AmandaWeiss

Amanda Weiss

Technology Implementation Summary

For my implementation project I had my students watch a blockbuster movie that was set during the middle ages and create a PowerPoint or Moviemaker, or write a critics review about the accuracies and inaccuracies in the ways that the movie portrays medieval life. My goal for this project was simply to reinforce the content learned in class, and to also apply the content to movies that the students may already have been familiar with and enjoy. The written instructions that I provided my students were clear enough so that the majority of them knew exactly what was expected. I did explain the sheet to students and answer any questions they had since they would be doing this project at home. The projects that I received give them impression that the students were aware of what was expected of them. When assigned the project, and in the weeks leading to its due date, the students seemed a little flustered and gave them impression that they might have felt a little overwhelmed. I offered to stay after with some and provided them with an instruction sheet for how to save a Moviemaker project, and their anxiety seemed to calm down. After the projects were turned in and the students who did their projects presented them, I could tell that they were confident with their assignments. All of the previous anxiety had disappeared. For those that did not turn in a project, however, they still seemed to stay uncomfortable. I am wondering now if the students who never turned in a project did not complete it because they were uncomfortable with the assignment. From the projects I received I can tell that my students are generally well versed in technology. The PowerPoint presentations and Moviemaker did not have any elaborate use of editing or technology tools, but they were well put together and presented. Also through the presentation of these projects, I could tell that my objectives for having the students apply the content of the course outside the classroom and to a movie of their choice were met. While some of the presentations were better than others, there were at least general demonstrations of knowledge in the analysis portion of each project. The students also reacted positively to the assignment. While they were unhappy with the looming amount of work when initially assigned the project, most of the class rose to the challenge and seemed extremely proud of their work when they presented it. Some students also expressed the fun they had in watching the movie and putting together their presentations. Stemming out of the presentations and me looking at the projects myself, I think that my assessment of them was both valid and fair. The students were given the rubric at the same time as being given the project assignment sheet, and I took many factors into consideration when looking at their presentations. The use of technology was only a small part of the project grade as I was more focused on the content being presented. Overall, I think that my implementation project went well. I was very pleased with numerous projects that I received that actually met and exceeded my expectations of my students. At the same time, however, I was somewhat surprised and disappointed when at least five of my students did not turn in a project. As I mentioned before I am now wondering if some of the students felt too overwhelmed by the project and all that was required (between the analysis of a movie and the creating of a technology presentation) so that they just did not do the project. I do feel that I took the right measures in offering to stay after to help some of the students, renting movies for those who could not get them on their own, and also giving them an alternative critics review assignment to address the issue of not having technology at home. I do feel that some of the problem with projects not being turned in may also have stemmed from the fact that the project was assigned early on in my student teaching experience and it took some time for these particular students to adjust from my cooperating teachers style of teaching to my own. Despite the fact that some students did not turn in their projects, I still feel that my implementation project was a success and one that I would do again. I really enjoyed seeing what education items my students pulled out of entertainment-focused films. At some points, my students even came up with accuracies and inaccuracies in the movies that I myself did not even realize were there. Essentially, I really enjoyed this project because it allowed my students to take the content they were learning and apply it in a fun, and memorable way.

1 page reflection on the online mentorship: I think that the online mentorship was a useful resource during student teaching because it enabled me to do many things. One of the benefits I received from this assignment was that I was able to bounce ideas off numerous people when I was uncertain or struggling in deciding to do a certain thing. Having both student teachers and well-establish (and experienced) teachers provide their opinions enabled me to get such a wide perspective on some things that otherwise would not have been available to me. Also, this online mentorship allowed me to bounce ideas off of people with an outside perspective. While both my cooperating teachers were great resources as well, sometimes their opinions or ideas were clouded or limited because of their direct involvment in the situation. Tappedin.com members, on the other hand, may have had similar experiences to draw on, but they were not as limited in their scope of thinking as someone who was directly involved in what was going on. Finally, I think the online mentorship was extremely beneficial because it served as a confidence booster during a constantly trying experience. For example, not only was I able to get some advice from multiple sources, but I could also share my thoughts and experiences with other people. This led me to consider not only what I was going through, but also what others were going through as well. Knowing that others were going through the same challenges that I was, and being able to help them by sharing my own insights and experiences definitely increased my confidence over the weeks of student teaching. Also, by reading other people’s questions I was forced to think about and reflect on things in my own classroom that I may not have before. Overall, I think that the online mentorship served as an incredible resource during student teaching in which I could get advice while also giving my own. Through this experience I have learned the importance of reflection, and collaborating with my colleagues. I also think that it would be a good idea to use something like tappedin.org in my own classroom in order to allow students to ask each other, and me, questions on material we are learning, but also to post and talk about subjects that interest them. By requiring students to post once a week and respond to each others’ posts, I would be able to foster outside cooperation and learning. The students would also be able to work together to develop a stronger understanding of the content, while also exploring subjects that may interest them. I will definitely consider using something like tappedin.org during my teaching career.

My bloglines: www.bloglines.com/public/alweis

Technology Implementation:

For this assignment I have planned a project in which my students will choose from a list of movies (provided by the teacher) about the Middle Ages that they will watch and document the accuracies and inaccuracies of how the Middle Ages is portrayed. The students will then be required to put together a 3-5 minute presentation about what they found using specific clips and examples, while also describing ways in which the movie could have been more accurate (if applicable). The students will be able to work in pairs if they wish and will be required to use either PowerPoint or Moviemaker when making their presentation. The students will be given the option to present their Moviemaker or PowerPoint for extra credit.

http://www.teachersfirst.com/index.cfm -This site seems like it has a lot of fun activities for elementary and middle school classes, but not that many for high school classrooms. At the same time, however, I really like how it lets you search by grade level and subject and then provides you with a description of the activity and the source it came from. It is also a good source because the website has numerous contributors such as BBC and universities as well as teachers.

http://www.4teachers.org/ - This website is a good resource for teachers because it provides them with a lot of tools that are out there in order to make our lives less stressful! Rubistar and quizstar are fabulous in that they help teachers to create necessary things (ie. rubrics and quizzes) in less time but without damaging the qualitiy. This is a good one stop shop!

http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/index.jsp - Trackstar is a good resource for teachers because it is a website that they can send students to outside of class but know that the students will have all the links they need to complete an assignment for them on the web, and not on a sheet of paper that could be lost. I think it is also great because teachers can share their tracks with one another, or any resources they have found!

[|http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/schoo/resou.html]- Again this website is an excellent resource for teachers because it places a bunch of material and links in one location so that teachers can branch off in the directions they want to go without having to wonder (too much) about the credibility of the sources they are finding. Also, if a link is found that the teacher really enjoys then it can be shared easily with students who have internet access.

http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/ - This website is a good resource because it allows teachers to share entire lesson plans with one another. In this instance if a teacher is stuck on how to make a particular lesson enjoyable, this website provides examples that can be taken and molded to fit your particular class. I did not like how the information was listed for the history category though because the titles were not descriptive enough and there was no annotation to tell you what the link was about without clicking on it.

http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/ - This website seems as if it could offer a lot. I like how you can search based on whether or not you want lessons or activities or projects, but there was no way for history teachers to narrow the search into specific courses or subcategories which made finding material harder than it should have been.

http://www.eduhound.com/ -This website had some interesting timelines and links to other resources for the topic. I think it would serve as a great place for teachers to find information to better familiarize themselves with what they are teaching, as well as become masters at the subject as well.

[|**http://www.wtvi.com/teks/tools/**]- This website seemed to have good information and ideas to help teachers integrate technology into the classroom. I really liked how it gave sample lesson ideas and also shared ways to find credible websites on the internet.

[|**http://guest.portaportal.com/witchyrichy**] **- We had Karen for our Ed Tech class and I remember setting up portaportal accounts and they are very helpful both for the person who has the account, but also for others who can view them and see what links are appropriate. A teacher could set up a folder for a specific class of links that may help with a project and the students could access the list from anywhere with an internet connection. It is also helpful to teachers because they can "favorite" sites and be able to find them on any computer.**

http://www.edutopia.org/php/search.php?query=lesson+plans&submit.x=0&submit.y=0#- This website seemed to have a lot of good ideas about how to integrate technology into the classroom and would serve as a good resource for teachers.

For my implementation project I am going to have my students choose from a list of movies that are set during the Middle Ages. They will then watch them and create either a powerpoint, or a moviemaker about the inaccuracies and accuracies of the way the movie portrays the Middle Ages.