My Action Research Project! Whew!!

This has been a wonderfully enlightening journey, culminating in the conclusion of my Action Research Project. It is one of the most valuable processes out there to identify a problem area within my own classroom and directly address it in order to promote change. I have learned so much and will continue the process even after this class has concluded.

I struggled with the format with which to present my project, simply because of the complexity of it. I didn't want to cut it too short, yet I did not want to bore my audience with things that weren't interesting to them. Therefore, I decided to compile all of my information on a Google Site, that way, people may peruse it at their leisure, and view whatever they feel is interesting and relevant to them. I hope you all enjoy and I hope I have done justice to the project!

To view my completed project presentation, CLICK HERE!

I have a Class Website!! :-)

Please check out my ELA class website by clicking HERE! There are links to all the grade levels that I teach (grades 6, 7, and 8) as well as my Leadership class. 

Establishing a classroom site is a great opportunity for parents and the community to see what my students' are doing without having to physically come into my classroom! Technology is a great tool to help aide in communication between the community, parents, and teachers and strengthens the students' sense of accomplishment and pride in their work. I hope to promote improved quality of work by providing students with an authentic audience, beyond just the teacher (and the school). 

Thank you for taking the time to visit and please feel free to provide input at the bottom of the home page:

Creating Content Using Haiku Learning

How might you use Haiku Learning as a tool in your class or learning environment?

The thing I love about Haiku Learning is that it is several tools in one. The entire assignment (including online content, files, video, etc.) can be presented all in one place. Students can turn in their completed assignments via the dropbox on the assignment page by attaching a file, composing in the text box and I can provide feedback directly to the student on their turned in assignment. There is also a gradebook as well as an attendance feature where I can keep track of graded assignments as soon as they are done. 

Currently, I am using several different programs and sites to complete these same tasks: Edublogs for my 8th grade students' assignments, Edmodo for my 6th and 7th graders, Easy Grade Pro via edline.net for my grading and we, as a Hawaii DOE school, use Esis for our attendance. If I could streamline all of these different tools into one main LMS, my life as a teacher would be so much easier!

Click here to view my Haiku Learning "In-Class Assignments" page, with an assignment I did with my 8th graders. :-)

My PLN Connections

If you cannot view the popplet above, click here.

I used Popplet to create the visual of my Personal Learning Network! I also did this assignment with my 8th grade students and had them compare and contrast the ways they connect with they ways I do. They loved using popplet as a visual and had fun doing the assignment. :-)

Assessing What Students Know

How do you assess student learning in your classroom?  What might you do differently to prepare student for the next generation of assessments based on the readings, activities and resources explored?

The perspective about formative assessment presented in the article, "Formative Assessment and Next-Generation Assessment Systems: Are We Losing an Opportunity?" by Margaret Heritage is a refreshing one. Heritage cites a study conducted by Paul Black and Dylan William which concludes, "Student learning gains triggered by formative assessment were amongst the largest ever reported for educational interventions with the largest gains being realized by low achievers." 

Heritage also makes the claim that the current trend of benchmark assessment, frequently referred to as formative assessment, is in fact, a misnomer. These type of assessments are actually interim assessments, administered several times a year. They measure learning on a summative level, assessing all benchmarks, rather than a formative level, which should focus on specific learning targets. I was surprised by this because as a Hawaii school in restructuring, Lanai High & Elementary School receives services from Edison Learning who promotes the collection of data based on monthly benchmark testing. In my language arts class the students are evaluated each month according to the CCSS in reading and their results are broken down into skills areas in order to show areas of weakness that would ideally be focused on by the teachers in classroom instruction. However, as Heritage points out, formative assessment should be happening on an ongoing basis, "hour by hour, day by day, and week by week," not simply in a monthly benchmark assessment.

As a language arts teacher, I make an effort to assess student understanding before, during, and after a lesson. I usually do a diagnostic Q&A to find out what the students already know. I ask many comprehensive questions and encourage students to interact with each other during instruction. I also frequently review and allow students to reflect upon their work after a lesson. I do a lot more formative assessment than summative during the quarter. I administer only two vocabulary quizzes a quarter as well as a quarter final. However, in many instances, the quarter final is an essay that the students have been working on by engaging in scaffolding activities throughout the quarter. 

One of the biggest things that has shaped my curriculum for the last two years as we have moved completely into teaching CCSS is the focus on argument writing. I have created a middle school-friendly graphic organizer that helps students to include all aspects of the argument in their essay. As a middle school team, we have reviewed and agreed to use Edison Learning resources: the writing checklist as well as the writing rubric for argument essays. I have also gone through the process of recreating a performance assessment for my classes in order to help prepare them for the upcoming Smarter Balanced assessment in the 2014-2015 school year.

I love the resources provided on the edusources site. I am especially happy about finding more practice for performance assessments under the "Reading and Writing Project" link. These files will help me to recreate another performance assessment this year and give students even more practice before taking the assessment next year. The Smarter Balanced website also has a wealth of resources I can use to prepare students for the upcoming assessment, specifically a practice exam and sample questions addressing skills they will have to master. 

As I look back upon the shift from HCPS III to CCSS, I realize that assessment has also shifted from heavily summative based to almost exclusively formative based. As a teacher, I must say that the emphasis on performance tasks and student reflection really does account for higher student achievement and less students being left behind.

Flipping the Classroom

If you cannot view the video above, please click here!

Describe how flipping the classroom would support students learning the content in your specific context (school, community, content etc.).

My video highlights instruction on writing an introduction paragraph of an essay. Breaking down parts of an essay will create less confusion and eliminate the overwhelming feeling of tackling a huge task such as essay writing. Going through the steps of introduction writing and giving students options and examples will help students to write their own introduction paragraph independently. They can go through the video and examples as many times as needed to help them develop their own writing.

By composing their introduction at home, after viewing the video, students will then be prepared for the next step in the writing process. As a teacher, I will be able to assess which students need additional assistance with ideas and procedure and those that adequately grasp the information for the task can help others by peer editing and revising. The process of flipping the classroom to get the majority of the pre-writing done at home will give the students and I more time in class to strengthen their essay writing and perfect their technical writing skills. Students will be able to turn in a polished final draft, a truly authentic assessment of their writing.

Online Research Tools and Resources

List some similarities and differences between these three articles.
"Vacanti mouse"   
"Mouse with human ear"
"Artificial liver 'could be grown'"

(Venn Diagram made using Lucidchart)

Which site do you believe to most credible?  Why?  What would you do next to determine which is accurate?

By the amount and type of information presented, I would have to say the ABC Science article, "Mouse with human ear" is the most credible. First, the url suggests reliability with the suffix of the site address being ".net" versus ".com." In addition, the author, Dr. Karl S. Kruszelnicki has an extensive repertoire stemming from his 32-year media career. In contrast, the other articles are not specific in identifying their writers. The article from ABC Science also addresses the false interpretations of other media sources, including the misconceptions that the ear grown on the mouse was both of human origin and a product of genetic engineering. The progression of research presented in Dr. Karl's article also shows in-depth research and excellent text organization that thoroughly discusses the subject.

The next step in determining the accuracy of the articles would be to find additional articles that could either confirm or dispute the information presented in each of the articles represented here. For example, in the Wikipedia article "Vacanti mouse," by clicking on the reference article, "Transplantation of chondrocytes utilizing a polymer-cell construct to produce tissue-engineered cartilage in the shape of a human ear," additional research from the scholarly article (considered to be reliable) would confirm the information in both the Wikipedia and ABC Science articles.

Based on your own research and experience, discuss what you have learned in this activity about credible information and how you might teach your students to evaluate websites and other online resources.

One thing that I have learned in this class and will remember always is this: Teachers are no longer responsible to teach content (students can Google practically anything). Rather, teachers need to teach students how to sift through the atrocious amount of information on the internet in order to responsibly choose the most reliable, trustworthy information out there. According to Angela Bunyi in the article, "Identifying Reliable Sources and Citing Them," the important task of teaching students how to find reliable sources and trustworthy information should start when students are first introduced to the internet, as early as first grade.

One place to start is creating a checklist for assessing the reliability of an internet source based on certain criteria, such as presented in the article, "Criteria For Evaluating Web Sites." Students should have to go through the process of verifying information on each website they visit prior to using information from that source. Richard Byrne's article, "9 Resources for Website Evaluation Lessons," contains links to a wealth of information for both assessing internet source credibility as well as lesson plans to teach this skill to students of all ages. This is an excellent source to start to gather ideas for preparing students to become more savvy, well-informed users of technology. As I am a middle school language arts teacher myself, I will definitely be creating a checklist for students to use in every research project and essay they will create this year.

**After further research and assistance from a fellow classmate (thanks Noel!), I wanted to amend my statement about the reliability of ".net" sites. Pages using the ".net" suffix is really a "catch-all" site that needs to be thoroughly investigated for reliability.

Flipping the Classroom

Discuss your thoughts about flipping the classroom. What are the benefits, challenges? How might you overcome them?

I had never heard of "flipping the classroom" before this EDCS 480 class. It is a new concept to me and at first I was skeptical because it seemed to totally go against the traditional way of teaching. However, after I began reading and watching the videos about this relatively new way of delivering instruction, I became more and more excited to try it in my own classroom!

As my interest in the flipped classroom increased, I did some of my own research about how I could use this method in my English Language Arts class. The idea that students would be able to view podcasts or videos of the writing process at home and then bring their pre-writing to class along with any questions or concerns they have is an awesome concept! Aaron Sams, a teacher at Woodland Park High School has had much success with the flipped classroom method of teaching. In the video "The Flipped Classroom," Mr. Sams discusses the advantages by stating that the students "show up for class to apply the things they learned at home or ask questions about what they learned at home." He reports that he is no longer that teacher who stands up in front of the class and lectures. "I walk around the class and help kids."

One of the downsides to flipping the classroom as reported by Alan November and Brian Mull in "Flipped Learning: A Response To Five Common Criticisms" is the notion that it makes the teacher much less important. However, according to Sal Khan in the video "Future Learning: Sal Khan," in a flipped classroom, teachers become vessels of experience, knowledge, mentorship, and humanity.

According to November and Mull, another challenge teachers report when using the flipped classroom model is the idea that kids don't want to sit at home and watch boring videos. As Paul Jantse, Carolyn Dusty, and Graham Johnson state in their video "The Flipped Classroom as a Vehicle to the Future," one of the exciting things about flipping the classroom is that teachers are able to unite content areas to make it more relevant for students. Sal Khan also addresses the idea of the "boring video" by affirming that he only makes videos that he is excited about. Therefore, his excitement translates through his videos and onto the students. He believes that in order for students to learn, they must have a desire to do so.

A huge concern for the teaching community is that students may not have access to the internet and technology they need to view the podcasts or videos at home. This was initially a concern of mine as well. However, as I began to work with my administrators, several options were presented to me that would make access to technology a moot point. As November and Mull state, there is also the option to create DVDs or to provide rentals of technological devices.

Another big challenge that could potentially hamper the success of a flipped classroom is accountability for watching or listening to content at home. According to November and Mull, one of the ways to assure student participation is, "Teachers should be posting thought provoking questions that guide students as they explore the at-home material." The thought that students may be bored or not engaged in the material may also be a challenge that has to do with accountability. Allowing students to be self-directed by providing instant feedback and interactive features, may cause the curriculum to become more interesting and promote student participation.

Overall, I firmly believe that flipping the classroom is a technique worth implementing. The notion that I can become a teacher who is interactive and involved rather than the boring type who stands at the head of the class is intriguing to me. The idea that students will be able to experience a classroom in which they truly love learning makes the flipped classroom the way to go!

Building a Personal PLN (Professional Learning Network)

How do you currently network and learn about teaching resources? What have you learned from reading and watching the resources provided? What will you do to expand your PLN?

I must admit that I haven't used very many online resources to gain teaching resources, even though the internet is chock-full of tools for educators to use. I have been very reluctant to network with other teachers outside of my immediate vicinity (my school), other than to look for unit/lesson plan ideas online.

I DO have personal accounts on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and more recently Edmodo, all of which I consider tools for establishing a Personal Professional Learning Network. The most used of these networking sites for me are Pinterest and Facebook. I mostly use Pinterest for DIY projects and recipes. However, after reading the article "Five follow-worthy ed-tech Pinterest boards" by Laura Devaney, I have added lots of tech-savvy pins to my "School Stuff" board! (Click here to view my Pinterest board.) According to Devaney, social media venues such as Pinterest are "continuing to influence how educators collaborate and teach."

Twitter is another tool that educators can use to engage and promote technology use in the classroom. In the article "How Twitter Can Be Used as a Powerful Educational Tool," Alan November and Brian Mull point out the effectiveness of Twitter as a way for students and teachers to connect globally. By tagging tweets and organizing them into accessible categories of information, students have access to authentic views of world events directly from the people who experience them. November and Mull also highlight the use of Twitter in the classroom by showing the actual connections made by a teacher and her students. There is much to learn from Mrs. Caviness's experience using Twitter, and this example sparked my desire to revive my own Twitter account.

The most recent tool I have found to be extremely useful is Edmodo. By joining communities (like Language Arts), I am able to connect with other Language Arts teachers around the world. Teachers post information, unit/lesson plans, ideas, and questions, on which other educators share their experience and knowledge. There is no formal protocol and teachers are very eager to help. In her video "Importance of a PLN in Education," Kelsey Wilkinson states, "With an online PLN, there are no limitations to who you can learn from and share ideas with."

The next steps to extend my PLN are to use these resources to their full potential. I will make a point to peruse and pin more targeted information for use in my classroom, post and glean information from other educators on Edmodo, and use my Twitter account both as a global connection tool as well as a learning tool for student responses.

Action Research

What are the benefits of action research? What experiences do you have conducting research that could help you in this process? What questions do you have?

The benefits of action research vary greatly depending on who is conducting the study. Action research could produce benefits for a single classroom teacher, a collaborative group of teachers, a school-wide team, or a district-wide initiative. According to Eileen Ferrance, author of the "Action Research" brochure, the overall purpose of action research is for participants to examine their own educational practice systematically and carefully, using techniques of research. Some of the benefits I hope to reap as an individual teacher are: improvement of students' reading and writing skills, acquisition of additional strategies and techniques for effective teaching, and an overall sense of accomplishment for both the students and myself.

For the purposes of the EDCS 480 course and my own Action Research Project (which will focus on technology integration) I will work as an individual teacher and focus on a single issue within my classroom. The cycle of action research is key to measuring the success of the project and for promoting a positive change in the learning environment. The constant rotation of the five phases of inquiry: identification of the problem, collection and organization of data, interpretation of data, action based on data, and reflection is an invaluable, ongoing tool that is designed to focus on improvement rather than simply what is "wrong." Ferrance states, "Action research is not about learning why we do certain things, but rather how we can do things better. It is about how we can change our instruction to impact students."

I have not yet had any formal experience with action research. I can say that I have collected a range of data in my classroom, including: journals, checklists, surveys, tests, self-assessments, and lots of samples of student work. I can also say that the method of an action research project reminds me strongly of the purposes of the PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) at our school and the process that we are currently exploring this year. I am looking forward to seeing the changes that will occur in my classroom through my own action research project.

Some of the questions I have about action research are:
1. Would there be a benefit to working with an outside agency as an individual classroom teacher? (For example, we are currently working with Edison Learning in our school.)
2. How long is the action research process? Is there ever a definitive end?
3. Could you have more than one action research project going simultaneously? (Individual project and collaborative project, perhaps?)

Stephen Corey, one of the first to use action research in education summed it up perfectly, "The disposition to study the consequences of our own teaching is more likely to change and improve our practices than is reading about what someone else has discovered of his teaching."

Integrating Technology

How can we purposefully integrate technology and design learning experiences to engage young adolescents?

Despite the fact that this is the age of technology, many of us (digital immigrants) have a difficult time with integration of technology. The SAMR model shows us the progression of technology integration within the classroom. 

I believe that lots of teachers are stuck in the "Substitution" or "Augmentation" phases due to restrictions on access to technology and lack of funding for devices for student use. According to the SAMR model, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, the "Substitution" level provides "no functional change in teaching and learning." Examples would be using Google Earth to locate a place on a map instead of an Atlas or printing out worksheets for students to fill out and turn in. This is probably the most common level of the majority of teachers at this time.

The "Augmentation" level provides only some functional change and the presence of immediate feedback increases the level of student engagement. Examples of this are using Google Earth rulers to measure the distance between two points or creating a Google Form to administer a quiz. A handful of teachers have adopted this level of technology integration and are quite comfortable with the idea that they haven't completely given control of instruction to the students. I must admit that this is about as far up the SAMR scale as I have gone.

The "Modification" and "Redefinition" levels are for serious users and integrators of technology. It amazes me that there are entire schools out there such as New Milford High School in Bergen County, New Jersey, who have achieved the "Transformation" levels of the SAMR model and wholeheartedly embrace the concept of total technology integration. 

In the article "Students using Cell Phones in Class? It's Happening Right in Bergen County!" Eric Sheninger, principal of New Milford High School states, "bringing your own devices to school has demonstrated a dramatic increase in student productivity." He and his teaching staff have implemented a BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) plan in which students are allowed to bring in their own devices and teachers are free to decide how best to utilize this technology within their classrooms.

Personally, I believe this shift in thinking is a positive way to move forward in the inevitable progression of technology integration. I am inspired to create a plan to discuss ways in which my school can move higher up the SAMR model as a whole, in order to increase student achievement. As Dr. Puentedura states, "While one might argue over whether an activity can be defined as one level or another, the important concept to grasp here is the level of student engagement."

Digital Citizenship

Why is it important to educate young adolescents about digital citizenship?

It is an essential question to consider as a 21st Century Educator with the responsibility to teach digital natives how to filter through and competently utilize the technology of today. As Holly Clark states in her article "How To Tackle Digital Citizenship During the First 5 Days Of School," digital citizenship education is necessary for all users of technology regardless of age or grade level. As a teacher, I tend to dislike this faucet of technology education the most, as it is tedious and sometimes even unpleasant. However, it is probably the most important foundation students will acquire to effectively use technology in (as well as out of) the classroom.

Some of the major concerns in this time of cyber-space acclimation are bullying, trolling, freedom of speech, and online privacy. Clark reminds us that when allowing students to access virtual environments, students' must be extremely aware of their reputation as they "CONSTRUCT their own personal brand." Digital communication and etiquette are of vital importance and cannot be compromised, whether it be in a formally submitted assignment or a simple reply to a post. "Anytime you give people the freedom to speak, there's always the chance that they could abuse that ability," reveals Andy Sellars in the YouTube video "Bad Behavior Online: Bullying, Trolling & Free Speech." Additionally, Sellars proclaims that the key to digital citizenship is getting people to realize how their words affect not only themselves, but those around them as well. Be it in "real life" or in the virtual world.

The nine elements of digital citizenship, broken down into the concepts of Respect, Educate and Protect (REP), can help us as educators to organize and present the essential information on how to establish and maintain proper use of technology in the 21st Century. In addition, the idea of creating a solid and binding Acceptable Use Policy along with my students will help them to understand the terms and importance of proper technology use.

I firmly believe that as educators, it is our responsibility to our students not only to provide the means to access the wealth of information this age of technology allows, but also to prepare them for the repercussions that access may expose them to. By presenting the idea of digital citizenship as a means of prevention, much like an anti-drug campaign, the hope is that students will adhere to caution and heed our sound advice. It is not likely that we can protect all students at all times from the dangers the digital world holds. However, it is our duty to try.

I'm a 21st Century Educator!

My name is Erin Nakano. I am a teacher at Lanai High & Elementary School in Lanai City, HI. I have been teaching English Language Arts to grades 6-8 since the 2009-2010 school year.

My philosophy of 21^st Century Education is comprised of several different distinct, yet essential components. One of the biggest ideas that stand out to me is the notion that no matter what subject you teach, in order to reach the 21^st Century learner, your lessons need to be engaging. Second, providing the opportunity for students to “create” is an integral step toward 21^st Century education. Finally, an emphasis on integration is key to success both inside and outside the classroom, and a life-long lesson that will only be of benefit in the student’s future.

Engagement can take on numerous and varied forms. We learned in the “Teaching in the 21^st Century” YouTube video that lessons must be relevant, challenging, and engaging. Students will respond in greater capacity to curriculum that is engaging versus merely entertaining. In the Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants article, Prensky emphasizes the importance of changing the methodology of teaching by going at a faster pace, as well as changing the content by integrating the use of technology with content area curriculum. He suggests presenting both “Legacy” and “Future” content in a game-like format in order to engage the Digital Native otherwise known as the 21^st Century learner. Engaging lesson delivery is one essential way for students to respond, which fits nicely with the opportunities teachers can provide to “create.”

In the hierarchy of Bloom’s Taxonomy, we find more complex thinking skills such as the ability to create and experience inquiry-based learning. According to the compilation of thoughts from the ASB Unplugged Conference by Kevin Roberts, education is making a shift from the teaching facts to the teaching of skills. Among the many resources students are privy to in the 21^st century, tools we are learning about in the EDCS 480 course such as blogging, posting, commenting, linking, bookmarking, etc. can extend the realm of “creation” of student work. Creation of e-portfolios and online web pages also promote achievement and higher order thinking skills in our 21^st Century student learners. However, one cannot hope to have successful opportunities for student creation without integration. (To see how my class CREATED their own mural during the Lanai Summer Project click here.)

Integration on many levels, including student groups, subject areas, and the world beyond the classroom is the key component to success states Rob Riordan in the “21st CenturySkill Culture at High Tech High” video. Building a common culture of learning and collaboration is of utmost importance to teaching in the 21^st century. It is evident in the productive relationships between peers, as well as students and teachers in a positive learning environment. I believe this interaction is really the foundation upon where all learning is built. When students learn to collaborate effectively with each other and with their teachers, anything can be accomplished. The sense of purpose and success is ultimately the result of integration of all realms: students, subject areas, and the world beyond. (Click here to see an example of an integrated project in my leadership class.)

In conclusion, I believe in order to be a successful educator in the 21^st century, there is a need to adopt new skills and adapt to exciting environments in order to accommodate the faster-paced, more technology savvy students of today. Planning engaging lessons, promoting opportunities for student creation, and integrating content, students, and the world beyond are all must-haves for the tool belt of a competently mindful 21^st century educator. By no means is this the limit of our newly acquired knowledge. However, it is definitely a running start, as we focus on the most important question posed by Kevin Roberts, “What does it mean to teach?”

About our school...

Lanai High & Elementary School is nestled in the heart of Lanai City, Hawaii. We are a K-12 school, which includes an Elementary, Middle, and High School. The average number of students for LHES is approximately 600. There are about 130 students enrolled in the middle school this school year.