Week 1 Wimba –
(The following is a ‘live brain action’ session of my thoughts throughout the wimba session)
I wasn’t able to go to the wimba session live, so I viewed the week one session on the archives. I have been a bit behind due to a death in our family, but I am now doing my week one stuff. Wow. I think I am glad that I am doing an action research project. Yes, I did preview the wimba videos. It would have been a little easier if I was able to view it a little earlier before I started on the blog, but I did watch it. Yes, I didn’t put in my blog right away. No excuses. I was just overwhelmed and was out of it. I apologize. I like the idea that we can view other peoples blogs other than our session. It would be fun to see their work. I thought my research stuff was good. I think I had too much research. I got to redo my whole Lit review cause when my computer got stolen I didn’t save my work anywhere else, so I got to redo my whole review. That was TONZ of fun! ☹ That was my hardest part on my lit review was to realize it wasn’t an essay. I have never done a lit review and I always liked to make it entertaining. This has been so frustrating for me. I am glad you talked about the cycles information. WOW!! 120 words! THAT IS CRAZY! I guess I am a talker. That will be difficult for me. One question. Did you have someone ringing your doorbell the whole time during wimba session? ;-) I heard a doorbell sound every so often. If it was a doorbell, they really wanted to talk to you!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Media Asset Creation Week 1 - chapter 1-3 reading response
First off, I want to say what an amazing book to have us read as a course book. So many times in school we just focus on swamping kids with books that have facts in them. We never really focus on the uniqueness of every student we have. On what new ideas these students can come up with. We force kids into memorization and facts instead of allowing them to explore their talents. This book is a breath of fresh air as it ‘teaches’ about motivation. Teach kids to go beyond what their eyes can see. Look for all the possibilities they can do. A key concept for anyone to fully succeed. Everyone needs to have a drive. Many times in our daily routines it is easy to loose that drive and become a robot. I have enjoyed reading this book and actually look forward to the time I get to read it.
I love the idea of thinking in the mindset of inventing. Always think outside the box. I agree that many of us do feel secure when we can identify objects and determine their location. It goes for everyday life. We feel secure when we do the robotic things. The things we are used to. If we stay within the box, we will never know those possibilities that are out there. Even if we don’t do something perfect the first time around doesn’t necessarily mean we failed. It just means we thought outside the box to try a new ‘possibility’ and if it didn’t work this time, there will always be a next time.
This book has made me think about my teaching and what I can do to make students think outside the box and by thinkers of their own instead of what everyone else says and wants them to think.
I love the idea of thinking in the mindset of inventing. Always think outside the box. I agree that many of us do feel secure when we can identify objects and determine their location. It goes for everyday life. We feel secure when we do the robotic things. The things we are used to. If we stay within the box, we will never know those possibilities that are out there. Even if we don’t do something perfect the first time around doesn’t necessarily mean we failed. It just means we thought outside the box to try a new ‘possibility’ and if it didn’t work this time, there will always be a next time.
This book has made me think about my teaching and what I can do to make students think outside the box and by thinkers of their own instead of what everyone else says and wants them to think.
Response to Katie Levett
Katie,
First of all, I want to tell you I love your blog format. It makes me want to redo my blog to make it more organized. Thanks for the motivation for that....now, let's hope I will have the time to do it :-)
The biggest thing that is important for us to do as teachers is to make sure we are giving our students positive feedback in our classrooms when the students do succeed like you said. I remember when I was in first grade I had a first grade teacher that belittled me and told me that I didn't know how to write, gave me a fat pencil, and made it known to the whole class that I was the "one that didn't know how to write." I had to always be the last one to sharpen my pencil because i had the "fat" pencil. Those are the situations that we need to give our students more positive reinforcement instead of that negative so that our students will 'contribute' to society.
I agree with you. Teachers are AMAZING leaders. I am glad you became a teacher. I can tell you are an excellent one!
Amen to your amen as well!! "life is a journey- enjoy and learn along the way. Live, laugh, and love."
The following is Katie's post:
Chapter 4. Being a Contribution: How will I be a contribution today?
The number one statement in a teacher’s job description should be – required to be a daily contribution toe ach and every student. As a teacher each of us should “assume” each and every one of our students will be successful and our job is to help that student get there. I’m not just talking about teaching the actual classes like reading, writing, and arithmetic. We need to let each student that each one of them is doing a good job and to praise them when they achieve success and not belittle them when they don’t. Students learn so differently and if one doesn’t fit inside the box educators seem to put all students in, then we need to make sure each student understands it’s ok to be in their own box and we will work with them there. How can I be a contribution? I can ensure that each student is learning what he or she need to be successful and if that means I need to get inside their box and teach them there, then that is what I must do.
Chapter 5. Leading from Any Chair: We’re all leaders. How can we make a difference in the people will influence each day? How do we listen to those who help us make our dreams become reality?
Teachers have always played an important role in my life and I try to remember that when I working with many students or just one student. If it happened to me I know it happened to others and if I’m influencing my students, I want them to know that I’m with them all the way. I want to see they fulfill their dreams as some of the teachers I had helped me to realize mine. When I’m working one-to-one I do my best to get them to talk to me, to show or tell me what they are striving for so I can help them choose the right path to arrive there. For example, when they register for classes and start considering changing majors I begin asking questions like where do they see themselves in five years, or what is your favorite past time. Most of the time I find the student is worried about a teacher they have heard about or is dreading one class and doesn’t want to take it. They figure of they change majors then they won’t have to have a certain teacher or take that awful class. Drastic I know. But it has happened.
As I have gotten older, I find I listen better than I ever have in my life. Not sure why. Maybe it’s because as we age we find through listening we learn more. My grandmother use to say, “An empty cart rattles when it rolls.” In other words someone who talks a lot usually says nothing. Listening to those who make our dreams a reality means we need to listen to their advice. And follow it. They tell us things honestly so we don’t make the mistakes they did or because they have learn through others what it takes for us to arrive at our destination.
Chapter 6. Rule Number 6: Don’t take yourself so seriously. Life is a journey–enjoy and learn along the way. Live, laugh, and love!!
Amen. One of my favorite quotes and I have it on my website, Facebook page, and other areas is: Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, a soda in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out
and screaming ‘WOO HOO... what a ride!’ My grandmother had an old saying “You learn something new everyday.” I totally agree. I cannot tell you how many times my students have come to class and shown me some new technology or a piece of equipment that I have not heard of before. In the production industry, software and hardware are updated about every 12 to 18 months. Many times the students are the teachers because there isn’t anyway one person can keep up with all of it.
Learning daily is a process every generation has done. I have students of all ages in class. My older students are there to update or add to their degree. My traditional students want to work in the business asap. The common factor with all ages is that they’re all there to learn.
First of all, I want to tell you I love your blog format. It makes me want to redo my blog to make it more organized. Thanks for the motivation for that....now, let's hope I will have the time to do it :-)
The biggest thing that is important for us to do as teachers is to make sure we are giving our students positive feedback in our classrooms when the students do succeed like you said. I remember when I was in first grade I had a first grade teacher that belittled me and told me that I didn't know how to write, gave me a fat pencil, and made it known to the whole class that I was the "one that didn't know how to write." I had to always be the last one to sharpen my pencil because i had the "fat" pencil. Those are the situations that we need to give our students more positive reinforcement instead of that negative so that our students will 'contribute' to society.
I agree with you. Teachers are AMAZING leaders. I am glad you became a teacher. I can tell you are an excellent one!
Amen to your amen as well!! "life is a journey- enjoy and learn along the way. Live, laugh, and love."
The following is Katie's post:
Chapter 4. Being a Contribution: How will I be a contribution today?
The number one statement in a teacher’s job description should be – required to be a daily contribution toe ach and every student. As a teacher each of us should “assume” each and every one of our students will be successful and our job is to help that student get there. I’m not just talking about teaching the actual classes like reading, writing, and arithmetic. We need to let each student that each one of them is doing a good job and to praise them when they achieve success and not belittle them when they don’t. Students learn so differently and if one doesn’t fit inside the box educators seem to put all students in, then we need to make sure each student understands it’s ok to be in their own box and we will work with them there. How can I be a contribution? I can ensure that each student is learning what he or she need to be successful and if that means I need to get inside their box and teach them there, then that is what I must do.
Chapter 5. Leading from Any Chair: We’re all leaders. How can we make a difference in the people will influence each day? How do we listen to those who help us make our dreams become reality?
Teachers have always played an important role in my life and I try to remember that when I working with many students or just one student. If it happened to me I know it happened to others and if I’m influencing my students, I want them to know that I’m with them all the way. I want to see they fulfill their dreams as some of the teachers I had helped me to realize mine. When I’m working one-to-one I do my best to get them to talk to me, to show or tell me what they are striving for so I can help them choose the right path to arrive there. For example, when they register for classes and start considering changing majors I begin asking questions like where do they see themselves in five years, or what is your favorite past time. Most of the time I find the student is worried about a teacher they have heard about or is dreading one class and doesn’t want to take it. They figure of they change majors then they won’t have to have a certain teacher or take that awful class. Drastic I know. But it has happened.
As I have gotten older, I find I listen better than I ever have in my life. Not sure why. Maybe it’s because as we age we find through listening we learn more. My grandmother use to say, “An empty cart rattles when it rolls.” In other words someone who talks a lot usually says nothing. Listening to those who make our dreams a reality means we need to listen to their advice. And follow it. They tell us things honestly so we don’t make the mistakes they did or because they have learn through others what it takes for us to arrive at our destination.
Chapter 6. Rule Number 6: Don’t take yourself so seriously. Life is a journey–enjoy and learn along the way. Live, laugh, and love!!
Amen. One of my favorite quotes and I have it on my website, Facebook page, and other areas is: Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, a soda in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out
and screaming ‘WOO HOO... what a ride!’ My grandmother had an old saying “You learn something new everyday.” I totally agree. I cannot tell you how many times my students have come to class and shown me some new technology or a piece of equipment that I have not heard of before. In the production industry, software and hardware are updated about every 12 to 18 months. Many times the students are the teachers because there isn’t anyway one person can keep up with all of it.
Learning daily is a process every generation has done. I have students of all ages in class. My older students are there to update or add to their degree. My traditional students want to work in the business asap. The common factor with all ages is that they’re all there to learn.
Response to Sarah Chulhan
Sarah,
I enjoyed your thoughtful feedback. First of all, I am so happy for you and your new baby! I am sure having this new child in your life really makes you ponder life. It is so true that we sometimes focus on our calculating self in all the negative failures we encounter in our lives. Everyone of us has a central self, our true self that we should be proud of and always remember who we are. It is difficult to always remember this when society demands so much from us. I believe everyone is creative. Sometimes we just have to go back and find that creative self since many coorperate companies try to make us 'cookie cutters'. Your comments really make me think about how important it is to take advantage of the opportunities that come our way instead of sabotaging them into thinking we might 'fail' if we try.
Here was Sarah's post:
Just another random side thought, have you noticed, that when you look at babies and children, we tend to think that the whole world is open to them. They can be anything do any thing, there is a whole world of possibilities open to them. But as we grow older the world of possibility grows smaller, we start to think well if we have not done it by now then we probably ever will. In our minds possibilities and time seem to inextricably linked but what amount of time makes the difference? Seconds, minutes, days, years decades? Just something to think about.
This was my closing paragraph last week but now after reading the next three chapters in the Art of Possibility, I am forced to consider the role of our calculating self. The calculating self that develops as a result of time and life experiences, particularly the negative experiences. It’s the self that keeps us from getting hurt it protects us and allows us to defend our turf. The central self, is our true self, it is our spring of creativity and potential. I think this is what we see when we look at small children cause they have not developed their calculating self. They have not learned to be guarded or mistrustful, all they are is their central self. They are not afraid to put themselves out there, try new things and learn. Children learn fast that they need a calculating self, because they learn quick that they are constantly being compared and measured.
So many of us only live as our calculating self, that we stifle our creativity, that we sabotage our opportunities. So then how do we nurture our central self, how do we learn to harness its power and be free to let it shine through? I think all of the games and models used in the book (the art of possibility) are exercises that help use move beyond the self that protects and hinders us. Giving yourself an A, have the best _ ever are all devices to help the real us shine through.
I enjoyed your thoughtful feedback. First of all, I am so happy for you and your new baby! I am sure having this new child in your life really makes you ponder life. It is so true that we sometimes focus on our calculating self in all the negative failures we encounter in our lives. Everyone of us has a central self, our true self that we should be proud of and always remember who we are. It is difficult to always remember this when society demands so much from us. I believe everyone is creative. Sometimes we just have to go back and find that creative self since many coorperate companies try to make us 'cookie cutters'. Your comments really make me think about how important it is to take advantage of the opportunities that come our way instead of sabotaging them into thinking we might 'fail' if we try.
Here was Sarah's post:
Just another random side thought, have you noticed, that when you look at babies and children, we tend to think that the whole world is open to them. They can be anything do any thing, there is a whole world of possibilities open to them. But as we grow older the world of possibility grows smaller, we start to think well if we have not done it by now then we probably ever will. In our minds possibilities and time seem to inextricably linked but what amount of time makes the difference? Seconds, minutes, days, years decades? Just something to think about.
This was my closing paragraph last week but now after reading the next three chapters in the Art of Possibility, I am forced to consider the role of our calculating self. The calculating self that develops as a result of time and life experiences, particularly the negative experiences. It’s the self that keeps us from getting hurt it protects us and allows us to defend our turf. The central self, is our true self, it is our spring of creativity and potential. I think this is what we see when we look at small children cause they have not developed their calculating self. They have not learned to be guarded or mistrustful, all they are is their central self. They are not afraid to put themselves out there, try new things and learn. Children learn fast that they need a calculating self, because they learn quick that they are constantly being compared and measured.
So many of us only live as our calculating self, that we stifle our creativity, that we sabotage our opportunities. So then how do we nurture our central self, how do we learn to harness its power and be free to let it shine through? I think all of the games and models used in the book (the art of possibility) are exercises that help use move beyond the self that protects and hinders us. Giving yourself an A, have the best _ ever are all devices to help the real us shine through.
Media Asset Creation - Week 2 - Entry 1 - Book Reading
My thoughts about reading The Art of Possibility Chapters 4 - 6:
Wow! I am sure thousands of people can relate to the feeling of being a “success” or being a failure to ‘society’. I like how Ben changed the ‘being a success’ to “how will I be a contribution today?” I am a queen of figuring out if I am a success/failure. I LOAD myself up with a zillion things to do so that I can be a ‘success’ where in reality I am just setting myself up for failure due to lack of time. Everybody wants approval from others. If we could train our minds to just focus on what we do contribute on a day to day basis we would be so much happier. We all do need to remember we are leaders. Many of us who are teachers can be HUGE leaders in our students lives for motivating them into positive passions instead of negative things such as gangs and poor school performance.
I am in love with “rule number 6 – Don’t take yourself too seriously”. I have a perfect example in my own life about ‘don’t take yourself too seriously. This year my kindergarten class is a very ‘tricky’ class. Usually I have the ‘perfect’ classroom with a quiet working environment. This year I have a class with many different ADHD problems, challenged learners, and many broken homes. I was getting so frustrated with myself that I wasn’t making as much progress with MY students as I had in past years. And MY class wasn’t the perfect class to look at and watch. I took a step back and decided to ‘lighten up’ (even before I read this book) and decided to go with the flow. I am now FALLING in love with this group of kids. I kicked back and now I can focus on the STUDENTS instead of MY ‘perfect’ classroom. We have fun and I am now getting to them. We still have a lot of academic progress to make, but we are making progress!
I also enjoy the way this author writes this book with stories. It makes the book more personal and it touches me emotionally as I read them. It motivates me to want to change.
Wow! I am sure thousands of people can relate to the feeling of being a “success” or being a failure to ‘society’. I like how Ben changed the ‘being a success’ to “how will I be a contribution today?” I am a queen of figuring out if I am a success/failure. I LOAD myself up with a zillion things to do so that I can be a ‘success’ where in reality I am just setting myself up for failure due to lack of time. Everybody wants approval from others. If we could train our minds to just focus on what we do contribute on a day to day basis we would be so much happier. We all do need to remember we are leaders. Many of us who are teachers can be HUGE leaders in our students lives for motivating them into positive passions instead of negative things such as gangs and poor school performance.
I am in love with “rule number 6 – Don’t take yourself too seriously”. I have a perfect example in my own life about ‘don’t take yourself too seriously. This year my kindergarten class is a very ‘tricky’ class. Usually I have the ‘perfect’ classroom with a quiet working environment. This year I have a class with many different ADHD problems, challenged learners, and many broken homes. I was getting so frustrated with myself that I wasn’t making as much progress with MY students as I had in past years. And MY class wasn’t the perfect class to look at and watch. I took a step back and decided to ‘lighten up’ (even before I read this book) and decided to go with the flow. I am now FALLING in love with this group of kids. I kicked back and now I can focus on the STUDENTS instead of MY ‘perfect’ classroom. We have fun and I am now getting to them. We still have a lot of academic progress to make, but we are making progress!
I also enjoy the way this author writes this book with stories. It makes the book more personal and it touches me emotionally as I read them. It motivates me to want to change.
Monday, October 18, 2010
AR MONTH 10
Is there a connection between the data produced from your Cycles and the research reported in your Literature Review?
One of the most difficult parts of my action research project is to have kindergarteners go through the seven elements of digital storytelling. Since they are kindergarteners, and are just learning EVERYTHING (I teach at a title one school in which lots of things are new to them) I have to do a lot of the digital storytelling myself. I am working on focusing more on the elements in my action research project as kindergarten it is difficult to do. I think that if this schoology website works, it will help the students ‘connect’ with the story more. They will be able to share items in their actual home. This will make it more personal. I predict students will also be excited to share their findings with their classmates. These seven elements were a big portion of my literary review.
One big connection I have found through my literary review and my cycles is how engaged and motivated the students are during the process of collecting their pictures to put into the digital story. The students are so excited to go on a ‘scavenger hunt’ and put down on paper what they have found.
Another connection I have found is the engagement the students are in while watching and listening to their voice and pictures being shown of the letter we are working on. Although it is me that ultimately puts together the digital story, the students enjoy watching each others work. The letter is repeated so many times through the students voices that it allows most students to master the letter.
How will LMO impact your Action Research project?
I have taken a lot of good ideas out of my LMO class for my action research project. I really enjoyed learning about the schoology website and how to create it using the ADDIE system. This website I produced backed my action research project as I was taking the project “home” to the parents.
My Schoology website I titled, “Kindergarten 101: Digital Stories and leveled alphabet homework. I decided to try and make the portion of the digital stories something the students could do at home. They would be collecting the pictures portion at home finding three pictures that began with a letter of the alphabet. Next, they would take pictures and post them on the website. This helps me as a teacher cut out the time it takes for each student to find items in the classroom. It will also allow the students to share a part of ‘home’ with the rest of the classmates. When the students send back the pictures, I will compile them and turn them into our classroom digital story.
How important is online content delivery or personal learning environments to your Action Research project?
Since I teach kindergarten, online content delivery isn’t a critical aspect. The only way it will be helpful is if the parents will get actively involved in their child’s learning and submit photos online through schoology. I run into the problem of some kids don’t have a computer even at home. I thought everyone had a computer, but some of my students don’t have that advantage. Although this isn't vital to my action research project, it will be beneficial to those students parents that do choose to get involved.
One of the most difficult parts of my action research project is to have kindergarteners go through the seven elements of digital storytelling. Since they are kindergarteners, and are just learning EVERYTHING (I teach at a title one school in which lots of things are new to them) I have to do a lot of the digital storytelling myself. I am working on focusing more on the elements in my action research project as kindergarten it is difficult to do. I think that if this schoology website works, it will help the students ‘connect’ with the story more. They will be able to share items in their actual home. This will make it more personal. I predict students will also be excited to share their findings with their classmates. These seven elements were a big portion of my literary review.
One big connection I have found through my literary review and my cycles is how engaged and motivated the students are during the process of collecting their pictures to put into the digital story. The students are so excited to go on a ‘scavenger hunt’ and put down on paper what they have found.
Another connection I have found is the engagement the students are in while watching and listening to their voice and pictures being shown of the letter we are working on. Although it is me that ultimately puts together the digital story, the students enjoy watching each others work. The letter is repeated so many times through the students voices that it allows most students to master the letter.
How will LMO impact your Action Research project?
I have taken a lot of good ideas out of my LMO class for my action research project. I really enjoyed learning about the schoology website and how to create it using the ADDIE system. This website I produced backed my action research project as I was taking the project “home” to the parents.
My Schoology website I titled, “Kindergarten 101: Digital Stories and leveled alphabet homework. I decided to try and make the portion of the digital stories something the students could do at home. They would be collecting the pictures portion at home finding three pictures that began with a letter of the alphabet. Next, they would take pictures and post them on the website. This helps me as a teacher cut out the time it takes for each student to find items in the classroom. It will also allow the students to share a part of ‘home’ with the rest of the classmates. When the students send back the pictures, I will compile them and turn them into our classroom digital story.
How important is online content delivery or personal learning environments to your Action Research project?
Since I teach kindergarten, online content delivery isn’t a critical aspect. The only way it will be helpful is if the parents will get actively involved in their child’s learning and submit photos online through schoology. I run into the problem of some kids don’t have a computer even at home. I thought everyone had a computer, but some of my students don’t have that advantage. Although this isn't vital to my action research project, it will be beneficial to those students parents that do choose to get involved.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
TEMPORARY ACTION RESEARCH BLOG
ATTENTION: I tried to reactivate my mobile me account, then I couldn't find my old blog accounts for previous months....So, I just decided to post here for right now my action research project until we get this sorted out.
BRIEF OVERVIEW:
For my project, I am having the students create digital stories on each letter in the alphabet. They have to go find an item that starts with the letter name, take a picture of it, then create a sentence: This is the letter _ _ says _ like _____ . Then I would record their voices and play the digital story in the classroom. I will also sometimes have them draw pictures of the letter names and sounds.
1. Describe in detail the measurement tools you used for Cycle 1 such as quantitative, qualitative or a mixed approach.
In Cycle 1 I measured the knowledge of how much students knew the alphabet letters and sounds before doing the digital stories. So, I used a qualitative approach just focusing on the children knowing the alphabet. Then the end of the cycle I measured the growth of their knowledge of these letters. I was hoping that doing digital stories using the alphabet sounds would be beneficial.
The results in cycle 1 were students made improvements on knowing their letter names and sounds. The tricky part was that I didn't know if it was through digital stories, or through other teachers teaching them their daily lessons. So, to modify this, I will test the kids on a couple letters I will do the digital stories on. Right after we do the digital stories and show it in the classroom I will retest the students who didn't know the letters and find out if they now have mastered the letter name and sound.
I had a set back in my research as my computer was stolen and I didn't have a backup file on all of my video taping I had done as well as all of the research articles I had read about digital storytelling. So, this month I have gone back and found more research about the topic and began rewriting my literary review. (LESSON TO BE LEARNED: always backup work on mobile me account or on some other kind of account so you never loose information!!)
I haven't started my cycle 2 digital stories yet. I am collecting the data right now for my classroom. It will be different this year as this class is my own. Last cycle, I went into the classroom and pulled out children in small groups to do the digital stories. I will have to now figure out
2. Describe, synthesize, and compare the data found for Cycle 1 and Cycle 2. If Cycle 2 is not complete, please talk about what your predictions will be!
I think I will be able to distinct better with my modifications testing right before cycle 2 on the specific letter names and sounds then testing right after we do the digital stories. This would allow me to know if the digital storytelling really did help the students master the concepts.
My biggest challenge in Cycle 2 is to be able to do this project with me being the only teacher. I think I will do this during center time and get a parent volunteer to take some of the kids in small groups to record their voices.
3. What were the learner response comparisons and the researcher reflections about the cycles?
Well, maybe I am doing this Action Research Project wrong. My researcher reflections are just on the articles that promote digital storytelling and tell the benefits of using digital storytelling in the classroom.
My learner response from my students is that they are having fun and they did make progress in mastering the alphabet names and sounds.
BRIEF OVERVIEW:
For my project, I am having the students create digital stories on each letter in the alphabet. They have to go find an item that starts with the letter name, take a picture of it, then create a sentence: This is the letter _ _ says _ like _____ . Then I would record their voices and play the digital story in the classroom. I will also sometimes have them draw pictures of the letter names and sounds.
1. Describe in detail the measurement tools you used for Cycle 1 such as quantitative, qualitative or a mixed approach.
In Cycle 1 I measured the knowledge of how much students knew the alphabet letters and sounds before doing the digital stories. So, I used a qualitative approach just focusing on the children knowing the alphabet. Then the end of the cycle I measured the growth of their knowledge of these letters. I was hoping that doing digital stories using the alphabet sounds would be beneficial.
The results in cycle 1 were students made improvements on knowing their letter names and sounds. The tricky part was that I didn't know if it was through digital stories, or through other teachers teaching them their daily lessons. So, to modify this, I will test the kids on a couple letters I will do the digital stories on. Right after we do the digital stories and show it in the classroom I will retest the students who didn't know the letters and find out if they now have mastered the letter name and sound.
I had a set back in my research as my computer was stolen and I didn't have a backup file on all of my video taping I had done as well as all of the research articles I had read about digital storytelling. So, this month I have gone back and found more research about the topic and began rewriting my literary review. (LESSON TO BE LEARNED: always backup work on mobile me account or on some other kind of account so you never loose information!!)
I haven't started my cycle 2 digital stories yet. I am collecting the data right now for my classroom. It will be different this year as this class is my own. Last cycle, I went into the classroom and pulled out children in small groups to do the digital stories. I will have to now figure out
2. Describe, synthesize, and compare the data found for Cycle 1 and Cycle 2. If Cycle 2 is not complete, please talk about what your predictions will be!
I think I will be able to distinct better with my modifications testing right before cycle 2 on the specific letter names and sounds then testing right after we do the digital stories. This would allow me to know if the digital storytelling really did help the students master the concepts.
My biggest challenge in Cycle 2 is to be able to do this project with me being the only teacher. I think I will do this during center time and get a parent volunteer to take some of the kids in small groups to record their voices.
3. What were the learner response comparisons and the researcher reflections about the cycles?
Well, maybe I am doing this Action Research Project wrong. My researcher reflections are just on the articles that promote digital storytelling and tell the benefits of using digital storytelling in the classroom.
My learner response from my students is that they are having fun and they did make progress in mastering the alphabet names and sounds.
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