Abbey's+Portfolio

=E2T2 Portfolio Page for //Abbey Sonnenberg//=

Summary
My E2T2 project can be divided into two parts. Part one includes second trimester’s glogster presentation. Students had to do an oral presentation using glogster. This was part of a larger research unit. The second part involved the students creating, managing and working within in an online literature circle. They used wikispaces as a mean to facilitate the literature circles.

Shared Lessons and Units

 * ~ Daily Lessons ||~ Instructional Units ||~  ||
 * [[file:How to present Lesson Plan.docx]] || [[file:Unit Lesson Plan-Abbey.docx]] ||  ||
 * [[file:Steps for Creating A Glog.docx]]

Learning Station Handouts: || ||   ||

Blog Entries
Chapters 1-3 Reflection: After reading chapters 1-3 I am excited as we progress into this journey. I already have been incorporating more technology into my lessons and collaborating more with other teachers. A few things that I found especially insightful include: 1.) The list of websites and online resources on pages 38 and 39. It is always one thing to know about resources and another thing to have them at your fingertips and ready to apply the resources. 2.) I also appreciated the Bloom's reference. It is always nice to see "older methods and practices" still relevant to education. There are so many patterns and trends in education it is always nice to see the ones that have lasted the test of time. It was also a good refresher when thinking about the planning stage of our own projects. (pages 46-47) 3.) The Romeo in MySpace reminded me of my teaching last year with a Freshman Class. We also studied //Romeo and Juliet// and as a final project many students chose the option of creating Facebook pages for a character. With multiple students partaking in this task they were also able to "communicate" between characters and scenes, monologue, and dialog throughout the play. 4.) My final observation for these chapters was the list for "Essential Learning Functions". I am a list person, so I find them easy to read and navigate through.
 * Reflection 1**

Looking forward to the rest of our journey and to see our results!

My overall goal for 2nd trimester... -Create a 2-3 week unit on informational literacy. -Use Barb as a resource. -Have students create a mini portfolio of their information and be able to correctly interpret and analyze the information.
 * Reflection 2**

My overall goal for 3rd trimester... -Have literature circles discuss using a blog. -Maybe a wiki? -Generate online discussions that create deeper learning and feedback from students. What I hope to accomplish...

Some Links/Resources: Link to my blogspot for class My Classroom Blog

Link to Delicious Page Delicious Page

A fun song I found for theme, plot, setting, character, and conflict! five_things.mov

A movie clip I used when teaching //Thank You, M'am//


 * Ms. Sonnenberg's 7th Grade EVMS Reading BlogSpot**
 * [|Third Hour]
 * [|Self Reflection Link]
 * [|Format Your Paper Link!! :)]
 * [|Text Features]
 * [|Social Studies Class Thursday and Friday]
 * [|Social Studies Class]
 * [|Happy Thanksgiving!]
 * [|Theme Review]
 * [|Week 1 ROTHMC Assignments]
 * [|Question for all of my Super Smarts!]

So I finally found my original wiki page that I created last October for a grad class. It was only started, and never really expanded...but I found it! My Original Wiki

After participating and listening to Barb's presentation, it is always amazing how much information is available to us as teachers, students, and humans. With the internet there truly is a wealth of information constantly waiting for us to discover. The tricky part is to access the information when you want and to be able to get exactly what you want. Which is exactly what I think most of us are trying to help teach our students. Let us please move beyond google and wikipedia when the information needs to be a little more reliable and pin-pointed.
 * Reflection 3**
 * 11.16.10**

I thought today's assessment was interesting and I am curious to see my results. Part of me feels like I did know some of the answers and was pretty confident about them, but one never knows! One thought that I shared in class today with a shoulder partner was, "I know some of this information and resources, but am I communicating all of these things to my students? ---Not really all the time... Grrr, it's only slightly frustrating when I realize something on my own and know that I should, can, and will try to fix the problem!


 * Reflection 4**
 * 12.3.10**

After viewing Ted Pink's twenty minute presentation, it is clear he is passionate about three things: 1. Mastery 2. Automony 3. Purpose

Mastery, okay, I know almost all of what I can know about something specific. Preferably something I am really passionate about. Automony: Self-direction. Can I choose what and how I do certain things? Can I have a sense of ownership over my work? Purpose: Why am I doing this? Oh, memories from Mr. Slickman's Algebra and Geometry class are creeping back into my head. "But, Mr. Slickman, what is "x" and why are we trying to figure "x" out?" "Mr. Slickman, could you put this into a real-world word problem?" As soon as poor Mr. Slickman could give me a reason why I was figuring out "x" I could then start to wrap my head around the problem. If we were just solving the problem to solve it and I saw no purpose I had an extremely hard time working the problem.

How are these things present in my classroom? Good question. How can I incorporate days like Google's 20% days or Fedex days? How am I making the purpose clear? I see the value and I appreciate the work we do, but I am at a higher mastery level than my students.


 * Reflection 5**
 * 12.8.10**

First, here is a website that has some great links to technology! []

Thoughts on Fair Use and Copyright rules... It can be confusing, overwhelming, and maybe even frightening. For me, it is still mostly frustrating for a few reasons. As a teacher, I try to model the behaviors I'd like my students to display (honesty, friendly, caring, life long learner, etc.). However, sometimes with Fair Use, Copyright, plagiarism, and proper citations it can get confusing in terms of honesty. Today's presentation helped cleared up some ideas, but also made something even more confusing. I was under the impression that with the proper citation and credit to the author, people could use those things. It was helpful, and a nice reminder, that Fair Use covers education pretty well. I am not overly worried about being sued, but I'd like to do things correctly :) I would like to learn more about repurposing images/photoshop to fall under Fair Use. I also appreciated finding more out on Google Images for use. I definitely like CC!


 * Reflection 6**
 * 12.9.10**

I am really excited about our second trimester project. I am doing an informational literacy unit for three weeks. Next week I am meeting with Barb to go over some resources and what she has taught in the past. I know she will have a wealth of information to share! I am also working with the Erika who teachs writing in the seventh grade. We are developing the unit together to really incorporate the reading and writing. As part of the unit, students will be asked to analyze a chart or a similar graphic which reinforces what most of them have already covered in math. With this unit, I am really trying hard to make it cross-curricular and work with the other seventh grade team members. In fact, science is covered as the topic for some student's project. For the topic of research, reading, and writing I am thinking of having students research people in the categories of: inventors, activists, leaders, scientists, and Olympians.

If anyone has any further ideas or comments I'd love to hear them!


 * Reflection 7**
 * From 1.7.11**

Today (Thursday) Barb Romersheuser came into the classroom to help teach my 7th graders what tools are available to them from the library's website and Destiny. She did a great job showing what the different databases, websites, and subscriptions can all do for their research projects. Tammi Wiemer was also in for the presentations (she works in our library). After watching the presentation I was excited for the students to start their research. Some of the websites that I really enjoyed was www.loc.gov and the Marshall Cavendish Database. These two resources are great source for primary sources, pictures, and movie clips. The handouts Barb gave out were helpful as well because they gave the login information for accessing these resource from home.


 * Reflection 8**
 * From the week of 1.10.11-1.14.11**

This week the students were in the library researching their person. They were able to use the computer as a source of information as well as the reference and biography books in the library. I noticed a few things from their research. Barb directed them to first consult an encyclopedia to gather general information, which students did. Then, I found they were hesitant to go further and get "deeper" information. Here is where I stepped in and directed them to sites like Time.com and NPR.org. Some of the students were able to find interviews and cover stories of their people, so they were pretty excited.

Another thing I noticed was the difficulty some of the students had with MLA and citing their sources. Many of the online databases give the correct citation for the page. Meaning, the student just had to copy down that information. Instead, some of the students were searching the website for the individual components and then putting it into their notes. They were making it harder for themselves! When my mentor was observing me she asked if we taught how to cite or if we just let them copy the MLA citation (if given). In response, I explained that if the citation is given I encourage students to use that information, but we also briefly cover the format and the resources to use when it is required of you to make the citation. My reasoning behind this was MLA changes from year to year and depending on the resources and how you access the resources varies the format. To me it is like a recipe, you don't need to memorize a recipe if it is written!


 * Reflection 9**
 * From 1.18.11**

Today I was observed by our Master Teacher and the lesson pertained to making oral presentations. The focus was around the new standard 1 for Reading and Writing (Oral Expression and Listening). The students were given their rubric and then on the flip side of the paper they put the highest level of the rubric into their own words. They did this after watching a short clip on how not to present. They enjoyed the clip and worked well with the rubric. I'm anxious to see their presentations. For a visual aid the students are creating a Glog. We are exploring options other than powerpoint!

And exhale.....this unit is over! The students presented yesterday and today. Overall, I am impressed by their understanding of their topic and their oral presentations. The writing teacher and I are in the process of reading their reports and so far, so good! The students ended this unit with a self reflection using Survey Monkey and evaluating a peer using a Peer Scoring Guide during an oral presentation. The rubric I used for their oral presentations worked well. I taped some of the presentations with a flip camera and I am going to try to post one of the presentations. I look forward to doing this unit again. I am also excited to see the students improve their presenting skills. For their first formal assessment I am impressed by their skills! One suggestion/ thing I learned is to ask around the school for help gathering information, adapting the lesson, etc. I worked with Barb, our Library TA, the writing teacher, and with the Master Teacher to adopt the unit for the special ed students and advanced students, and my mentor to bounce ideas back and forth! It proved to be helpful!I'd love to hear any feedback or suggestions from anyone! Or, if you have any questions!
 * Reflection 10**
 * 1.25.11**

New unit! Online literature Circles :) Check out our wiki page for my 7th grade reading class at EVMS. [|www.readingissocial.ecs.wikispaces.net] The students have really been engaged, interested in their novels, and interacting with their peer online! We'll see how it goes, but so far it's going well.
 * Reflection 11**
 * Week of 4.11.11**

The first week has passed and I'm pretty happy with the progress and the success the students have been having. Their book pages are coming along and the discussion boards seem to be on fire. Today, their task was to post a higher level question for their peers to answer and then respond/answer one of their peers. While we're in class it is fun to hear them answering their own questions, reading posts, and seeing the development of the wiki.
 * Reflection 12**
 * 4.15.11**

After reading and navigating through the different wiki pages to grade their postings I realized that just by revising their rubrics my life could be much easier. I added a line where the students have to tell me who they responded to and we also established common posting names. This way I am not hunting around the wiki to see where evms7.2 answered a question. This way I know evms7.2 posted under "Question 2" and replied to evms8.5. Much easier! I am also loving the fact that students can not say, "But I turned it in". To that ever common saying, I reply with, "Well, pull up the wiki and show it to me." When they can't find it they then realize they need to repost. This unit has also been wonderful when kids are sick or out of school. I had one student visit Germany and he was still able to post, reply, and work with his group!
 * Reflection 13**
 * 4.19.11**

I'm so impressed by all the different reading groups and the progress and work they have done! All levels of ability are doing really well, considering they have never done this kind of unit before! So impressed! Check out their work on our wiki: www.readingissocial.ecs.wikispaces.net This is short and sweet, but I just wanted to brag a little about my students :)
 * Reflection 14**
 * 4.23.11**

Monologue time! The students were given the task to pick a character from their novel and create some extra dialog for that character, fill in some information they feel would have added to the novel. Make some strong inferences. Their monologues were to be two minutes, +/- fifteen seconds and really portray a character's thoughts, feelings, and/or desires. This week they did some brainstorming, drafting, peer revising/coaching, and will soon be recording their monologues with the flip cameras.
 * Reflection 15**
 * 4.25.11**

The students have been recording one another in various hallways of the school and I had a colleague come up to me and say, "Over the years I've seen these kids do some pretty amazing things with technology." I replied,"I know it's amazing how into they are. And they don't even realized that they wrote a page and a half, revised, it and have been rereading the script constantly! They are so dedicated to making sure their monologue comes out sounding and looking good!" What a great conversation! Keep up the good work kids!
 * Reflection 16**
 * 4. 28.11**

The novels should be finished and we're introducing the final projects today! The focus of the final project is to represent the journey the main character has taken though out the novel. What challenges were faced? Who helped the character? Where did the character find support and comfort? How did the journey end? While the students have been reading they have been filling out a graphic organizer that helped track the journey of the character, so it is now a matter of pulling it together in an organized way. The students have many options for demonstrating the journey such as: a video game, board game, song, poem, diary entries, etc. It should be pretty exciting to see the finished projects!
 * Reflection 17**
 * 5.3.11**

5.4.11 It's work week! The students have picked their own groups or decided to work alone and were given a handout that helps plan out their project, sets goals, and divides the work. Hopefully it helps the students stay on task and complete their project! So far the projects are coming along quite nicely!
 * Reflection 18**

A job well done! Check out the student samples from the 3rd tri unit. The projects turned out AWESOME and I can't wait to show them as models for next year! The students really put a lot of effort into these projects. From the projects you can tell they really read and understood the different novels. Plus, through the presentations all the students got to hear about the different books and see how each character had a different, but somewhat similar journey of hardship and overcoming difficulties.
 * Reflection 19**
 * 5.9-10.11**

Students completed self evaluations from this unit and as I am reading through them the overall impression I am getting is the students enjoyed this unit. They liked the freedom of the wiki and within their groups and the use of technology. Another comment that I read a few times was, students appreciated having a secret user name. This way when they posted no one knew who was posting. They felt free to post and discuss what they really felt without being judged by other students. Nice safe environment! Giving kids a voice that normally hide their voices!
 * Reflection 20**
 * 5.12.11**

The students took their version of the post assessment of technology tools on the computer today and I was amazed at how many higher scores there were! In particular, a lower-ability student got an 88%, I was blown away! I made a comment to her and she said she remembered some of the answers from the first time she took it. (The assessment grades it right away and gives an explanation if the student got it wrong) I also noticed a lot of question dealt very closely to what we did throughout the unit. Items like: video editing, posting on a wiki, responsibilities with internet usage. Pretty neat!
 * Reflection 21**
 * 5.16.11**

The kids are focusing on career week and using Colleges in Colorado to complete their ICAPS. It seems like they are more comfortable using and the computer in an academic fashion, instead of just socializing and doing google searches. The internet is such a valuable tool that can be used in so many ways it is nice to expose some of those ways to students!
 * Reflection 22**
 * Week of 5.23.11**

Some final thoughts: as I complete the post assessment I am reminded that even if I made gains throughout the year in the use of technology I can still improve. There are still areas where I am oblivious to where I can improve. With this assessment I saved a copy of the PDF results and I'm going to post it in my classroom next year as a reminder. Better than that, I'm going to keep taking the LoTi Survey as a reminder of all the useful ways and benefits of incorporating technology into the classroom. Feel free to check out my results!
 * Reflection 23**
 * June 2011**

Just another little reminder that the students really walked away from this year with some valuable information...they took their final exam and I was really impressed at how well they did. I incorporated questions from both technology units (along with the rest of the year items) and the students really obtained that information! Way to go SuperSmarts!!
 * Reflection 24**
 * June 2011**

June 2011 I can't wait for next year! I can't wait to reference back to our text when developing our new district wide curriculum! It's going to be great and now I just need to figure out how to get my hands on a set of Ipods!!! This year I had a class blog and eventually a wiki, but next year it will be nice to have a website and a wiki! The tools are both helpful to the students and parents! Can't wait, what an amazing adventure it has been! Thanks everyone!
 * Reflection 25**

Student Work Samples

 * 2nd Trimester's Lesson Examples**

2nd Student Example of Glogster
3rd Example of Student Example of Glogster


 * 3rd Trimester's Unit Examples**

Link to the main wiki for 3rd Trimester's Online Literature Circle. From here, all books/groups can be viewed. (Discussions, Posts, Questions, Book information)

Summative Narrative
It’s been an amazing journey for myself and for my students. Together we accomplished some pretty amazing tasks and learning. I started this journey with a positive attitude and tried to maintain that positivity throughout and I think that is key to any new adventure. Throughout this adventure I learned or reminded myself that heavy loading the work in the beginning truly pays off. Last year I was teaching 6-12th grade and was teaching from day to day. This year with just the focus of 7th grade reading I was really able to focus all my energy on that. It really paid off too. By developing these strong 21st century projects/units I was able to better monitor and adapt the learning throughout the project. During class I could really focus on the students and their needs. For me this was a great experience. Fully developed lessons and units not only relieve some of my stresses, but the student learning and successes are way higher in the end too! By implementing a variety of technology tools into my lessons and units I found student engagement and learning to be much greater. It just proves to me how I can continue down that path. The kids really liked glogster and the wiki along with the supplementary tools we used along the way as well. I am please to say that next year will just be a stronger continuation of this year and I hope to continue to learn better strategies for greater student growth!

Literature Review
After completing the requirements for the E2T2 grant and reading //Reinventing Project-Based Learning Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age// by Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss I am please to say that it was exactly that, a field guide. It was a text to read before we started out journey, during, and as we continue our journey. The text provided insight at every level of our journey. It was not a text telling you what kind of projects to do or exactly how to do them; rather it was a guiding reference that helped formulate your individual project. For these reasons I found the text to be beneficial for myself as the educator which then carried over to my students. My book is filled with post it notes, questions, and highlighted sections. The most compelling components included Chapter 3: Imagining the Possibilities. Throughout this chapter such issues of “The Big Idea”, 21st-Century Literacies, and Essential Learning Functions were discussed. One of the most compelling quotes from this chapter for me was, Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society. (UNESCO Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme [LAMP], 2004) This quote truly gets to the heart of the goals of a language arts/reading teacher. This quote is going on the walls of my classroom for next year! Through 21st-Century projects this goal can be accomplished. Another section that I appreciated was the section labeled, Essential Learning Functions. This list was a great guide to what needed to be accomplished in a successful project; it went beyond the learning objectives and the learning outcomes. I feel this list is more sophisticated and complex for the interpretation and higher-level thinking. Number one was “ubiquity: learning inside and outside the classroom, and all the time” and isn’t that we want for all of our students all of the time? (Bono and Krauss, 2007, p. 54) Secondly, Bono and Krauss mention “Deep Learning”, so we are asking and providing opportunities for our students to constantly learn, but then learn at a deep level. The list goes on to discuss: making things visible and discussable, expressing, collaboration, research, project management, and reflection and iteration (54-56) all which, when deeply considered, create a meaningful learning opportunity for our students. In terms of educational philosophy the book centered on students. What can teachers do to foster better learning for students? And, isn’t that what it’s all about? The book never mentioned that 21st century learning skill are the new way to teach because it cuts the work in half for teachers. It was not gimmicky or trendy. It was real suggestions and guidance on how to improve student learning, which supports my educational philosophy. One aspect of the text that truly rang true was engagement of students when they have a real life learning opportunity. Our online literature circles were real to the students. They were in charge of creating a website, felt ownership, and felt part of a team through reading, responding, and reflecting. This unit provided collaboration, visibility, and reflection for every student. So did this field guide impact student learning? Yes, and in a very positive manner. In one student’s self evaluation he said, “The incorporation of technology made the unit easier because you could interact online with other group members. I learned how to use a wiki. Technology tools like posting questions, ideas, and videos helped to make the project more organized.” Another student said, “I think we discussed more through typing than we would have with talking.” For me, I saw the learning and I could hear students discussing the novels in the halls, which was a great compliment! I am exited to keep this text on my bookshelves and return to it as I continue planning and implementing 21st Century Learning projects!

Works Cited: Boss, S. and Krauss, J. (2007). // Reinventing project-based learning //, Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.