Michelle Ray EDUC 526 Growth Assessment Page 1

Azusa, CA Spring 2014 May 2014

Growth Assessment:
My journey Towards Teacher Success
Michelle Ray
EDUC 526 Capstone Experience in Digital Teaching and Learning
Jennifer Courduff
Azusa Pacific University, Azusa
Live Binder link: http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1025930&backurl=/shelf/my
May 2014

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Azusa, CA Spring 2014 May 2014
Section One
Introduction
I chose to enroll in the Digital Teaching Masters program for several reasons. The most
substantial reason being that I know technology is a huge part of our society and I wanted to
learn how I could apply that to teaching students. I also am very interested in technologies and
heavily rely on them myself on a daily basis. A third reason for choosing this degree is to boost
my resume. I feel that technology is the direction education is moving and I want to not only be
apart of the movement, but also make myself marketable. When I first began the program, I had
just finished the mild to moderate special education credential and worked two jobs. Both jobs
involve working with children with special needs. One is providing in-home Floortime Therapy
and the other is working as a clinician at Lindamood-Bell, where we provide intensive reading
instruction. Through this program, the goal I have set for myself is to learn how to be the most
effective teacher I can be. I want to be able to reach all of my students and help them to reach
their full potential both as a student and as a member of society.
Personal Growth
Through these courses, I have learned my personal limits on commitments. Unfortunately I have
learned it the hard way and have burned myself out. Through this struggle has been some great
personal growing. I have learned that time with friends and family is something I will not
compromise on and will always be my top priority. I have also learned that while I need time to
be intrapersonal, my natural spirit is truly interpersonal. I have also learned to not break myself
in order to meet a deadline and that communication is key when this situation arises. Deadlines
come and go and they are not worth sacrificing health and precious family time for. This season
of my life I have really found how to recharge myself through fellowship and community. I have
leaned heavily on my friends and family for support and time to escape the business. The
completion of this degree signifies that I will be ending my career as a student and beginning
one as a professional. It is both an exciting and scary time as I have been a student first and

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Azusa, CA Spring 2014 May 2014
foremost up until this point. I have yet to experience life as anything else and am excited to see
where life leads me next.
Professional Growth
This program has made me grow tremendously as an educator. I have learned so many
applicable strategies for using technology as well as meeting my students needs. I feel that I
now have a better understanding of how to reach each of my students in a way that makes
education fun and accessible for them. I have learned strategies both from my professors and
my fellow classmates who have all had classroom experience. My experience in this program
has definitely been one that has stretched me. I have loved that all of the professors allow for
open discussions in their classrooms and have also found that even though they are the
professor and expert on the topic, they welcome new information and have all admitted they too
are still learning. I think this part of the program has been equally beneficial as a growing
experience. Technology is always growing and changing and even the experts in the field are
learning new things every day. This had inspired me to be a continuous learner and I strive to
stay open to learning new things. While being in the masters program, I still am working my two
jobs, I have been trained in many more programs at Lindamood-Bell and am quickly working my
way to having more and more responsibility. I think the strategy I have most applied to my life
both professionally and socially, is the knowledge of Multiple Intelligences from EDUC 522 with
Jennifer Courduff. Since I am not in a classroom setting where I can implement using
technology and those types of strategies, this one has been easy to apply. I have been seeking
out the talents of others and using them to help me complete projects and answer my questions.
I now am aware of who should be my first contact when I am trying to complete certain tasks. I
also feel that by showing my strengths, my coworkers have noticed what my talents are and
have been assigning me to complete tasks that they either dislike or feel I can complete well.
For my action research project, I have focussed on a student I work with at Lindamood-Bell who
displays many forms of task-refusal. He has been difficult to work with and all of the clinicians

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Azusa, CA Spring 2014 May 2014
have become frustrated and are exhausted from trying to get him to work. I am researching off-
task behaviors and have been implementing some strategies to help motivate him.
Technical Growth
At the beginning of this program I had knowledge of some apps and Mac products as I have an
iPhone and MacBook, however I had barely ever touched an iPad. All of the apps that I had
were used for social media and mindless entertainment (i.e. Solitaire, Unblock Me, and Yelp,
etc.). Before this program I had no idea how to incorporate technology into the classroom other
than maybe using a DocCam or showing a video in class. Through my time with Bill Selak in
EDUC 514, I learned how to film and edit quality movies on my Mac devices. I also learned how
I can use them as instructional tools both to film videos for my students and of my students. This
class also introduced to many apps that can aid in the filming process and add to the videos
such as iStopMotion, Animoto, Educreations, and VideoScribe. In EDUC 512, I discovered
many educational apps from my classmates that I will be able to incorporate into my class such
as Kidspiration Maps, Spelling City, and WWP Vocab. There are a few apps that I use regularly
as a result of this program. One of which is Evernote. I forget which class I was first introduced
to Evernote in, but I think a classmate introduced me to it and I love it! I use it all the time. I also
use Google Hangout which I first discovered in Jason Saliskars EDUC 515 class. Jason also
introduced me to Google Chrome as an alternative web browser. Another app I use frequently is
Paper by 53 which Bill Selak introduced me to. This app is one that I have passed on to many
friends who love to use it for doodling. I have also been having fun using iMovie which Bill
helped me become knowledgable with. There are a few apps I downloaded in Jennifer
Courduffs EDUC 522 class that I do not currently use, but am excited to use in the future. They
are i.Am Search, AR Flashcards and Aurasma.
Life Long Learning Plan
I feel that this program has prepared me to utilize technology in ways that I would have never
thought of before. I also feel that it has created a way of thinking about technology that I did not

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Azusa, CA Spring 2014 May 2014
possess before. I now look at apps and have the mindset to think about how I could possibly
use it in a classroom. I feel that Jennifers EDUC 522 class really solidified that kind of thinking
for me. The program has also given me a thirst to seek out more knowledge and has provided
me with many resources that I can use to help further my education. I have taken to Twitter, and
thanks to Jason Saliskar in EDUC 515, I am connected with some tech ed teachers and also
know how to link into some Twitter conversations. I feel that I have really become conscious of
my need for a supportive community who have similar interests and goals. Those people are the
ones who propel me to keep moving forward and inspire me to try new things. While I have
been given a good base of knowledge in this program I know that I am not done learning. I need
to keep seeking out new information as it becomes available as well as trying some things out
on my own and see if they are effective classroom tools. I would really love to continue to learn
how to teach technology citizenship as well as how to incorporate non-Apple products into the
classroom, as my knowledge really lies with Apple. Right now I am really unsure of what my
future holds. I am trying to figure out where my true passion and calling lies. I know that God
has called me to work with special needs students and I intend on following that passion in
some capacity. As I stated before, I am really driven towards relationships and family and I hope
that those things will eventually be able to become where most of my time is spent.





Section Two
History of Coursework and Course Evaluation

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Name:

Term:
Michelle Ray

Spring 2014
LiveBinder
URL:
http://www.livebinders.com/play/pl
ay?id=1025930&backurl=/shelf/my
Course
Course Title &
Instructor Name
Term
Comple
ted
Key Skills
Acquired
Comments/Suggestions
EDUC
511

Foundations in Digital
Teaching and
Learning

INSTRUCTOR: Joann
Gilbreath
Fall
2013
Familiarity with
Wordle
Introduction to
LiveBinders
Personal
reflection on
technology in
education
Assignments were clear and
beneficial
instructor was helpful and
responded in a timely manner
assignments might be able to be
covered in another class
EDUC
512

Instructional
Applications
Productivity Software

INSTRUCTOR:
Kristi Hernandez
Fall
2013
Familiarity with
WebQuest
Use of Twitter
Familiarity with
several iPad apps
such as Keynote,
Pages, and
Numbers
Much of this work seemed to be
busy work
A significant amount of class time
was dedicated to reviewing every
detail of the homework that was
due that day
Instructor was very specific on how
she wanted the assignments
completed
Learned valuable knowledge on
using iPad apps
Found new apps suggested by
classmates
EDUC
514

Digital Video in the
Classroom

INSTRUCTOR:
Bill Selak
Fall
2013
Familiarity with
iMovie
Knowledge of
filming and
editing a video
Instructor was very knowledgable
and personable
learned applicable skills and easy
ways to incorporate them into the
classroom
EDUC
515

Evolving Educational
Technologies

INSTRUCTOR:
Jason Seliskar
Fall
2013
exploration of
current
technologies and
how they can be
used in
classrooms
evolution of
classroom
technologies
using current
technologies to
I valued being able to design a
functioning classroom website
professor is knowledgable and
friendly
the information learned was backed
with strategies on how it could be
used in the classroom, yay!

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Azusa, CA Spring 2014 May 2014
enhance learning
EDUC
522

Learning in the 21st
Century

INSTRUCTOR:
Jennifer Courduff
Spring
2014
designing unit
plans that
encompass both
technologies and
personal
strengths
knowledge of the
unique abilities
of individuals and
how to celebrate
those
all assignments were modified to be
applicable to our classroom
situation
knowledge of MIs was both
beneficial and practical
loved being able to apply the
knowledge I was gaining to
everyday life right away
EDUC
526

Capstone Experience/
Digital Teaching and
Learning

INSTRUCTOR:
Jennifer Courduff
Spring
2014
design a
research-based
interactive
notebook
culminating class
that brings all of
knowledge from
the program
together
creating a
culminating
curricular unit
This class is a source of reflection on
what I have learned and I am
headed next
Putting together a practical
curricular unit will be beneficial in
both gaining a job and teaching
students



Evaluation of the Impact of the Digital Teaching and Learning Program
One of the biggest tools I will take away from this program are the activities I put together in
EDUC 522 and 526 with Jennifer Courduff. These activities combine all of the tools and apps I
have discovered in all of courses with the needs of each student as outlined by the Multiple
Intelligences theory. I am very excited to implement these activities because I have designed

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them in such a way that is easily applied to the classroom and I think they will really aid my
future students in grasping the content. Most of these activities are ones that can be done on a
weekly basis to get the students working towards their IEP goals. I am also excited to use them
because they will be easily adaptable for any grade in a special needs classroom.
Program Evaluation
I would say overall I have had a pleasant experience at APU. My experience with nearly all of
my professors has been pleasant one. Most have been friendly, understanding, knowledgeable
and very eager to help us succeed. I have had a few issues with the communication between
people within the department. It has seemed that if I asked three people the same question, I
would get three different responses. This has been frustrating along the way especially when
my questions seem pretty straight forward and pertained to program requirements. The
comprehensive exit exam was the most frustrating of these miscommunications and was a great
source of stress. I nearly had a panic attack when I got the email that it was a requirement a
week before it was to take place and that was the first time I had ever heard of it. It was also
very irritating to later (after I had already completed it) find out that I did not have to take it.
I feel that I learned a lot of theory from the credential program. This is useful, but I wish
there had been more application of the knowledge as well as more opportunity to write lesson
plans. I feel that I have a good understanding of what lesson plans look like and how to write
them, but I mostly gained that knowledge from undergrad. I often felt the professors for these
courses didnt fully believe in the set syllabi and would either make changes to it or still require
us to complete the work, but would not relay the significance of the work. This caused me to feel
that most of it was busy work. I really loved the reading strategies class otherwise known as the
RICA class. I really gained some applicable strategies and materials from that course and also
was able to pass the RICA on my first attempt! I also had a really great student teaching
experience. Both my placement and mentor, Dr. Green, really made me feel successful and
well-supported throughout the experience.

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Azusa, CA Spring 2014 May 2014
I feel that some of the material in the masters program overlapped and was a bit
redundant. The EDUC 512 with Kristi Hernandez felt like I was being treated like a child due to
the thoroughness of some of the basic programs like Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. I also felt
that the professor was rather picky on how she wanted the assignments to look, which took
away from the goal of the assignment which was to learn how to use the functions on the app.
I really loved all of the applicable knowledge I gained from the masters program! I was
able to take at least one thing, usually more, from each class and only felt like the assignments
were busy work a few times. Most assignments were not only fun, but I also was able to gain a
ton of knowledge from them.