Shelly Hannah EDUC 526 Growth Assessment Page 1

Murrieta Summer 2014 July 2014

MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION: DIGITAL TEACHING AND LEARNING
Growth Assessment




Becoming One with the 21
st
Century
Shelly Hannah
EDUC 526 Capstone Experience in Digital Teaching and Learning
Professor Matt Hixson
Murrieta Regional Center
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1255689
July 15, 2014










Shelly Hannah EDUC 526 Growth Assessment Page 2
Murrieta Summer 2014 July 2014
SECTION ONE:
Introduction
I decided to pursue a masters degree in Digital Teaching and Learning because I knew
that it would provide me with a greater chance to earn a position as a teacher and a greater
opportunity to reach and support my students. I knew there was no denying that we are in the
21
st
century and students are yearning for that digital learning implementation within the
classroom.
When I began this journey, I was enrolled and finishing up the special education
credential program. I was also student teaching at a middle school. Fortunately, I received the
chance to student teach at my daughters middle school. This alleviated some stress about child
care and transportation. Being a single mom certainly has its struggles. Now, I am a substitute
teacher for Hemet Unified School District. I thank God every day for His many blessings!
My goals for this program were to earn As in all classes and to not miss any classes. In
order to earn all As, I needed to work extra hard and put forth all of my potential. I vowed to
not miss any class sessions because being inside the classroom is important for me. I learn best
when the teacher describes an assignment to me face-to-face and then sends me off to finish the
project on my own or with a group.
Personal Growth
Throughout this program I have learned that I work best under pressure, but not when
anyone is watching me. I do not like being watched. I have also realized that I love learning
through asynchronous learning. After an assignment or content has been described to me face-
to-face, I go home and work. I would really like to take a class where students attend one
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Murrieta Summer 2014 July 2014
meeting at the beginning, teacher shows all required content, and students do work from home
for the rest of the term. Bam! Done! So, I would probably label myself as a visual learner.
Since I am a visual learner, I would like it if I had examples for all required assignments,
along with rubrics. For other personal connections, I like to think that I met some really
awesome teachers and/or future teachers. Collaborating with other students has allowed me the
opportunity to grow with others and become friends with new people.
It is a blessing from God that I am able to create relationships, personal and professional,
during this program. God has put certain people in my life to better my future career as a
teacher. The completion of this program means that I will be able to provide for my daughter
and me like never before. However, it is not just about the money, it is about showing and
proving to others that one can succeed as a single parent. It is also about showing my daughter
that hard work pays off. I hope that my daughter will want to earn her masters degree, too.
Professional Growth
I have grown in a positive way through my studies at Azusa Pacific University. I love the
fact that I learned how to reach most or all of my students through strategies that hit on each
multiple intelligence. I have heard about multiple intelligences before, but not like it was
introduced to me in this program. This program truly opened my eyes to each individual learner
and the students learning styles.
My education vision was to become an effective teacher and to get my students to be
grade-level proficient. I want to be a special education teacher and I think the above vision
statement could come true. All I need to do is implement all or most of the learning strategies
that I have learned throughout the program. Some examples of these learning strategies are
flipping the classroom and/or teaching to the multiple intelligences. I learned about flipping the
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Murrieta Summer 2014 July 2014
classroom in EDUC 515 and multiple intelligences in EDUC 522. I am excited to try them out
in my future class.
My action research study was a BSP that I performed on a special needs student while I
was student teaching (to become a special education teacher). This behavior support plan was
put in place because Heather Smith insists on acting out in class and disrupts the whole class,
therefore impeding learning. The strategy that will be discussed and put in place is Heather
Smith will be placed in a leading/top position in the classroom by the allowance of previewing
assignments the day before. In the end, the student made positive progress toward her learning
and behavior goals.
Technical Growth
In the beginning of this program, I just thought that this program would introduce me to
hard machinery technology and how to use it in the classroom. I was so blown away! I never
knew there were so many components to using technology in the classroom. I never knew there
were so many digital technologies available for use within the classroom that can be used to
reach all or most students. Take EDUC 522, for example. This class taught me how to reach all
8 multiple intelligences using digital technology. The professor of that class also used Remind.
I like the Remind application because most students have phones and those students love
receiving text messages. Another class that helped me grow the most was EDUC 515. This
class allowed me the opportunity to learn how to create websites, blogs, use Google, and use
productivity and creative applications. In EDUC 514 I learned how to use editing and movie
making applications, like iMovie and Pinnacle. Pinnacle is by far the easiest. I cant wait to
show my future students how to create movies or presentations with Pinnacle.
Life Long Learning Plan
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Thanks to the class EDUC 515, I will be able to stay in the digital technology loop
through Google+ and Twitter. In this class, I learned that Twitter has edchats. Google+ and
Twitter offers the opportunity to gain more technology knowledge and strategies through social
networking. All one needs to do is to join in on the conversation every once in a while. I
definitely plan on social networking to stay updated and to better reach my students.
Where do I see myself in 5 years? In 5 years, I plan on teaching special education
students. In those 5 years, I hope to fundraise enough to buy my own technology for my
classroom. I plan on staying up to date with all the new technology and using it in the
classroom. In 10 years, I plan on teaching still, but I plan on teaching somewhere in Orange
County. Currently, I am in Riverside County. Not only is the pay higher out in Orange, but I
want to be near my sister. Who knows, maybe I could teach my sister how to use digital
technology in her home and her work? This could be a great possibility!
SECTION TWO:
History of Coursework and Course Evaluation
Name:

Term:
Shelly
Hannah
Summer
2014
LiveBinder URL: http://www.livebinders.com/pl
ay/play?id=1255689
Course Course Title
& Instructor
Term
Complete
Key Skills Comments/Suggestions
EDUC
511
Foundations
in
Digital
Teaching
and Learning
Gilbreath
Spring I
2014
LiveBinder, So
What Who Cares,
Wordle, Final
Presentation
LiveBinder was a challenge,
other assignments were fun.
EDUC
512
Instructional
Applications
Productivity
Software
Sullivan
Spring I
2014
WebQuest WebQuest was a challenge, but
beneficial to my learning.
EDUC Digital Video Spring II Educational Creating several different types
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Murrieta Summer 2014 July 2014
514 in
the
Classroom
Holder
2014 Videos using iPad of videos was a challenge, but
the video editing process got
easier in the end. Fun.
EDUC
515
Evolving
Educational
Technologies
Rounds
Summer
2014
Weebly website,
blogs
I am so glad I know how to
make a website now. I will use
a website in my class and have
my students make a website.
EDUC
522
Learning in
the
21st Century
Rodriguez
Spring II
2014
Lesson plans & unit
plan integrating
technology to meet
needs of multiple
intelligences, video
about unit plan

These assignments opened my
eyes on how to reach all
students.
EDUC
526
Capstone
Experience/
Digital
Teaching and
Learning
Hixson
Summer
2014
Portfolio
proposal/AR/Growth
Assessment
I am glad that I got to share my
technology growth in the
Growth Assessment
assignment. Looking back, Ive
learned so much that will
definitely be used in my
classroom.

Throughout the program, I have learned that there are so many digital technologies
available for use in my classroom. I plan on utilizing most applications that I learned. This
program was very beneficial because it expanded my horizons on digital technology and how to
get my students to reach for their highest potential. I can now allow my students to show me
how they learned in the way they choose that best fits their learning style. The only thing I
would change in these classes is someone needs to show students how to create LiveBinders in
EDUC 511. LiveBinders was definitely a challenge for me. Another thing I would change is the
coursework load in EDUC 515. In this class, there was a lot of redundancy. I liked how the
professor introduced the students to blogging in Google+ and blogging on our own website, but I
would lower the amount of times we have to blog, especially about the same idea. Other than
those downfalls, I would definitely recommend this program to others.
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Evaluation of the Impact of the Digital Teaching and Learning Program
In my future class, I am going to implement the app called Remind. This app will be
helpful for my middle school students. From experience, most middle school students forget to
complete their homework or forget to bring items in that was supposed to be brought in. With
this app, I can text the students and the parents. I can also send photos, links, and reminders.
A strategy that I will implement in my future class is catering to the 8 multiple
intelligences. This will be very important because, as a teacher, I want to be effective. I know
that I can be effective if I reach all of my students. If I reach all of my students, I will have been
given them the opportunity to show me how they learned. When they show me how they
learned, it most likely means they learned the content and the class can move on. I know that I
cannot reach all students in one day; therefore I will implement various learning strategies and
ideas throughout the week to make sure I hit on each multiple intelligence.
Program Evaluation
I have been attending Azusa Pacific University since February 2011. I earned my
bachelors degree here and am finishing up my masters degree, along with my special education
credential. I would never think about going anywhere else. The experience of the masters
program was by far a huge challenge. The workload was pretty heavy, but its a challenge that I
chose to take on to better my life for my daughter and I.
There were some un-lovable situations at APU. For one, when I enrolled in the
combination program, no one told me I needed an iPad. This is one expensive product and I
think that it should have been brought to my attention so that I could save money for the iPad.
Also, when I enrolled and signed my advisement form, it did not say on there that I had to take
EDUC 511. I understand now that two classes were split up, but that still made an extra class
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Murrieta Summer 2014 July 2014
that I did not account for. I struggled so much Spring I and II due to the fact that I had that extra
class and I was student teaching. I did well, because I always give my all. However, someone
needs to start collaborating and letting new students know everything up front. We, as students,
should not have to hear about important things through the grapevine! Our advisor should have
collaborated with the EdTech advisor so that there would be no misunderstandings.
Other than those fixable situations, I really enjoyed the Murrieta Regional Campus. The
front desk ladies, Rose and Maria, are amazing! They always tried to jump through hoops to
help the students. The professors that I learned most from were Susan Hall, Beth Joyce, Daniel
Baldwin, Jim Sullivan, Mark Rounds, Matt Hixson, Lisa Rodriguez, and Tim Holder. Most of
these professors truly tried to teach us the best way they can and they had a lot of experience that
they freely shared. Sharing is caring!
This program has definitely allowed me to become effective and to become one with the
21
st
century.