Journal+Reflections

1/5/11: I have been observing my teaching practices and learning technology tools from the ProjectIntegrate curriculum since the beginning of the year and am now finally ready to implement my plan! I have started my Action Plan by setting up my wiki, setting my goals and creating my pretest. I had a difficult time getting started since my class is Theology and doesn't fit into the regular standards of a "core" course. Jen helped me during our meeting to realize that I can adapt the Action Plan to fit the students' needs in my class. I am excited to start the semester by giving my pretest and then create lessons that will help the students better read and evaluate Church documents so that they can apply Catholic Social Teaching (CST) principles to their lives. I started a wiki for this class which I think will help me be better organized and allow the students to use technology on a regular basis.

1/7/11: My students in Morality and Justice took the pretest today. The questions on the pretest are designed to help me observe their understanding of the CST principles and their ability to apply them to real life experiences. The average score on the pretest was 48%. That is what I call job security! Now I have to work on developing formative assessments and technology infused lessons.

1/18/11: After having the students read the introductory chapter on the CST principles and presenting basic information on dignity, I had the students define the principles for themselves. They took turns writing their definitions on my PC Tablet for the other students to evaluate. Then in small groups they brainstormed ways the principles could be fulfilled and ways they could be violated. I also gave them an assignment to post on the discussion page of my wiki about a person they respected, which was to show the value of human dignity.

1/20/11: Students were given a formative assessment today. They were provided with 10 situations and had to decide which principle best correlated. They had to provide reasons for choosing the CST principle as many principles overlap in content. They could use their book, but had to use their own words to describe their reasoning. They did very well- an average of 90% on the assignment.

1/24: We went to the computer lab today. I wanted to try using a Google doc as a way to have an interactive discussion that was a timely and effective way to have all students participate. Apparently having 25 kids edit a page at a time is too much for Google. I had tried this technique last semester with a wiki, but only one person can edit a page at a time so that did not work. I thought a Google doc would be better. It was slightly, but in the future I think I will need to set up small groups to do this exercise. Of course then I wonder about the value of the task? Maybe just discussing face to face works just as well. The funny thing was that even though I didn;t think it went well because the screen kept freezing, the students really enjoyed it! I guess I will have to keep trying new things until we can all be satisfied with the outcome!

1/27: Students tested over Ch 1 today. Even though it is an introductory chapter, they did quite well. The average score was 88%.

1/31: For the next couple of weeks, we take a "break" from CST principles, as we look at morality, conscience and Natural Law. I also introduce the use of the Catechism which is a key resource for Catholicism. My goal is for students to become comfortable accessing and evaluating information from the Catechism, while learning about moral decision making. This all ties into to our reponsibility of using the CST principles in real life situations.

2/28: We have now finished our unit on morality, conscience and natural law. This week we studied the cardinal and theological virtues, in particular charity and justice. The students need to understand that part of forming their conscience is living these virtues in their daily lives. We also received our mobile computer lab for the Theology department! I am very excited about being able to use the computers on a regular basis as a way to engage the students and incorportate technology. I am preparing for my "observation" with Jen (3/11) and for Karen Taylor (3/11-3/15). I am hoping the lessons they observe will go well and will truly represent what I have learned.

3/11: Jen and Karen Taylor came to observe today. The students worked on creating concept maps using Bubbl.us. They needed to read Church documents and then pull out key pieces of information for their concpet map to later be used in a Photo Story. Each student was responsible for one of the CST principles that we are studying (Common Good, Solidarity, Subsidiarity) and then share their findings with their group. I was a little nervous using this technology for the first time while being observed, but I thought it went well. The students were great and worked hard!

3/22: The students have finally finished their Photo Story project! Karen observed on 3/14 and 3/15 again and seemed pleased with the work the students were doing, which was a relief! I really enjoyed having her in my classroom and being able to discuss how Project Integrate has helped me grow as a teacher. The only problems with the Photo Story Project were student absences and the microphones/sound quality. If a student had saved the Photo Story to their profile and then was absent the next day, the group got behind. I will have to come up with a contingency plan for that next time. Also the sound quality on many of the Photo Stories was not good. Students may need to use an alternate room when recording next time. All in all though I was happy I did this project and would do it again.

3/23: I thought I would share the email I sent to Karen explaining what I have learned through Project Integrate:

// Karen, // // Thank YOU for taking the time to come visit us. I was a little nervous about the whole process, but you made it so much easier with your words of encouragement and your kind and friendly nature! I enjoyed being able to share with you what we are doing and for you to see the wonderful students I have to work with. I am definitely more confident of using technology after receiving so many positive comments from you. //

// This is actually a new project for me. Previously as we have studied these CST principles, I have relied mainly on the information from the textbook and presented that to the students with PowerPoint notes and a couple of worksheets for formative assessment. This was by far a more engaging process for the students! Learning how to use Photo Story and Bubbl.us gave me the motivation to change my teaching strategies. I had used a wiki before, but not very successfully. As I learn more technology tools, I feel that the wiki provides me with a vehicle to not only organize and store the information, but also as a means to present information to my students. Learning how to incorporate 21st Century Skills into my curriculum has challenged me to evaluate and change my practices in order to help students reach their full potential. I was also "forced" to relate State standards to my Theology curriculum, which I found to be very useful. Our school goal is to improve reading and writing across the curriculum and now I better understand my role in accomplishing that. Instead of only using the textbook, I will now seek ways to use the original Church documents so students will use critical thinking in evaluating and synthesizing information. While preparation for these lessons was more extensive, I believe the students were introduced to a higher level of learning. I also enjoyed teaching it more! In summary, basically all of the strategies you observed me using was due to the knowledge I gained through Project Integrate. //

// Project Integrate has proven very beneficial to me and I hope that I will also be able to share my knowledge with other teachers in the building. As a member of our Professional Development committee, I plan to implement ongoing training for the teachers in the use of 21st Century Skills and technology. I am very grateful for this experience and hope that I can continue to grow! Thank you again for your support and encouragement! I hope to meet with you again in the future and wish you well until then! // 3/27: I am updating my wiki with student samples of the 2 technology lessons I taught. I will be giving a quiz over this unit on Tuesday as a formative assessment of this project. After assessing the students' progress, I plan to give the post test in early April.

5/2: I haven't journaled lately, but I have been busy using my new knowledge of 21st century skills and technology! The more we use our mobile computer lab in class, the more comfortable I and the students become with the use of technology. We are discovering new learning strategies and the students are actively participating. I have really enjoyed having them blog- it has allowed the conversation to continue outside of classtime and for more students to share their insights. They are becoming critical thinkers and are learning to articulate clear, well thought out ideas versus just reacting to what they hear or read. I am excited about having the summer to further develop my wiki and to start applying what I have learned to my other classes. I have learned to try new things even if I am not sure how they will turn out. The more success I have, the more confident I become. I have also enjoyed sharing my knowledge with other teachers in the building. I am teaching a workshop this summer on wikis and photostory which I believe will help me continue to learn as well. I am wrapping up this wiki now so I can focus on the end of the year, but using 21st century skills and technology has become a way of life for me so the teaching will go on....