Lauren+Ewald+Early+Adopter

Early Adopter: Inquiry & Design Challengemedia type="custom" key="22305472" height="19"
Destination Postcard: 6 Word Memoir: More authentic, engaging, student lead learning

Blog Post: [|http://learnoutloud.edublogs.org/2013/11/04/doing-more-or-doing-some-things-differently/#comment-64] Name: Lauren Ewald
 * Campus: Stratford High School
 * Grade Level(s): 9th
 * Discipline: Biology
 * Topic: Creating video projects to demonstrate understanding of Biology topics.
 * Draft a focus question and sub-questions, that include student learning, and be prepared to revise these throughout the challenge.
 * How will students creating videos help them to learn the content and ensure that they are also including higher level thinking?
 * What information will students decide to include in their videos?
 * How will they decide if the information is relevant and important to the topic? They should be using notes/class discussions to narrow their focus but should also be including new information.
 * Will they be able to collaborate with other students to compare the information found? Yes they will be working with other students to include differing opinions and to add more creativity.
 * How will their evaluation be presented? They will be able to share their videos on Edmodo so that other students can view all the videos and use it as a study tool.
 * Will students be able to create their own way to share their evaluation? If they can find a new way to share their projects, then they would be welcome to use it.
 * Search for existing resources (articles, websites, blogs, videos, etc.) - post below and be sure to add them to your campus Diigo
 * Jigsaw notetaking and sharing of resources
 * Individually, design a student resource, activity type, or project to try in the classroom over the next month to test. Then, get feedback from partners.
 * Within the next month, students will create an Edmodo account (if they don't already have one) and join the group for their designated class. I will begin posting questions that they will answer and discuss for homework. They will be required to post their answer or opinion to the question and comment on at least two other people's responses.
 * Try out resource, activity type, or project during the month(s), documenting plan, process, execution and reflection and collect student work samples.


 * An Opportunity in Overalls**

How is your journey like that of a storyteller? Of a researcher? Researcher-finding new activities or resources to use; storyteller-sharing new information and resources with my students.

What question did you start out to find answer(s) to? How will students create a video project that is relevant to a topic being covered and also ensure that they are showing mastery of the topic?
 * What tweaks, edits, modifications have you made to your focus question? For the projects that we have done, I have narrowed down the possible resources they can use to develop their project so that they are shown multiple ways to create videos. Once they have been exposed to multiple resources, then I will give them more freedom to choose one that they like best.
 * What question(s) remain? I am still questioning whether making these videos is actually showing mastery, or are students just reading from their notes in the video.
 * What new questions have surfaced as a result of your exploration this far? What opportunities do we have to make the students think more critically about their topics? How do I have students integrate new information into their videos that is relevant to the topic, but also increasing critical thinking.

As a researcher:

What are you measuring?
 * What patterns are surfacing? How do I ensure that higher level thinking is occurring? How do I know that students are truly mastering the topic.
 * What themes are emerging? The more students use Show Me, the better they understand the program, but that means that they are able to do fewer takes of the video so they don't repeat the information as much. I do think that when they made multiple takes of the video, they remembered the information better because they had to repeat it so many times. They still want to do the minimal work to get an A., especially for PAP students. Not very many want to go beyond the minimal requirements. They are curious about some of the material we cover, but how do I get them to be curious about the not so interesting material.
 * What does your data suggest? Students are enjoying making the videos, and they have mastered using Show Me as a means to make their video so they are much quicker at making the videos now. They still want to rely on me to teach them the material instead of learning it on their own.

As a learner:
 * Where have you allowed yourself to be vulnerable in this process? Trying new technology that I'm not very familiar with and relying on some of my students to help me figure it out.
 * How are you allowing yourself your professional learning to be 'seen'? During our time with the Early Adopters and by posting my student's work on our Edmodo page. This year, I haven't really posted or shared much student work, other than displaying projects in my room.
 * In what way(s) have you found the courage to be 'imperfect'? Just being willing to try something and know that it might not work out exactly as I planned and being accepting of that. ---Still true
 * What //a-ha!// moments, elements of a 'spiritual awakening'/"breakdown" have you experienced? What might these insights suggested to you? I realized that I need to do more advance preparation before class to make sure that all my devices are working and ready to go before my students come. I have also found that my students have really enjoyed doing these projects so far.

What story is unfolding from your research?


 * students enjoy making the videos and sharing them with the class
 * I'm still not sure if this is showing mastery of the topic
 * need to include more choice/instill more curiosity to insure that they are more invested in their learning. this needs to be done for all topics (especially the less exciting ones). they seem to do better with topics that they have a personal investment in/has real life application compared to the more abstract and difficult topics.

>> http://balancedtech.wikispaces.com/Inquiry
 * Resources:
 * http://balancedtech.wikispaces.com/Documentation+and+Reflection+Prompts
 * http://balancedtech.wikispaces.com/Discussion+Rubric