NAEP NCES

Looking at the NCES statistics for 8th grade math scores was eye opening. It was very interesting to look at the scores of the different states and the comparison of male and female scores for each state. It was much easier this time around to do the t-test and report the data. Having to do this assignment was a good way for me to refresh my data analysis and APA skills. Click here to see my findings!

YouTube Account

I already have an existing YouTube account.  I don't use it often. I use it the most to find videos that will enhance lessons that I have taught.

Getting Videos From the Web to Your Computer

After completing the Real Player assignment at the beginning of the semester, I have utilized that source.  I currently teach 5th grade science.  There are some informative YouTube videos out there.  If I find one that I want to use to enhance the science lesson, this is what I do:

-Download Real Player (I already have this)
-Open Real Player (I can open mine from my desktop)
-Find the search box and search for a video
          -if you know the name of the video type it in the search box
          -if you don't know the name of the video, type the source which you wish to search for the video
          -search web (I typed in youtube.com)
-Once you find the video you want, in the upper right hand corner, click download.
          -the video will be downloaded to your Real Player
-Go to Library, click on your video (you should see a menu) convert your video to a .wmv
-You can now access your video without having to be on the internet! Your video can be found in your Real Player Library
-You may choose to burn your video or add it to a play list.

I access my downloaded videos from my Real Player Library.  I have never had a problem accessing them this way.  The students love when they get to watch a short video clip that goes along with what we are learning!

ISTE Standards:
1- Facilitate & Inspire Student Learning & Creativity
Standard 1 is met by allowing the students to learn in a different way.  You are enhancing lessons with videos.  Students could also create a video and/or find a video that they want to use for a project and follow the steps above.

2-Design & Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences & Assessments
By allowing the students to create their own video, they can learn digital-age skills.  Technology is only going to advance so if we introduce them to concepts like this early, they are more likely to understand more difficult concepts down the road.

3-Model Digital-Age Work & Learning
Getting a video from the web and to your computer is digital-age work! Allow the students to do this so they can learn. By you modeling how this is done, students should easily grasp the concept.

Action Research

Completing this Action Research project was quit a task for me.  I had to keep referring back to the discussion board and meeting with a classmate.  I was more worried about putting my paper in APA format. I am not real familiar with APA format so having to do this was the hardest thing for me.  The t-test were reasonably easy to do. I felt comfortable doing the t-test, making the tables, and creating the tables.

Data Analysis

Wow! This project was quit the task for me. At first I thought it wasn't going to be bad. After I started working on it I was baffled by how confused I was. After asking questions, watching screen casts and trying to figure things out on my own I think I am on the  right track. However, I do not think that my data on my tables is correct but it was the best I could do. Take a look at my Data Stats.

Excel

I took the excel sheet that was sent to us and assigned all of the "words" a number value. I was kind of lost at first about what to do with this assignment but after I sat down and looked at some of my classmates blog posts, I figured it out and it wasn't bad at all. I have used excel before and I once had to use it for a part time job. I would consider myself okay at using excel. I wish I was better but excel seems to frustrate me way worse than any other program in Microsoft office.

14.5 was the average for the blog posts. I was above average with 18 blog posts.

ISTE NETS Standard 2 was met with this project. Students can learn and develop digital age technology by having to enter data into a spreadsheet and then have to perform different functions to the data.

ToolPack

I have downloaded the tool pack for Excel. I had to find a link that worked for Microsoft Office 2007. I did and successfully downloaded tool pack. I can find tool pack under the data tab under analysis.