Wow! This week's assignment was a challenge! I don't have much experience with video editing software and it was difficult for me to learn to navigate through new programs. I had a lot of trouble with Adobe Premiere. I found that it was very complicated and that I did not have enough time to devote to learning it well enough to teach it. So, I chose to explore iMovie a little more. I had used it last week to create my photo story, but I learned that it is capable of much more when I explored it today.
I created a short tutorial of the basics of iMovie for my assignment. I hope that it provides enough information for even beginners, like myself, to use it to create and edit videos.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
ELDL 5363 - Web Conference #1
I attended our first web conference on Tuesday night and I'm glad that I did! I had many questions about our first assignment and about this course overall. Many of my classmates asked the questions that I was wondering myself, so I got lots of information from Dr. Abernathy and my classmates, as well. Unfortunately, about 20 minutes into the conference, I was disconnected and could not log back in. I'm not sure what happened and was wondering if anyone else experienced this problem. Overall, I have enjoyed conferencing with my professors and classmates. They are always very informative and I feel very supported and encouraged after each one. I look forward to many more!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
EDLD 5301: Course Reflection
I have enjoyed this course and learned so much about how to implement action research and use it to improve the quality of my work. Through the different aspects of this course, I have acquired many different viewpoints and ideas from my instructors and fellow students. I believe that each learning tool provided in this course has helped me to become a more proficient action researcher.
The most useful learning tool in this course, for me, has been the discussion board. I loved viewing my fellow cohorts’ experiences and ideas working with action research. It was very useful to me to be able to compare their opinions and practices with my own. I also enjoyed receiving feedback from them on my posts and greatly valued their advice and suggestions.
I also enjoyed the required readings provided for our course. The texts explained so much about our research plans and gave excellent examples, which made the information easy to read and understand. The readings were interesting, to the point, and always explained any questions that I may have had prior to my reading them. The text, Leading With Passion and Knowledge, provided in-depth information into creating my action research plan through “wonderings” and how to implement it. It also went on to provide information on how to use the information that I acquire through my plan and how to continue assessing myself. The text, Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools, also helped by providing insight into why we do action research and what drives most administrators to participate in action research plans.
The weekly assignments really went hand-in-hand with our readings. Each question was linked to certain reading assignment, and the answer could always be found as indicated. The assignments improved my understanding of the readings by compelling me to look deeper into the information and think about how this information was useful to me.
My blog was an enjoyable, useful tool throughout this course. I received a piece of feedback to my posting that really made me anxious to complete my research plan and share it with my fellow students so that we can compare our findings. I have noticed that several of my cohorts have chosen a similar research topic and I am curious to see how our findings are alike or how they may differ.
The videos provided also answered many of the questions that I may have had about implementing my action research plan. I greatly enjoyed the video assignment of week two that allowed me to hear stories from real administrators, such as Principal Johnny Briseno of Angleton ISD. These administrators gave great testimonies of using action research in their jobs and how it affected them.
Each component of this course has provided very useful information about action research. I feel that I am well prepared to implement my action research plan because of each information source provided throughout the course.
Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2009). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 9 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye on Education.
The most useful learning tool in this course, for me, has been the discussion board. I loved viewing my fellow cohorts’ experiences and ideas working with action research. It was very useful to me to be able to compare their opinions and practices with my own. I also enjoyed receiving feedback from them on my posts and greatly valued their advice and suggestions.
I also enjoyed the required readings provided for our course. The texts explained so much about our research plans and gave excellent examples, which made the information easy to read and understand. The readings were interesting, to the point, and always explained any questions that I may have had prior to my reading them. The text, Leading With Passion and Knowledge, provided in-depth information into creating my action research plan through “wonderings” and how to implement it. It also went on to provide information on how to use the information that I acquire through my plan and how to continue assessing myself. The text, Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools, also helped by providing insight into why we do action research and what drives most administrators to participate in action research plans.
The weekly assignments really went hand-in-hand with our readings. Each question was linked to certain reading assignment, and the answer could always be found as indicated. The assignments improved my understanding of the readings by compelling me to look deeper into the information and think about how this information was useful to me.
My blog was an enjoyable, useful tool throughout this course. I received a piece of feedback to my posting that really made me anxious to complete my research plan and share it with my fellow students so that we can compare our findings. I have noticed that several of my cohorts have chosen a similar research topic and I am curious to see how our findings are alike or how they may differ.
The videos provided also answered many of the questions that I may have had about implementing my action research plan. I greatly enjoyed the video assignment of week two that allowed me to hear stories from real administrators, such as Principal Johnny Briseno of Angleton ISD. These administrators gave great testimonies of using action research in their jobs and how it affected them.
Each component of this course has provided very useful information about action research. I feel that I am well prepared to implement my action research plan because of each information source provided throughout the course.
Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2009). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 9 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye on Education.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
5301 Week 2 Reflection
This past week was our first week back to school, so I've had some difficulty juggling my job work and grad school work. I hope to begin managing my time a little better in the coming weeks.
I can't beleive that week two is already over! This course is moving by so quickly and I am pleased about how much I've learned so far. I been enjoying our reading assignments, but this week I enjoyed the videos much more. I feel like listening to the administrators talk about their real experiences "stuck" so much more than the readings. I hope there are more real videos to come!
I'm a little nervous about my action plan. I haven't had much time to sit down with my advisor because she's been busy, too. I hope to schedule a meeting with her this week to help me fill out the action plan template. Now, I'm anxious to start week 3!
I can't beleive that week two is already over! This course is moving by so quickly and I am pleased about how much I've learned so far. I been enjoying our reading assignments, but this week I enjoyed the videos much more. I feel like listening to the administrators talk about their real experiences "stuck" so much more than the readings. I hope there are more real videos to come!
I'm a little nervous about my action plan. I haven't had much time to sit down with my advisor because she's been busy, too. I hope to schedule a meeting with her this week to help me fill out the action plan template. Now, I'm anxious to start week 3!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
5301 Blogs and How They Might Benefit Educational Leaders
Since our previous course, I have become much more aware of the use of blogs by fellow educators. I have been glued to my computer exploring the fabulous resources that other teachers are making available through their blogs. The more I research blogs, the more I see their potential as wonderful tools for all education practitioners, especially leaders.
Leaders could use blogs to share information with his/her faculty, staff, or any other school stakeholders. Blogs would also offer a wonderful reflection tool for leaders to keep record of their thoughts and experiences. Blogs could also aide leaders in implementing staff development courses and collaborative activities.
I believe that blogs have a lot to offer our educational leaders to make their jobs a little easier.
Leaders could use blogs to share information with his/her faculty, staff, or any other school stakeholders. Blogs would also offer a wonderful reflection tool for leaders to keep record of their thoughts and experiences. Blogs could also aide leaders in implementing staff development courses and collaborative activities.
I believe that blogs have a lot to offer our educational leaders to make their jobs a little easier.
5301 Action Research: What Is It and How Will I Use It?
The more that I read about action research, the more interested I am in finding out more about it and utilizing it myself. Action research is a form of research where the practitioner studies his/her own procedures and policies and looks for problems or ways of implementing them better. The researcher uses steps which involve identifying a problem to be resolved or situation to be improved, forming strategies to make the improvement or solve the problem, applying the strategies and assessing their value, and then reflecting on the process and it's outcome to look for further areas of improvement.
I see many opportunities for my own utilization of action research. I feel that I would greatly benefit from an action research plan because I am still fairly new to the teaching profession and have many areas in which to improve. I also see great potential for action research in the new school that I have recently transferred to. The school has been awarded a school improvement grant and will be implementing many new programs and strategies from raising student achievement. I would particularly like to research the implementation of technology into daily lessons by the entire faculty. Each teacher has been provided with several technology tools and are expected to utilize them in their instruction. I hope to study the use of these tools and the effect they will have on student achievement.
I see many opportunities for my own utilization of action research. I feel that I would greatly benefit from an action research plan because I am still fairly new to the teaching profession and have many areas in which to improve. I also see great potential for action research in the new school that I have recently transferred to. The school has been awarded a school improvement grant and will be implementing many new programs and strategies from raising student achievement. I would particularly like to research the implementation of technology into daily lessons by the entire faculty. Each teacher has been provided with several technology tools and are expected to utilize them in their instruction. I hope to study the use of these tools and the effect they will have on student achievement.
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