Word Clouds

I found this activity to be very easy and fun. I was aware of Wordle before, but never had the chance to experiment with it. I chose to do a word cloud in my field first because I thought it would be more fun. I chose to do the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. I feel that this is one of the greatest speeches of all time, so why not have a word cloud to describe it? Here is my Gettysburg Address Wordle.

 

I found this activity to be very easy because there really is not much that you have to do outside of the program. You just type in a bunch of words and they do the rest for you. It was a lot of fun going through the random images and choosing the one I liked the best.

When viewing the NETS T standards, there is some difference between what the standards were in 2000 versus what they were in 2008. In the NETS standards 2000, one can see the main focus is on technology and teachers using that technology for student learning. I think this was the beginning of having lots of technology to use in the classroom, so NETS T standards were built around teachers starting to use different things in their classroom. When comparing the 2000 standards to the NETS standards 2008 one can see there is a change. The 2008 standards are more focused on the student learning how to use digital resources in their classroom. Technology is now an assumed part of a classroom and the focus has to be on using that technology to help in the learning process. It also seems that the NETS standards are promoting more of a student led learning than a teacher led learning. I feel like they are trying to put more responsibility on the students for their learning.

This activity relates to the NETS standards of facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity. Students can play around with this software and create word clouds that relate to classroom topics. Second, teachers are designing and developing digital age learning experiences. This tool would be great to use when learning about wars or cultures of different civilizations. Students could easily pick up on the most important information because of its size and the attention the words draw. Third, if teachers do the word clouds themselves, they are showing students that they are willing to use this type of technology as well. There are many benefits to using Wordle and I am going to start using it as a project for my next chapter.

Change Will Happen

After viewing the webinar on technology, I am both intrigued with the idea of using technology and also worried that it could possibly take teachers completely out of the picture. When looking at the Carpe Diem style of learning, the students are all self-driven to complete their work. Teachers may or may not be needed while they are working in their cubicles on different assignments. I cannot see how that is a beneficial atmosphere for students to thrive in, but as the professor pointed out, test scores are rising for those students. On the other hand, at St. Mary's, they are participating in learning by doing. I feel this is a much better opportunity for students to learn and be successful. As a teacher, I feel much more prepared to engage in a St. Mary's style learning school than a Carpe Diem style learning school. At my school, we do not have adequate technology to create a Carpe Diem style learning environment. Even if we did, I feel that style of learning takes a specific kind of student. Not everyone would be suited to sitting in front of a computer for half a day. I do try and do many hands on learning experiences for my students. We take virtual tours to places that we cannot visit. I create these tours using Microsoft Powerpoint and also by using videos downloaded off the internet. We only have access to computers in our school. With the SOL schedule that is put in place, I find I have a hard time getting my students into a lab to work on projects. It feels like we constantly have to rush to get our work done on time. There seems to be little time to spend on other fun activities.
I would recommend that my school purchase IPads for each department. This way not one department has control over them and there are many sets that would be accessible for students to use. Students would be able to take advantage of some of the history review apps that I have found over the last couple of years. This would also break up the monotony of doing the same thing over and over again. When looking into the future, I am not sure how I would handle this combination of learning. I feel like we, as teachers, are being pulled farther and farther away from what we are actually supposed to be doing with our students. I would love to see more time devoted to hands on learning and students being actively engaged in their learning. I would like to not see a Carpe Diem style learning environment in my school because I do not see how that style of learning benefits anyone, especially high school students who are way to social!
The NETS standards portrayed in this activity are teachers modeling digital citizenship and facilitating student learning and creativity. Teachers would be showing students how to engage the world they will enter after high school or college. Students need to be aware of what technology is out there and also to not be afraid of it. Second, if students are provided more learn by doing experiences, they will be more creative with their learning and possibly take a more active role.

Excel 2

Column1
Mean	216.8470093
Standard Error	1.003809319
Median	217.6995421
Mode	#N/A
Standard Deviation	7.238571944
Sample Variance	52.39692379
Kurtosis	1.19597502
Skewness	-0.601237063
Range	40.39407077
Minimum	193.5975693
Maximum	233.9916401
Sum	11276.04449
Count	52

Column2
Mean	-7.24326109
Standard Error	0.275208873
Median	-6.992761948
Mode	#N/A
Standard Deviation	1.984559403
Sample Variance	3.938476024
Kurtosis	1.033376246
Skewness	-0.835208051
Range	9.957366625
Minimum	-13.99571467
Maximum	-4.038348042
Sum	-376.6495767
Count	52

t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances
	Variable 1	Variable 2
Mean	216.847	224.0902704
Variance	52.39692	42.3109447
Observations	52	52
Pooled Variance	47.35393
Hypothesized Mean Difference	0
df	102
t Stat	-5.36714
P(T<=t) one-tail	2.52E-07
t Critical one-tail	1.65993
P(T<=t) two-tail	5.03E-07
t Critical two-tail	1.983495

Above are the results from the NAEP 4th grade scores. The top chart is the males and the middle chart is the femails. The third chart is the t-test results. My results show that the t-test results are greater than .05, so therefore, I cannot reject the null hypothesis. This activity was a little confusing. I am not very good at reading charts from Excel so I am not completely sure about what I have discovered. I believe I rejected the null hypothesis, but I am not really sure what that means. I looked over the data, but I need to become more familiar with this in order to completely appreciate what I have discovered.

In my class, students can research the various reasons for the beginning of World War I. There are many different aspects to look at and students coulds show what they are most interested in and why. My groups can be the causes of the war including, militarism, alliances, nationalism, and imperialism. I could examine the students research on an individual issue and then compare them to the other student's ideas.

I am still unsure of how I would use this in my classroom setting. I don't completely understand Excel and am not sure this would benefit me until I figured out how to use the program successfully. Until then, I think the numbers would not mean anything to me.

Basic Excel Skills

I never thought that having a Mac would put me at a disadvantage with Excel, but I definitely found a problem tonight. In order for me to complete this assignment, I had to download a program called StatPlus to use with Excel in order to get the statistics I needed. Finally, I was able to get the numbers to cooperate and this is what I came up with.

I am still not sure that I did this completely right, but I think I did. Anyway, I have learned a new trick today. I am not sure how I would use this yet. I am not completely comfortable using Excel and all these new ideas are throwing me into confusion. It will take a while for me to sort everything out.

I am from Maryland and I looked at the data provided by my state. I would say that Maryland is doing okay overall. They seem to be at the top of the pyramid and that is always a good thing in stats. There are 47 states below Maryland and 2 above them. I would definitely say that Maryland is above average and is doing a good job.
When looking at the different NETS standards, I am still not sure where to put this. I feel the best place for it would be the Model Digital Age Work and Learning. This data could possibly allow students to track their progress if teachers keep up on it. Also, parents could see how their children are progressing over time during a conference, etc. This chart could also allow a teacher to see who has what knowledge and who needs remediation. I am still not completely sure of what best to use this for because I am still trying to understand it. I think the more I use this program and test my stats skills, I will find a better use for the program and the numbers.

Google Sites

I have worked with Google sites before and had forgotten how to use them. This was a nice refresher on how to use the sites and also shows the benefit of having something like this for your students to view. I can see how this site would be extremely handy during the summer if one taught an AP course to keep students updated on their work assignments. My website can be found here Melissa Bernal Teacher Website. On my Google site, I have linked to the important documents that I created to explain myself as a teacher. Also, I have linked to the rubric that I created a to show potential students, employers, etc how I would grade an assignment. I like how one can upload a biography to explain a bit about yourself and let people see what kind of person you are.
This activity relates to the NETS Standards in a couple different ways. First, a teacher is designing and developing digital age learning experiences. As already stated, this website would be fantastic for AP classes and keeping students up with that workload. Also, students would be able to communicate with each other quickly and by using this website, along with something like FaceTime or Skype, they would be able to communicate. Secondly, this activity shows teachers modeling digital age work and learning. Teachers are showing that they are advancing in technology and that they are willing to try the different avenues of education to help their students succeed. I think it would be great for students to connect with their teachers outside of the classroom in a learning environment. So much stress is put on not using technology to communicate with students outside of school. This website would be somewhere that students and teachers could communicate about the needs of the student and the classroom. Finally, teachers are engaging in professional growth and leadership. Teachers are showing their willingness to keep up with changing technology to show their students how to use these great sites inside and outside the classroom.

Rubrics

Rubrics are a standard way to grade a student's performance on a specific activity. Using the Rubistar website, teachers can easily make a rubric to fit any of their classroom needs. Sharing the rubrics is even easier. If you save the rubric on the website, you are given an access ID number and can type it in to find the rubric that you need. I found this site extremely easy to work with and loved the fact that I can make a rubric for any assignment that I present to my class.

 I decided to create a rubric for a project that I do with my World History I class. It is a fun way for them to review important people, but also a way to get out of the classroom for a while and into the computer lab.

The worst part about this is that I cannot figure out how to upload this document as an Excel sheet. I will keep trying to figure it out, but as of right now, I am stumped...

This rubric building site is perfect for my department at Warren County. It fits into the NETS standards and it promotes building an environment of communication and collaboration. We could all use the same rubrics for students. Students would then know what is expected of them no matter what the situation is.

Self Grading Form

Gilded Age Quiz

We have just started learning about the Gilded Age in class and I think using this form is a way for me to check on the student progress that is made. Also, I believe that students can monitor their own progress if they take these quizzes on a regular basis. The video that was linked on the assignment was helpful, but I am finding that these online forms are hard to access in my school. The computer labs are always book and it always seems like we cannot get in there, even to do a short 5 minute pre-test or post-test for a unit. I am working to get a hold of the mobile labs more often, but they hardly ever work. I wish I could use this technology more at work so my students could benefit from it.

If you click on the link above, you can test your knowledge about the Gilded Age and see how well you would do based on the Virginia SOL standards. Below, is the link to the results page.

Quiz Scoresheet

This assignment connected with many of the NETS standards. I am promoting growth within my classroom community because my students are checking their own progress and seeing how they are doing in class. Also, we are big on tracking performances right now so this is a great way for students to track what they are doing. Also, I am continuing to use technology that furthers my understanding of these programs as a teacher. I can help my students become better learners if I can share all this new found knowledge with them.