The Blended Learning Environment Experience

by Aleta May, M.S., Ed. and M.A., Ed.

for EDET694 Practicum in Virtual Teaching and Learning with Dr. Lee Graham, Ph. D.

Introduction

There are endless configurations for the design of a blended learning

environment. Pedagogy drives the use of technologies for learning. In this reflection,

I outline the adventure I took as I used technologies predesigned for classroom use;

such as Lexia for reading and Dreambox for math; as well as the ultimate novel guide

tour developed with middle school students in mind—the GiverCraft game.

Additionally, I took my six middle school boys on a detour to experience the value of

the shared experience expressed in a Padlet timeline. The trip was not without issues,

and an example of this is expressed in my initial attempt at using the iPad as a tool for

reading. Although one purpose was served by using this tool, the benefits did not

provide enough buoyancy to warrant replacing the vessel of the old fashioned

wooden boat (the handheld book) with the streamlined look of the sailboat (the tablet

version of the book). Overall, this reflection will demonstrate that the students

benefitted from my careful attention to using technologies both as a motivator and

individual tutor for an overall improved set of learning pedagogies.

What is Minecraft.edu and How Does it Impact Student Learning in the

Classroom?

When I initially sought out a group of middle school students to support, I was

seeking to teach reading skills via content area, non-fiction reading. Since the

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students targeted for support were all in a health class, we started out reading health

topics. The teacher recommended to me students who had scored lowest on the

Measures of Academic Progress (MAPs) overall reading scores that fall, including

some of which were having difficulty working independently or in small groups in

class on health content, without an excessive amount of frequent teacher support. It

just happens that all six students were also boys. Initially, what I found to be most

successful with this group of students was reading material that was significantly

closer to their reading level and well supported with pictures, diagrams, and real life

examples; such as those found in non-fiction magazines. What I wanted for them was

to engage in the act of reading in a way that created in them a self-perception of being

a successful reader who enjoys learning and engaging in the reading act itself. When

the opportunity came to use Givercraft.edu in the classroom to engage in reading a

science fiction book, I decided that motivation to read usually begins with fiction.

Following is a quote from the research an educator who tied motivational factors of

reading and gaming for adolescent boys she worked with stated:

“In a recent study, Steinkuehler (2011) described results from a study in which adolescent boys she worked with read above grade level (i.e., 12th-grade text) when playing games. These same boys averaged two years below grade level on standardized reading tests. Her conclusion was that the boys were highly motivated to read text in the context of games but unmotivated bythe print texts that they were required to read in class and on standardized tests.” (Spires, 2015).

After watching my students’ behavior problems diminish, as evidenced by

observing them carefully follow along to read along as I paced them, I have to

conclude that the anticipation of the demonstrating comprehension through building

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in a game has to have contributed very significantly to the desire of five of the six

students being so engaged in the book itself, that they want to read it to completion;

even realizing that the Givercraft.edu activities during class time will diminish into an

after school only activity and fades out from there. In fact, my observations of this

change in reading engagement led a co-teacher and I to purchase a Givercraft.edu

server license to be set up into our local school server so we can explore gaming,

literacy and motivation even more deeply as we delve into other books and eventually

other subject areas during afterschool hours. What we hope is that we can get the

students into multiplayer mode during school hours by having our own server. Our

students engaged most with each other when they worked together to create. The

effects of this are well researched. For example, Gee states in a 2003 writing that,

“Just as literacy practices are contextualized in social situations and relationships,

game players establish shared language and understandings within a game; in

essence, they gain fluency in specialized languages” (Spires, 2015). This particular

group of boys has learned over the years to be independent workers in class, mostly

tied to individualized reading and worksheet activities. Working together at first

manifested itself with what looked like non-beneficial arguing, but over time, by

staying after school and being invited to add to the scenario my co-teacher and I had

spent time building, they learned that working together magnified their

commonalities. One important commonality between them is their shared culture

and language. As a facilitator, I strongly encouraged them to help each other, work as

a team, much like I was doing in the class I was learning this game in. In fact, the

example of how my college cohorts from other Alaska locations worked together with

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me opened their eyes that I could learn such awesome skills—gaming—and valuing

their interests in a way to ignite their motivation to demonstrate comprehension in a

way that was new to me.

The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993) is above my students’ reading level. In order

to interest them in the book to start with, we watched portions of the movie as we

read along in the book to build their background knowledge to be able to visualize

concepts in this book that are at times even difficult for adult readers to comprehend.

This group of students lives in a remote village where there is no access to roads;

rather people in their community drive four-wheelers on boardwalks and snow

machines on trails or rivers. Stores include corporation or small private

grocery/basic gear and tools stores. The clinic serves as a point of origin to being

referred to a doctor if need be, and the doctor is in Bethel or Anchorage. Amazingly,

the setting in the story we are reading in class does cross over into their lives as a

great amount of respect is relegated to village elders just as it is in the utopian

community in The Giver (Lowry).

According to the Alaska English/Language Arts standards (2012), the Reading

Standard for Literature for grades 6-8 states that it is important to compare and

contrast a written story with a video version to focus on what they “perceive when

they listen or watch (6th grade);” analyze the effects of using techniques like

highlighting, sound, etc. (7th grade); and how the movie stays close to or departs away

from the text and why (8th grade). We have discussed this verbally in class, especially

comparing and contrasting text and movie versions for content. In the future, using

an online environment to discuss these things in writing to each other would

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strengthen the students’ academic experiences by using “technology, including the

internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others”

(http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20Standards.pdf; retrieved 12-

10-15). As noted below in the Padlet section, a virtual environment, a wall, can be

used to write comparisons to be read by peers who share the link to that specific wall.

A strategy I used to help students engage in close reading just to get them

started in thinking meta-cognitively about what they were reading was to delete

words from a summary passage I found on the moviespoilers.com website, having

them read the original summary for words. This helped and they actively participated

in this activity. See Appendix C for a sample of this activity I created for them.

http://www.themoviespoiler.com/2014Spoilers/TheGiver.html

Hybrid Learning Models

As I think back on what I have accomplished with my students, I also think

ahead on what technologies I need to build into my class next. Hybrid learning

combines face-to-face (F2F) with computer-designed instruction, both synchronous

(real-time) and asynchronous (such as blogging and videos that allow students to

pause or rewind). The use of hybrid models for instruction is driven by “pedagogical

goals and objectives” (O’Byrne, 2015). In fact, the TPACK framework was developed

with a dynamic, transactional trio of domains that includes “technological knowledge,

pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge” (Brueck & Lenhart, 2015). I noticed

the importance of having students use electronic devices to enhance learning, not to

guide learning, when I tried to implement the use of iPads into our reading.

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iPads

First, the iPads had the pro of making books readily available to students. We

needed to start reading The Giver as soon as possible in order to prepare for Scenario

1 in The Givercraft Guide. Secondly, I liked that students could just press a word to

bring up a definition as they read. However, since this particular group of six students

struggled with reading, due to various features of the text and their personal reading

skills, I found the need to pace their reading. The audio book version was too fast for

them to read along with, so I set the pace by becoming their reader. Thirdly, The

iPads we used were not all the same model, so I could not align the book pages to be

the same; this led students to lose their place frequently as they got used to tracking.

And last, the iPads are touch sensitive, so pages turned inadvertently, causing

students to lose their place with the group. In the long run, I found paperback books

as a better pedagogical strategy for us at that time.

Gamification Through Givercraft

Looking beyond the class I am currently teaching, I read that students need a

domain of their own (Udell, 2012). Although Udell was speaking of college students, I

think having students start this process in middle school will prepare them for

building a high school portfolio they can use for graduation and for transitioning into

careers and college. While still in secondary school, teachers may share student work

with special education staff to create a seamless plan for supporting the student with

special needs. Students with personal domains for school may also use what they

have written in one content area to expand on with another teacher in another

content area.

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Something I touched on was to set up a wiki-space within the Givercraft

community for our students. Although I created an account for them, and one student

posted a comment to another student, I did not expand on this further at this point.

The value to our students is to communicate outside their own social circle and

practice writing skills at the same time. Alternatively, our students did text with

teachers within Givercraft who are from my Givercraft college class, myself, as well as

a co-teacher at our school site. They enjoyed the distance aspect of teachers talking

to them from other sites in Alaska, and even across our school. With very limited

internet service opportunities for these particular students, gaming experiences

where they talk to others outside their local community is non-existent or very

limited. I think the next step for this group is to experience using a shared internet

space to communicate with each other by sharing screenshots from the game and

reading each other’s comments. Padlet is a platform for this.

By entering into Givercraft, I have learned about how one piece of

gamification can be so entwined into the curriculum that students (and

teachers) wonder how learning could NOT be included as part of the

learning experience. One thing I considered is that for a long time

drawing pictures to express reading comprehension has been viewed as a

normal catalyst to written expression. Why not use the platform of an

interactive game to draw by building scenes related to the literature

being read? This is what our students and I accomplished along with the

experience of an experienced gamer (a co-teacher) at my school.

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According to Gee (2004) affinity spaces, or shared social spaces that

are either face-to-face or virtual, invites groups of students with shared

interests to discuss with each other (Kingsley & Grabner-Hagen, 2015).

For my students, I can see one value of this in particular, because they

need to experience the fact that social norms for speaking, writing in a

shared space, and building with each other do exist. Noteworthy in my

particular situation, it is not common for students in this village to play

games socially in their own homes within online environments, because

accessibility to internet is very expensive. Even if a family has access,

they are not likely to pay for unlimited access, which provides much more

usage time per month. In the classroom, I noticed their reluctance to post

onto a shared website, but I also noticed how excited they were to text

with teachers from other parts of Alaska. I think this is an outcome of

living in an environment where cell phone use was non-existent in the

village up until the school year 2011-2012.

I participated in a Givercraft survey that I helped to design. I

noticed that one teacher’s response was that their students were highly

engaged in both the game and the text and through a written reflection, they

described how participating in the game helped them to comprehend the text more

deeply. In my experience, we are still reading the book together. We came to a

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section that where the character Jonas walked around with his horse. This had not

been detailed in the movie we watched. Therefore, they are still making those

deeper connections between the game scenario, taming the horses and the text. I

think being able to visualize the text through their game experience is the key to

facilitating comprehension of something completely unfamiliar to them—in this

situation, befriending and riding a horse. Most of them wrote reflections on how

the game helped them comprehend the text more clearly, and really care about

what was going on in the book. The specific responses to the first question, “How

did your experience in Givercraft meet your preliminary expectations? (Please

include how the scenarios helped meet these expectations.), are in Appendix D.

Padlet

According to Rosenblatt, there is a relationship between the test

and the person reading the text. She gives an analogy to picture this idea

of the banks of a river and how each impacts the other (1994). As readers

read a novel, they construct meaning between themselves and the text

they linger on. This experience is more deeply extracted when he/she

expresses these thoughts in writing. The realization that each of us

experiences common text in a different way by bringing our own

schemata to the reading reflecting a different angle of the same diamond

is yet a deeper delve into the understanding through sharing. A padlet

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wall provides a virtual space for that shared experience and

interpretation.

A Padlet wall that I built online served as a stage for displaying

screenshots of the work students had captured across scenarios. It

became evidence of their comprehension over time; an artifact I

developed for students that included comments made by them. It shows

the buildings and environments they created. Here is a link to it:

http://padlet.com/aleta_57/xi8s66q7an7w The link is also posted in

Appendix A as a virtual wall timeline. The scenarios were designed to

inspire students to create settings and characters’ situations that

demonstrate a deeper comprehension of the novel’s story elements, as

well as, deeper meaning as per students individual perspectives; text-to-

self and author’s intention supported by text. Students took the

screenshots over time. At first I made comments about these to them.

During another class session, I typed students’ comments to document

their excitement they experienced as they changed environments from

Scenario 1 to Scenario 2. Within Scenario 2, animals appeared and

needed to be befriended, for the upcoming survival mode. Students’

comments were posted, and the computer was set to read the

text/comments from the Padlet wall aligning screen shots to their

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corresponding comments. The students viewed their collaborative

project together with pride—laughing at how even silly comments they

had made had been posted.

The transition for how this will be used next became evident when

Joseph declared that I had not matched his quote to the right picture or

that I had misquoted him. He edited his statement on Padlet, thereby

learning how this virtual wall works as he viewed the change going from

my computer to the desktop computer display at the other end of the

room. I described to the class that they would make their own comments

from a link I send to them—that they would upload their own pictures,

write comments, and collaborate to create their own project with me as

helper. More specifically, I let boys know that when they read a fantasy fiction

book next, how I will be sending them a link to upload dragon drawings they will

create that have been scanned and placed onto their computer desktops; to a

group Padlet and that they will be typing in their own comments—they like that!  

Lexia

Lexia blends into my instruction of my 4th grade student, Quinn (pseudonym)

because he came to me last this fall confusing many English phonemes with Yup’ik.

He could not even identify the sounds of the alphabet last spring when he was

referred to me for support! He is receiving intensive instruction from me each

morning. Most of our two hours together is set aside for reading together. He is now

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reading at about a 1.5 reading level overall. He also uses Lexia daily because it sets his

instructional learning to branch out into sight words, fluency, vocabulary,

comprehension, word patterns (phonological awareness), and phonics based on the

Orton-Gillingham reading model. As a side note; several years ago, I received training

in the Orton-Gillingham phonics direct instruction model in Portland, Oregon. Since

Lexia’s assessment is adaptive, Quinn was placed appropriately into the adaptive

instruction program. Four factors for blended learning success, according to a white

paper posted on www.techlearning.com (October, 2015)—no author stated—“there

are four factors for blended learning success.” Lexia Learning identified these four

factors: #1: The technology tool should adapt to each student’s abilities #2: The

instructional program should capture student data #3: The program should

recommend next steps for the teacher #4: The program should provide resources for

teacher-led instruction. Quinn’s student data is captured immediately; in fact I can

tell whether he is in need of specific instruction because the program will reteach the

concept multiple times and then provide a worksheet for individualized direct

instruction outside the program. It is really nice for him because he can repeat a

lesson and usually move on independently with scaffolding that jumps over to the

next concept gradually.

Additionally, Lexia provides morphological awareness training to my students

where they are provided with the opportunity to “manipulate the smallest units of

meaning in language, including base words and affixes” (Connor, Phillips, Kaschak, et.

al., 2014, p. 5). With two 8th grade students in my group preparing for comprehension

in the content areas for high school, the computer assisted delivery of instruction at

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their level, while simultaneously assisting four other students at earlier stages of

learning, allows me as a teacher to target learning specifically. I can discuss

morphology with individual students in the computer lab environment when

confusion prevails. In another section of this paper I discuss the use of Givercraft as a

means to using a gamification approach to story comprehension. To aid in learning

vocabulary, I used a syllabication and highlighting technique to bring an awareness of

morphology (specifically the meaning of prefixes) and pronunciation of unfamiliar

words by using word parts to read through these more difficult passages they may

come across in their reading of text on their own. An example lesson I developed for

Chapter 4 of The Giver by Lois Lowry is located in Appendix B.

Since our school uses AIMSWeb for benchmark assessment in reading at 4th

grade level, age appropriate lessons in the Lexia Reading Core5 are aimed to meet the

common measures via AIMSWeb (Mersand, 2015, February). In this review, the claim

is that “teachers need do nothing more than monitor progress and provide

individualized support” (Mersand, 2015, February, p. 15); I have to disagree.

Although this program does provide all the previously mentioned services; such as,

scaffolding, adaptive assessment and instruction; Quinn is validated by what he is

learning on the Core5 program when he recognizes that those are the same areas of

reading we cover in our individualized reading sessions. He needs are so intensive for

meeting that aimline goal of grade level reading, that he must be monitored carefully

while he is in the program continuously reinforced for adequate retention of concepts

learned in both.

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Quinn started using Lexia consistently at the end of September, 2015. At that-

time, he was reading at a low kindergarten level. As of December 2, 2015, Quinn had

progressed to low 1st grade. According to the aimline presented in Lexia chart for

Quinn, he is on track to be at the 4th grade reading level by June, 2016. On November

17, 2015, Quinn completed Lexia’s Level 5. Increased usage is part of the action plan

within the Lexia program from 50 minutes per week to 80 minutes per week. At the

same time, there are individualized lessons for him to complete with a teacher. Since

he has completed most of these, he is ready to increase Lexia usage. This makes since

because although his aimline toward his target goal is very steep, he is progressing

well with teacher support. In fact, he is at a point where he can work on fluency in

reading consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant words (cvcc).

According to the white paper pedagogy overview in the Lexia computer

program that is focused on automaticity and fluency, a systematic approach, Lexia

offers drill and practice, but with enhanced graphics and a game like format to build

word reading fluency, especially for sight word reading. For cvcc words, there are

convenient categorization activities, and maze (fill in the blank) exercises for

practicing words learned. This informs my instructional direction with Quinn by

thinking about ways Quinn will benefit connecting the human element to the

computer assisted instruction piece of his total learning environment. One example of

interactive instruction with Quinn is; selecting trade books (that are relevant to him)

and leveled books to give him practice reading the same or similar words, but within

the context of a story supported with pictures for context clues that help build reading

engagement with the text, and therefore increased fluency. Fluency includes prosody

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(rhythm) and reading phrases. “In Lexia Reading Core5, automaticity is

systematically developed through a series of warm-ups and activities focused on

speed of processing” (Lexia). “The faster you process text, the easier it is to access

meaning directly and integrate new information with prior knowledge” (Lexia). With

this in mind, another example of what I am using repeated reading; such as through a

leveled recorded and paced read along program. Further methods I plan to

incorporate into my blended learning program model for Quinn, is to use strategies

like reader’s theater and reading/rereading poetry, and paper/pencil timed activities

to locate and circle words and phrases within text. He needs experience reading

aesthetically. By engaging with text that he enjoys, he has and will continue to

develop an internal motivation to read. A teacher can bring in that human element, to

the reading experience.

Dream Box

Since I teach a small group of students for math, each one having scored low on

a standardized curriculum based assessment in the fall, as well as the grade level

ranges they represent are 6th through 8th, my students need individualized instruction.

They only come to me for 20 minutes per day, so there is not a minute to spare.

Although we do find common areas of math standards to be met, it is not long before

one student is ready to take off to the next level of learning. To answer some

questions put forth by Mersand, 2015, “Do you need a differentiated curriculum? Or

reinforcement for what is being taught in the classroom?” I will reply with a definitive

yes! This small response to intervention (RTI) group will continue to work on specific

paper/pencil work sample packets, but at their own pace for only part of the week.

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Meanwhile, they will use the data-driven environment that Dreambox math program

provides. According to Dr. Gregory Firn (2015), student performance exceeded past

academic, student engagement, and graduation accomplishments while decreasing

school suspensions when as a Superintendent he led his district in the direction of

digital remodeling, a shift in how learning was to take place. In my experience,

Dreambox resembles quest based learning in that it reaches toward mastery one level

at a time; the difference being that Dreambox does not have links to external websites

or collaborative, discussion based Web 2.0 connections. At EPIC Charter school, there

is an effort to build foundational skills that will assist them in becoming “independent

thinkers with the capacity to self-direct their learning” (Hatcher, 2015) through use of

game mechanics that guide students through progress paths that affirm their master

through badges for feedback, and points earned.

Students in my particular math RTI group do enjoy working in the level based

Dreambox program. Something important that I observed was that students seemed

to expect that they should be able to be completely independent with the concepts

covered by Dreambox. Even with my emphasis on asking for help when needed, they

often got stuck on the trial-and-error method. I found that what they needed most

was a short explanation of what certain words in the directions meant. It has been

important that I teach the vocabulary of that math word so that they do not become

overly dependent on me sitting next to them to help them on the following scaffolded

math concept. There is a balance then between making sure they learn the concept so

they can become independent and my explaining how to do the math problem in a

way that makes me their translator. An analogy is when English Language Learners

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(ELLs) see new vocabulary in their second language paired up with vocabulary in

their first language—i.e., why bother reading the word in the second language when

the word is right there in their primary language. I as their facilitator could easily

become their primary language source, where they would never need to learn the

academic language of math.

Below is a discussion and chart regarding the proficiency levels of six middle school

students I teach in a Response to Intervention (RTI) Support Class, as per adaptive

testing in the Dreambox program.

J. E. 2nd

T. E. 2nd

A. I. 2nd

M. C. 1st

M. C. 2nd

J. W. 1st

J. W. 2nd

P. J. 2nd

0%

Proficiency Across All DomainsProficiency Numbers & Opera-tionsProficiency Operations & Al-gebraic Thinking

Each of six middle school students is described in the chart shown above from the

perspective of their proficiency levels, from 0 to 100%, as to what their actual growth

was in three areas. I used the following template as a framework when gathering

information to create this graph: _________’s proficiency in Grade 1 or 2, since

the week of October 18, 2015, as of December 5th, 2015 across all domains is

____%; ____% in numbers and operations in base ten; and ____% in

operations and algebraic thinking.

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To inform my instruction for these students, I examined their average growth

across the curriculum between October 18, 2015 and December 5, 2015. Students

spent time outside the Dreambox Math computer program working on adding,

subtracting, and multiplying accuracy and fluency. When I noticed how much they

relied on using their fingers to add and subtract, I noticed that this impacted their

ability to complete two and three digit adding, subtracting, and multiplying, that

included carry-overs and borrowing, with accuracy and fluency. Also, when I covered

setting up horizontal decimals into vertical columns for adding or subtracting, they

did not understand how to align these numbers according to place value at all.

Therefore, I thought about how the Dreambox Math program would set them up

individually to work on basic early elementary concepts to set them up for success in

higher levels of math. These six middle school students are also spread across the

grade levels (two in each of 6th, 7th, and 8th grades). Though the students’ levels are

similar regarding the adaptive test they took in the Dreambox program are similar,

they demonstrate a wide range of maturity levels in being diligent with their math

work.

To balance their needs for filling in gaps missed or misunderstood foundational

math skills with their need to continue tackling math at upper elementary grade

levels, I have used this program less consistently than it recommends. With only 20

minutes per day for us to work, I use part of the week to teach more advanced math

skills that I find for them, and they use math charts and manipulative base ten rods as

tools for looking up answers related to solving more difficult problems. During

middle childhood, working memory (WM) capacity has increased from early

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childhood and will continue to do so into adolescence, (Blankenship, O’Neill, Ross, &

Bell, 2015). The goal is to transition them toward visualizing calculations for mental

math thinking; such as recognizing and noting patterns in math; and developing

fluency or automaticity. In other words, this brings calculations away from

overreliance on fingers and stick figures to seeing math in the mind’s eye and making

room in the working memory to learn new concepts by having basic math facts

already set into long term memory. As middle school students, they begin to make

connections between those basic foundational skills in the Dreambox program to

their more challenging math. WM is correlated with capacity to recapture calculation

facts from long term memory (LTM). WM performance “plays a crucial role in the

ability to calculate and solve math-based word problems, (Blankenship, et. al., p. 164,

2015). When I consider whether these students have had the opportunity to learn

math with automaticity, I consider their experience with curriculum at our school site.

If they had already had this opportunity for repetition, particularly the two 8th grade

students who are also on an individual education plan (IEP), I would have to strongly

consider whether they have organic factors influencing their ability to retain

information. However, during their elementary years, and upper elementary years

for the 8th grade students), they were dropped into a spiral math curriculum without

having had the experience of that curriculum in years crucial to building their skills.

After observing their ability to retain math facts and concepts throughout this first

semester, I must support my hypothesis with the current literature. In this case, a

meta-analysis of studies has shown that “recollection increased with age, suggesting

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that recollection continues to develop into adolescence” (Blankenship, et. al., p. 165,

2015).

After analyzing further information in Dreambox, I noticed that the overall growth

in skills correlates directly with the number of lessons completed (or time spent in the

program):

J. E. is a 6th Grade studentHe has completed 19 lessons and had 20% growth since October 18, 2015.

T. E. is a 6th Grade student He has completed 13 lessons and had 15% growth since October 18, 2015.

A.I. is a 7th Grade studentHe has completed 25 lessons and had 22% growth since October 18, 2015.

M. C. is a 7th Grade studentHe has completed 69 lessons and had a 50% growth rate since the week of October 18, 2015.

J. W. is an 8th Grade studentHe has completed 63 lessons and had 56% growth since the week of October 18, 2015.

P. J. is an 8th Grade studentHe has completed 37 lessons and has had 28% growth since the week of October 18, 2015.

Between now and break (2 weeks), it seems like an appropriate time to focus on

filling in those gaps prior to their return in early to mid-January, as well as, to practice

for automaticity in simple math calculations that will leave cognitive space for new

learning. A new quarter will be starting soon for them; using this computer program

allows the students to individually target specific skills to close some learning gaps

from the past. The goal is to revisit lower level standards from the common core

from the perspective of an older student.

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Summary

There is enough evidence, through anecdotal, student work artifact (Padlet

timeline and screenshots), and graphs (monitoring progress in predesigned programs

of Lexia and Dreambox) to provide evidence that motivation leads to engagement, and

engagement leads to deeper learning. Technologies have proliferated. There is no

end to the tools and applications that may be used to strengthen the learning

environment. But it is vitally incumbent upon me as an educator to continually

analyze both the positive and negative impacts of the use of any educational

technology I bring to the education environment. In this semester, I have definitely

reached beyond my prior comfort area to reach a level where I am now not only brave

enough to incorporate new technologies into my students’ learning environment, but

now I cannot wait to explore areas I wanted to (and intend to still) cover. Next,

adventure; creating my own Google classroom environment.

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References

AIMSWeb Curriclum Based Assessment

https://aimsweb2.pearson.com/flex/AIMSwebFrontOffice.html

Alaska English/Language Arts and Mathematics Standards June 2012. Published by

The Department of Education & Early Development, Juneau, Alaska. (46-47)

Blankenship, T.L., O’Neill, M. , Ross, A., & Bell, M.A. (2015). Working memory and

recollection contribute to academic achievement. Learning and Individual

Differences, 43, 164-169.

Brueck, J.S. & Lenhart, L.A. (2015). E-Books and tpack: What teachers need to

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Appendix of Artifacts

Appendix A

Student sample timeline on a virtual wall at Padlet: http://padlet.com/aleta_57/xi8s66q7an7w

Appendix B

Chapter 4 The Giver Vocabulary

Follow these steps before reading Chapter 4 of The Giver.

1. Go to: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/

2. Type in the word from your Chapter 4 word list (vocabulary list).3. On one side of your index card, write the word into syllables as shown at this website.4. The teacher will directly help with reading these words in word parts together as a group.5. Use the teacher handout to write different forms of the word on the same side of the card, and circle the word part on your card that is highlighted on the handout.

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6. Use the teacher handout to write the definition on the other side of your index card.7. In pairs, partner A will read the word while partner B reads the definition. Next partner B will read the word while partner A reads the definition.

lei·sure·ly~~At a slow or relaxing pace.

re·ha·bil·i·tatere-ha-bil-i-ta-tionre·ha·bil·i·tat·ed, re·ha·bil·i·tat·ing

~~Recovery.

ac·com·plish·ments~~Achievements. Award someone for something.

dis·tri·bu·tion dis-tri-bute~~To hand out to people. To make sure they receive something.

dis·grace~~Shame.

mis·chie·vous mis=not~~Naughty. Impish. Not achieve because of being

dis·o·be·di·ent dis=notim·prop·er im=not

man·u·fac·ture~~To make in large amounts, usually in a factory.

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in·var·i·a·bly in=not in=not not variableUnchanging. un=not not changing does not change

grav·i·tateTo move toward.

Appendix C -- Cloze Close Reading Comprehension Activity

Part of a cloze activity provided to students for The Giver by Lois Lowry was derived from a summary/review at:http://www.themoviespoiler.com/2014Spoilers/TheGiver.html

Review Cloze Activity (see below for passage derived from this website):

Following a great war called _____ ________, a

_______________ in North A____________ has lived in

tran-quil-ity (peace) without the existence of emotions or color, as

these would produce ______________ (people not getting along

with each other). The ____________ (people in the community)

have also had their _______________ wiped (erased).

We follow young Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) as he rides his

bike with his two best friends _________ (Cameron Monaghan)

and Fiona (Odeya Rush). It is the day before their C____________

in which they will be ____________________ (told about / given)

their __________________ (new job training for what their job

will be as young adults) in the community, something that makes

Jonas rather __________________ (uneasy).

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The three friends go to the N_____________ C__________

where the newborns are. Jonas's Father (Alexander Skarsgard) is

working there. The kids find a __________ __________, whom

Father says is ______________ Gabriel. They are not supposed to

know the child's name but Father says he ________________ the

baby's name to him to _____________ him. F___________,

having a _____________ talent with children, is able to

___________ the baby.

Jonas has dinner at home with his father, mother (Katie

Holmes) and sister Lilly (Emma Tremblay). They __________

their recent __________ for the day, though Jonas has to be

_______________ with his ________________, as certain

_________________ like ___________ or ________ are

otherwise ________________ (not allowed).

He asks his parents if they were ____________ before they

were _______________ to their current ________________, for

fear that there was nothing left for them. Father _________ Jonas

that the E_____________ have been _______________ him

_________________ since he was a ____________, so they know

where to put him.

Review:

Following a great war called The Ruin, a community in North America has lived in tranquility without the existence of emotions or color, as these would produce conflicts. The citizens have also had their memories wiped.

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We follow young Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) as he rides his bike with his two best friends Asher (Cameron Monaghan) and Fiona (Odeya Rush). It is the day before their Ceremony in which they will be assigned their positions in the community, something that makes Jonas rather nervous.

The three friends go to the Nurturing Center where the newborns are. Jonas's Father (Alexander Skarsgard) is working there. The kids find a crying baby, whom Father says is named Gabriel. They are not supposed to know the child's name but Father says he whispers the baby's name to him to soothe him. Fiona, having a natural talent with children, is able to calm the baby.

Jonas has dinner at home with his father, mother (Katie Holmes) and sister Lilly (Emma Tremblay). They discuss their recent feelings for the day, though Jonas has to be precise with his language, as certain feelings like fear or love are otherwise forbidden.

He asks his parents if they were nervous before they were assigned to their current positions, for fear that there was nothing left for them. Father assures Jonas that the Elders have been watching him closely since he was a baby, so they know where to put him.

The next day is the C__________________, started off with an

introduction from the C___________ E______________ (Meryl Streep). She

_____________________ (shows up) as a h___________________ (projected

image / picture in the air) since she cannot be there in __________________,

though she is able to _______________ (review and talk about the past) the

_______________ (things that happened) that led to the community, as well as

assign the kids to their positions. During the C_____________________, Jonas

notices an old man (Jeff Bridges) looking over at him. Asher is given the job of a ________________ ________________. Jonas

is ___________________ over while the other kids are _________________,

and Fiona is assigned to be in the N________________ C____________. The

C____________ E_____________ then gets to Jonas, stating that he has all four

__________________ (intelligence, integrity, courage, and an ability to look

beyond) that convinced the Elders to _______________ (choose) Jonas as the

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new R_____________ of M________________. Everybody starts chanting

Jonas's name.

The next day is the Ceremony, started off with an introduction from the Chief Elder (Meryl Streep). She appears as a hologram since she cannot be there in person, though she is able to restate the events that led to the community, as well as assign the kids to their positions. During the Ceremony, Jonas notices an old man (Jeff Bridges) looking over at him. Asher is given the job of a drone pilot. Jonas is skipped over while the other kids are announced, and Fiona is assigned to be in the Nurturing Center. The Chief Elder then gets to Jonas, stating that he has all four attributes (intelligence, integrity, courage, and an ability to look beyond) that convinced the Elders to select Jonas as the new Receiver of Memories. Everybody starts chanting Jonas's name.

Appendix D

Q1How did your experience in Givercraft meet your preliminary expectations?  (Please include how the scenarios helped meet these expectations?)

Answered: 5 Skipped: 0At first I thought it would be difficult to keep my students focused on the

Givercraft scenarios; thinking they might stray away from the purpose of us using the game during class time. And in fact they did enter the game being "destructive." I'm sure they are just used to playing more aggressive games when they play in their free time. But after one day of crashing blocks and using the TNT feature, they used blocks to build scenarios for meaning making. They started reading the book and even watched the movie before starting in the game. My particular students are far below grade level reading, but with building their background knowledge through a movie, completing vocabulary and cloze reading activities, I was able to get them to read close enough to engage with the text. From there, they only needed a few examples from a prior class to get them started on building scenes related to their reading. I got to thinking more about this as the weeks progressed; they were experienced at drawing to express comprehension, so why not build a scene in 3D mode to visualize what they were reading and then share that with their peers.

12/1/2015 7:13 PMI had an awesome experience playing GiverCraft. The support throughout

the experience was more than I counted on. Questions, directions, and timelines

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were layed out in an easy to follow teacher study guide. Any other questions that I or my students had were answered, either by the 'GiverCraft Elders' that were in the game at the same time or by query via email support. What a wonderful experience for the students!

12/1/2015 6:16 PMThis year completely surpassed my expectations - my students were highly

engaged not just in the game itself, but in the text as well. Most of them wrote reflections on how the game helped them comprehend the text more clearly, and really care about what was going on in the book.

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