Melissa+Pabon+Reflecting+on+learning+through+blogs

Early Adopter: Inquiry & Design Challenge
My Destination Postcard:

media type="custom" key="24345178"

 * Name: Melissa Pabon **
 * =====Campus: Spring Woods High School =====
 * =====Grade Level(s): 10th Grade =====
 * ===== Discipline: English =====
 * =====Topic: Student Blogs =====
 * =====Focus Question: How do teachers motivate students to take ownership of their learning?=====
 * How can I motivate students to maintain and take ownership of a blog?
 * How can I motivate students to reflect on their learning?
 * How do I get students to use their reflections to go back and revise their learning?
 * What opportunities can I provide in class to do this (time and grades)?
 * What opportunities can I provide outside of class to do this (blogs and Edmodo)?
 * ===== Resources: =====
 * Ms. Rhodes: []
 * Step-by-step plan of how to institute blogging []
 * Top 100 High School Teachers Who Blog []
 * Inspiring Article--this is the direction that I'd like to take my class in after EOC testing []
 * This teacher integrates blogs in a similar way as I did []
 * Her original assignment (for students) with different post options []
 * Who else is thinking about your topic?
 * Who else is grappling with this element of practice?
 * What are they finding?
 * How are they sharing?


 * Working on the Work **

Activity:

 * 1) Individually, design a student resource, activity type, or mini-challenge to try in the classroom over the next month to test. Then, get feedback from partners.
 * 2) Try out resource, activity type, or project during the month(s), documenting plan, process, execution and reflection and collect student work samples.
 * Activity 1: Pabon's English II Blogs
 * https://sbisdlearnsymphony.wikispaces.com/Pabon%27s+English+II+Blogs
 * < // please add link to Round 2 activity // >
 * < // please add link to Round 3 activity> //


 * Walk the Walk**
 * How are you prepared to //Walk the Walk// this year? How will your journey reflect //action research// ?
 * I am prepared to institute my blog lesson with consistency and maintain it throughout the year. My learning journey will reflect action research by maintaining a record of students’ writing progress throughout the school year.
 * Please go to your personal learning journal page and respond to the following:
 * Identify your Goals & Objectives:
 * Students will maintain a blog throughout the school year.
 * This blog will serve as a record of students’ writing progress for the year. Students will be able to observe how their writing has progressed by the end of the school year.
 * What Obstacles/Problems do you anticipate?
 * Log-in/Internet server problems
 * Setting up blogs for new students
 * Students abusing blogs/making inappropriate posts and comments
 * What Strategies will you use to overcome these obstacles?
 * Have a back-up lesson ready in the event of log-in/Internet failure
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Pull up new student log-in information ahead of time
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Monitor blogs frequently. Take screenshots of student abuse and e-mail to parents/AP
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">What resources and materials will you share via our EA wiki and learning community?
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Student blog samples
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Data Collection:
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Spreadsheet of student blog URL’s
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Grade once per 9 weeks
 * § <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Pre-assessment - //how will you determine the base-line of your students in your target area//?
 * § <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">I will form my assessment from the students’ initial posts, as compared to their later blog entries.
 * o <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Action Research Assessment and Evaluation:
 * § <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">How will you measure success?
 * § <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">I will measure success by assessing blog entries towards the end of the school year for errors, content, and development.
 * § <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">How will you know if you have succeeded?
 * § <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">I will measure success by examining student growth from initial blog posts to later blog posts.
 * § <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">What will you collect as evidence of success?
 * § <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Samples of student blog entries that show growth


 * Mining the Effort **
 * What artifacts of your personal learning have you been collecting? Reflections (in Evernote)
 * What process shifts do these suggest in your practice?


 * What artifacts of student learning have you been collecting? Blog posts, Edmodo posts
 * What process shifts do these suggest in their practice? Exposing access to technology tools (including comfort level)

How is your journey like that of a storyteller? Of a researcher?
 * An Opportunity in Overalls **

What question did you start out to find answer(s) to? ==
 * What tweaks, edits, modifications have you made to your focus question?
 * What question(s) remain? How can I encourage students to take ownership of their learning?
 * What new questions have surfaced as a result of your exploration this far? How can I use Edmodo to maintain a connection with students when they are not physically present in my classroom? The EOC is quickly approaching--how can I maintain student engagement from class to class (to avoid the dreaded "We learned this yesterday??" question).
 * ==[[image:Pabon Student Knowledge Retention.jpg width="617" height="1.5; height: 350" align="center"]]


 * Ideas that I have gotten from participating in Early Adopters: (updated Nov. 7, 2013)**
 * Setting up blogs for my students
 * Using a blog for myself, to maintain personal learning reflections
 * Using Twitter to communicate with students about due dates, projects, etc, as well as to share samples of their work (pictures)
 * Using Edmodo for assignments