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Professional Learning Plan

Professional Learning Plan

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Did you learn everything you set out to?

Initially, I set out to learn more about student blogging, social networking and web design. I definitely feel I have learned a lot about those topics. I feel comfortable enough to teach others about those programs/ideas. 

What did you learn that you didn’t anticipate learning?

I learn so much in this class. When I look at the list it seems impossible, but I am quite proud and empowered: Podcasting, screencasting, personal blog, Prezi, Glogster, bubble, QR codes, word clouds, creative commons, webquests, imovie, mixbook, TPACK, UDL, voicethread, PLN, the list goes on…

Are there still some things you are interested in learning more about?

I am interested in learning more about iPads, Smart Board Notebook software, classroom web design and/or wiki site design. 

What other literature or theory do you want to connect with?

I am so passionate about Gender Specific Learning and excited to teach an all girls class this fall. I find myself challenged to meet the needs of boy learners. I would love to read more literature about how technology can meet the needs of how boys learn.  

How are you going to take what you learned here and integrate it into your personal and professional workflows?

I am going to share tools with my technology committee and peer teachers. I plan on hosting tutorials to staff, because I often find it’s the fear of the unknown in operating a program/tool that usually stops teachers from using technology. If I can spend twenty minutes a week showing another teacher how to use a program I think I will open many teachers to the idea of TPACK.  

What specific goals do you have between now and next summer in your teaching practice? How specifically do you plan to accomplish these?

I really want to fully develop my classroom website/blog. I plan to develop my website individually on a weekly basis. I am very excited to incorporate student blogging in our reading and writing workshops. I plan to have my students participate in blogging every week. I am also looking forward to incorporating technology projects into our lab times. I plan to incorporate technology projects every three weeks in lab. 

Which goals do you think you can accomplish on your own, which do you need help with, and where might that help come from?

I feel confident in my ability to administer student blogging. I plan on getting help fusing technology tools with content from our school technology director, who is very knowledgeable on our curriculum. I plan on getting help on my classroom website from the technology committee leader, who has her own classroom website.

This I Believe Podcast

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When I look back to my original “This I believe” video I see connections between my initial statements and my current beliefs regarding technology, pedagogy and content. My video pointed out that teachers need to be willing “to adjust their paths”. This is especially true when it comes to my feelings about TPACK. TPACK is a huge mindset shift for educators, but I really think all educators need to do is be willing to try to incorporate technology, and sooner than later they will see the benefits it has on their pedagogy and content. I believe it’s my personal responsibility to be an advocate of promoting this mindset shift so that more educators can benefit from the TPACK model.

Another statement in my video was to “create links to collaborate.” I still believe in this statement, but after this cohort I am seeing the value in collaboration when it comes to TPACK. With our SIG group project and our group leadership project, I was able to see how sharing ideas and giving support to one another with technology tools produced more well rounded products and presentations, compared to when I worked alone. I believe that teachers need to collaborate on all levels, but especially with technology. If teachers don’t support each other in this journey of change then we will be more likely to have failure and it will take longer to change our education system. Change is necessary if we want to keep up with the digital natives in our classroom and if we want to meet needs of 21st century learners and prepare them for the digital age we live in.

In my video I also made the statement that I believe we should challenge each student. This directly ties in with keeping up with our digital native students. If we don’t offer technology to our students, then we simply our not keeping them as engaged as we possibly can. If we aren’t engaging them to the fullest capability then we can’t be challenging each of our students. Technology resources meet the needs of so many learners, such as auditory, hands on and visual learners. Traditional lecture and textbooks are only meeting the needs of students who learn one way, and it’s leaving the rest of our students behind.

In the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching article we read, it discusses how teaching styles affects different learners in relation to gender. Being that I was trained in gender specific learning, I have the belief that boys and girls learn differently and that we need to accommodate these differences as educators. Studies show that boys learn better from movement and hands on opportunities. So, I believe that incorporating TPACK meets this challenge directly.

Technology offers creation opportunities, hands on opportunities and flexibility, which are all things boys can benefit from. Girls can also benefit from what technology offers. But I believe it’s especially important that we focus on re-structuring education for boys, considering the research shows that traditional schooling is designed for how girls learn and therefore is failing the needs of many boys. This belief of challenging each child correlates directly with our studies on the Universal Design for Learning. I believe that frameworks such as UDL, helps teachers to be aware of exactly what we can do to meet the needs of all learners.

A final statement within my video was “Discover your layers of talent.” I still believe that it is important that teachers push themselves to new boundaries in the classroom. All teachers would benefit from having a well-rounded Personal Learning Network. Continual professional development that relates to TPACK helps to create teachers that are informed and more successful in the classroom. This professional development can be achieved by small steps such as participating in online learning. In the last four weeks, I have grown in my skills and knowledge through online learning, so I believe that other teachers could to. Outside of online learning, I believe teachers need to continually strive to make connections through resources such as blogging and twitter. I believe that technology leadership is necessary in order to move forward in transforming our schools. Many individuals within education have the talent that it takes to be technology leaders. I believe that schools need to place more of an emphasis on technology committees and technology leadership in order to fully integrate TPACK across the nation.

I also have developed new beliefs that were not mentioned in my initial video. I believe we have so many wicked problems in education that need to be attended to. From reading struggles, to ELL students, to outdated textbooks—we clearly have our hands full. I believe that best way to address these wicked problems is by implementing the TPACK framework. We are not reaching all of our students needs with traditional approaches. I believe students learn best when they are provided with creative outlets. When we solve our problems with technology we give our students a chance to be creative while solving wicked problems within our educational system.

I believe that as teachers we need to make the time to be our personal best. What that means in the 21^st century is teaching with the TPACK framework in mind and collaborating with others in order to be the best we can be.

Growing Up Online

I feel torn after watching Digital Nation and Growing Up Online. There were so many upsetting facts brought to my attention, from gaming addictions, cyber bullying to online anorexia forums. But then there were so many exciting things to hear about, from high schools being helped by technology to people creating positive identities online. This mixed review of feelings is often how I feel about technology.

I am sometimes scared of the disconnection the technology age is causing. The videos pointed out the harsh reality of teenagers living a hidden life that can sometimes be damaging to themselves. But at other times, I am so excited of what I can create digitally, and more importantly what my students can do with technology. I found these videos to be empowering because the films didn’t necessarily side with pro-technology or anti-technology. Instead, the films offered a variety of information and examples that allowed the viewer to be more educated on our digital world.

I feel this video helps to point our largest problem with living in a digital age: Finding a balance. The Korean gamer section of Digital Nation was really eye opening. We have to wonder if technology is always a positive if it can bring us to a point of addiction. This sad truth makes it that much more important for teachers to promote healthy technology use. But, the reality is that is comes down to parent support of appropriate technology use. This, as the movies reveal, can be such a juggle, especially when children are experiencing adolescence and are trying to find out who they are. 

In Digital Nation, we discover that bringing technology into a classroom can go as far as saving a failing school. We also saw how traditional teachers, who don’t incorporate technology, struggle to keep digital natives engaged in the classroom. This reminds of me of teachers I have met in my undergraduate teaching experience. I feel that our top challenge as educators is keeping our student engaged.

I think back to classrooms I observed in that didn’t have technology integration and to the ones that did. I have to say; the students were more engaged where there was technology. I recall a classroom that used audio books with mp3 players. I remember the sense of excitement from the students from this new opportunity. Although the effort was small, the student reaction was big. Although we have to be careful of how we use technology, we clearly can’t be afraid of using it in our classrooms.

I feel that in my short two years of teaching I have proven to myself that technology can bring great things to our students. In my first year of teaching, I didn’t have the time to embrace technology use as much. This past year, I taught my students how to use more programs, how to run the smart board, how to manage audio books, how to properly use Accelerated Reader and track their own progress, etc. With just a few added elements of technology, I felt a better sense of engagement from my students. I also attribute my increased test scores to technology tools that I incorporated this past school year. I am so excited to see what the next few years brings as I learn more tools and methods to experiment with in my classroom.

Group Leadership Project

Project Reflection 

1.   What tool did your group use to deliver the PD tutorial?  Why?

My group implemented the use of three tools to create our final video PD tutorial. We used Keynote, a presentation tool, to create a slide show to display text information regarding copyright law, fair use and Creative Commons. We did this because we wanted to have some text in the tutorial to support visual learners that learn best from reading. We also incorporated the use of video footage of us at a school to act out scenarios that teachers often experience regarding copyright laws. We decided to use video footage to support auditory learners and individuals that learn best from examples. The final tool we used was Screen-o-Matic, which is a screen casting tool. We used this screen casting tool to describe how to understand Creative Commons images and to discuss a checklist that helps teachers know what they can use and how they can use it. We used Screen-o-Matic to support auditory and kinesthetic learners, because the screen cast provides an audio element and shows the viewers how to navigate Creative Commons images on Flickr. We also picked Screen-o-Matic because you can create longer screen casts and the program allows you to download the file so that you can put it into a video creation program. To combine these elements of our project we used Windows Live Movie Maker to create our final video product. We used Windows Live Movie Maker because it allowed for smooth transitions, music, combining stills of our slide show, and incorporating video footage along with our Screen-o-Matic footage.

2.   What did you learn during the development process of the final product?

During the development process of our final product I learned a few things. I learned how to manage the length of the Screen-o-Matic that I created. I learned that it’s very easy to talk too long when explaining how to do something. It’s important to keep things brief so that you don’t lose the attention of the viewer. I also learned that it’s important to keep screen casts simple, so that you don’t confuse a viewer. I learned that it’s important to have a pre-written script of what you are going to say on a screen-cast. Initially, I thought I could just explain creative commons from memory, but you need a script to sound organized This is similar to needing note cards to reference during a presentation. In regards to putting together the final movie, the group discovered the importance of not overwhelming the presentation with too much talking in order to support visual learners too. That’s why we decided to play music in the background for the slide show portion of the video instead of talking over the slides. We realized the benefit of incorporating music in the video for entertainment and engagement value. We also discovered the importance of transition slides, to keep the content connected and to allow the presentation to have a smooth flow.

3.   What would you do differently if you had to develop a similar product again?

If I had to develop a similar product again I would take time to do more research on the subject individually, instead of doing the research as a group. This is simply because doing research as a group is not always a good use of group work time. I would also incorporate another screen cast, because I find screen casts to be very user friendly and I think audiences often feel motivated to try the activity being modeled in the screen cast. I also think it would be helpful to include another video scenario, because I think viewers benefit from having real world examples given that they can relate to. The final element I would do differently is add images to our slide show to help them be more visual.

Wicked Problem Project

Educational Problem: The educational need in my wicked problem is to promote fluent literacy skills in the primary grade levels.  Many students are below grade level expectations when it comes to reading fluency and comprehension. This puts them behind as they move on in their educations. Students that never fully develop their reading skills are more at risk to drop out of school. Struggling readers are best reached in the primary grades to prevent continual struggles throughout their education.

Technology Solution: I propose a three-step program to help increase literacy skills of struggling readers. The first technology tool to employ is audio books. Audio books are proven to increase both reading fluency and comprehension.  Audio books allow students to replay specific passages multiple times, which eliminates the demand of a one on one instructor to practice fluency. But, audio books alone do not solve the wicked problem of struggling readers. To help create a purpose for reading and to test comprehension the full integration of the program Accelerated Reader(AR) is the next step in this proposal. This program offers online comprehension and vocabulary quizzes for students after completion of reading an audio book. Teachers need to include AR as a part of their daily routine, otherwise the students will not buy into the program and therefore it will not be as effective. The AR quizzes track student progress towards individual goals and also allows teachers to track students’ individual progress. The final technology step is to have students blog on comprehension prompts. This blogging will increase student motivation and will allow the student to make meaningful connections in order to promote real world learning. This is an alternative to paper and pencil responses, which aren’t as effective because they don’t allow easy student tracking of progress and instant peer feedback. All the above steps are reasonable approaches that are low to zero cost. Teachers are able to rent audio books for free from local libraries, many schools are enrolled in Accelerated Reader and student blogging is free.

TPACK Applicaitons: Blog Part B 


Intended Audience: This presentation and solution was specifically designed for my fellow teachers at my school. I designed the solution with our resources in mind (such as AR). I also designed the PowerPoint presentation with our staff in mind. I gave specific instructions on accessing programs we use and standardized tests we administer. I think this program will help solve the problem of having many students below grade level. At my school we are expected to move students in reading ability, not matter what their intital scores are. Moving our lowest students is the most difficult. Although we have programs such as AR, we weren't provided with professional development to employ such programs. My Prezi legitimates the use of my program by discussing TPACK framework. But, more specifically, my PowerPoint presentation offers a guide for teachers to set up a reading intervention program in their classrooms. By hearing my Prezi, teachers will be convinced of the methods I have chosen for my program. By exploring my PowerPoint teachers will have a detailed plan to implement reading support in their classrooms.


Power Point Presentation:

Wicked problempowerpoint

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Presentation Transcript: Do you ever worry about your students’ reading abilities? Do you worry that too many of your students are reading below grade level? Do you find it challenging to get your students engaged in reading? If you answered yes to any of these questions than this presentation is for you. You are not alone: Many students across the nation are below grade level expectations when it comes to reading fluency and comprehension. This puts our students behind as they move on in their educations. Students that never fully develop their reading skills are more at risk to drop out of school. Many educators would agree: This is what we call a wicked problem!

So, what do we do about this wicked problem? I am proposing a three-step technology integrated program to help increase literacy skills of struggling readers. The first technology tool to employ is audio books. Audio books are proven to increase both reading fluency and comprehension. The next step in this proposal is the full integration of the program Accelerated Reader(AR). AR helps create a purpose for reading and to test comprehension skills. This program offers online comprehension and vocabulary quizzes for students after completion of reading a book. The final technology step is to have students blog on comprehension prompts. This blogging will increase student motivation and will allow the student to make meaningful connections in order to promote real world learning.

I have presented a few elements for this plan. Now lets talk about the logistics of this plan. This program will need to be used on a daily basis with quarterly tracking of progress. The program can be implemented as a workshop where pairs of students take turns using computers for audio books while other students read independently. Another computer can be used for AR quizzes and comprehension blogging. The program will be most effective in 2^nd-5^th grade classrooms, where students are still developing reading skills. Teachers will need to implement this plan throughout the entire year. This will allow students to meet quarterly AR goals, move up in reading levels due to audio book support, and track their personal growth of blogging responses. I have created a detailed step by step power point that outlines the set up and implementation of this plan. By clicking this last photo you will be able to access a link to the powerpoint.

You may have already noticed, each step of this program integrates the use of technology. It’s important that we employ technology into education for many reasons. We need to prepare our students for the 21^st century and for their future careers. Technology offers alternative learning strategies to meet Universal Design for Learning principles, which help us meet the needs of ALL learners. I would like to take some time to talk about how this program meets the need of a concept called TPACK. TPACK refers to the concept of fusing technology, pedagogy and content together. In other words, how teachers can teach with technology to support their content, rather than simply adding technology into a lesson.

Audio books might seem like a simple tool, but if you look more closely you’ll discover how audio books supports the TPACK framework. First, let’s discuss how audio books support technological pedagogy knowledge. By using audio books, readers are able to hear audio books being read to them. Auditory reading is proven to be a key element in learning to read. An additional element that audio books offers is that it takes away the stress and anxiety that struggling readers often experience. Eventually, students are able to see that they can have success with reading and later down the road become more competent independent readers. Audio books also support technological content knowledge. This program also encourages new representations of content by way of technology. Audio books offer an audio version of books, which is a new approach compared to independent reading. This representation variety correlates directly with the UDL framework, as it offers variety in order to meet the needs of ALL learners.

Audio books also support pedagogical content knowledge. In this program, students experience literacy in a variety of ways. Audio books allow students to experience the literature in an auditory sense. Students are set on their own self-guided tour, so to speak. They experience the success of comprehending the books and passing quizzes with the assistance of audio books.

Let’s move onto to looking at how Accelerated Reader meets TPACK requirements. Comprehension quizzes through AR correlated with Technological Pedagogical Knowledge. Testing our students understanding of what they read is essential. This program offers quizzes on almost any current book, so it therefore provides variety. Variety means differentiation. AR is designed so that students are reading the right books, and are moving up in their reading ability as time goes on. Making sure our students are reading the correct level literature is key pedagogical practice, and these above mentioned technology methods directly meet this need. This program also allows student to pick books that interest them within their level, which meets the UDL principle of providing individual choice.

AR offers online quizzes that provide instant feedback, which ties into Technological Content Knowledge. The instant feedback is a positive representational change for both the teacher and the student. Lastly, AR also connects to Pedagogical Content Knowledge. The pedagogical choices in this program correspond with producing fluent readers. As mentioned before, in this program, students experience literacy in a variety of ways. AR specifically allows the students to experience the literature by completing interactive comprehension quizzes. The AR tool gives students assurance and evidence that they comprehend the literature they are reading.

Blogging is the final element within this program. Blogging also corresponds closely with the TPACK framework. Blogging connects to Technological Pedagogical Knowledge because it allows for personal responses using technology. Having students blog about their reading helps to build comprehension skills. It is important that we allow our students to speak to what they are reading, so that they can make authentic connections. Although this can be done with pencil and paper, the online blogging experience offers so much more. With online blogging students can organize their work overtime, it provides a progression of progress and most importantly it provides an easy source for discussion and feedback.

Blogging also connects to Technological Content Knowledge: Student blogging also offers a representational change: Students are now able to keep an online journal of their responses and refer back to comments and feedback. Lastly, blogging also correlates with Pedagogical Content Knowledge: As I keep mentioning students experience literature in a variety of ways in this program: But blogging in particular allows them the benefit of writing about their reading. With blogging, students they are able to express their excitement pertaining to their comprehension of literature. Blogging also allows students to express their pride as a result of experiencing success with reading. This is an example of self-regulation, which applies to the UDL framework.

This program allows students to experience the process of learning to become a fluent reader in a positive, differentiated manner. With this program, students wont lag in their reading experiences; instead, this TPACK integrated solution will allow all students to prosper in their reading. 

MPG: Word Cloud