice. It would be useful for teachers to have a stock pile of revision mini lessons at hand to choose from.

In reflection, my students took writing more serious than ever before once they learned how they were going to digitally publish their stories. I saw beautiful thoughts and detailed sentences coming from my first graders. Next school year I look forward to implementing the TechQuest in its entirety and hopefully convincing my first grade team to all take part in this quest for improving our children’s writing using technology!

Implementation Plan Podcast

Click here to listen to my TechQuest Implementation Plan!

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Implementation Screenshots

The following screenshot is the 5 senses descriptive writing prompt

created in PowerPoint.

The following screenshot is an example of the student's final product of the brainstorming web made in Kidspiration.

The following is a screenshot of the template the students will use to create their brainstorming web in Kidspiration.

This is the treasure map created for the unit. Images were gathered at http://www.timtim.com/.

Internet Research for TechQuest Project

The results of my search...

My research began from watching television with my 3 year old niece. We were watching Dora the Explorer. I could see how excited she was to follow Dora's map to get to the end of the adventure. The map allowed her to see where they have been and where they are headed.

I began thinking that this may be one of the problems with the writing process. It is such a big undertaking that it is difficult to see where you have been and where you are headed... unless you have a map! This is where the analogy and treasure map idea was formed.

I took my idea and headed to the search engines to make the idea come to life. I first visited the Dora the Explorer Website. Dora is all about learning through adventure. They break the concept down into small steps that a child can wrap their head around. This was the direction I wanted to go with my TechQuest.

I then started researching how others have used technology in writing lessons. At a web page titled The Digital Camera in Education by Dr. Terence Cavanaugh & Dr. Catherine Cavanaugh I found a list of ways to use a digital camera in the classroom. One of the suggestions was to use a photo as a prompt for narrative or descriptive writing. I decided this was a great way to get students to notice their body language (face, arms, hands, legs... whole body!) and add it to their writing for style and voice.

I also found a site that explained some of the benefits of using and interactive whiteboard in the classroom titled Using Electronic Whiteboards in Your Classroom: Benefits. From that site you can link to a full text article written by Dr. Mary Ann Bell about the interactive whiteboard.

Prior to this course I didn't know much about digital storytelling. I found very useful definitions that helped spark my thinking at the Center for Digital Storytelling.

In my research on Digital Storytelling I came across the article, Introduction to Electronic Publishing: Planning Lessons: An Elementary and Secondary Teacher Share the Strategies That Work by Gayle Berthiaume and Michelle Bourgeois. They had great ideas on how to digitally publish children's stories. They suggest using KidPix as the illustration software. My school has access to KidPix so I thought that would be a great resource! I used what they suggested and tailored it to my own classroom needs. My first graders LOVE anthology books so I decided to go the route of a digital anthology containing stories from everyone in the class.

I also came across the website, Everybody has a Story to Tell: Digital Storytelling put out by Innovative Teaching Concepts. There were great examples of digital stories. The website lists applications to use and even provides downloads. After my students conquer a digital anthology with PowerPoint, I would love to introduce turning them into more movie like stories using Microsoft PhotoStory 3.

What I learned...

I learned that there are multiple search engines to use. I used Bing, Google, and Ask.com. I used many different phrases when searching. They turned up totally different results. "Writing in the first grade classroom", "Technology in the first grade classroom", "Using technology to teach writing", "digital storytelling", "digital cameras in education", "using PowerPoint with first grade".

Some of the searches turned up great results. Some of them failed to give me information that was useful to me project.

I also found that links within helpful pages proved to be helpful as well! Once I found a good page it seemed that the pages they suggested were also useful.

I learned that there are many ways to go about digital story telling. There are so many that you could have a different treasure at the end of the map each time! It keeps it new and exciting for the children and teacher.

Project Description Final

TechQuest

The Problem of Practice:

The compelling problem of practice I am addressing is student's not taking ownership of their writing and seeing a quality piece through to the end.

My first graders have a difficult time applying the skills we have been working on all year for the writing process in Writer's Workshop to their written pieces. The students typically remember part of what is learned at different times. When it all has to come together it is difficult for them to apply the writing process.

They don't understand that a good author rereads, reflects on, and edits their pieces. They often forget that writing is meant to be read, not just pushed aside after they have filled their page. I want their writing to be something they are proud of and want to showcase.

Learning how to be a good writer is an important skill. It is part of the literacy equation to build good readers and thinkers. It helps with storytelling and expression. Writing and being able to put coherent thoughts together is an important life skill that they will need all through schooling and in future professions.

Plan for Solution: The Quest For Buried Treasure

The proposed solution is to break up the writing process into a series of technology based mini-lessons to complete during a Writer's Workshop unit. Everyone has a story. The problem is they are buried deep inside us as treasures waiting to be found. These mini-lessons will see the students brainstorming, writing a rough draft, revising, editing, and publishing in the form of a Digital Anthology as they set out on their quest for buried treasure.

The students will receive a treasure map that has all of the mini lesson titles on it as stops. After successfully completing each lesson the child will receive a sticker to place on their map signifying completion of the task. The treasure map will lead the way to the final project for the unit where they will get to showcase their treasure of a story. I will also create the map in interactive Notebook Software to be displayed on the SmartBoard. An icon of a ship will travel around the map to the different mini-lessons so the students have a visual of their progress toward the completion of their project.

Phase 1: Brainstorming Ideas

• Lesson Title: Choosing Your Vessel
• The first thing needed to write a story is an idea. This idea, like the ship or vessel that takes an adventurer to their treasure, will be your vessel as you go through each step of the writing process looking for that amazing story. All of the decisions you make will depend on which idea you choose. This idea will be what you use for your travels in this unit.
• Using Kidspiration the children will record their great ideas for writing by creating an easy to read diagram.
• The student will start with their name in the center of a web diagram template. Arrows will point out from the center to create an empty web. The students will add text or clipart images of ideas they have for writing.
• Example: If the student would like to write about the time their dog jumped in the pool they may add clipart of a dog and a pool at the end of the arrow. Or they may also choose to add a text box that reads, "When my dog jumped in the pool"
• The student will fill in all of the empty arrows with small moment ideas from their own lives. They may scroll through clipart toi trigger ideas.
• When the student's web is complete it will be printed and kept in their writing folder.
• They will choose one of the topics to write about for this project.

Phase 2: Brainstorming Ideas for the Written Rough Draft

• Lesson Title: Laying Out The Plan
• An adventurer wouldn't set out for their burried treasure without a plan first! What route will they take...what should they bring along...what supplies do they need? The same is true for us as writers. We don't want to jump into writing our stories without first thinking about our idea and making a plan for what needs to be included.
• On day one, the students will draw a picture to use when writing their story. They will be instructed to both draw and label.
• On day two, the students will be instructed to add to their drawing through a simple PowerPoint slide show. The slide show will consist of slides with simple icons to prompt them to add specific information/labels to their pictures.
• Slide 1 - Eye: What did you see?
• Slide 2 -Ear: What did you hear?
• Slide 3 - Mouth: What did you or others say?
• Slide 4- Nose: What did you smell?
• Slide 5- Hand: What did you touch or feel?

**Take a photo of the child making a face they made at the time of the event depicted in their story. Encourage the child to let the emotion they felt take over their body as you snap the photo. This will be used in phase 4.

Phase 3: Writing the Rough Draft

• Lesson Title: The First Record of Our Journey
• And adventurer always takes notes and records what happens along the way. The same is true for writers! We need to begin recording our ideas in writing. This is called a rough draft.
• Model for the children how you use the ideas in your own picture to write a story. Have the children write a rough draft of their story.

Phase 4: Revising

• Lesson Title: Things Are About To Get Interesting!
• In this phase the children will revise their written piece over the course of a few days to make it more interesting. Each day will include various ways for the children to add style and voice to their writing.
• Using editing pens the children will add the following items to their story.

1. Adding Body Language and Emotion - The children will use the photograph of themselves to add emotion to their story. They will pay close attention to their body and facial expressions. (Example: My eyes opened wide. My mouth dropped open. My fingers curled up into fists.)
2. Adding Simile - Read as Quick as a Cricket. Discuss with the class what the boy means when he is comparing himself to the different animals. Show the beginning of the clip from You Tube, Rock and Learn. Challenge the kids to add a simile to their story.
3. Adding Onomatopoeia- Show the You Tube Video, Onomatopoeia Story. Discuss the effect of possibly repeating the chosen word. Example: Drip...drop...drip...drop...) Challenge the kids to add an onomatopoeia to their story. Challenge the kids to find a word or phrase that would have a good effect if repeated.
4. Adding interesting words - Show part of the Rock and Learn video where she chooses to add words with more interest. Challenge the children to find at least three places in their story where they used a boring word and change it to add interest.

Phase 5- Editing

• Lesson Title: Wrong Turn
• On an adventure it is easy to accidentally take a wrong turn. This happens to writers too! Writers get so excited about the words they have written that they forget to pay attention to conventions. That's okay. We can always go back and fix it.
• On the interactive white board choose sentences from stories the children wrote. Invite the children up to the board to fix the sentences. Focus on uppercase letters, spacing, punctuation, and spelling. With a partner, children look at their own stories and edit mistakes.

Phase 6 - (1) Publish in Writing (2) Publish as a Digital Anthology

• Lesson Title- Treasure at Last!
• It is always exciting to finally find that treasure you have been searching for! As writers you have been working hard to unbury the story deep inside you. Congratulations! You did it! Adventurers never keep the treasure hidden once they find it. The want to show it off. As a writer you should too.
• (1) Write a final copy of the story in the form of a paper book complete with a cover, dedication, and illustrations.
• (2) In PowerPoint create a Digital Anthology for the kids.
• Step 1 - Using KidPix, have the students create an illustration. This will be used in the anthology.
• Step 2- The students will each create 2 slides for this project. The first is a title and author slide with the picture of themselves they used in phase 4 inserted. The second slide is the image they created in KidPix. The students will record their voice reading their title and name on the first slide. They will read their story on the second slide.
• Teacher will format the PowerPoint with Action Buttons in a way that in the final copy of the Digital Anthology you may choose from a list which story you want to hear. This will be done from the first slide and then through action buttons the listener will be returned to the list after each story so they can choose another to hear.
• Each child will take home a burned CD of the Digital Anthology. The school library will also get a copy. Select stories may be played on the morning video announcements.

Plan for Implementation During This Course:

During this course I will be creating the treasure map, the template in Kidspiration for Phase 1, the PowerPoint Slides for Phase 2, Create template for Digital Anthology in Phase 6. I am currently teaching school in a year round program. During this course I will be implementing the digital anthology portion of the project with our end of the year writing project that we have already started. Next School year I would like to implement the TechQuest in its entirety.

Writing can be an overwhelming process for children. I am constantly looking for ways to make it an exciting and enjoyable experience for the children. I believe that looking at the writing process as an adventure will help the children keep their excitement as they stick with their writing to the end. By tackling the writing process one piece at a time the children will see it as small, fun tasks rather than a big looming cloud over them. The technology I have chosen for these tasks are things many of the children will come into class familiar with. They are also techno0logies that I already have access to in my school so cost will not be an issue.

Relevant Internet Resources:

1. Links to You Tube Videos within the Phases
2. Digital Story Teller - This website explains what a digital story teller is. This is what my students will be doing through their Digital Anthology.
3. Using digital camera's in the classroom - This teacher used a camera for writing. His project is much different from mine, but I was able to take what he used and change it to suit my needs.
4. Interactive White Board - This site tells some of the benefits of using the interactive white board with students.
5. Stories Going Digital - The Lesson laid out here is not exactly like mine. She talks about a few ways her kids make their stories into digital presentations. I wanted to have my students read their story into the computer so they could hear themselves reading it out loud. There are great ideas on this site that I would try in a different lesson, or for a different "treasure" at the end of a unit.

Someone Teaching -

• I will be teaching my first graders how to stick with a piece of writing through the writing process as they turn a piece of the writing into a piece to be proud of and showcase.

Someone Learning -

• The students will be learning how to use the writing process to produce quality writing.

Some Subject Matter -

• The Writing Process

In Some Setting -

• Elementary School Classroom

TechQuest Problem of Practice Draft #1

The Problem of Practice:

The compelling problem of practice I would like to focus on with my students is taking ownership of their own writing. (Writing a good piece that reflects the authors style/voice & reading it fluently.)

My first graders are having a hard time applying the skills that we have been working on all year in Writer's Workshop to their written pieces. The students typically remember part of what is learned at different times. When it all has to come together it is difficult for them to remember the steps to take and what to look for such as conventions, beginning/middle/end, spelling, and adding style and voice.

They don't understand that a good author rereads and edits their piece. They often forget that writing is meant to be read not just pushed aside after they have filled their page. I want their writing to be something they are proud of and want to showcase. They need to be able to read their writing fluently for understanding and content. This skill also carries over to reading other authors and texts fluently.

Learning how to be a good writer is an important skill. It is part of the literacy equation to build good readers and thinkers. It helps with storytelling and expression. Writing and being able to put coherent thoughts together is an important life skill that they will need all through schooling and in future professions.