Upon reflecting on my experiences this semester in EDTC 615, I believe that I have a stronger understanding of data informed practices. Without data to inform our practices, we are acting upon hunches (Venables, 2014). I learned that data collection is an ongoing process, and often a very messy process.

As educators, we should make every effort to muddle through the data process so that we can help our students. We can make the biggest influence in areas where we have some control over (Venables, 2015). Educators will not have all the answers but we can always try to get answers. My experiences with the data action model were very lengthy but it was an eye opening process. The idea of thoroughly analyzing data was very new to me. Of course, I have analyzed data about what you notice and wonder, but rarely have I seen data informed decisions as a lengthy 5-step process. The Data Action Model encourages all stakeholders in thoroughly engaging with data for learning outcomes (Venables, 2015). The best way to engage with this process is through work groups. My classmates Christelle, Shannon, and Amber and I searched for an exploratory question, weeded out daily tasks, and replaced them with researched based instruction. My experiences in my group with The Data Action Model was an uphill climb. The team took time to look at all the lesson elements, and decided how we would support students after setting a SMART goal. Some of the elements of instruction such as pre-teaching, turn-and-talks, and questioning help students who are struggling with the content. Using videos, images, and game technologies through ActiveView, a tool used with the Promethean help students engage with their learning. 21^st Century skills combined with better teaching, curriculum, and testing promote student success (Rotherham & Willingham, 2009).

In order for my team’s authentic participation in The Data Action model, we needed to set up group norms for our meetings. My group was a PLC, and we worked very well together. Everyone had great ideas or insights to share. Everyone had a role in our meeting and we took turns in each role. The team leader of the week was responsible for hosting the virtual meeting, choosing the meeting tool, and confirming the meeting time with everyone. The team used the technology of Zoom to hold our meetings. At first, it was difficult navigating the screen-cast features but we learned quickly. The task manager created an agenda on the meeting discussion. The note taker took notes on the ideas formed and discussed throughout the meeting. The submitter chose a presentation tool to present those the ideas outlined by the note taker. I had all of these roles assigned in my PLC. In addition, I was the submitter twice in our meetings. As a submitter, I used Screencast-O-Matic to record all my presentations of data. This was helpful because viewers could see me talk, as well as the presentation. My first presentation was used with GoogleDocs. This was an easy format to use for presentations; however, the design elements and options are limited. In my other presentation, I used Prezi. I thought that this was a great choice because I had more options for presentation and design. Reflecting on these different group roles through blogging was very helpful in thinking about strengths and weaknesses. Overall, my strength in groups included participating, preparing, and presenting ideas. My weakness included, lack of variety in technology and needing to listen to ideas more than sharing my ideas. These reflections help me think about my future actions in my professional community.

My school district is implementing the learning coach model to help educators talk about data. This involves all educators working with students in a specific grade. The grade level team and all related service providers are my schools PLCs. I can be a model in my school’s PLC by setting group norms, expectations, and assign roles. For example, someone can be the note-taker as everyone talks about the data. Related service providers such as the reading specialist or school psychologist can chime in on additional tools for students. These providers are also very good in giving additional resources to help students. Our school’s Occupational Therapist is continuously sending us ideas or articles on instructional practices. I will continue to seek outside help to guide me through lesson plan implementation to help close that learning gap during data 3 and 4 meetings. As a special education teacher, I am always collecting data and making new objectives or goals based upon data. However, now I can look at my data based upon looks, notices, and questions. The most important part of this data process is looking at what teaching practices you can change for a better outcome and then setting a goal for implementation. We have web applications such as ABCmouse to help students learn independently. However, I wonder how I can incorporate videos and images in whole group lessons. I want the use of technology to be a more active process than a passive process. I can collaborate with our technology specialist to help me with resources to help my students.

Reference:

Rotherham, A.J., & Willingham, D. (2009). 21st century skills: The challenges ahead. Teaching for the 21st Century, (67)1, 16-21. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/21st-Century-Skills@-The-Challenges-Ahead.aspx

Venables, D. R. (2014). How Teachers Can Turn Data Into Action. Retrieved from https://eds-a-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzcwODM5Nl9fQU41?sid=63f79861-8cc8-41b3-bb6d-31b81f11cd68@sdc-v-sessmgr02&vid=1&format=EB&rid=1

This week I was the Team Submitter. The submitter chooses a presentation tool and delivers all the information discussed from the meeting. I choose ScreenCast-O-Matic to present our group’s information. I really this application because it is easier to navigate than some of the other applications that I’ve used in the past. Then from the meeting notes/outline I created video presentation using Prezi. The presentation was sent out to the group for approval at least 36 hours before the due date/time.

My area of strength is making sure that the video was created in a timely manner so that everyone had the opportunity to look at the video and make comments or changes. The areas of growth include consistently using diverse presentation tool such as Prezi to deliver information. Sometimes, you get stuck in a groove by using familiar applications. This week, I used Prezi to deliver the group presentation. It took an hour to navigate the site, another hour to put in content and another hour to record. But I learned how to use a new application!

I engaged in the process of turning data into action by talking about how the group saw growth in students meeting the SMART goal. However, there were some students we are concerned about and think that we would need additional supports to help guide them. These supports include small groups, re-teaching, and checks for understanding. See below for our presentation:

Describe your role in the team data meeting

I was the task manager. I created an agenda on what the meeting discussion will be about. We referred back to the exploratory question and objectives by referring back to our Artifact Tracking Sheet. I set up the template for this week’s meeting on connecting the gaps and target goal. Each section of our meeting agenda provided a time allotted for each topic so that our meetings stay under an hour. I let the group know when we had 5 minutes left on topic and when to move on to the next topic. The agenda included a time to discuss previous meeting progress & who will be submitting the video.

Reflect on your areas of strength and areas for growth in this particular role and in engaging in the process of turning data into action

I was strong in reading ahead and providing a template and some notes about the connecting the gaps and target goal template. I think that my notes helped create some talking points with the team and helped us move in the right direction. I think that I could grow in my timeliness with the communication of everyone looking at the template that I created for the meeting, before our actual meeting. I had family emergency and the state of emergency made it harder for me to complete this in time like the I would have liked before the meeting.

Describe your role in the team data meeting

I was the team leader of the week. I was responsible for hosting the virtual meeting. I know that a lot of us use the application Zoom. I used it for this virtual meeting too. I think that Zoom has all the features that a virtual meeting needs. It has a mirroring screen, a white board, and a drawing feature. This application allots for diverse usage. However, I am open to learning about other online applications comparable to Zoom. While I hosted the virtual meeting, I made sure to sequence the tabs with the tools that we would need as talking points. Some of the tools needed were: The agenda document, Planning Protocol, and Action Planning Tracking Sheet.

Reflect on your areas of strength and areas for growth in this particular role and in engaging in the process of turning data into action

I was strong in my preparation for the meeting. I added tools that the team would need in the various tabs on my computer. In addition, I familiarized myself with the application Zoom prior to our meeting to limit the time spent away from the agenda. Also, I familiarized myself to the tasks to be completed during our data meeting. This way, I was aware of what our team would be doing during the meeting, and act as a guide as the team lead discussed the agenda. My area of growth would be allowing others to speak more. I think I get really excited to share my ideas. More often, I need to allow other team-members to share their ideas. I don’t believe that I monopolize the time, I just think that I can listen more.

Link to our template here:

Describe your role in the team data meeting:

My role in our data meeting was to be the note taker. We agreed that the submitter would take and condense and notes from the meeting. Then from the meeting notes, the presenter can make the video. Meeting note taker should take notes on the ideas formed and discussed throughout the meeting.  From notes, create an outline for the meeting presentation using the created Google document. In addition to my role, it was important that I listened to each member presenting their ideas and providing additional comments. My group was wonderful in adding to my notes, to make our Triangulation on Data more comprehensive. This makes it easier for Amber to record and summarize all ideas in a group video.

Reflect on your areas of strength and areas for growth in this particular role and in engaging in the process of turning data into action

I was able to collect information and ask for help when needed with note taking. I found it really difficult to engage with the technology used and take notes. So, one of my team mates helped out by also taking notes on the live document, while in our virtual group meeting. I was taking notes the old school way, with pen and paper. I think our team did a nice job reading the Venables text prior to meeting. This made understanding the assignment a lot better. We muddled through picking a exploratory question and focusing on a goal area. We helped each other through the process of instructional and observed learning gaps.

Draft of our Triangulation Data

Group 4 Artifact Tracking Sheet

Exploratory Questions: Are the strategies being used to teach this standard effective? If not, what can be changed to ensure that more students are able to be successful?

Objective 3: After reading a story, students will respond to questions about who and what about texts read aloud.

Artifact Type (be specific) Examples: Data Table, Student work, Teacher lesson plan(s), Teacher instruction calendar, Test items, Unit plan	Observed Learning Gap (as evidenced by artifact)orObserved Instructional Gap (as evidenced by artifact)	Relative Significance(if learning gap observed) How important is this skill/concept?	Prominence(if learning gap observed)Speculate as to how widespread this gap is with all the students.
Lesson Plan for Let’s Play Ball by Mo Willems	LG       IG Lack of Activating Prior Knowledge	1   2 3   4 5	1   2 3   4 5
Unit PlanStandard: Reading: Story/Text Comprehension – Demonstrate comprehension by responding to interactive read-alouds of texts before, during, and after the texts are read.	LG       IGSome of the questioning related to personal experiences to the text are too abstract of a concept for this age students. This is evident in the students inability to conceive abstract notions in reading material	1   2 3   4 5	1   2 3   4 5
Pre-test	LG       IGLevel of student correctness based on story prediction	1   2 3   4 5	1   2 3   4 5
Data checklist- (Day 1)	LG       IGWas the student able to respond to who questions?	1   2 3   4 5	1   2 3   4 5
Student Work- (Day 2)Recall story elements drawing responses.	LG       IGStudents are unable to recall all story elements to create a complete response.	1   2 3   4 5	1   2 3   4 5
Data checklist- (Day 3)	LG       IGWas the student able to respond to what questions?	1   2 3   4 5	1   2 3   4 5
Student work- (Day 4)What can you do to help a friend? Dictate and draw activity response.	LG       IGStudents were unable to make real world connection (unit abstraction is evident)	1   2 3   4 5	1   2 3   4 5
Post test data (test Day 5)	LG       IGStudents were unable to retain information to recall/respond story elements.	1   2 3   4 5	1   2 3   4 5
Student’s with an  IEP	LG       IGStudents who had IEPs lack of above average scoring throughout the unit	1   2 3   4 5	1   2 3   4 5
Student reflections about their work/ level of understanding (data chats with students)	LG    IGStudents unable to respond/demonstrate understanding of book contents.	1   2 3   4 5	1   2 3   4 5

Notes: See below

We started with our Data Checklist focusing on a team-member’s data. She is working with Pre-K students in the overall ELA Standard: Reading: Story/Text Comprehension – Demonstrate comprehension by responding to interactive read-alouds of texts before, during, and after the texts are read. 

We further analyzed Objective 3 in this standard to address triangulation. Objective 3: After reading a story, students will respond to questions such as who and what about texts read aloud.

• Our target focus for Objective 3 in triangulation is: Exploratory Question: Are the strategies being used to teach this standard effective? If not, what can be changed to ensure that more students are able to be successful?

• Relevance Calculation: 

We calculated relevance in relation to our own teaching experiences, knowledge about age-expected skills, the Venables text, and teaching outcomes and strategies. 

• Students highlighted in yellow are students with IEPs.

Possible Solutions:

• Coloring activity to get to know the characters
• reread the story and asks specific questions about the characters at a few points in the story
• Simplifying stop and ask questions

• Participate in memory recall activities- *turn & talks*- 2 or 3 before, during and after story
• Lack of introductory activity
• Modeling how to reflect on your learning
• Using picture cues or sentence starters for student responses

Describe your role in the team data meeting:

My role in our data meeting was to be the submitter. We agreed that the submitter would choose a presentation tool. Then from the meeting notes/outline create video presentation. The presentation will be sent out to the group for approval at least 36 hours before the due date/time. In addition to my role, it was important that I listened to each member presenting their ideas and providing additional wonderings, noticings, and questions. This makes it easier for me to record and summarize all ideas in a group video. I choose the Screencast-O-Matic because it allows you to show everything on your computer screen with audio and video.

Reflect on your areas of strength and areas for growth in this particular role and in engaging in the process of turning data into action

I was able to collect information and create the video before our timeline. I added a presentation to our video with images to help others follow along with our data. In areas of growth, I need to communicate a little better about needing help when feeling confused about parts of the assignment.

Draft of Exploratory Assignment

I noticed that students whose attendance is higher can perform lower during each objective day. Example, student 24 has more attendance and correct homework but during the week performs lower in each goal area.

What I Wondered
I wondered what supports that students need to be successful during the week. I wondered how the student is so successful at home, and how it can be translated into the classroom. I wondered how having a disability affects this students’ performance in the area of language and literacy.

Exploratory Questions
Based upon what I noticed and wondered, I came up with the following questions: Are the strategies that teachers are using to support students with disabilities effective? If not, what strategies will work, and/or how can we change the strategy to meet the needs of the child?

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