15/5 April 19th-25th

15/5’s April 19th-25

This week we prepared for the presentation of our project showcase. We created a Google Slide presentation and met Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare. I also created a screencast to present the unique features of the website since Google+ can be unpredictable and can loose connection and audio.  So to avoid any issues and ease some concerns we created the Screencast.

I also created a digital poster using Glogster, which is one of the free web 2.0 Ed Tech Tools showcased in the presentation.  The reasons for this was to present our group’s Lesson Learned.

Our meetings lasted about an hour and half. We discussed the necessary changes provided from  feedback from teachers and Dr. Mims.  We also discussed the  the edits we needed to make to the Making Thinking Visible with Technology site.

After meeting with Dr. Mims on Tuesday we discussed some changes and additional things he wanted us to focus on for the site:

1.     Teacher & Student testimonials.

2.     Remove the name from the image icons on the Ed Tech Tools.

Dr. Mims was disappointed we did not have teacher and student testimonials.  Our goal is to embedded at least ten of these testimonials  into the site by finding teacher’s videos and students’ audio clips to contribute.  We will also have to provide our own testimonials.  Since I am in the middle of common core state testing I am going to try pull students at the end of the day next week to give an audio testimonials, as well as some teachers.  I assisted a fellow co-worker, Frank, in writing his technology Motorcycle lesson plan.  So I am confident he will provide me with a testimonial about using his thinking routine compass points.  I also have a resource room where I can reflect on my ZOOM in thinking routine.  

I removed all the title to the EdTech Tool kit.  There are other edits and changes we will make along the way.  Our main focus is obtaining testimonials of thinking routines.  

After seeing all of the showcase presentations I was extremely impressed. I really enjoyed Taylor, Taylor, and Wolf’s video presentations, I especially liked how they added humor. Unfortunately, I missed a majority of Claire’s, Jennifer’s and Tod’s presentation since we lost connection.  I had a difficult time hearing the audience when they were speaking and asking questions.  One of my big take a ways is best captured in this quote: “Many instructional designers, in an attempt to make content simple, takeout information.  The solution isn’t to take away content, but to present it in a simpler way.”

I do agree that seeing exemplar examples of final projects is a great idea to show future students.  It is extremely helpful to have a reference point such as previous groups website of their project documentation.  Having their end product to see would be beneficial even though each project is unique.

This next week we will be working on making the necessary changes suggested as well as playing with the formatting.  We will also be making changes to the site to make it more visually appealing.  This class was intense and the end is closely approaching.

April 13th -19th (15/5's)

April 13th - April 19th

15/5’s

This week I worked on finishing the Resource Page.  This page focused on Thinking Routines in Actions, Blooms Higher Order Thinking, as well as adding additional resource and formatting to all the resource tab pages.

I created Tabs for the video to follow the template in our instructional component.  However, I struggled to find a lot of video documentation of the thinking routines in action.  Even project Zero had a minimal selection of videos (which I was surprised to learn).  

We met twice this week Monday and Wednesday for a total of 2 hours.  Rick had colleagues test out the site. The biggest issue was that people were unfamiliar with Google Docs and were not reading the directions.  As a team we discussed a plan of action.  We made some minor changes to the site which included making changes to the tabs so that they proceeded in a step-by-step process for the learner to follow the specific order.  

We also learned that the Google Doc embedded view would require the learner to make a copy.  Instead the testers were changing the Google Doc Template that was supposed to be copied.  It was a minor change,which required us to change the public view setting to “anyone on the internet”.

We also discussed the project showcase and who will present what roles.

1. Background-Kim
2. How it was Addressed-Kim
3. Unique Features-Heidi
4. Evaluation-Rick
5. Changes-Rick
6. Lessons Learned-Heidi

As a team we would like to incorporate a thinking routine into our presentation.  At this point we are still working out the details.  Since I will be presenting Via Google + I will be focusing on the “Unique Features” of the site by showing my screen.  I will also conclude the presentation with “Lessons Learned”.

I have been working on the site for the most part every day a few hours a night and my weekends have been consumed by this.  I am looking forward to the presentation and the final exit interviews.  My goal was to take a break from the site for a day or two and I performed a final run through on Sunday with a fresh pair of eye to make some content and formatting changes.  

As a group we are still meeting bi-weekly and it is a great opportunity for us to discuss of progress, as well as what still needs to be accomplished.  I find that it it is extremely important to keep a regimented schedule, especially with a large project like this.  In addition, being in constant communication is vital; everyone needs to be aware of changes of ….

The next plan of action is to meet next week Monday and Wednesday. Rick will give a breakdown of the final evaluation trials.  We will prepare for our showcase presentation and review the site for preparation of the showcase.  I am so glad we  followed a strict schedule of due dates and tasks to complete! I can’t imagine saving this to the last minute. I don’t think it could be accomplished, with all the research and Wordpress learning curve.

April 6th -12th

15/5s

Resources	6 hours
Lesson Plan/Motorcycle	3+ hours
Site Review (2 Peers)	30 min
Team Meeting	1 hour
Research Tutorials/ Resources	4 hours
Symbolism Lesson/Routine	1 hour

This week the formative evaluation, including a screencast, was due. We met as a team on Monday and discussed tasks, to do lists, and modifications.  Documentation was approved for the treatment report and instructional strategy.  I can’t believe the end of the semester is nearing and will be here before we know it!

I attempted to create an essential grid to make a page of all videos.  Essential Grid is a plug-in for wordpress. I have had no success so I am relying on visual composer to create the format for the testimonials of thinking routines in action. This week was Spring Break, which I have been counting the days down until. Unfortunately, my entire family ended up with the stomach flu.

My main focus this week was finishing up lesson plans for submission in which i had to create, modify and write. I also had to work with a coworker on his lesson plan.  It is a tedious task, but I feel the more you write the more confident you become with the process. I almost have the ISTE and 21st century skills memorized at this point I have looked at them so many times.   I also edited the resources tab.  We wanted to add visual and scaffold the individual pages. There was a lof of information on a page and we wanted to make it visually appealing and inviting. We didn’t want to overwhelm the learner.  I have been researching and adding information and images throughout the week.

We have also received feedback from the teachers’ testing the site.  I have recruited two teachers and I have nagged them everyday since we are on vacation. I will be bringing them coffee at work on monday and forcing them to complete the survey if I don’t receive feedback by Sunday night!  The feedback we have received has been positive and some minor changes are being made on a daily basis.  We will be make changes to the very end and likely after. Every time I log in I’m making a change it could be as simple as spacing change to content.   

Next week we will be focusing on the showcase presentation for the upcoming week. We will follow a bi-weekly meeting schedule to create a to-do list and keep in communication through our Google community.

March 30th-April 5th

March 30-April 5th

23 hours

Formatting Powerpoint Google Slides	1 hour
Treatment Report Thumbnails	2.5  hours
Treatment report Splash Page	1.5 hours
Team Meeting	1 hr. 30 min
Lesson PLan Symbolism	*Need to create student example (2 hours)
Lesson PLan Water Cycle	Updating 1 hr
Lesson Plan Nation Divided	Updating 1.5 hours
Lesson PLan (13 Colonies) Writing	2 hours
Reformat EdTech Tool Kit Action Buttons	6 hours
Printer Icon/re format only shows on specific pages	1 hour
Emails/Google+/To Do List	2 hours
Resources/Began adding resources videos/editing	3 hours

This week the second part of the treatment report was due.  On this part of the treatment report, I included the splash page, various color formats, and tab locations. I decided to sketch these out because I did not want to make any unnecessary changes to the homepage which was designed months ago based on Dr. Mims color choices.  I also added screenshots of all the modules to the the thumbnail pages.  These updates and documents were added to the existing treatment report which I created last week with the screencast. I happened to get ahead of myself and reported on everything last week.

All assignments were completed on time and turned in prior to due dates. (Treatment Report)

I am also working on numerous lesson plans to add to the MTVT website. Drafting lessons is a tedious process as well as updating existing lesson plans to follow the MTVT lesson plan template. I am meeting with two teachers to do a test run of the site this week to provide feedback.

To update the EdTech Tool Kit, I also added more resources to the EdTech Tool Kits with description, video tutorials and links for pInboards and times lines.  I also had to change all the buttons to action buttons and include “access” to each of the sites so that the learner knew where to click. We also had the printer button added on each page.  I had to use short code to only place the printer button on lesson plan pages and tutorials.  This process took sometime to figure out, but once I figured out the coding it was a quick fix. I am learning about so many free Web 2.0 tools that I often find myself trying several out and being led off task.  Usually because I want to see how I could implement them in my own class.  I realize I can do this once the class is over and I have the time to play around with these tools.

The Resource Module is also being updated with images and site design formating.  I have just begun this process but will continue to work on this particular element throughout the week.  

Our team met on Wednesday and we once again delegated tasks, talked about ideas, and decided how to tweak certain elements on our site.  Kim completed all the tutorials and they are great. We decided to break the tutorial up into individual topics because learners may not want to sit through an 8 min tutorial when some questions could be answered in two minutes.  I think this was a great change and will be extremely beneficial in the tutorials and helping the learner create their own MTVT lesson plan.

Rick is still waiting for Feedback from Dr.Mims on the site we hope to hear from him soon since a majority of the site is almost complete.  We once again utilized a to-do list and I have been in constant communication with Kim throughout the week.  This upcoming week I hope to finish my lessons and will be updating the resource module.  I will also  be completing the group members evaluations and self evaluations on Google Forms. We will meet as a team to discuss our next plan of action on Monday.