Bob the Mantis

Bob the Mantis and about 125 of his brothers and sisters hatched last April. When they hatched they were a milky white color and about 1 cm long. They trailed out of their egg case(called an "ootheca", it can hold hundreds of individual eggs) climbing down each other like an awesome/disgusting mantis ladder. It looked like an alien horror move, only tiny.

After about a month my class and I released most of the mantids in the garden behind school, before they started fighting for resources. There was just too many of them in a small space. We named our only mantis left, Bob. For the first 6 weeks or so we fed Bob 5 or 6 tiny fruit flies every couple of days. By the end of May I was catching large flies for him. Through out the summer I would feed him 3 or 4 large flies every two days. My wife even bought me a fly catching "gun" for fathers day, it would suck the flies up in to a chamber. Bob would hang patiently upside down and strike like lightening whenever a fly flew or crawled by. Those flies just weren't that smart.

Bob molted (shed his skin) about 10 times during the summer. Sometimes he would eat his old skin and sometimes I grabbed it out of his habitat to look at it. In late July, Bob molted for the last time. We had been researching Mantis Religiosa and discovered that after his last molt Bob would have wings and become more aggressive. That was true! He developed beautiful blue-green wings and he would try to attack any movement near his habitat. These physical characteristics and behavior traits helped us identify him as a male (we had just guessed!) After taking him out for the pictures we had a very difficult time getting him back in, he was MEAN! Our research also showed that Bob would soon die if we left him in captivity, so during the hot days of late July, I brought him here to the gardens of Gilbert where I hoped he would be able to catch some insects and find a mate.



Look closely, he's got a fly!

Final Reflection

I did not know what to expect from this class at first. I had not envisioned starting a blog and reviewing the STaR chart data, although I probably should have. I assumed that we would be studying the way students learn now as opposed to before digital technology. I also rightly assumed that we would be reading about how to work with this new breed of student. The readings from Prensky about digital natives and digital immigrants really helped me understand the mind set of students who have grown up with technology. The only area where the course fell short for me was in actual technology integration. I think I would have liked developing and submitting an actual lesson that involved technology integration.

This course was certainly one of the most relevant ones that I’ve taken at Lamar! Technology my not seem like such an integral part of education, especially when many teachers ignore it, but it will soon be indispensible. Prensky, Richardson and many of the other authors continually pointed out that the students today learn differently, yet our teaching has not changed significantly. My campus and district are technology rich, however, that has not translated in to students using the technology to learn in meaningful ways. I have personally seen that the students I have now are learning less and less from the whole group setting. As educators we need to heed the advice heard throughout this course and find a better way to teach!

I still have not utilized technology in my classroom to the best extent possible. This class helped me understand the importance, but applying that knowledge in a practical setting is much harder. Like the Techfusion lessons I discussed in my Week 4 action plan, I suggest that students develop a classroom lesson that involves technology for this course. Having that plan, similar to the ones we created for our Schools as Learning Communities and Research classes, would help teachers put these theories into practice. I understand that the fault lies more with me and less with the class in this respect. The “daily grind” is preventing me from achieving better technology integration. Testing, classroom management, the amount of time technology take all contribute to teachers avoiding it in favor of the older methods.

I thought I was successful in completing the course assignments. I had prior experience writing a blog and using the exact blogging website that the course suggested. I have had fun with both my personal and professional blogs. Converting the slide show from MS Power Point to and Open Source slideshow program was a little difficult for me. I had to try several times before I was able to convert the presentation. Since my district is attempting to use Open Source software, I was glad I had experience using it and converting files. I also found the review of the Technology Applications helpful. Writing the action plan was a great experience because I was able to think about how I would encourage technology integration if I were in an administrative position.

Because of this course, I was able to look honestly at my teaching habits and reflect on how I use technology. I saw that I use technology daily, but not always in truly meaningful ways. While teaching 4th grade, I always had students publish their written work on the computer. Next time I teach 4th grade I will allow students to compose on the computer, as I am doing now. It maybe a subtle difference, but it is a meaningful one. I saw that I am a leader when it comes to technology. My grade level is reluctant to use technology and to teach in new ways. I am doing my best to model easy technology integration and encourage it in their classrooms. As an administrator, I will model technology use as much as possible. I hope it will be a strength for me as a leader.

Blogs, and the Internet in general, are democratizing education. Everyone who wants to express and opinion can! It is so easy to set up a blog and start typing. The educational possibilities are endless. I would love to have a book discussion using a classroom blog. It is certainly a great way to teach persuasive writing. Reluctant students write best when they write about what they love. That is what blogging is all about. I always send a work packet home over the holidays and even over summer vacation. Blogs would be a great way to keep up the education all year round. Since I often loop with my students, blogging with them over the long summer would help them retain the skills they lose during the months without school.

The fact that anyone can access and comment on a blog is also part of the problem, it can lead to cyber bullying and child abuse. Our school had its first even Internet safety parent course last week. We will have another in the spring and continue next year. Parents, teachers and students need to know the risks so that blogs can be a helpful and fun tool.
Blogging with school stakeholders would open up another source for dialogue. Schools could use a blog to brainstorm solutions and discuss problems. If schools are committed to open and respectful dialogue then the entire community could be part of the Campus Improvement Committee by taking part in the blog discussion. Stakeholders would also benefit from the ability to think about their responses and write out exactly what they want to say.

S Ta R Chart

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S Ta R Chart

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STaR Chart

To me the entire point of taking the STaR Chart survey and researching all of this, is to improve technology instruction. Technology instruction will improve when students are engaged in meaningful assignments that reinforce technology skills. That is why I have chosen to discuss the Key Area of Teaching and Learning. The state, my district and my campus all score mainly in the Developing or low Advanced range for that area. Just under 70% of all campuses in Texas rated themselves Developing in 2008-09. My district had scores that ranged from 13 to 20. Most campuses rated themselves in the high Developing (13-14) to the low Advanced (15-17). Very few campuses had scores of higher than 17 and only two campuses had scores of less than 13. Over the past 3 years my campus has moved from a Key Area total of 14 to one of 15 in 2008-09. Our school in this area is on the rise, but we are not progressing as quickly or as much as we would like to. We have the infrastructure and desire, but somehow that does not translate into teachers doing meaningful assignments in their classes.
Although our scores have not improved dramatically, I have personally seen a difference in our students over the past five years, especially in the Foundation area of the TAs. Students coming to me in 4th grade are much more capable than they used to be. Going to the computer lab was often frustrating because each little thing became a mini-lesson. Now, however, students begin signing onto the computers immediately with little help from me. They can open and save documents and work easily in MS Word, Powerpoint and Excel. After leaving me they are also often proficient with MS Publisher. There is definitely a commitment to use the technology on campus, however, sometimes other commitments take priority over others.

Pre-K TEKS

The Pre-K foundation teks start with keyboarding and mouse skills. They also have students learn how to open and save files. I noticed that the foundation section also has teachers discuss illegally copying material. These skills are integral in helping students get started learning new technologies. They are the very foundation that all other learning must be based on. In the acquiring information section, Pre-K students learn how to navigate the internet and evaluate the information found there. This will become the basis for all future research. Students must learn from an early age that there is a huge amount of information and not all of it is appropriate. The problem solving and communication areas are very similar to the 3-5 strand. The Pre-K teks are the very beginning of technology acquisition. Pre-K and Kindergarten is the first time that many of our students are exposed to technology. Like the other teks, Texas has set the TAs to build on each other. K-2 students are expected to use keyword and Boolean searchers. 3-5 students have to start using local and wide area networks to search on the internet. In grades 6-8 the same expectations remain, but students are expected to use collaborative software to aid their searches. According to chapter 126 of the TAs, students in grades 9-12 need to "design and document sequential search algorithms for digital information storage and retrieval."

Long-Range Plan

I had no idea that Texas had such a detailed plan for technology implementation. I noticed some recurring themes throughout the sections. First, I understood that Texas expects there to be equitable education for all students. A free Broadband network that runs 24/7 will help ensure that. Also, Texas expects students to use a myriad of resources to gather information, no longer is the teacher the only source. The plan also mentioned distance learning and information sharing as a way to ensure that all students have an equitable education. Another theme is that technology is constantly changing and becoming more personal. Students are becoming more and more technologically savvy before they even enter schools. It is our job as teachers to harness the innate love of technology to improve instruction.

3 Assessments

Before taking the three assessments, I was confident that I would do well. The Technology Applications Inventory reinforced that feeling. I answered “yes” to most of the questions from all 4 domains. When answering “no,” I often thought I could have done what the question was asking, but much like my ESL students, I was limited by new vocabulary terms. Specifically, I did not take part in virtual reality or technical writing. I also have not personally set up video conferences or distance learning sessions, although I have taken part in many of them.
I was not able to confidently answer many of the questions on the SETDA/Metiri Teacher Survey. Sometimes I did not have the information, such as in the beginning sections devoted to collecting data. This survey helped me the most because it forced me to think about the amount of technology I’m using in the classroom this year. Unfortunately, I have not been implementing it enough. Using technology was easier for me last year because of the class that I taught (4th grade GT). Taking this survey opened my eyes to the fact that I need to implement more technology despite the difficulties.
I rated myself either a level 2 or a 3 for all categories on the Rubric for Administrative Technology Use survey. I found that I had strengths in areas that dealt with communication and productivity. My relative weaknesses were in research, and student and teacher competencies. Again, I was often missing information about my school to fully answer some of the questions.