Personal Learning Plan

Wicked Problem Project Part D

Findings and Implications
Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned?
A problem that I was trying to work around in implementation of the project is that my classes follow a nine to ten week "marking period" schedule.  I get all new students four times per year.  The implementation part of our projects hit at the end of a marking period and was followed by a week-long spring break.  Key parts of my wicked problem project on Systematic Vocabulary Instruction were implemented as planned with some modifications due to time constraints. Specifically, I was able to:

• Identify 50 crucial academic vocabulary terms for my subject area and grade level.
• Invite two four-person teams of 8th grade teachers to join me in implementing technology infused instructional processes for teaching vocabulary in their subject areas.  These teachers represent science, social studies, math, and language arts curricular areas. Even though I invited them to join me in this effort, one of the four-person teams said they did not have the time in their instructional schedules to implement this plan.  The other team said they would like to try it at the beginning of the next marking period.
• Use video or computer images to introduce academic vocabulary terms to students.
• Have students begin to create electronic academic vocabulary notebooks. They created slides that defined 10 of the 50 technology terms in their own words and added a graphic to represent the word.
• Involve students in games to reinforce the meaning of the words.

One part of the Systematic Vocabulary Instruction project that I did not implement at all was to have students revisit the slides they made and "add knowledge of the term" in the form of synonyms, antonyms, or additional pictures.  Another part of the project that I spent very little time on was in having the students "revisit the terms and discuss them with each other."

Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice.
I saw evidence of success in implementing my wicked problem project on Systematic Vocabulary Instruction when observing:

• Students electronic academic vocabulary slides including definitions they created for the terms and pictures they found or created to illustrate them.
• Students informal discussions with each other of the meanings of words and why they illustrated them the way they did.
• Accurate responses in the vocabulary games.

How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you've learned here?

If I were approaching another project of this type, now that I have this experience, I would try to narrow my projects' scope and focus more.  Marzano has written a whole book (and sections of several others) on how to effectively teach academic vocabulary. I could have started specifically with vocabulary games and built my whole project on that topic. Marzano's approach is a multi-step approach though, and that is why I tackled the problem the way I did.

What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?

Lessons learned in my vocabulary project that others might benefit from knowing about are all about making assumptions! First of all, do not assume that just because our students utilize technology frequently and on a daily basis, that they know the "language" of technology. Secondly, do not assume that just because you know how to play a game, that your students will also know about it. I would not have a clue where to begin to play the video game "Halo." Likewise, my students had no idea where to begin in "Password."

In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?
Things I will change include:

• Incorporating threaded discussion into the initial classroom discussion when introducing new vocabulary for students' electronic notebooks.
• Setting aside time for students to revisit their notebook so they can collaborate with classmates and so they can also "add to" their slides.

Marzano's approach to teaching academic vocabulary is current Best Practice and I think my integration of technology into the approach improves student learning, so I am committed to making my wicked problem project part of my regular curriculum.  This is the essence of TPACK.

Group Leadership Project - Part B Storyboard and Script

Our storyboard and script for the group project was created using Google Docs so we could all collaborate and contribute from our separate locations. Our screencast is aimed at teaching teachers:

• how to create an Edmodo teacher account and adjust the settings
• how to create a class group and student accounts
• directions for having students log in to their accounts
• instructions for retrieving student information
• and "how to's" on polling students

We all contributed to the project. My major contribution was the "script" and "transitions" portion of the assignment. The andragogy used in the script portion considered the needs of the adult learner.  Specifically, I tried to:

• help decrease anxiety by making connections to something most teachers already know (i.e. Facebook or at least the knowledge that our students are big users of Facebook!)
• trying to take a coaching rather than judging approach
• explaining why they need to know something (Edmodo would be a valuable tool in motivating students to participate)
• making the topic relevant to their immediate needs (again helping to motivate students)

(Malcolm Knowles, 1984).

Jing will be used for our final product.  One member will be the "voice" of the screencast. The rest of us will take care of editing, revising, and polishing the screencast. Click on the link below to see our Google Doc:

Group Leadership Project - Part B Storyboard and Script

Web Conferencing

After exploring the different options for video conferencing in the Web/Video Conferencing Lab, our group decided to use a different option. We used a video communication platform called tinychat that allows users to communicate via instant messaging, voice, and video chat. One group member set up the chat room and shared the URL to it with the rest of us. Our room is set up so it can be reused for more group work.  One group member recorded the tinychat session then used VisualHub to convert the file so he could upload it to YouTube and share the recording with the group. 

We actually ended up having two on-line brainstorming meetings.  After reviewing our 1^st recorded session, we found that we did not take care of some important details regarding our Group Leadership Project, so we needed to meet again.  The lesson learned from this is that an on-line meeting is really like any other meeting and an agenda is a very good idea.  So, I created an agenda for the 2^nd meeting to make sure all important discussion points were covered.

Advantages to using tinychat include:

• It’s free and easy to use
• You can set up a disposable chat room or one that you plan to reuse.
• The chat rooms are browser-based so there is no third party software installation needed.
• You can link from tinychat to your Facebook or Twitter account with a mouse click.
• You can voice, video, or text chat or use any combination of the three.

 During our first meeting, my microphone would not work so I used the text chat feature to participate in the meeting.  During the 2^nd meeting, one group members video was not working but we could hear her.

Tinychat will support up to twelve video feeds at once and double that amount in audio feeds.

Some of the problems we encountered using Tinychat were:

• Lag time in voices.  You could see the person talking, but their voice followed later. We were all using wireless routers and this may have had an effect on this lag time problem.  Next time I’ll try using my Ethernet line to see if it helps with this.
• Echoes – I think this problem could be alleviated by all parties wearing headphones.  Two people were and two were not and I think this accounted for the echoing.

Since you can embed the chat room you set up on your website, one application I could see for using this with students would be to let parents know they could conference with you on-line if they had any questions or concerns and because it supports multiple video and audio feeds, students could join the discussion.

Another way I think you could use this with students would be to have an audio chat in the classroom so students could try using a program like this with “technical support” from you.   I would do a session like this and have the topic be “Being webwise and safe on-line.”

Part C - Implementation - Wicked Problem Project

Part B – Application of TPACK to the Wicked Problem

The TP Knowledge for the Solution
The teaching strategies and methods I ‘ve chosen for my wicked problem project include the six-step process for teaching new vocabulary identified by Marzano and Pickering in Building Academic Vocabulary. Using a web browser, presentation software, and a projector with screen or interactive white board would enable teachers to find or create video or computer images to help students visualize the meaning of the vocabulary term. (Step 1 of 6)
Students would use presentation software like Prezi, SlideShare, PowerPoint, or GoogleDocs to create their electronic academic vocabulary notebook. They would also use drawing program software when they wanted or needed to draw an illustration for the notebook rather than finding one. (Steps 2 & 3 of 6)
On-line dictionaries and thesauruses would be used to aid students in adding clarification to their vocabulary words by adding a list of synonyms or antonyms, listing related vocabulary, or adding an additional picture or graphic. (Step 4 of 6)
A threaded discussion model would work well for having students discuss the vocabulary with each other. (Step 5 of 6)

PowerPoint templates for Jeopardy, Hollywood Squares, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Wheel of Fortune, Bingo, The $25,000 Pyramid, and Password will be used for involving students in vocabulary games for additional practice with the terms. (Step 6 of 6) This table outlines the six-step process and how I’m incorporating technology in each step to make the process more effective and engaging.

The TC Knowledge for the Solution

The technology makes the content in my problem more intellectually accessible because pictures and graphics present powerful visual information that increase students understanding of sometimes abstract or confusing vocabulary. Also, students would not always be able to come up with lists of synonyms, antonyms, or related words on their own. The use of an on-line thesaurus or dictionary would aid in this aspect of six-step process. The threaded discussion makes the content more intellectually accessible to students who do not like to speak up in the classroom setting. Students who rarely volunteer anything are often much more willing to share via the "written" word in a classroom setting.


The PC Knowledge for the Solution

The pedagogical strategies I have chosen to follow for this problem make the content more accessible to students because the strategies are engaging, collaborative, and represent "best practice" in the field of content specific vocabulary instruction. Students construct meaning of the vocabulary by describing terms in their own words.  Using non-linguistic representations helps many learners "get" the content. Also because we are using a six-step approach ,scaffolding is "built-in" to the process. 

Wicked Problem Project Part A - Description of Need or Opportunity

Systematic Vocabulary Instruction The important educational need I am seeking to address with my Wicked Problem Project is how to effectively teach academic (content specific) vocabulary. Educational researchers have concluded that "systematic vocabulary instruction is one of the most important instructional interventions that teachers can use." (Classroom Instruction that Works, Marzano, et al. 2001) For my own students, I have identified 50 technology specific vocabulary words they need to recognize and understand in order to perform proficiently on our 8th grade county-wide technology assessment.  Additionally, our Reading School Improvement (SI) Team has identified teaching content specific vocabulary as an across the curriculum goal for our school.  I think the strategies I am proposing for using technology to address this problem in my own curricular area will be transferable to other content specific situations and therefore will help in our school's quest for overall improvement. Our Language Arts Department Head indicates that the way teaching content specific vocabulary is currently handled in our school is that: "1) it is ignored, or 2) students define words and draw a picture to go with the definitions and that’s it." While the second solution is better than ignoring the problem, we feel we can and should do better. I propose using technology to address this educational issue by utilizing Web tools and interactive games that make learning vocabulary fun and interactive for students and offers teachers tools for designing and implementing "a comprehensive approach to teaching academic vocabulary." (Building Academic Vocabulary, Marzano and Pickering, 2005).  The first step in addressing this educational issue for the different curricular areas involves identifying crucial academic vocabulary for subject areas and grade levels. I have done this in regards to technology vocabulary for 8th graders. I've heard that there is an initiative taking place in our county at the ISD level to identify the crucial vocabulary for all core subject areas. This identification would be helpful in getting school-wide or even district-wide participation in implementation of a comprehensive approach to teaching academic vocabulary. In the meantime, I plan to ask two four-person teams of 8th grade teachers to join me in implementing technology infused instructional processes for teaching vocabulary in their subject areas. These teachers represent science, social studies, math, and language arts curricular areas. According to the research, students will benefit in significant and lasting ways from this instruction. In Building Academic Vocabulary, Marzano and Pickering identify a six-step process for teaching new terms: Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term. Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words. Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the term. Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in their notebooks. Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another. Involve students periodically in games that allow them to play with terms. Technology would be very useful in Step 1 of this process. The teacher needs to introduce the new term to students in an informal way. As Marzano and Pickering suggest, this could be done by using video or computer images as the stimulus for understanding the information. Teachers could also use technology to find or create pictures that exemplify the term. These technology integration activities could be achieved using a web browser, presentation software, and a projector with screen or interactive whiteboard.   Steps 2 and 3 of the process require the students to restate in their own words a description, explanation, or example of the term. The method suggested for this step is for students to keep an Academic Vocabulary Notebook where they record the term, it's meaning in their own words, and a picture to represent the term or concept. In the case of my one-computer-per-student classroom, it makes much more sense for them to create an electronic academic vocabulary notebook. I will try using the format shown at the following link (http://www.jonesapr.com/techterms/sample_app_pages/) as a model for students to create their own entries. Students could use Prezi, SlideShare, PowerPoint, or Google Docs for this on-going project. To engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms (Step 4), I will have them add to the slide they've created for each term. Options for this additional clarification of the word would be to add a list of synonyms or antonyms, list related vocabulary, add an additional picture or graphic, or create analogies or metaphors with the term. On-line dictionaries and thesauruses would be useful references in this activity. In Step 5, students revisit the terms and discuss them with each other. This could be accomplished with a classroom think-pair-share activity where students pair with a partner to view and discuss each others slides. I also think a threaded discussion would be an effective tool to get students collaborating on the word meanings. The 6th and last step, involving students periodically in games that allow them to play with the terms is easily and effectively impacted by the use of technology. PowerPoint templates for Jeopardy, Hollywood Squares, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Wheel of Fortune, Bingo, The $25,000 Pyramid, and Password are available specifically for this purpose at http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/vocab/ppt-vocab.html.  Other games and websites customized  with technology (or other academic) vocabulary will give students choice in practicing these concepts.  Examples of sites include: http://quizlet.com, www.zooburst.com, www.onelook.com, and http://www.eduplace.com/kids/sv/. The following table organizes the technology suggestions with the steps of the process. Indicators of a successful project will be: Student's vocabulary slides with meanings of terms written in "their own words" and meaningful illustrations or graphics to accompany their definitions. Observation of student's informal discussions with each other of the meanings of the words and why they illustrated them the way they did. Accurate responses when we play vocabulary games. Class-wide average test score increase of 5% or more (compared to previous years) on the 8th grade end-of-the year Technology Assessment (these results will be available in June.) The closest effort I can find to what I am trying to accomplish with my project can be seen at http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/vocab/TN.html .  Schools in Tennessee are taking a state-wide approach to using Marzano’s six-step process for teaching academic vocabulary.