Here we are, nearly half way through the OMET program. This term I'll be ramping up and revising my Action Research Plan. I have written my Cycle One Report. There will be a new project for Tech Club, so I'll be entering a new Action Research Cycle as I consider how to keep participation in Tech Club high as we work with podcasts, a new skill that I am hoping to build in the students. Promoting Tech Club's projects to the parents of participating students, our school, and the larger community is the focus of my Second Cycle. Can I attract new students to the Club? Can I integrate another student on the Autism Spectrum into the Club?

The Juice Boxes I bought to use with the digital photography project are also being leveraged for the podcast project: they play .mp3s. They act as clunky, dropable iPods for the students to listen to the podcast episodes.

Keep an eye on the Action Research Blog as I tend to do much of my writing in there. Below you'll find larger assignments that I have tackled this term.

Picture a Day

Meg and I finished our picture a day project in which we took a photo every day during 2006.

639 Letter to a Mentor

For Professor Paul Spark's 639 course, I wrote a letter to somebody who I consider a mentor, Charlie Bassett, to tell him about my experiences in graduate school.

639 Journey Time Line

This time line is based on Exercise 1.1 in Lois J. Zachary's _The Mentor's Guide_.

639 Possible Mentee Candidates

I have generated a list of three possible candidates with whom I could see entering a mentor/mentee relationship this term.

FETC 2007 Notes

I took some notes at the conference sessions that I attended.

Thursday, January 25:

Receptive Teaching: a presentation by Gary Stager
Make Your Mark: a presentation by Peter H. Reynolds
Games, Simulations, and VR: a presentation by Gary Bitter
Augmented Realities: a presentation by Chris Dede and Matt Dunleavy
Hall Davidson: guest speaker on January 25, 2007

Friday, January 26:

Literacy Instruction and Podcasts: Partners in our Reading Classrooms!: a presentation by Carol Norton and Rodney Ellison
FETC Panel on Action Research: Hosted by Paul Sparks and facilitated by Margaret Riel and Bill Mosely
Finally, Staggeringly Good Things Mixing Google Earth and Media: a presentation by Hall Davidson

Action Research Paragraph Presentation

Allen, Cherilyn, Katrin, and I wrote this paragraph and created this presentation, which we gave while in Florida for FETC.

FETC Impressions

The cadres went to Florida! I reflect on my experiences in at the Florida Educational Technology Conference and the learning and fun that happened there.

Auto Mechanic

An assignment that Melissa Anderson gave us in Florida, we were asked to do the work of one of our "dream" careers and blog about it.

Mentoring Analysis (A2) at F2F

An assignment for Paul Sparks' 639 class, we met as a group and worked on this assignment. Now we're working to refine the proposal.

"Visions of Lakeridge" Presentation

I made a presentation of my findings from the digital photography project that Tech Club worked on this fall and winter. While turnout was not so good, I still put on a good presentation.

Additionally, I am making available a PDF of the Keynote presentation I used.

Autism 101

I attended a class for parents and caregivers of children recently diagnosed with Autism. You can take a look at the notes I took.

Mentoring Agreement

I am mentoring a student on the Autism Spectrum. This presents some interesting difficulties. I have collected writings about conversations with the student and his mother, which to me serves as a mentoring agreement.

Cycle One Report

I have posted my Action Research Cycle One Report. This represents the work I completed with Tech Club during the digital photography project.

Technology Tools in Action

For Melissa Anderson's 665 course, we were asked to describe our favorite technology tool to support teaching, learning, and/or assessing. I chose SubEthaEdit, a very special collaborative text editor.

Disco Maze

Henry, the student who I am mentoring this year, let me share some of his music and video work.

Following a Local Leader

For Paul Sparks' Mentoring class, he asked us to spend a day following a local leader. I chose to observe and talk with Ralph Allen, the principal at Lakeridge Elementary School, where I work.

Washington Adequacy Funding Study

At the Washington Education Association's Representative Assembly, Dr. David Conley presented the findings of this study that considers how to adequately fund education in Washington State.

Cycle Two Report

My Action Research Cycle Two Report on my work with Tech Club on a podcasting project.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.