EDLD 5366 Reflections I have enjoyed working on the projects in this class. I have learned so much through out this course. I have learned different aspects of design that I had not even thought about before. In the first assignment, we had to create a product that reflected the four aspects of design, C.R.A.P. At first I thought this would be a simple assignment because I chose to create a business card. It was simple, but I learned that you really have to take in consideration the four design concepts so that your product looks good. In the next week, I enjoyed creating my own logo. When working with these projects, I got many ideas that I could use in my own classroom with my students. I know they would enjoy working with technology and creating fun assignments. When it came to working with my classmates on the group project, it went very well. I was able to work with a group of people who work well with others. Each person brought their own strengths to the assignment. Sometimes working in groups can be a little grueling, but not with my group. Each member took the assignment seriously and did their part to make the web page look very professional and contain great content. I am not the best when it comes to technology, so it was great working with people who were very sure of their abilities and who were very helpful.

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Reflection

July 1, 2012

For this web conference, I was able to view the recording.  At the beginning of the conference, Dr. Abernathy acknowledged that she had met one of our classmates at the ISTE conference in California.  She also mentioned that she is not a "gotcha" person.  She is not wanting to set us up for failure.  She is here to work with us and make us successful so that we can take what we are learning back to our classrooms for our students. She also reminded us to make sure that we are documenting our group collaborations in our google documents.  She also cleared up a question that I had about the week 3 and week 4 assignments.  Basically, the week 4 assignment is the same as the week 3, except you make editing changes in week 4. She also made mention of dropbox and sugarsync.  Two tools to use to share information with your group members for the project.

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Reflection

June 5, 2012

I was not able to physically attend the web confernce this week.  I was however able to view and listen to the audio.  At the beginning of the session, Dr. Abernathy's grandson happened to be visiting and she introduced him.  You could tell that family is important to her and she mentioned that she wants all of us to be apart of each other's lives.  This made her seem more approachable and relateable.  I appreciated that.  During the web conference she helped to clear up questions about the discussion board assignments.  It is set up a little differently than previous classes.  She explained that we don't need to add a quote, but that we need to add our script for the digital story and to respond to another classmates script.

EDLD 5363 Multimedia Video Technology- My Digital Story


This was a fun project.  I learned many things about video technology that I previously had not known.  It was also a good project for me to reflect on some personal things in my life.  I can not wait to implement what I have learned in my classroom.  I know that students will really enjoy working with this technology and sharing information about themselves.

EDLD 5301 Final Reflections During this course, I have learned many things about action research.  The approach is a little different from the traditional research that I have conducted in past programs.  This approach makes the research a little more personal in my opinion.  Coming up with a topic in the beginning, was a little difficult, because it was all so new, but once I targeted the topic, it made it less difficult.  I think it was less difficult because I made a personal connection to the action research.  It was something that I was concerned with.  There were many aspects of this course that were beneficial.  The lectures were helpful because the professors actually explained what the topics were for the week and gave more insight to the lessons to be learned for the week.  It helped to put things into perspective.  The readings were also helpful.  It was beneficial to have the text to refer back to on specific topics.  The texts were fairly easy to follow also.  The language used was user friendly and easy to understand.  Using the discussion boards and the blogs were probably the most beneficial parts of this course for me.  It allowed me, and I’m sure others, to view other classmates’ ideas.  This gave me a chance to see if what I was doing or thinking was in line with other people’s thoughts and ideas.  I appreciated this because there were a few occasions where I was stuck or unsure about some of my ideas.  When I viewed other people’s ideas on the discussion board and their action plans on the blogs, it allowed me to see that I was on track with everyone else.  The feedback from the peers was so helpful.  Overall, I felt that the assignments were on target.  I felt that the assignments were not difficult at all.  I appreciated the fact that I was not spending all night trying to complete them.  Maybe I feel this way because the assignments were geared towards working on my action research, and since it was a topic that I chose, I didn’t mind working on it too much.  Nevertheless, I didn’t feel overwhelmed like I have in the past with other classes.  One last thing that stood out to me was watching the videos from week 2 with the school leaders.  Hearing their insight helped to make action research real to me.  They helped to show how what we are researching is being used in our educational systems.  Dr. Kirk Lewis, the Superintendent of Pasadena ISD really said it best for me when he said that when doing research, researchers need to consider “what is practical for you.”  He helped me to put things into perspective.  If I am researching something that is meaningful to me, then I am going to be more interested in the outcome of the research and my students will definitely benefit more.

Action Research Plan Revision

Wanda Smith Action Research Plan EDLD 5301 ET8044
Goal: To determine if using an online reading assessment program, Study Island, can help improve student achievement in reading as well as increase their motivation to learn.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Students take a survey on how they feel about reading	Wanda Smith	August 2012	Survey
Students will take the pretest assessment for Study Island	Wanda Smith,	September 2012 December 2012	Study Island Computers/laptops	After students complete the pretest assessment.  The results will show areas of weaknesses. This will help to determine which areas students will focus on.
Students will work on objectives that they scored low in.  They will try to improve their scores in this area.  Students will complete the activities in the “game mode.”	Wanda Smith	September 2012 December 2012 Students will visit the lab once every two weeks for 30-45 minute time frame.	Study Island Computers/laptop	After students complete each objective, their results are recorded. The teacher is able to view the overall results online.   Also students will only be able to work in the “game mode” if they answer the questions correctly.
Compile a spreadsheet of students’ overall results to help show whether there were any improvements.	Wanda Smith	December 2012
Once students have completed all areas of concern, they will be given a survey to complete.	Wanda Smith	December 2012	Survey for each student	The student’s responses to the surveys will be calculated to determine if motivation to learn was increased with the use of the game mode feature.
Review the surveys to gather overall consensus of programs effect on motivating students.	Wanda Smith	December 2012
Share findings of research with department	Wanda Smith	December 2012

Wanda Smith Action Research Plan EDLD 5301 ET8044
Goal: To determine if using an online reading assessment program, Study Island, can help improve student achievement in reading as well as increase their motivation to learn.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Students will take the pretest assessment for Study Island	Wanda Smith,	August 2012 December 2012	Computers/laptops	After students complete the pretest assessment.  The results will show areas of weaknesses. This will help to determine which areas students will focus on.
Students will work on objectives that they scored low in.  They will try to improve their scores in this area.  Students will complete the activities in the “game mode.”	Wanda Smith	August 2012 December 2012	Computers/laptop	After students complete each objective, their results are recorded. The teacher is able to view the overall results online.   Also students will only be able to work in the “game mode” if they answer the questions correctly.
Compile a spreadsheet of students’ overall results to help show whether there were any improvements.	Wanda Smith	December 2012
Once students have completed all areas of concern, they will be given a survey to complete.	Wanda Smith	December 2012	Survey for each student	The student’s responses to the surveys will be calculated to determine if motivation to learn was increased with the use of the game mode feature.
Review the surveys to gather overall consensus of programs effect on motivating students	Wanda Smith	December 2012
Share findings of research with department	Wanda Smith	December 2012