April+Field+Based+Activities+Reflections


 * [[file:April Field_based_Experience_Activity_Log McDaniels.docx]]

Reflections on April's Activities: The first activity of April involved my assistance in creating an educational music video to motivate students for TAKS. Although I have done this many times myself, this was the first time I have led another teacher through the process. This was one of the most positive experiences I have had as an educator in a very long time. This project inspired me, as I witnessed the teacher grow, and become excited, enlightened, and confident about the integration of technology in her classroom. Prior to this experience, she had shared her desire to be involved in the production of a multimedia production. She explained, however, that she was very intimidated by her lack of training in technology. She was very disappointed by the lack in technology training and assistance because she truly wanted to do this project with her students. I felt like it would be a valuable learning experience for all of us, so I suggested she do the project and follow the model I had created in my past experiences. As we discussed how to begin the project, several ideas came to her about the possibilities of her own music video. She immediately thought of a song, and we downloaded the instrumental version and burned it on a cd. This was the beginning of the learning process for her, and it was very exciting to both of us.

She took the cd (with the instrumental version of the song) to school and played it as the students worked on writing lyrics. She was pleased with the students' ability to collaborate. The first step used to help compose the lyrics involved typing the lyrics in to a wiki. The students then counted the number of syllables in each line of the song. On the left side of the wiki screen, the original lyrics appeared with the syllable number to the side in parenthesis. On the right side of the screen (line by line) the students would collaboratively work on the new lyrics, which were focused on passing the TAKS test. The students had a lot of fun with this and most were very engaged, working diligently to finish and continuing at home. They lyrics were finished quickly since everyone was so enthusiastic about finishing in time to show the student body before the test.

The next stage of the project involved video taping students and finding images to accompany the audio track that was created in GarageBand. The students were very comfortable with this and did not need much assistance, other than some suggestions on camera settings for proper lighting. I did go into Mrs. Johnson's first period class (my conference time) a few times to demonstrate some of the steps and technology implementation when they reached the stage of video editing. She was very observant and used this as a model to follow through the rest of the day with her students. At the end of our first day of using this method, she was very excited. She had discovered that the students could figure out things that she did not know and help her, as well as their peers. This was a great experience for her. She was very enlightened and encouraged by the fact that there was always someone who could share their knowledge and skills to move the group forward. This alone did a great deal to eliminate the intimidation factor. The project turned out to be a great learning experience for all the participants. The video can be viewed at the following link: [|Imma Pass TAKS]

Several of the TF/TL Standards were met in this activity. To be specific, performance indicators from Standard I (Technology Operations and Concepts), Standard II (Planning and Designing Learning Experiences and Environments), Standard III (Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum), and Standard V (Productivity and Professional Practice) were all related to different parts of this project. For example, the fact that I assisted Mrs. Johnson in learning to use several different software programs in her classroom, with her students, demonstrates some degree of professional development, which can be tied to TF/TL-V.A., "Use technology resources to engage in ongoing professional development and lifelong learning" (Williamson & Redish, p. 112). In addition, the final production was shared on YouTube for parents and as a model to other educators, so this relates to TF/TL-V.D., which reads, "Use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning" (p. 113). Additionally, performance indicators II.A., II.B., II.C., and II.E. were addressed since the project was designed to apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support diverse learning needs, it implemented research-based strategies, it called for the identification and location of technology resources, and it called for the management of student learning in a technology-enhanced environment. Therefore, TF/TL-II was definitely met in this project. **
 * The second activity of April involved the planning, designing, and modeling of a district software program called Inspiration. This was also a very enjoyable experience because the group only consisted of 3 people and myself. I feel that the opportunity to train individuals on this level is very valuable to me because it helps increase my confidence level in conducting future staff development opportunities on a larger scale. This activity fulfilled the following performance standards: II.A., II.B., II.C., II.D., II.F.

 References:

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). //Technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do.// Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. **