Bruce+Jacobs'+Project

=Bruce Jacobs' Project Idea - Progress and Information= List your ideas here. Then as you narrow down your final idea(s) you will begin filling out the form below the comment section.


 * || Ideas for your Math/Technology Open ended Project .................................................................................................................................................................. ||
 * 1 || I will create a website using Weebly to act as a central hub for my students to get information about my class, access and complete assignments, get additional support when needed and communicate with me. ||
 * 2 || I will create a class blog within Engrade for students to respond to prompts and discuss various topics. ||
 * 3 || I will use TI-83 graphing calculators to facilitate my students learning in the Algebra strand. Topics explored will include linear and non-linear functions, slope and intercepts, scatterplots, correlation and line of best fit, and using a graph to solve linear and non-linear equations. ||


 * **Name**

Place your name next to your comment here || **Comments ** ||
 * Sue Becker || I will make a comment on each and everyone of your ideas. I am hopeful that many of you will also comment on each others work as well. Collaboration is a 21st Century Skill and can be very helpful to everyone! ||
 * Bruce Jacobs || The first two ideas I started working on at the beginning of the school year. They were both new to me for this school year. They are both going well and I have learned quite a bit from both projects. There will be changes I will make to both for next year. The third idea is a continuation of an instructional unit that I have been refining for a few years now. Any suggestions or comments would be most appreciated! ||
 * Sue Becker || This all sounds great Bruce. You do not have to do all 3 of them...but it sounds like you already are. Nice work!!! Thanks for putting in your information below. Just revise it as you work. Again... great job. ||

Place your Final Open Ended Project Proposal Here --

 * __ Project Proposals __** – I have set up a page for everyone. Check out others work as well. We can all learn from what others are doing also.


 * Name: Bruce Jacobs **


 * School: Sherwood Middle School **


 * Grade Level and Class: Eighth Grade/Pre-Algebra & Algebra **


 * Estimated time for development and implementation (if possible): The 2011 - 2012 School Year **


 * Project Goal(s) and Objectives: **


 * 1) To increase my students' access to course information. **
 * 2) To increase communication between my students and myself. **
 * 3) To increase my students' communication with each other about the content of the course. **
 * 4) To provide students with an opportunity to use technology in a meaningful academic way. **
 * 5) To provide my students academic support and access to resources away from school. **


 * Content Objectives: **


 * To support all content objectives for the length of the entire course. **


 * Description of the Project: **

==I will create a website using Weebly to act as a central hub for my students to get information about my class, access and complete assignments, get additional support when needed and communicate with me.==


 * Considerations **
 * Student Learning Outcomes: The website will be used to support all student learning outcomes with links to resources - all forms of media - and rigorous examples of what is expected of students.


 * Mathematical Content: The website will be used to support all content taught throughout the school year.


 * Pedagogical Considerations: Where possible, linked resources will address a variety of learning styles.


 * Technology Chosen and Why: **

===Weebly. It is a simple, free way to create a website. Just drag and drop to create pages. Also available is Weebly for education, if you're interested in having students create websites of their own **. **===


 * Instructional and/or Technical Support You will Request from District Staff: **

===None! If they realize I am using a resource that competes with the resources provided by the district, it is highly likely that my website will be blocked by the web filter. ===


 * Implementation Timeline (if appropriate): **2011 - 2012 School Year


 * Project Submission Information should be updated as needed. **

Project Report Update by May 1st. Please try to update by answering the following questions regarding your Open Ended Project.
It is our hope that you will be updating your wiki progress at least 2 times during the next few months.

After you have begun to implement your project, please submit revisions here. Use this set of short questions to help guide you in your reporting about your progress. These include:

// How does TPACK play a role in your project or activity? //
 * TPACK consideration

It didn't. I was inspired to create a website for my classroom by a colleague and our discussions about how technology could be implemented in a meaningful way that students would respond to. Now that I am familiar with TPACK, I see that much of the process that I have gone through with learning the technology, then learning to use the technology in a way to support education, to teaching my students to use the technology to support their learning, did indeed fit into the TPACK model.

// What do you need to learn? Or need to know to help to complete the project? //
 * 21st Century skill development

I had to learn how to use Weebly to create a website. Once I figured out how Weebly worked, I had to design the website to be something that would be easy to navigate and yet filled with all the information that I wanted my students to have at their disposal. Once I had my website designed and completed, I had to teach my students how to use it to access information and resources and to communicate with me. As this project has gone on, I've continued to learn about using Weebly and I've learned a lot about how my students have used the website. The feedback they have provided will spur the changes I will make for next year.

// Do you feel you have addressed these topics? //
 * Differentiation, digital natives or other course concepts

Absolutely. I think integrating an online component to my course addresses all of our course concepts.

// How does your project align with your Math objectives? //
 * Alignment with Math objectives

===Because my math objectives are integrated into my website, it aligns very well. I have had some thoughts on changes to this aspect of my website for next year. === // How can you demonstrate that your learning plan is working? If possible, include artifacts showing results of the project. It would be wonderful if you could take photos and/or video, possible links or other resources to share with other members of this eTech project //
 * Transformative evidence of how this may or may not be working

===Weebly provides me with usage statistics for my website, so I know how many unique visitors and page views have occurred on any given day. That helps me gauge how many of my students are using the site. Most days it ranges between 5 and 15 percent of my students. I also have students and parents communicate with me through the website. And students give me feedback from time to time during the school day about my website. === // Why did you choose a particular technology tool? What worked and what did not work? //
 * Reasoning for your choice of technology

As I mentioned previously, I chose Weebly because of a colleague. And even though I would like to see my website get more use from my students, I feel like if I continue working with integrating it into my course, the usage will increase and it will feel like a more worthwhile use of my time.