Organizing Data

The link for my Organized Assessment data can be found at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SuDfW872UIYy0fSt3ZYv4rXPpfyf29_ciPVY45s3iVU/edit?usp=sharing

For this assignment, I decided to use Google Sheets because it is a program that I'm familiar with.  I think one big strength of using Google sheets was that the layout of my information is neat, and easy to read.  For me, a big weakness is I had to do a lot of organizing and number crunching on my own.  The whole process, at least for how I organized my data, proved to be a bit tedious.  It would have been nice to have found some program that would organize the information for me, but it's my hope that if I did end up compiling information like this for a teacher, that it would be beneficial for them and they'd use it.  It was interesting for me to have to organize assessment data, because I've always either been handed data sheets from a higher up, or I've used an assessment program that does it for me.  It was good for me to see how much work can go into it.

Adding color to my tables definitely helped see how individual students did.  I think color would have helped me out a lot more if I had organized the students test information differently.  I saw a couple different solutions on different classmates blog posts.  It would have been beneficial for me to put all of the individual student information on one table instead of twelve individual ones, by having students going down the y-axis and questions going along the x-axis.  This not only would have saved me some time, but would have let me look at every student at once instead of having to scroll down.

When giving the teacher back the information, I would have them take a quick look at the individual student results on the left (paying attention to red answers), but to focus more on the two tables on the right.  I would want the teacher to take a look at the student scores.  I included the average student score (60%) above the table.  In my opinion, as an educator, a red flag goes up when the average student score of an assessment is 60%.  To me this is a signal that the teacher must go back a reteach certain areas.  Based purely off of individual student scores, I would group Zoran B., Zyntar C., Zub C., Zancy D., Zhield H., and Zamsung K. in a small group to work on skills they have been taught leading up to this assessment as they all score 60% or lower.

In the second table on the right, I organized how many students (out of the 12) got each question correct, what percent that was, and put what the most given wrong answer was. The teacher should use the "Most Given Wrong Answer" information to explore reteaching opportunities and to explore possible student misconceptions. I feel that out of all of the information in the tables, this is the most useful because the teacher can take a different approach with reteaching their students by going at misconceptions head on.

There were also three different areas I would suggest the teacher reteach based off having a lower percent correct overall in the class:

M:01:NO:6.4 (S) (Question 6) Accurately solves problems involving single or multiple operations on fractions (proper, improper, and mixed), or decimals; and addition or subtraction of integers; percent of a whole; or problems involving greatest common factor or least common multiple.

M:02:GM:6.6 (S) (Question 3) Demonstrates conceptual understanding of perimeter of polygons, the area of quadrilaterals or triangles, and the volume of rectangular prisms by using models, formulas, or by solving problems; and demonstrates understanding of the relationships of circle measures (radius to diameter and diameter to circumference) by solving related problems. Expresses all measures using appropriate units.

M:03:FA:6.1 (S) (Question 5) Identifies and extends to specific cases a variety of patterns (linear and nonlinear) represented in models, tables, sequences, graphs, or in problem situations; or writes a rule in words or symbols for finding specific cases of a linear relationship; or writes a rule in words or symbols for finding specific cases of a nonlinear relationship; and writes an expression or equation using words or symbols to express the generalization of a linear relationship (e.g., twice the term number plus 1 or 2n + 1).

Presentation for Implementing Technology

Here is my presentation using powtoon on implementing technology in the classroom:
http://www.powtoon.com/show/dvcGAcokZ3x/technology-in-classrooms/#/

Survey for Teacher Technology Needs

Click the link for my survey for teacher technology needs that I made using Google Forms:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1AaqGH8pOmzCBvO-zIqDuOjbnnbRk0cw8smwz9517Rcs/viewform?usp=send_form

TPACK

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is a framework that describes the knowledge that a teacher needs for effective pedagogical practice of having technology in the classroom.  TPACK’s main idea is the inclusion of technology in the classroom of any core curricular subject by having knowledge of what kinds of technology can be implemented in certain subjects.  In order to do this, teachers need to have strong content knowledge, knowledge of who their students are as learners and knowledge of how technology and subjects can be tied together.  

Teachers would go about implementing TPACK first through assessing their own content knowledge and technological knowledge and abilities.  They need to be motivated to strengthen their content knowledge and their technological knowledge.  Ideally a teacher would research different types of technology and how it can be used in different lessons in their classrooms to improve their lesson.  Assessing oneself is never an easy task, and asking someone else to assess them may be a good way to have an outside point of view.  Teachers should communicate with colleagues for new ideas of what types of technology to look into for their classroom and also find resources online.

Obstacles teachers may face to implement TPACK into their classroom would most likely be not having enough knowledge about technology that can be implemented into their lessons.  Teachers need to be motivated and open to learning new things and changing the way they teach.  Sometimes research on your own is not enough, and teachers may want to take professional development.

After looking over the sample activities from: http://activitytypes.wmwikis.net/file/view/HarrisHofer-TPACKActivityTypes.pdf, I think that most of these options could be integrated into any core subject.  For example:

View Presentation: Students gain information from teachers, guest speakers, and peers; synchronous/asynchronous, oral or multimedia.  Presentations are something that could be used in any subject to explain subject matter and to engage students.

Group Discussion In small to large groups, students engage in dialogue with their peers; synchronous/asynchronous.  Group discussion on blogs can give students opportunities to discuss topics in any subject over time.  Students can give ideas, comment, and make revisions to theories and ideas.

Draw a Cartoon Students create a drawing or caricature using a paper and pencil or digital format on something like Comic Creator, DFILM video, or digital cameras.  They could do this on any topic to show understanding and create original artifacts that can give opportunities for different types of learners.

Research Students gather, analyze, and synthesize information using print-based and digital sources.  Students can research any topic in any core subject to gather information and to come up with and answer ideas on their own.

Resources:

Harris, J., & Hofer, M. (2009). Instructional planning activity types as vehicles for curriculum-based

TPACK development. In C. D. Maddux, (Ed.). Research highlights in technology and teacher

education 2009 (pp. 99-108). Chesapeake, VA: Society for Information Technology in

Teacher Education (SITE) Retrieved 12/3/14