Final Network Learning Project Post

The quilt is finally done!!!!!!!

This summer I began classes in order to get my 6th year certificate in Instructional Technology and Digital Media Literacy (IT&DML). For our EDU 7714, Media/Tech/Learning in the curriculum we had to select something that has always interested us and learn how to do it. After much deliberation I chose to make a t-shirt quilt. It was always something that I wanted to do, and I actually had all of the shirts set aside already (some were even cut!).

Follow Meredith's board T-shirt quilt on Pinterest.

Now I am not an expert sewer; I am not even a novice sewer so I knew that this process was going to be difficult and time-consuming. I started the process by collecting all of my shirts and looking for a pattern online. Pinterest turned out to be my best friend and I found a great pattern that I felt was relativity easy to make (I was very wrong). Then I began the process of creating templates, cutting shirts, laying out the design, and finally sewing the pieces together.

As I moved through the steps, I found that every deadline I set for myself was very far off. I didn't realize the length of time it took to complete the different steps. Something that seemed pretty easy, cutting the template pieces, actually took me about 4 hours to get done and it was very frustrating. As a learner, I found that I have limited patience when I cannot complete something on the first try. Even though I did not meet every assigned deadline, I was able to complete each task successfully and created a complete final project.

Some of the lessons I learned about learning I feel that I can apply within my classroom. Every student learns at a different pace, and making sure that each one feels equipped and ready for the next step is important for both their learning and their confidence. I also plan to look at the way I set deadlines. Something that seems easy to me as an adult is not going to be easy or quick for an 11 year old. Making sure that I always take that into consideration will be very important for me this year .

In addition to learning about my task, creating a t-shirt quilt, I learned a lot about technology. I used many different resources for both research and to show understanding of the assignment. I learned about blogging, creating a digital presence, video production (imovie, animoto) and much more. Overall, I feel that this project was successful on many fronts, and I look forward to sharing my learning, as well as my final product, with colleagues and students.

Below you will find my final movie which covers the evolution of my learning. Although I have yet to back my quilt, or add the batting and officially quilt it, I feel as though this summer was a major success.

Where do we go from here?

As I come to the end of my first semester of my IT&DML certificate program, I am thinking back to all of the information I have learned over the past 6 weeks. The amount of information that I have gained, through my instructors, classmates, and PLN seems almost overwhelming. Prior to this experience, I fancied myself a pretty tech-savvy teacher. However, as this process continues, I recognize that I am on the path to tech-savvy, but I definitely have a lot to learn. This “tech-savviness” does not only relate to the tools that we use as teachers (google, padlet, imovie) but also the practices (ORMS, TPACK, online literacy).

I did not realize how great the shift had been in incorporating technology in the classroom had been in the last 10 years. In reading Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship in a Digital Age: Web 2.0 and Classroom Research: What Path Should We Take Now? by Greenhow, Robelia, and Hughes I have seen the immense growth. What used to be used once in a blue moon for research or a fun game has become a staple in many classrooms. This shift towards integrating more technology forces educators to take a look at the way they teach and the way students learn. Teaching the skill of reading a textbook and reading an online article vary greatly and not everything is better online.

When our school became a 1:1 electronic device and paperless school last year, I, along with many teachers in my school, were worried. We brought up our concerns at one of our first faculty meetings and our principal said, “Use technology that enhances your lesson. If you feel that it takes away from something you are teaching, do it a different way.” This is reiterated in Greenhow et al (2009), “digital literacy includes knowing how and when to use which technology and knowing which forms and functions are most appropriate for one’s purposes.” The connection between these two ideas really hit home for me. It is impossible to know everything about the internet and how it works. By taking it slow I can begin to incorporate the things I have learned about into my classroom. The internet isn’t going anywhere, in fact, it is just going to continue growing and changing. It is not feasible to become an expert on everything, so I will take this process in stride and proceed at my own pace.

This year I have requested no classroom supplies from my students, the only thing they will need is an electronic device. For me, this is a very scary proposition, but I feel the best way to dive into this world of educational technology is headfirst. I am ready to teach my students the skills they need to be a part of this tech-focused world. With the availability of online communities, such as Google+, Moodle, and Google Classroom I can connect with my students regularly and, more importantly, they can connect with each other. It also means the class resources are available to them all the time as opposed to a textbook that sits in the classroom.

The online landscape is constantly changing. I am sure there will be new things between now and the time I finish this program next August. The best I can hope for is as I grow more in my pedagogy, I am also able to include a little bit of new technology every day. As I continue through this process for the next year, I look forward to learning the best ways to integrate technology into my social studies classroom. There are already so many things that I want to try!

Final NLP Update.....Get ready for the finale

This will be the final update before the project is complete. As I think about finishing this project I look back on all of the experiences I have had so far.  I started this project wanting to have a completed t-shirt quilt, and although I conducted research about the different aspects of putting one together, I did not realize how time consuming it could all be. In my excitement, I would plan a certain deadline but would most often fail to meet it. For example, I did not realize how long it would take to cut the templates and the t-shirts. What seemed like a quick activity took me almost 12 hours total. That did not even include the planning phase or designing the final layout.

I am at the point where I need to begin sewing the quilt, but I have to be honest, I am burnt out. I am glad that I chose to do this for my project, because I do feel as though I have learned a lot, but I did not realize the time and effort that would be devoted to creating this quilt. I will definitely cherish it when it is complete.

This week I took a step back. It has been so nice out that it was hard to justify sitting inside and sewing all day. Instead, I chose to use some scrap pieces of fabric to practice my technique and I also created the bobbin. The thread on the bobbin creates the bottom part of the seam when sewing. If the incorrect tension is used, the main thread and bottom thread can be out of sync and will not be as neat or strong of a seam between the two pieces of fabric.

This week my mom, grandma, and myself plan to knock out most of the sewing. Because the front of the quilt is not yet complete, I have yet to pick out the backing fabric. I am not sure that I will be able to select that before the end of this class, but I will definitely be finishing this project before the school year begins.

All about me - Meredith Kinscherf

Making a one minute video about yourself, easy, right? NOPE. This has been one of the hardest assignments to date for me to complete. It was difficult trying to decide what image to project. Do I want to make this for an audience of students and parents, colleagues, and prospective employers? The answer was yes; I wanted to figure out a way to incorporate information that would play to all of those categories. A video I could post on my google classroom page, show the parents at orientation, and use in my digital portfolio as a potential source for future employment.

I am rather uncomfortable being on film by myself at this point (something I hope to get used to in the future) and applaud all of my classmates who created their videos that way. I thought long and hard about how I wanted to project myself and decided to dig up some photos that really showed who I am as a person. Please enjoy and I look forward to your comments.

NLP UPDATE!

Last weeks learning project work was very time consuming for me. Cutting the shirts perfectly and laying them out in the pattern I want took a lot of time and effort. This week I chose to step back and do some more research rather than a lot of hands on work. This week I needed to focus on the different stitching available on my sewing machine, as well as learning the basics such as tension and how to thread the needle.

After reading the instruction manual for the Baby-lock Anna sewing machine I found out that there are 15 different types of stitches for me to choose from. I will most likely use a simple stitch (“A”) because all of the stitching will be hidden within the body of the quilt. In addition, I plan to use black thread because that is what we have most of in the sewing box. My mom (it’s her sewing machine) is worried that some of the pieces I need to sew together might be too thick for the machine, so it will be a bit of trial and error.

One of the biggest challenges I think I will face is getting the tension right on the jersey material of the t-shirts. Because they are more stretchy than typical fabric. I am going to have to be careful because I don’t want have the pattern tilted as a result of certain t-shirts stretching more than others. I found this really helpful video, but she suggested using some special interfacing to minimize the stretch. I am choosing to go forward without using that interface.

By my next post I intend to have the front of the quilt almost completely put together. I am hoping for a rainy day or two so I can justify being inside and working on it!

Until next time…..

Online Content Construction in a Social Studies Classroom

             

In my first post for my EDU 7710 class I discussed the idea of Online Content Construction. I was excited to learn that one of our readings this week would delve deeper into the topic. After reviewing ONLINE CONTENT CONSTRUCTION:Students as Informed Readers and Writers of Multimodal Information by Ian O’Byrne I began to brainstorm what online content construction (OCC) would look like in my 6th grade social studies classroom. O’byrne defines this model in 3 phases:

Phase 1: This phase combines pieces of the other two parts of ORMS, Online reading comprehension and online collaborative inquiry. In this phase students would begin the research process on a topic or question for which they will construct online media. Not only will they research the content, but also the online tool that they wish to use, whether that be a blog or a wiki or something else. Then, once they have researched and reflected on their materials and have decided on the tool, they will create a mock-up on paper with all of their details.

In my class: In my 6th grade social studies classroom I might have the students researching the governments of Athens and/or Sparta. They could edit a class wiki that would allow them to post details regarding the two city states and the similarities and differences that they share. They could add text, images, and videos created by them. I would give them a wiki template on which to record their research as they worked. Eventually, I might let each group or individual select their own online tool and share out to the class.

Phase 2: In this phase, student actually use the computers to begin constructing their online tools. They take the information that they learned in their research (which they have already recorded on their graphic organizer/template) and begin to insert it onto the online tool.

In my class: Students would be moving their research from their graphic organizers into their wiki. I might even have them blog or create a video about their personal experience. This would allow them to have an individual contribution to the goal.

Phase 3: In this final phase, the teacher will provide students with real-world examples of online information. This could be something the teacher found or an exemplar that was previously created. In this phase students will also present their work to the class.

In my class: In my class I would have either found or created and example to which the students work could be compared. The first few times we completed this activity I would plan to present them a rubric at the beginning of the project that would specify grading of content knowledge only (based on their graphic organizers). As we moved forward I would want the students to know they were being assessed on their final online tool as well.  

Overall, I am very impressed with the ORMS model. I plan to spend time with my grade level social studies teacher to begin planning ways to incorporate it into our everyday classroom. Being at a STEM school and having the ability for 1 to 1 computer access, I believe this type of teaching is where I will being to put my focus. I think that after the students understand the purpose of this style of learning they will really get excited about their school work and take ownership of their learning!

Goobric- Great Google Extension for Teachers!

Creating this multimodal tutorial was a bit of a challenge. As excited as I was to share my knowledge of the Google Extension, Goobric, I needed to make sure that all of the information was presented clearly so that my viewers could use the tool effectively. The hardest part that I faced was creating the video explaining the uses for Goobric. I must have recorded the video 8-10 times trying to keep the information presented to under 3 1/2 minutes. Overall, I was happy with how the tutorial came out and I look forward to using this knowledge to create many more!

Click here for my tutorial on the Google Extension Goobric!