Sarah Tolson

EDET 650
Internship in Educational Technology
Fall 2015

Final Reflection
Self-Evaluation
The focus of my EDET 650 Internship for my M.Ed. in Educational Technology
was on flipping my math instruction. My objectives were to: create standard-based
instructional videos using tools to assist with screencasting and video making; design
and develop a student- and parent-friendly website; produce project-based learning,
differentiated, and student-centered assignments for within the classroom; implement
Google Classroom for homework and classwork assignments; create and implement
web-based quizzes; and evaluate and modify instruction based on feedback and
student achievement. Looking back over the past couple of months, I have been able to
do these things. Ive created two standard-based instructional videos that I uploaded to
the Flipped Math section of my website (www.mrstolson.wikispaces.com), which
allowed me opportunities to collaborate with my students while they were at home. I
was also able to provide immediate, positive and constructive feedback for my students
as they completed flipped their homework assignments. I was able to use online
quizzes and assignments, as well as feedback forms I created in Google Forms, to
modify and influence my instruction. Although I am nowhere near completely flipping
my math instruction, I believe I have been off to a great start and will continue to flip my
instruction even after my internship. I cannot wait to start flipping the social studies
standards next!
Lessons Learned
Throughout my internship, I had many learning experiences. At first, I started
creating a website dedicated JUST to flipping. After thinking about it, I realized my
students (and their parents) have so many resources and things to remember already,
that it would be better to just reorganize my current website since students were already
familiar with how to access my website.

After creating my first video, I realized I really need to slow down when recording.
Out of nervousness, I talked quickly and kept re-recording because I seemed to stumble
over words. I learned that creating bullet points, or a full-blown script, would help with
future videos. My biggest lesson learned was actually being able to see how my
students enjoyed interacting with technology for homework and being more engaged in
the classroom. My students were involved in extra math rotations and hands-on
learning, and I was able to differentiate instruction further than usual.
Difficulties Encountered
My greatest difficulty was having to realize that everything wouldnt be perfect. It
was tough for me to accept that I am still learning and that things will change, and I will
improve, with time. When recording videos, I really struggled with myself due to my
nervousness and my perfectionist tendencies. I would trip over words, talk too fast, and
spend too much time creating a fairly short instructional video. I think that this is
something that will improve with time and practice.
Another difficulty is that its very time consuming to create videos, find additional
resources, and add things to my website and Google Classroom. I realize that I wont
be investing as much time in the future, but its difficult to find enough time now. My
plan is to continue making videos and organizing resources for the rest of the standards
that remain this school year. Id like to finish the other standards over the summer, so
all the standards are ready for next year.
An additional problem I encountered was that some students did not have
internet access at home. A quarter of my students do not have internet access at home,
but a few still did the assignment by going to a friends or neighbors house or the public
library. My mentor, Carrie, and I worked out a plan where students who cannot complete
the online assignments may do so in the library with her, in the computer lab during our
weekly assigned times, or at the beginning of math instruction using our class set of
Chromebooks. The biggest struggle with these, though, is that they are some of my
lowest students and they are missing important instructional time or differentiated
instruction.

Successes Achieved
The greatest thing that Im taking away from this internship is the successes my
students achieved through flipped instruction. My students were actively engaged and
thoroughly excited to complete their homework assignments. For example, I received a
text (through Google Voice) from a mom who had a question about science fair projects
the same night that I assigned the first flipped homework assignment. After answering
her question, she continued to tell me about how her son could not stop talking about
his cool homework assignment throughout dinner. He was so excited, he pulled her
away from what she was doing to show everything to his mom, also explaining the work
he did to prove he grasped the concept. He also was thrilled to show her that he
learned new things in Google Classroom. She shared in his excitement and then
preceded to tell him that our flipped math is very similar to how her grad classes are
some type of video and assignment. His mom said he spent the rest of the night
bragging to his older, gifted brother that he was smarter because he was in grad
school.
I believe my students success is also evident through the feedback form I
provided. 88% of my students said they would like to continue to do online homework
and watch my videos. 81% of my students said they would like to do online-only
homework, whereas 13% of my students would prefer a combination of online- and
paper-based homework. Only 6% of students said they would prefer paper-based
homework. Obviously my students are truly enjoying the technology-integrated flipped
classroom approach.
Things I Would Do Differently
One thing I have been contemplating is posting the videos to Google Classroom,
so everything is in one location. Currently, my students go to my website to access the
videos, then to Google Classroom to create their evidence of understanding. I feel as
though it is more convenient for my students to access only Google Classroom, but it
would be difficult for them to go back and find prior videos if new videos and
assignments are posted frequently. Using my Wikispaces website, on the other hand,
allows easy access through the table I created. I am also able to easily post additional

resources for both students and their parentssuch as links to CPALMS and Florida
Students. The biggest positive to using Wikispaces in combination with Google
Classroom is that my students and their parents do not need to login to anything to
access information, but my students privacy and assignments are protected through the
safe sign-in of Google Classroom.
Correlation to Prior Coursework
I found a lot of correlation to the research in my Annotated Bibliography. For
example, I used guidelines from Gilboy, Heinerichs, and Pazzaglia when creating my
feedback survey. I used resources and ideas that I gathered from reading Hallas book
as well, such as how to be a leader of a digital classroom, and how to help my students
become self-paced. One of my goals is to work toward a Flipped Mastery Classroom,
as explained by Bergmann and Sams. As the research showed, and my students
confirmed, test scores were higher (on average) after implementing flipping.
Emotions Experienced
I had two main emotions experienced throughout this process. At the beginning
of my internship, I felt very stressed as I was overwhelmed with standards,
assignments, and figuring out how to flip my classroom. I didnt even know where to
start. As I worked on my Annotated Bibliography, I decided to jump right into video
creation and modified my plan as I went. Although I was still stressed, the stress level
decreased overall. As I started implementing the videos, and hearing feedback from my
students, peers, mentor, and students parents, the stress simply melted. All my
uncertainties and stresses turned into pure elation at what my students could do using
Google Classroom and other resources, without me truly providing them direct
instruction. I was also thrilled at how engaged my students were, how they are
beginning to self-pace themselves, and how they are learning to take responsibility for
their own learning.

Resources

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every
Class Every Day. Eugene, Or: ISTE https://login.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url=
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=475951&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_35

Gilboy, M. B., Heinerichs, S., & Pazzaglia, G. (2015). Report: Enhancing Student
Engagement Using the Flipped Classroom. Journal Of Nutrition Education And
Behavior, 47109-114. doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2014.08.008 https://login.pallas2.tcl.
sc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edselp&AN=S1499404614006381&site=eds-live

Halla, K. (2015). Deeper learning through technology: Using the cloud to individualize
instruction. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Publishers. Chapters 1-8, 1-134.