Read, Write, Plan: Helping Us Stay Connected

1. Read, Write, Plan: Helping Us Stay Connected Candidate: Katie Mauldin M. Ed. Program: Instructional Technology

2. Candidate Introduction Katie Mauldin is a Master’s Candidate in the Instructional Technology program at Kennesaw State University Kindergarten teacher at East Side Elementary School Five years teaching experience

3. Problem Teachers at East Side attend many Reading and Writing Workshop trainings throughout the year after which they must redeliver any information or ideas gained. Each of the primary grade levels at East Side has nine teachers. Due to the large grade level sizes, often collaboration is a problem.

4. Need The teachers need a way to collaborate and share ideas that does not require all nine of the teachers on the grade level to be present. The teachers also wanted a way to share lessons and photos that would allow them access from anywhere, not just at school.

5. Capstone Project Plan

6. Evaluation Plan Formative Survey – using SurveyMonkey.com Summative meeting to discuss the project’s successes and failures Summative Survey – using SurveyMonkey.com

7. Capstone Experience Began by creating a discussion forum using Weebly.com and Nabble.com, however, it was blocked by Cobb County’s firewall. Had to redesign the capstone project plan and timeline. Revamped the idea and decided to use Edmodo as the means of creating an online collaboration environment for the primary teachers. Held monthly professional development sessions with each primary grade level individually.

8. Results Teachers were excited to learn about Edmodo and all it had to offer. Kindergarten and first grade teachers used Edmodo the most for posting lesson ideas and photos. The most common reason for not posting or viewing Edmodo was forgetfulness on the teachers’ part. Overall, the teachers enjoyed the project and hope to use it again in the coming school year.

9. Reflection What may seem like a setback is actually an opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge and skills that have been acquired that can remedy the situation. Never give up, because if you do others will begin to as well. The Capstone Experience allowed the candidate the opportunity to fully understand and demonstrate how to be an effective technology leader and coach within East Side Elementary. The experience gave the candidate hope and confidence going forward into the next school year.

10. References Blandford, S. (2000). Managing professional development in schools [e-book]. New York: Routledge. Doherty, I. (2011). Evaluating the impact of professional development on teaching practice: Research findings and future research directions. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED527691 Jo Coaplen, C., Hollis, E., & Bailey, R. (2013). Going beyond the content: building community through collaboration in online teaching. Researcher: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 26(3), 1-19. Kabilan, M., Adlina, W., & Embi, M. (2011). Online collaboration of English language teachers for meaningful professional development experiences. English Teaching: Practice And Critique, 10(4), 94-115. Lauron, A. (2008). Fostering collaboration to enhance online instruction. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 9(2), 109-121 Learning Forward. (2011). Standards for professional learning. Oxford, OH: Author. Putman, S., Ford, K, & Tancock, S. (2012). Redefining online discussions: using participant stances to promote collaboration and cognitive engagement. International Journal Of Teaching And Learning In Higher Education, 24(2), 151-167. Rigelman, N., & Ruben, B. (2012). Creating foundations for collaboration in schools: utilizing professional learning communities to support teacher candidate learning and visions of teaching. Teaching And Teacher Educations: An International Journal Of Research And Studies, 28(7), 979-989.