Increasing Rigor and Relevance in the Classroom

Action Research Paper

AR Project Summary (at least 250 words):  I am making some progress on my action research project but have not completed it. There is a huge need for an increase in rigor in the classroom and throughout the research I am finding a lot useful information which I can use the classroom and pass onto my fellow teachers. During one of the department chair meetings there was a big discussion increasing rigor in the classroom; when I went to the Assistant Principal regarding my action research project since I had just moved to my current school district and the topic I was using at my previous school district was not relevant and would not fit for this district. The Assistant Principal suggested I use the topic Increasing Rigor in the Classroom; since increasing is relevant to any district the topic was perfect. I carried it one step further and added by using technology. With the push for my core teachers to use technology in the classrooms, adding technology to show how technology can help to increase rigor will make a great action research project and also a good training topic for the future. This will be something that will be a huge benefit to all teachers and administrators. There is always a need for an increase in rigor and technology in the classrooms, not just the core classrooms, so this topic will be relevant for years to come. Especially with the state always changing the type of testing required for students to graduate. I have at this time spent almost 100 hours on my paper. The research of increasing rigor with technology involves researching not only how to increasing rigor in the classroom but also researching and using different technologies in the classroom for actual results. This has been and still is an ongoing process. Currently, I can say that research has proven that using Prezi's instead of the typical PowerPoint helps to keep students attention. I have also used Prezi's as a way of increasing rigor by having students determine how the affects of using technology increase their learning. This is a way of using analyzing techniques with students. Teaching students to analyze information is critical to learning.

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Review

Week 2 Conference - I attempted to listen to the web conference but the sound kept cutting out and I missed the majority of what was said. I did get that the assignment was about the digital story.

Week 4 - I had the same issue trying to listen to this conference as well. The sound keeps cutting out and I'm missing most of the conference. Dr. Abernathy did speak on the team assignment and clarified some points on what was due and when. She also spook about the internship, which was good because I was somewhat confused on that assignment.

Overall, trying to listen to the conferences was frustrating but from what I could hear it was helpful.

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Reflection on UDL Lesson Plan

I found the UDL lesson plan a little confusing and difficult to understand. I was unable to fully understand the difference between a UDL lesson plan and any other lesson plan which I would create for my lessons. It seems to involve the same criteria with the exception that the UDL lesson plan asks for materials used and the other lesson plans I use do not.

CAST2006 Adapted from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org 1
CAST’s UDL LESSON BUILDER
Lesson Overview
Title:             Grandfather's Journey
Author:         Allen Say
Subject:         ELA, Science, Math & Social Studies
Grade Level(s): 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th
Duration:           Six Weeks
Subject Area:    All Core Subjects
Unit Description:   Reading and Writing
Lesson Description for Day:   Begin reading Chapter 1 in the book
State Standards:       TEKS 2 (A-C), 3 - 22
Goals:                       Reading with understanding
Unit Goals:               Read with understanding, write legibly and with clarity
Lesson Goals:          Understand the key terms "culture" and "customs"
Methods:                  
Anticipatory Set:     In order to engage students in the assignment, ask the students to talk about    different places they have been. As a class discuss the different things they saw and some things they noticed that were different from where they live.
Introduce and Model New Knowledge:  Students will use the book and sources to learn about different cultures. Students will learn how to create their own book using an online program.
Provide Guided Practice:   As a class, we will read the story Grandfather's Journey; the teacher will guide the students through the steps of using the computer to research different cultures read about in the book.
Provide Independent Practice:  Students will work independently on researching a particular culture for a country or place they will write about in their own book.
CAST2006 Adapted from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org 2
Assessment:       
Formative/Ongoing Assessment:   Periodically, students will be asked to tell about the main character in a particular chapter.
Summative/End Of Lesson Assessment:   At the end of the book, students will be given a quiz on who the main character was in the book and what was the main theme. Students will also be asked to tell what 2 of the different places were the Grandfather went.
Materials:  The book Grandfather's Journey in hardcopy and audio vers ion, Computers, 1 voice recognition computer with speak and type software, paper, pencils, markers, scissors, scanner, projector,  Maps, globe, books on customs and cultures

EDLD 5301 Reflection

       I have a learned a lot from this course. The readings and the discussion postings from the classmates have been beneficial in providing relevant information pertaining to my research project. Before beginning this course, I was confused and didn’t have any ideas on how to begin my action research project. The template provided for the course in addition to the readings from the Dana text gave me precise information on how to begin my research. I had an idea of the topic but without the text readings and the discussion postings from my classmates I would not have been able to provide the detailed information that was needed to begin my research project. The quality indicators in the Dana text Leading with Passion and Knowledge, is an excellent source of information for analyzing and assessing the information in my research. The information in the indicators gives me a basis of questions to ask in analyzing the questions currently in my research plan.