Clarification

This week has been very productive. I am so thankful to have a group that works well together and collaborates to complete given assignments. After last week’s Wimba session we met in the breakout room to clarify the progress of our assignment. This session was extremely beneficial because we were able to come to a consensus on various topics. We were hoping that this could be a face-to-face course, since each member is eager to share this course with his/her home school. We did decide to use Edmodo as a host site for our course. I haven’t had much experience with this program, but I’m excited to learn a new piece of technology. As far as the discussion is concerned, our classmates were pretty receptive to out topic and felt that we should make the goal more specific. We will include a brief overview of the iPad and really concentrate on how to apply iPad usage to the ELA common core speaking and listening strands.

Fair Share?

This week is quickly coming to an end. My group is work very well together. We turned in Assignment One and we are just waiting for feedback. At the moment, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. I just feel like there aren't enough hours in the day.
Discussion Three Week One:
This week we are working together to create a Research Report and discussion on Goals, Objectives, Instructional Strategies, Materials, and Assessments. Since there are four people in my group, we decided to divide the parts and each post on the discussion board. Last week we communicated through email and had an impromptu WIMBA session in breakout room 2. This sessions was very beneficial in  assigning roles and clarifying directions. It's amazing how one set of directions can be interpreted in so many different ways. After a quick session we all came to a consensus and completed the discussion.
This week I focused on the knowledge objectives. Focusing on a different part this week allowed me to get a better understanding of our course. We also created a graphic organizer to complement our part. I used Microsoft Word for Mac. After completing my organizer, I noticed that there is a flow chart tool that would have made my task a lot easier. I'm excited about sharing this tool with my students! It will be a change from creating our hand drawn organizers.

Communication +1

Group
I believe that communication is one of the most important parts of working with a group. This week my group of three became 4. There are many positives about adding another member: 1) Dividing the working into 4th and 2) gaining the expertise of another professional. As long as the expectations are set and clearly expressed... the more the merrier!

Communication
My group is communicating very well together. Some ways that we communicate include: email, Wimba, google docs, and phone calls. I worry about responding in a timely manner. Are there certain rules that apply to responding to emails? I think that 12-24 hours is reasonable :)

The Assignment
I think that our topic of integrating Ipads with teaching the common core standards will be very helpful. One area that we struggled with was which standards to include in the course.  We thought that including the Listening, Speaking, and Viewing standards would be broad enough to benifit most K-2 teacher.

Pulling My Weight

Our groups have been formed and we are in the process of fine tuning our topic. My group has decided to focus on "Implementing the ELA K-2 CCGPS through the use of Ipads." After each Wimba session with Dr. Baylen, we gain more insight on how to create this professional development for teacher. My group is made up of one 2nd grade teacher (myself) and 2 media specialists. This will be a learning process for me. I am pretty knowledgeable about using the Ipad apps. I'm not so great at designing lessons that support the new ELA common core standards. If designed properly, this is definitely a tool that I will use and share with my peers.
This week has been very enlightening. We have created a google doc in order to work on our next assignment. Although the sections have been divided, we will each collaborate with one another to complete the next assignment. I feel excited about our topic, but very nervous about how it will all come together. It is important for me to do my fair share, so I hope that I won't disappoint my team.

 

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog. This blog will be used to track my progress and reflection on the development of a course for educators. 
My name is Christina Phyall and I am currently a second grade teacher. I have been teaching for 8 years. I'm currently pursuing my Ed.S. in the area of Instructional Technology at the University of West Georgia. 
I have created this blog as a requirement for my MEDT 7464 course. I will document experiences in designing instruction and in working with my group members.  This is my second time designing instruction. Last semester in MEDT 8461, I worked with a group to design a self-paced lesson on phases of the moon, which was for 2^nd grade students. I’m really eager to develop a course for teachers. In my previous classes, frequent communication has been a key factor in determining the success of the group. I’m looking forward to collaborating with my group members.
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
~Henry Ford