STRUCTURED

Field Experience Log & Reflection

Instructional Technology Department
Candidate:

Mentor/Title:

School/District:

Nadia Williams

Ashley Morris/Academic Coach

East Cobb Middle School/Cobb

County

Field Experience/Assignment: Course:

Professor/Semester:

ELL-friendly Genius Hour

Dr. Frazier/Fall 2014

ITEC 7430 Internet Tools in the

Classroom

Part I: Log
Date(s)

STATE Standards
PSC

NATIONAL Standards
ISTE NETS-C

Researched the Genius Hour. [2 hours]

PSC 2.6 PSC 3.3, 3.5, 6.1

ISTE 2f, 2g

PSC 2.1, 2.5, 2.6, 3.4, 4.3

ISTE 2a, 2e, 2f, 3d, 5c

PSC 2.1, 2.3, 2.6, 3.6, 4.2, 4.3

ISTE 2a, 2c, 2f, 3f, 5b, 5c

PSC 3.3, 3.5, 6.1

ISTE 3c, 3e, 6a, 6b

10/27/14

Continued research into Genius Hour project [3

hours]
Created the Genius Hour Project guidelines [5
hours]
Constructed all of the digital materials including
Padlet Response Pages and web resources. [8
hours]
Implemented project with students [4 hours]

PSC 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.7, 4.1, 6.3

ISTE 3a, 3b, 3e, 3g, 5a

11/1/14

Student Project Proposals posted online [2 hours]

PSC 2.6, 2.7

2f, 2g

10/27/1412/5/14
11/7/14

Student in-class workdays [10 hours from 10/2712/5/14]

Student Status Update [2 hours]

PSC 2.1, 2.3, 2.6, 3.6, 4.2, 4.3

ISTE 3c, 3e, 6a, 6b

PSC 2.6, 2.7

2f, 2g

9/18/14
9/20/14
9/30/14
10/4/14

Activity/Time

Total Hours: [34 hours ]

DIVERSITY
(Place an X in the box representing the race/ethnicity and subgroups involved in this field experience.)

Ethnicity

P-12 Faculty/Staff
P-2

Race/Ethnicity:
Asian
Black
Hispanic

3-5

6-8

P-12 Students
9-12

P-2

3-5

6-8
X
X
X

Native American/Alaskan Native

White
Multiracial
Subgroups:
Students with Disabilities
Limited English Proficiency
Eligible for Free/Reduced
Meals

X
X
X
X

9-12

Part II: Reflection

CANDIDATE REFLECTIONS:
(Minimum of 3-4 sentences per question)

1. Briefly describe the field experience. What did you learn about technology facilitation and
leadership from completing this field experience?
Within this field experience, my ELL students were provided with a project entitled Genius
Hour where they were permitted to study any topic of their choosing. They used technology in
order to research that topic, generate a presentation about that topic, and create a product to show
what they learned from this self-guided experience.
This project, based upon the 20% time afforded to employees at companies such as Google and
3M, where they are permitted to create and research in a somewhat-unstructured time frame. By
releasing the reins, the students were able to participate in inquiry-based learning and focus not
solely upon isolated standards, but upon learning for learnings sake.
I found that technology facilitation was key to making this process as easy as possible for students
for whom English is not their first language. They were able to find information and even connect
the English Language Arts content to their own cultures and life experiences to their projects.
2. How did this learning relate to the knowledge (what must you know), skills (what must you
be able to do) and dispositions (attitudes, beliefs, enthusiasm) required of a technology
facilitator or technology leader? (Refer to the standards you selected in Part I. Use the
language of the PSC standards in your answer and reflect on all 3knowledge, skills, and
dispositions.)
This learning experience provided me with the opportunity to serve as a technology facilitator and
guide to my students as they pursued their own interests. I was able to have them experience a
variety of technological platforms in order to share what they had learned. In doing so, for
example, with their moments of documenting their progress, the students used the online blogging
platform called KidBlog as it offers a closed ecosystem, private to only those in the class. The
students thereby built upon their prior knowledge and, through their presentations, were able to
show their classmates what technologies they had learned.
3. Describe how this field experience impacted school improvement, faculty development or
student learning at your school. How can the impact be assessed?
This field experience ended up bringing great exposure to my school as it was featured as part of
the Cobb County Innovation in Instruction meeting with all of the principals in the district seeing
videotaped footage of Genius Hour at work. Specific focus was put upon its flexibility for use at
any grade level and for all students. The project also helped provide many of my colleagues with
the opportunity to feel more autonomous with their lesson planning. Most importantly, my
students thoroughly enjoyed the process and found that it made them more interested in the
learning beyond Genius Hour.