Computer Lab (Quizlet Included)

The technology director for the school sent out a list of open source programs.  One of the programs was called quizlet.  This program allows a person to set up vocabulary study cards.  Then it allows the user to play games, study, or quiz over the vocabulary.  I have set up all 3rd grade vocabulary cards in this program.  I have broken the vocabulary down into five sections to make it easier to study.  I have shown the students how to access the program off of my web page.  We are now beginning computer lab time using this program the first 5-10 minutes then going to Study Island.

Computer Lab Changes (All Study Island)

Students will be working on Study Island all five days practicing in STAAR based math problems.

Title 1 Math Teacher Comment

Speaking with the Title 1 math teachers, we were conversing how the students were doing.  She informed me that she was impressed with how my students were able to think through problems and actually solved the problems.  An example,  a student was given a multiplication word problem.  The students have not been taught about multiplication nor have the studied their facts.  The students were able to draw out the problem and were able to solve the problem.  She stated that most 3rd grade students in her other classes just gave up on the problems.

Computer Lab Changes (removal of learning.com)

Students have just completed their first benchmarks.  Students will now be working problems in Study Island on math STAAR based problems four days a week.  The other day will be devoted to working on Math-Facts-in-a-Flash on math facts.

First Benchmark Completed

We just completed our first round of math benchmarking.  The scores are coming in.  This will give me the foundation to see if improvement will be made.  I have 4 ELL's, and they all were not passing the first round of test. I have 17 non-ELL's of which 7 passed the first round.  Areas of each students weakness will be further analyzed.  The test contained many multi-step problems which is a high level test and most of the students have not been taught the concepts yet.  All students took the same test and no modifications were used.

Computer Lab Changes (learning.com)

Students have moved from web safety to learning about spreadsheets and creating tables.  They will be working on this for the next two-three weeks.

Action Research Plan

Action Planning Project
Goal: Does technology in a 3rd Grade math class with ESL inclusion increase the scores of both the ESL and non-ESL students? ·         Does technology increase scores equally basing the average of ESL students vs. average on non-ESL students? ·         With the aid of technology (blogging and PowerPoints) are students able to answer higher level thinking questions that might appear on the STAAR test? ·         Will the TELPAS scores from a classroom that uses technology increase more than those without technology? ·         With posting the blogs and PowerPoints on the internet, does it lead to more discussion between students and parents about what is being taught in the classroom? ·         Does it help students remember the topic long term?
Action Steps(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Video formatted lessons  (listening skills)	Angelia Moses	8/22/11-5/1/12 (daily)	Envision web textbook	The students have a better understanding of the lessons using the visual aspect of the video lesson.
Study Island (focused on reading and analyzing questions)	Angelia Moses	8/22/11-1/30/12 Restart 2/1/12 – 4/30/2012 (twice a week)	Study Island	After the lesson has been taught and students’ independent work is complete, students’ will take STAAR-based questions as reinforcement and after reset in February, as a review.  Passing or mastery should be seen when completing as a review.
Math Facts in a Flash	Angelia Moses	8/22/11-5/1/12 (once a week)	Math Facts in a Flash	Students should be able to recall their basic math facts.
Blogging – high level questioning collaborating in small groups (focused on writing, speaking, and listening) a.    Students must write and speak in complete sentence. b.   Students must check their writing for correctness before posting. c.    Students will use proper grammar when presenting their ideas to the class from the blog.	Angelia Moses	8/22/11-5/1/12 (minimum of once per topic)	Internet Math Blog Site	Students in small groups will discuss questions or create problems to be discussed by the class.  Using proper English in the written and spoken form will be reinforced.  Allow parents to see work from home and allow parent/students review.
PPTS – independent work to share as a review (focused on pictures, writing,  speaking as a presenter,  and listening to others)	Angelia Moses	9/1/11-5/1/12 (once per topic)	MS PowerPoint	Students will create PowerPoints in small groups each with a different lesson discussed during the topic.  Students will present their PowerPoint as a review for before the Topic test.  PowerPoints will be posted on the internet for future review (before benchmarks and/or STAAR testing)
Benchmarking/STAAR Test	Angelia Moses/ Mrs. Johnson or Mrs. Lowe	October 2011 January 2012 March 2012 April 2012	Eduphoria	After each benchmark and/or STAAR test the scores should increase in both ESL and non-ESL students.
TELPAS	Angeila Moses / Mrs. Wetton	September 2011 May 2012	Eduphoria	Looking at previous years TELPAS scores and comparing them to the scores in 2012, there should be more of an improvement than those who did not receive the learning through technology.
Analyzing Data	Angelia Moses	October 2011 January 2012 March 2012 May 2012	Eduphoria / MS Excel	After each benchmark scores will be analyzed for areas that still need to be reinforced for each student to ensure success on the STAAR test.