EDUC 638 [2/20/14] [Puckett, Rhonda] Reflective Post

As an educator, I am consistently asked to reflect:
What worked?
What didn't? Why?
What could be done differently?
What did the students learn? How do you know?
Reflection is mandatory in order to prevent complacency. Reflection (self-evaluation) is sometimes extremely difficult for people to do. When we reflect, we have to admit that we aren't perfect. We have to explain WHY something didn't go "just right". I am a self-proclaimed perfectionist. If I don't do something right the first time, I want to know why and how to make it right. As an educator, I want THE very best for my students. In order for this to happen, I must reflect.

As a future administrator, it is important to understand how to mold great teachers. While I truly believe that teaching is a calling, I believe that great teachers must be scaffolded in order to prevent burnout and frustration. This process must include reflection, but how must teachers reflect? What should they base their reflections on? Fulk, Bell, and Bodie (2011) state that administration should have meaningful conversations with their staff and determine individual goals that should be met. In order for these goals to be met, the staff members must be presented with opportunities of professional development, evaluation, and feedback (Fulk et al., 2011). With consistent feedback and reflection, appropriate growth can take place and be measured (Hall, 2008). This, of course, outlines the idea of management by objectives.

It would make sense to adopt the idea of management by objectives for an educator, due to the fact it is a familiar process; this is what we use on our students. As feedback is given and true reflection takes place, a person can make exponential growth.

Psalm 37:3-5 states: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily shalt thou be fed. Delight thyself in the Lord: and shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass" (King James Version). Your objective: Focus your life on His Word. The Bible is an instructional manual. He has laid out for us what He needs and wants us to do for Him. Will we follow those objectives?

References:
Fulk, H. K., Bell, R. L., & Bodie, N. (2011). Team management by objectives: Enhancing developing teams' performance. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 12(3), 17-26. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/876866547?accountid=12085.

Hall, D. (2008). The technology director's guide to leadership: The power of great questions. Eugene, OR: ISTE.

EDUC 638 [2/9/14] [Puckett, Rhonda] Flipped Assignment

Written Transcript for my tutorial on how to use MindMeister:

Welcome to this tutorial on how to use MindMeister. MindMeister is an excellent tool that can be used in planning lessons, note-taking for students during a lesson, or for professional development as well as various other thinking map needs. MindMeister is a great tool, as it addresses the needs for visual learners, adding graphics, colors, and/or “connectors” that join thoughts and ideas from one criteria to another. MindMeister is easy to share, much like Google Docs, so that others may view your mind map or collaborate on a particular map with you. This affordable tool has exceptional value for its low cost and is an affordable tool for educators, with a school license for only $1 per month per user, for up to 20 users.

So…what does MindMeister actually do? Well, basically, for those of you trained in Thinking Maps, it’s like a Bubble Map…but BETTER.

You’re going to go to www.mindmeister.com. After signing up your free 30-day trial, you’re going to log in. You can choose the particular template you want to work with by clicking on “New Mind Map” and then “Browse Template Library.” As you can see, I have one already started. Because I teach first grade, I have modeled for you a mind map that I would create for my students, so it is very basic because I would never want to cause cognitive overload! As you can see, I can add facts and then add connectors. I’m going to add some facts about penguins. I’m going to add that penguins walk on land. I’m going to do that by clicking on “Penguins” and then I’m going to click on this plus sign here. A little box pops up and in that box, I’m going to type that they walk on land. I’m also going to put another fact about penguins; that they have feathers because these are attributes of different polar animals.

Now, because there’s a connection for penguins and polar bears – they both walk on land – I’m going to draw a connector from “walk on land.” I’m going to do that by clicking on that bubble and then clicking on the arrow. I’m going to take that all the way over here to where it says “walk on land” for polar bears and click it. I change the colors for all my connectors for visual effect. So, to do that, I’ll click on that white bubble, go to “Change color” and I’m going to choose a color that I haven’t already used.

Mind maps draw a parallel between Bubble Maps and Circle Maps, but also allow students to visually compare and contrast as they would with a Venn Diagram (or Double Bubble Map) by using (or not using) connectors. As you see, this is something that the teacher could PRESENT to students; however, with appropriate scaffolding, students could learn to make their OWN mind maps on MindMeister to portray critical thinking skills.

When the mind map is finished, it can be uploaded onto a class blog in order for parents or colleagues to see what students have been working on. Simply click on “Share this Map”, then click on “Public”, and then click “OK”, and “Embed map…”. Determine the frame width – I’m using 550 for my frame width – and frame height – I am using 500 for the height due to the dimensions of my edublog. I’m going to click in the box, right click, “Select All”, right click, “Copy” and go to my blog. Click “Compose” post, title it, and paste the embed code into the body of the blog. Click “Publish” and then “View the Blog” to see your success!

MindMeister is also a useful tool for professional development, such as having grade levels work together to vertically align curriculum. I just learned yesterday that our former assistant principal is an avid MindMeister-user! He used the program to complete the school phone tree and first responders maps. After working with the program, one could find many uses for it!

I hope you have enjoyed this simple tutorial on the use of MindMeister. I look forward to implementing it in various aspects of my own professional development!

Reflection

Using video can be effective in professional development due to its ability to grab attention. Personally, when I see a speaker, I almost immediately tune out. The use of video allows me to be engaged with various visual aids that speakers tend to leave out. Oftentimes, speakers forget that movement is key to retaining attention, so the use of video allows a change in what a member of the audience is looking at; there's movement on the screen which maintains attention.

Other ways to flip PD for educators is to have them become involved in Twitter chats, much like the ones we do for this course.  It's an easy, time-efficient way to gain information. Also, our school has recently moved into having us complete modules online, rather than staying after school to listen to lectures. If there is a point that is not understood, it can be revisited for better understanding. This is done on our own time, which I appreciate since I work two jobs and try to maintain my graduate studies. 

Screencasts can be used for the classroom as well as professional development. Many distance learning programs utilize screencasting; however, a traditional teacher can use it to post on his/her edublog to reinforce what is being learned int the classroom. For schools, such as the one where I work, where parents are illiterate in many cases, screencasts posted on edublogs could be helpful in reaching students, but also creating an understanding of standards with parents.

Thanks so much for tuning in! I hope you gained some valuable insight from this short tutorial!
~Rhonda

EDUC 638 [2/6/14] [Puckett, Rhonda]

Below, you will find my reflection on this week's reading. I hope you enjoy!

References:
Courts, B., & Tucker, J. (2012). Using technology to create a dynamic classroom
       experience. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 9(2), 121-127.

Day, B. (2012). WebQuests for the classroom. Social Studies Review, 51, 107.

Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Gonzalez, A. (2013). Teaching with tablets: How do I integrate
       tablets with effective instruction? Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Hall, D. (2008). The technology director's guide to leadership: The power of great
       questions. Eugene, OR: ISTE.

Puckett, R. (2013). Educational technology and its effective use. (Unpublished
       Master's research paper). Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA.