Action Plan

Well here we are and the end of month 5 and I will have to say that it has been very hectic. Let’s look at the preparation for Action Plan activity:

My Action Research focus is two-fold. First my students, who I will continue to teach as many functional Life Skills during the time they are with our high school program. The EMDT degree program is helping me to discover different teaching methods, tools, technologies to keep my students engaged. I will use some web 2.0 tools with my students and observe how my students learn how to use the tool, but also how they learn the material. The parents of my students have the toughest job, and it is my job to make sure they have the tools needed to help their child transition from high school into a productive adult life as an individual with a disability. This Action Research project will focus on the steps, and information that parents need to help their child make that transition.

My target audience for my are the students and parents of my Life Skills classroom. The students will continue to learn functional life skills on an every day basis. The only changes will be the introduction of Web 2.0 Tools to use in class during certain subject hours. The parents of my class will be given a Pre-Survey that will gather data covering Computer access, email usage understanding how to use the computer, in the first section. The last section is all about the Transition process from high student to an adult with a disability. Specific topics and family issues are part of the survey. I plan on giving the link out to the survey this week and handing out printed out versions to those who have no computer access.

The process of creating both a pre-survey and post-survey was interesting to learn how to do, and in the end it was easier to make then I thought. I have made some changes in it since completing the EDE course yesterday. The survey had a demographic section but it was not functional. I went back into to Google docs and made the information into check boxes, that worked great!

The Google site and Google tools suite was very interesting to learn how to use. The EDE class was very helpful but at the same time very taxing, and sometimes frustrating. Having to work on assignments, on the AR website, our group website and teaching full-time really presented a challenge. I love the group project work, the collaboration between people who have never met. It is the best way to work in this course environment. It is fun, it is entertaining, but it also is accountability, support, and stimulating all at the same time. Our TeacherTechie website really came out great. Our professor liked the lay out, the simplicity of it, and the information that was shared. We worked well as a team, and we did have some issues that hung us up from time to time. We did not let that stop us and we worked through those issues by supporting each other and not getting angry and causing drama.

The skills learned from the Google site will come in handy to enhance this AR website. The web 2.0 tools have already been used in my classroom. The experience so far has been one of fun, frustration, joy, accomplishment, tiring, exhaustion, and anxiety. 5 months has gone fast, and I hope the remaining 6 do as well.