Tracy’s Blog

What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?

            I think an effective teaching strategy for integrating technology involves finding meaningful ways to link it to curriculum.  In my own experience, through this course I found that by offering students the opportunity to use technology while working on a piece of writing sparked some enthusiasm in them.  In addition, I used technology to provide students with another way to practice writing.  This made my instruction of writing differentiated so that it could meet the needs of more of my students.  I believe technology can be used effectively in a variety of ways.  It just has to be meaningfully connected to curriculum.

How did integrating web-based technologies help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?

            Integrating web-based technology helped me think about how much more I could be doing with technology.  I realized that there are many great tools out there that are designed to meet specific needs in the classroom.  Through my exploration of web-based technology, I also realized that I am very capable of using technology that I once thought would be too confusing or time consuming to use in the classroom.

How have you met your own personal goals for learning about technology integration?

            I have met my original goals for learning about technology integration.  I became familiar with new software and enhanced my own technology skills.  However, this class has motivated me to try to do more with my students next year.

Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?

            I do have new goals!  Next year I want to look closely at each content area and find ways to effectively use technology to enhance the students’ learning experiences.  The majority of my time working with technology with the students takes place during the computer lab.  I would like to find more ways to incorporate technology into the classroom and find a way to make the most of the two computers I have in my classroom. I would also like to do more with a class webpage, wiki, and/or blog.  My district does not offer webspace for our classroom pages.  I want to look into ways to get around that so that I can communicate more effectively with parents.

Project Evaluation

            After implementing the TechQuest Project I have learned that I would approach another project a bit differently than I did with this project.  With this project, I began with a very specific goal in mind, to find technology that would help my students add more detail to their writing.  By being that specific, I ruled out other possibilities for ways technology help other areas of the students’ writing.  For example, I could have investigated how Kidspiration improved the students’ organization and ideas.  When approach another project, I want to have a balance between too broad and too narrow of a topic.

            I learned several lessons from implementing the TechQuest Project.  First, using Kidspiration to help students with their writing was yet another way to differentiate instruction.  By having the students produce writing during Writing Workshop in the classroom as well as use Kidspiration during computer lab, they were able to experience writing in a variety of ways.

            The next time I use Kidspiration to help students with their writing, I will provide more opportunities for them to use Kidspiration.  I will also spend more time monitoring the effects it has on the students’ writing.  I will also use Kidspiration during the prewriting stage of the writing process.  I will be interested to see how creating concept maps helped the students develop their ideas.

project_implementation.mp3

Internet Research for TechQuest Project:

Using Kidspiration to Improve Student Writing

            My TechQuest project is based on the need for students to improve their writing.  One of the areas of writing that the students need to further develop is their use of details.  Already somewhat familiar with the Kidspiration software, I decided to conduct a search on how it could be used to improve students’ writing.  In the following paragraphs, I will describe what I learned about using Google’s search engine as well as the results of my search.

            My search began somewhat broad as I typed in the following key words: Kidspiration, improve, writing, into Google’s search engine.  After browsing through the results I went to the website for the Kidspiration Product, www.inspiration.com. While on this site, I found an article written about scientific research that promotes the use of visual learning, such as graphic organizers.  It described the effectiveness of using visual tools to improve student achievement.

            After visiting the Inspiration website, I refined my search by changing the key words to: Kidspiration, improve, writing, school of education.  I chose to include school of education because I wanted to see if I could find research from a university’s school of education.  This search brought up a link to Purdue University,  http://education.calumet.purdue.edu/faculty/jancich/writing.htm.  This page was titled, “Improving Writing with Inspiration and Kidspiration.”  A brief description of the page explained that the links and sources listed were tools for helping students’ improve their writing, brainstorming, and organization of ideas.  I explored a few of the links and found two of them quite helpful.  One was, http://www.lauriefowler.com/inspiration1.html.  On this site there were several examples and ideas for using Inspiration/Kidspiration to teach writing.

            The second link I found quite helpful was one that specifically addressed my problem of practice.  This link was, www.startechprogram.org/technology/graciela.html.  This page was titled, “Graciela’s Third Grade Classroom:  Using Kidspiration to Improve Writing.”  The article that followed described how Graciela was challenged to find a way to help her students improve their writing.  Her question was, “How can I encourage my students to add detail (‘show and not tell’) and help them organize their writing better?”  Graciela found that she could use Kidspiration to have students create semantic maps.  She found that students could form webs to help organize their ideas visually and become more aware of specific details. 

            I returned to the page that had the results for my search.  I noticed off to the right-hand side there was a link to the National Writing Projects’ website, www.nwp.org. While on that site I used the search engine and typed in “Kidspiration.”  When nothing came up, I changed my search to “graphic organizers.”  I looked through the results and found an article at the following address: www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resrouce/876. At this link was a book review of A Field Guide to Using Visual Tools, by David Hyerle.  The authors of this book review were Julie McDonnel and Jane Zeni.  In this review McDonnel and Zeni present their views on Hyerle’s book.  In regards to the value of the use of visual tools with students, the reviewers agree with Hyerle that they are effective and helpful.

At the completion of my search, I realized that using Google as a search gave me far too many results.  It would have been impossible for me to browse through all 2,180 links.  Starting my search with looking for well-known and respected organizations that focus on writing instruction, like the National Writing Project, would have been much more beneficial.

Improving Students’ Writing

            This TechQuest will address the great need for improvement in students’ writing.  Particularly, it will focus on how I as a classroom teacher can help students add details to their writing.  The project will be implemented with second and third grade students.  It will take place at Hoben Elementary during the weekly computer lab time.

The need for improving students’ writing is an important issue that arises from high-stakes testing and standards.  According to annual MEAP scores, the students at my elementary school struggle with including adequate details in their writing.  The students receive instruction focused on writing during Writing Workshop.  During this time they use paper and pen to craft their ideas.  The use of technology will assist in improving students’ written work because it will provide additional ways for students to practice writing.

            The TechQuest will address the issue of students’ lacking details in their writing by focusing in on that skill and creating opportunities for students to practice adding details.  The technology will be used for one hour a week during the students’ time in the computer lab.  It will provide the students with an opportunity to create stories that include adequate details.  This would be an interactive approach where the students will use technology to get express their ideas for writing.  Through frequent practice with creating stories in the computer lab, the students will apply their learning to the classroom.  They will become more comfortable adding details to their writing and use these skills in the classroom during Writing Workshop.  In addition, I hope that through this project I develop an additional way to provide students with more frequent feedback on their writing.

            Resources used to examine how to assist students with adding details to their writing include: www.readwritethink.org and www.writingfix.com. In addition, I plan to explore ways to use Kidspiration, Audacity, and Microsoft Word to assist with this project.

TechQuest Proposal