Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Journal #6

The article, 'Transforming School Communities', discusses how important communication is in education. Web 2.0 tools allow for this need to be met. In order for this to happen, you first need to familiarize yourself with the tools. It is important to incorporate these web 2.0 tools when communicating within your district's plan. You need to send out a clear message. Your ideas or input should present a clarity that allows others to understand. You also need to understand that education is very diverse which is why you need to know your audience or who you are communicating with. Your message should be tailored to your audience. Another idea the writer presents is that you need to create opportunities to educate. If you don't put forth the effort to educate then your ideas remained confined. You need to be creative and use multiple tools to help you reach success. Email is a great example of this. Teachers should also make time for communication and allow it to be a part of their student's lives. A lot of teachers may find it hard to incorporate such things into their lessons. Web 2.0 tools are a great lead into communication and its benefits. In order for this vision to happen, teachers and educators need to advocate the cause. Putting the message out there is the only way to reach others. This will allow for a great social network and support from other educators. Teachers and administrators should be given the opportunity to learn from each other. Networking through technology supports this idea. Web 2.0 gives us the opportunity to collaborate with others and that is a necessity in today's education.

Questions ...
1. Why is using Web 2.0 tools a key part of district communication strategy?
Answer: School leaders will not have to educate alone. These tools, combined with other strategies, can create a deeper understanding for education and what it has to offer. A new openness can be reached that is ultimately necessary. With these tools you can form a network of support and with that support comes success for both the students and educators.

2. What are some ways to invite participation in such tools?
Answer: Surveys can always help because you are able to understand where other educators and parents are coming from. Emailing and literally inviting them into your network is another way to get them curious. Keeping up with all the recent updates and news regarding technology in education is a must. This can be done by subscribing to newsletters, articles, or magazines. Having a school blog is an awesome way to keep communication with your fellow co-workers and remain up to date with the newest educational technology.


Citation...
Soule, H (2008 August). Transforming School communities: Creating Dialogue Using Web 2.0 Tools. ISTE, 1, Retrieved July 30, 2008, from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=August_No_1_1&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4077&ContentID=21317&DirectListComboInd=D

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Journal #5: Photo Sharing

Photo Sharing is best known as the publishing of your photos or the transferring of your digital photos. You can share your photos with others publicly or privately. There are many applications and websites that allow this to occur. An example of this is a free website called Animoto. It takes your uploaded pictures and creates a slide-show that looks very professional. One of the cool things about this site is that you can upload your own music to use or choose from the options provided from the website. The great thing about Animoto is that they provide an offer for educators. By emailing them and telling them you are an educator, you will get a classroom code that gives you and each of your students free use for a whole year. The videos made can be put into full screen so that you can use it for a classroom presentation. Student videos can be downloaded to your desktop. Some amazing creative projects can come out of Animoto. If you are inactive for about a month, your video does get taken down. Also, you need to pay to create full length slide shows. If you don't, you only get about a 30 second time slot. Animoto asks of educators to keep them updated and posted regarding specific ways you use it in your classroom. Their goal is to create a collection of great technology uses for others to identify with. This is a great educational source for photo sharing and it is completely free for educators and their students!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Journal #4

In the second half of the seminar we discussed other aspects of education. The bad news was that 2/3 of 8th and 12th grade students read at less than proficient on the NAEP. The good news was that young people were able to acquire the skills that can serve them for a lifetime. We learned about RTI (responsiveness to intervention). RTI is about knowing where each and every one of your students is in regard to their skill development. It is also about monitoring the students progress. One of the innovations in prevention and intervention required street level workers. These workers were seen as early adopters, innovators, shirkers, and saboteurs. Implementing innovations require a systems change, stages of implementation, professional development, fidelity, and integrity. Systems don't change, people do. The four R's of education are reading, writing, arithmetic, and relationships. There are school leadership teams which allow the teachers to be agents of innovation. They influence through positional learning, personal/referent authority, and expert authority. In a school leadership team you must be heroic. In year 1 you should get others on board. In year 2 you should check for implementation gliches, provide support, and refine your approach. In year 3 you should shakedown, assuring fidelity and integrity evaluating outcomes. The stages of implementation are exploration and adaption, installation, initial implementation, full implementation, innovation, and sustainability. Professional development requires traditional, enlightened, and instructional support approaches. A leadership team could design and implement a system of peer and expert coaching. In fidelity the teacher uses all the core intervention components skillfully. In integrity the teacher adheres tot he recommended procedures. fidelity and integrity create outcomes. The best outcomes are associated with high fidelity practitioners. In 1998, Mortensen and Writt found that 75% of teachers required corrective feedback. This performance feedback resulted in improvement.

Questions ...

1. What is RTI (responsiveness to intervention) all about?
Answer: From watching the presentation I was able to understand that RTI is about monitoring the students progress and the growth that leads them to success. It is also about knowing where each and every one of your students is in regard to their skill development. This gives the teacher an opportunity to adapt a specific learning environment for each student.

2. How are school leadership teams effective?
Answer: School leadership teams are effective as agents of innovation. They make an influence through three different ways. The first is positional authority, the second is through personal and referent authority, and the third and through expert authority. Their influence on leadership motivation and student progress allows for a brighter future. Students begin to take a greater interest in their learning.

Citation ...

(R Reid, public presentation, July 17, 2008)

Journal #3

The first part of the seminar discussed restructuring for caring and effective education. There were five essential questions that were brought into perspective. The first was what is our destination in education? Most of us search for a life long learning; to fit into a world culture, good work ethic, skills necessary, and an eagerness to learn. The second question was who has been invited on the journey? It is often asked 'who's school is it anyway?'. My thoughts were that everyone is an equal contributer to education. Everyone has to contribute together. We were all shown a poem and asked to relate it to the presentation. The relationship between the theme of the poem and the presentation is education is all about achievement and learning. The third question was what routes have people chosen to get us there? We discussed excellence without equity, its advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages were that decisions could get done quickly and efficiently, better people to compete globally and internationally, self worth, and money making. A disadvantage was that we could get too caught up in the standards. A simplistic or bureaucratic route fosters paranoia, despair, and self interest. Diversity begins to be viewed as a problem. A quote shown was "We will not successfully marginalize in schools until we stop seeing diversity as a problem." If we don't, a disability is created. special needs students in regular classes do better academically and socially than those who are inclusive. Excellence without equity is a little different. Some of the disadvantages I found were lost off interest, easy to lose incentive and motivation, everybody isn't the same, sense of freedom, and things getting watered down/bar gets lowered. Simplistic solutions for complex problems. Its justice not charity. Excellence and equity together create equalence. The fourth question was How will we get there? You can use written directions, oral directions, or a map. You need a vision, skills, incentives resources, and an action plan to create a change. The fifth question was how will we know if we have arrived? You need a culture of excellence, artistry, and care. Our children won't care how much we know, until they know how much we care. A culture where character counts and we are mindful. You also need a culture of collaboration, creativity, courage, differentiation, that values diversity, empowerment and self determination, equalence, committed to a brighter future, and reflection and accountability. The future will arrive ahead of time, no one ever said it was going to be easy.

Questions ...

1. What is our destination in education?
Answer: I believe that our destination in education is to fit into a world that is accepting of diversity and world culture. To make this happen you need a good work ethic. Acquiring the skills necessary to achieve such a goal is a process over time. You need a motivation and eagerness to learn. Education is a learning process, lifelong learning.

2. What are the advantages of excellence without equity?
Answer: I believe that decisions could get done more quickly and efficiently. People will be given an opportunity for higher success, they would be able to compete globally and internationally. Making money and funding a lifestyle is probably one of the biggest motivations. Also self worth and a pride acquired through learning provides another sort of motivation.


Citation ...

(R Villa, public presentation, July 17, 2008)

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Journal #2

The article, 'The laptops are coming! The laptops are coming!', really allowed me to understand aspects of technology that I had not previously associated with it. This article was Mcfarlane's insight into an epidemic that is sweeping over our educational standards. Though there are so many positive outlooks into what this technology could do for our future and the success it could bring, as with anything else there are definitely negative side affects. An educator's dream could turn into social disaster. Many problems are solved but new ones arise. Many reservations arise for both the teacher and student. These are things that can, overtime, be worked through. One of the major issues that Mcfarlane discusses is this idea of distraction the technology brings. There were times when she had no way to tell whether or not her students were paying attention to her lesson or browsing for their own personal entertainment. She found the laptops to be a distraction if anything. She also found that the classroom turned into more of a 'police' station in a sense that she had to constantly monitor the students and their behavior with the laptops to make sure they were on track. It was found that ELL students had a hard time adapting to this technology and would prefer to rid of the idea. There are ways to use technology to further our educational experience but we must understand that a boundary must be drawn in order for this idea to be of success.

Questions ...

1. Who has access to this technology?
Answer: I believe that there are many students who are of lower class and do not have access to this sort of technology. It is most definitely the middle class and up who can acquire the skills necessary. Even if laptops were brought into a classroom setting for every student, there would be this large gap between students who are well equipped with the skills needed and those who have not been given the opportunity to work with these tools.

2. Who profits from this enterprise?
Answer: There could be many different interpretations to this question. Many people would say that the software companies themselves are benefiting most. My opinion is that, in some way shape or form, every student could definitely further their educational success through the use of technology. The process into achieving equal skill level may be much different and vary over time according to each student's individual needs. Though some lower class students may not have had access to computers prior, incorporating that into the classroom can really open their eyes to a new educational resource.


Citation ...

Mcfarlane, S (2008). The Laptops Are Coming! The Laptops Are Coming!. Rethinking Schools, 1, Retrieved July 17, 2008, from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/22_04/lapt224.shtml

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Journal 1

The article 'Extreme Makeover' discussed ways in which online tools can help further your old activities in the classroom. It is really such an improvement to our education systems because we are able to collaborate with other educators. Activities for students become much more appealing because they may feel they can relate to it. Writing tools can provide for an idea of concept mapping and publishing is made more desirable. Blogs are constantly being used to encourage students and administrators to take pride in their work and writing. Social bookmarking is such a good way to access and share your education tools with others. Photo sharing allows for a visual to be combined into a student's work. This provides a much deeper element to any assignment. Building reference resources can allow for the accuracy of student's and other's information to be constantly updated. Everything you need is edited right before you and makes writing tasks much easier. One thing that worries most people is the misuse of information received through the web. When using theses tools, students should be instructed to be responsible with they information they chose to use. The article 'Blogging Right Along' discusses why students should be able to communicate their understanding and interpretation of concepts. Blogging is a good tool for accessing this type of information. Students are able to refer to each other and bounce key ideas off of each other which really helps them to understand particular concepts. Using assessment is a huge part of this learning process. Sharing ideas helps to insure that. In conclusion, I found that these articles really opened my eyes to technology and how important its contribution is to our educational success.

Questions ...
1. How can blogging open doors for students and contribute to their educational successes?
Answer: According to the article, personal and educational journals provide a place for students to express themselves and share ideas with their peers. There is room for more encouragement and improvement because they are not just seeking advice from the instructor. Interacting with peers provides for a whole new level of learning. Having audiences to show your work to often builds this sense of pride that allows for a need to do well. Because of this, more time and care is taken into their work. Blogging also allows the administrator or instructor to monitor their work and to see the advancements made in their thinking process.
2. What kinds of things does a daily log allow for? What objectives are reached?
Answer: One of the most important things, in my opinion, is that the teacher is given the opportunity to identify with their students. This creates a different perspective in any process thereafter, such as grading or discussion. Another is that students, who may be working at a slower pace or could not be present for the information given, are given the opportunity to keep up with the rest of the class. Students needs can be met and maintained much more easily. Lastly, the material saved up over time can provide for great classroom content in reviewing for a test or exam. Anything that requires the cumulative knowledge of the content presented throughout the year or semester can refer back to the blogs.


Shifflet, R & Toledo, C (2008). Extreme Makeover: Updating Class Activities for the 21st Century. Learning Connections, 1, Retrieved July 15, 2008, from
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/Current_Issue/L_L_June_July_2008.htm

Mader, J & Smith, B (2008). Blogging Right Along. Learning Connections, 1, Retrieved July 15, 2008, from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/Current_Issue/L_L_June_July_2008.htm

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

introducing me :)



My name is Kelcie Joiner. I grew up in Bonita, CA which is 45 minutes south of here. People don't really know where that is so I usually say that I am from Chula Vista. I went to highschool at Bonita Vista High School. This is my third year at San Marcos and I am currently in the ICP program here. I am in a sorority here on campus called Alpha Chi Omega. I am majoring in liberla studies and taking a minor in literature and writing studies. I love writing and literature. I could sit and write essays for days, I know, a little weird lol. I am not too good in math or science, those have got to be my two worst subjects. I want to start out in teaching for k-12 then eventually I would love to work my way up to administration or district work. We will see what happens. I plan on working straight through to my masters and we will see when that phd happens haha. I will probably take a break for a couple years.

In dealing with technology, I consider myself okay, somewhere in the middle. I definitely cannot figure everything out on a computer but I know my way around things. I am pretty much using my laptap on a daily bases. This whole MAC thing is new to me. I am more of a PC person. I know about using powerpoint, word, regular internet browsing etc.. so pretty much the necessary in getting through school and anything else. But other things, I would most likely need instruction in.


The college of education mission statement allowed me to understand how a transformation of public education can really be affected by each up and coming generation of educators. One of the reasons that I decided to attend San Marcos was because of the great things I heard about it's education program. I felt that this school's programs would be a good way to prepare me for my professional career. This idea of a student-centered education really spoke to me about the commitment that would be provided.