S08_Amari_Sandra_Sara

Biographies

Amari Hi All. My is Amari. I am a graduate student in the Educational Foundations program at CSULA. I earned a B.A. in Psychology from Tulane University in 2004. I currently work in the Institutional Research field but am hoping to move more into Student Affairs and possibly teaching at some point in higher education.

I am a native of the Bay Area and am still adjusting to Los Angeles traffic.

Sara Hello. My name is Sara. I am currently seek a position to work with students with disabilities in the moderate to severe range. I have worked with students in the moderate range with learning disabilities, emotional distrubance, and Autism. Currently, I am working on my master's in Educational leadership in media design. Also, a credential in special education moderate to severe, and mild to moderate. = Bibliography = = = =Articles = 1. Bolton , Janice & Mayer, Michele D., (2008) Promoting the Generalization of Paraprofessional Discrete Trial Teaching Skills,  // Focus on Autism and Other //// Developmental Disabilities, //  23 (2) 103-11 1.  The authors designed a study that investigates the effectiveness of a concise paraprofessional training program with school-aged students in early intervention program. The goal of the research was to promote the “generalization of discrete trial training from the training environment to the teaching environment. The training protocol focused on instruction, modeling, and practice with specific performance feedback”. Bolton suggested weakness by the limitations in time restrains of training. The key findings “suggest that a rapid training program with a stringent accuracy criterion can be effective in promoting accurate discrete trial implementation skills among paraprofessionals. Also, trainers who incorporate generalization strategies can ensure that paraprofessionals’ skills transfer from the training setting to the treatment environment and can be maintained for an extended time when ongoing supervision is provided 2. Buzhardt, J.,(2005),  Training Behavioral Aides With a Combination of Online and Face-to-Face Procedures, //Teaching Exceptional Children,// 37 (5), 20-6.  Buzhardt a special education professor at Utah University based his research on efficacy of a low cost training model that combines online and face to face instruction in training paraprofessionals in applied behavior analysis. Researchers suggest that an increase in the accessibility of adult use of internet resources can show promising applications for training. Pickett 2002 study challenges trainers should expect challenges due to barriers to technology accessibility, school resources financial restrictions, learner educational needs, and user acceptance to training program. Researcher purpose adding additional online components to increase accessibility for additional learners ( School staff, parents, and other caregivers) to improve training the programs. Buzhardt presents information in simple language for the non-academic reader for simplicity of duplication of study and implementation. 3.Giangreco, Michael F., (2003) Working with paraprofessionals, //Educational Leadership,// 61 (2), 50-53.  The article examines the roles of teacher and paraprofessional collaboration Michael F. Giangreco, a researcher  professor at the Center on Disability and Community Inclusion at the University of Vermont based his research on paraprofessional efficacy in serving students with Autism in the general education setting. Giangreco’s study examination of teacher and paraprofessional collaboration has some influence on student success. Doyle, 2002 research points out “how engagement between teachers often becomes less engaged with students who have disabilities when those students receive paraprofessional support”. 

4. Morgan, Robert L., (1993), Live, Interactive paraprofessional Training using Internet Technology: Description and Evaluation, //Journal of Special Education Technology,// 19 (3), 25-33.  The role of the article is to provide a historical overview of the roles of state and federal mandates on paraprofessional training and challenges plaguing administrators. The study is a 10 week study of 16 to 20 paraprofessionals from three remote sites who are provided with internet-based training with real time videos and audio. The article is written for the academic community to provide best practices research in curriculum delivery, instructional format, and technology, and learner course evaluation data. The author challenges and examines the capacity of variety of delivery models in collaboration in training to meet mandates. Currently, Morgan an assistive professor of Information technology in Special Education at the University of Utah who’s research suggests potential of application for broader training of applications

5.Pickett, A. L. (2002). Paraeducators: The evolution in their roles, responsibilities, training, and supervision. Impact: Feature Issues on Paraeducators Supporting sudents with disabilities and At-Risk, 15(2), 2-3. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, Institute on Community Integration. Pickett is a professor of teacher education at the University of Minnesota who studies the changing roles of paraprofessional training, and special law implications on their roles in the classroom. Senge 2000 research suggested a weakness in Pickett research by not looking “effectively at complex issues” that paraprofessional face within diverse environments. Paraprofessional long term training may be a correlation between teacher supervision and different training models. Pickett addresses the issues from a policy perspective, but clearly center on what the need for paraprofessionals to be well-trained and to provide direction for future development in the field.

6.Pickett, A. (1999). Strengthening teacher/provider-paraeducator teams: Guidelines for paraeducator roles, preparation and supervision. //New York: National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals in Education and Related Services//, Center for Advanced Study in Education, Graduate School, City University of New York. Pickett designs a study examining the complexity of the moderate to severe population that special education paraprofessional service in the inclusion to the special day classroom. The study examines various self study programs through the use of universal design where paraprofessional. The article is in clear language for the teacher, administrator, or staff to deconstruct and analyize how training could be customized towards training.

The website utilizes slideshare, YouTube, blogs, and wikis to provide on-line access to information. Users are able to find resources within their area through social networks. The website is simple for users to maneuver around. [|Steckelberg, A. & Vassa, S.] 9(1997). Paraeducator Training Resources. ( [|http://para.unl.edu/serveddocuments/trainingintro.html )] The University provides on-line training delivery for novice and experience paraprofessional. The program utilizes mentoring through the college on line resources. The program requires school district commitment for success in training. The goals of the program are to provide training through real world connection. Summerford, Sue, (2008) Web 2.0 for the Classroom Teacher, Content by Sue Summerford, sue.summerford@lisd.us http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listweb20s.html Last revised Fri Jun 27 7:14:44 US/Pacific 2008  The websites is designed to provide teachers with a hotlist of various Web 2.0 tools.It is highly recommended that teachers review resources before incorporating link into curriculum. The link provide a foundation to become familiar and expand applications of tools within curriculum.
 * Websites **
 * National **** Resource Center **** for Paraprofessionals **** . ** Web site : [|www.nrcpara.org].

http://successfulteaching.blogspot.com/2007/09/success-with-paraeducators.html The blog provides resources of “best practices” in working with paraprofessional in diverse environments. There are links to resources, conferences, wikis, and real world connections within the classroom. =**Project Abstract: __edu 2.0: Paraprofessional development__**= To support teachers with their classroom responsibilities, schools have increasingly turned to paraprofessionals for assistance in serving students, with the largest numbers of paraprofessionals employed in the field of special education. It estimated that there are some 1 million currently working within the public schools. Factors influencing the increase needs for paraprofessionals are the continuous efforts to serve disabled students with individualized instruction, the need to reach an increasing percentage of low-income and limited-English-speaking students, and the evolving role of teachers as developers, facilitators of curriculum programs, and collaborative team members of instructional programs. The Paraprofessional Alliance Project designed a collaborative professional development course for teachers and their paraprofessionals. The focus is to meet the changing demands for skilled paraprofessionals in today’s classrooms. The training program is a collaborative effort between teachers and paraprofessionals who utilize edu 2.0 as training modules to support present classroom hands-on training, which is consumer friendly as well as practical. The Core Training involves a self pace interactive sessions, which enhance the knowledge, and variability of instructional demands. The sessions are presented through the use of multi media activities, resources, and assessments. The Project designed the training into a three tier model. The first tier is an introductory course to train new paraprofessionals (High school ROP students or adult) in the field of special education. Students learn what are the role, responsibilities, and the legal aspect of their job. This critical to provide paraprofessionals what is expected and code of ethics before they enter the classroom. The secondary tier provides material, multi media to help teachers design their master program for paraprofessional development. Teachers will work collaborative together to design various program, defining paraprofessional roles within their classroom, paraprofessional standards, and design individualize paraprofessional programs for portfolio development. The third tier is specific to educate paraprofessionals to work with students with Autism. Assessment will be an inter-woven element of the lessons. Pre- and post tests are administered to the paraprofessionals on the expected competencies of the training program. Multi media tools as wiki, blogs, surveys, and other web 2.0 tools will be utilized towards introducing concepts and building a portfolio of professional development. IDEA 2004 law has recognized the importance of the paraprofessional development in education and related services. It clearly states that paraprofessionals who are properly trained and supervised may assist in the provision of special education and related services to students with disabilities. The “No Child Left Behind Act” has mandated the availability of qualified staff for all students. Paraprofessionals who work with students with disabilities not only need training and specialized skills, but they must also meet their state standards for paraprofessionals. Currently, there is no standardize pre-service model or training programs in the United States that are designed specifically for paraprofessionals serving students with Autism. Also, no state collaborative national paraprofessional standards weakens the vision about the role of paraprofessionals field. This Project is responding to this national need for a universal design of instruction that utilizes multi media to create access to train paraprofessionals serving students with Autism and other disabilities.
 * Blog **
 * Success with paraprofessionals **

Sandra Hello. My name is Sandra. I am a kindergarten teacher working for Inglewood Unified School District. I received my B.A. from UCLA in 1997. I obtained my teaching credential from LAUSD District Internship Program in 2001 and my M.A. in Educational Administration at Cal State L.A. in 2005. I have been working for ten years as a teacher.

I am currently a graduate student majoring in Computer Education and Technology Leadership. I decided to join this program to become more knowledgeable about using technology to enhance learning for students.

I will be getting married this September and will be moving to Ireland this coming December. Once I am there, I would look forward to finding a job where I can use my knowledge obtained from this master's program. I think it will be an interesting opportunity to learn how technology is used in the field of education to enhance student learning.

** Annotated Bibliography for Web 2.0  **

This article talks about Scrapblog, which enables students to create scrapbooks for the web that they can share with others and receive feedback on their work. This web 2.0 tool can be useful for language arts as students can create digital story books. Science classes can also use this tool to document changes, transformations, or experiments. School clubs can document events and activities of their organizations. Bubbleshare supports the creation and sharing of online slideshows and photo albums that students can enrich with both text and audio captions. Weebly tool can be used to create colorful web pages with professional templates. I find learning the names of these sources helpful to know and would like to use Scrapblog with my students. 2.  **Mader, Jared and Smith, Ben (2008, June/July) //Blogging Right Along//. Learning and Leading with Technology, Vol. 35, No. 8, pages 35-39** This article is about the educational benefits of blogging. Students can use blogging as a journal to documents their thoughts and ideas. “Blogging allows students to communicate their understanding of concepts, share information about current events and interact with others” (pg.36). Students can leave comments on each other’s blogs to engage with one another on the content on the blogs. It talks about the advantages of blogging, such as providing access to important course content and timeline of the classroom events. This study seeks to find out the extent of teachers’ uses of technology and how they vary by their years of experience as teachers. The study finds that teachers who have 10 or plus years of teaching experience use less technology in either planning or instruction that teachers who have taught for less than 10 years. It also shows that teachers who have less than 10 years of teaching experience tend to have their students create products using technology than teachers who have taught for 10 or more years. Teachers who have taught between 3 to 5 years assign assignments that require use of technology more frequently than the teachers who have taught for at least 6 or more years. While newer teachers use technology more frequently than any other group of teachers, they are less likely to integrate technology into their instruction than the teachers who have between 3 to 5 years of teaching experience. In reflecting on the results of this study, the article concludes that pre-service teacher preparation programs should increase their efforts to increase their efforts to introduce new teachers to instructional uses of technology so that teachers can swiftly integrate technology in their classrooms. This article talks about the limitless learning options that are provided by web 2.0. Students who for whatever reason cannot be present in school, they can take advantage of web tools such as IM, Skype, Twitter and Moodle to stay in touch with their teachers. These tools make it easier for independent study to take place. Independent studies can be much more engaging and interactive than a traditional form of teachers assigning activities and collecting them when they are complete. Teachers can give feedback through Skype and IM on the progress of students’ learning. The article still holds that e-learning would be a challenge on students who are not independent learners. Therefore, coming up with ways to provide scaffolding to students who need extra support is something that we need to work on. The question that this article seeks to answer is: “How do we prepare learners for a mobile society that is changing faster and more complex way than ever before?” This question is asked with the rationale that we need to prepare our kids to be successful learners in this society that is marked by sweeping technological changes. In answering this question, mobile and connected devices that are available such as cell phones, media players, and computers should be utilized to help education keep up with the growing mobility of people and devices. In integrating these tools of technology, learning can become more “Personalized, learner-centered, collaborative, ubiquitous, and lifelong” (pg. 13). Learning is evolving more and more as a social process. The author states two aspects of learning that is made possible with mobility: conversation and contextual. Engaging in this kind of learning enables conversations among learners to take place. This requires higher-order thinking skills marked by self-reflection, analysis, and synthesis of ideas. The second aspect is contextual. The tools can help bridge between schools and societies as the tools of communication are portable to be carried out of the classroom. The article has many ideas marked with concrete examples of how museums in various countries are using mobile devices to enhance learning. This article challenges the opinion that using blogs in a distance-learning course is too difficult due to a number of issues such as student compliance. This article documents a study done on a MA distance-learning course at the UK’s Open University. The study shows that integrating blog could be done successfully if the course is taught from a learner-centered perspective that focuses on the learner’s understanding. It asserts that students need to be given flexibility to incorporate blogs and still meet the requirements of the course. The article asks the question: Can social networking principles of everyday life be effective in an educational setting? The author describes how the students at Rhode Island School of Design are provided with opportunities to share their work through Web 2.0. He argues that the new technologies of Web 2.0 are user friendly, which enables students to communicate easily. He elaborates on the positive impact of Web 2.0 on enabling students to collaborate and communicate among themselves. It documents on how blogs, wikis, and social networking are keeping the teachers and students connected in and out of their class. Also, it is making it much easier to exchange information across schools, districts, and the world. This comprehensive paper explains in detail what constitutes Web 2.0 and the potential it has for education. It asserts that longitudinal studies should be done to prove its effectiveness on education. However, due to the fast-changing nature of web technology, longitudinal studies may be obsolete when they are completed. It provides helpful guidelines on how to implement the use of Web 2.0, mostly pertaining to using Weblogs. It suggests that old traditional ways of instructional delivery would not work well. When using weblogs or other Web 2.0 technologies, instructors should present ideas in focused ways to capture students’ interests and be clear about their expectations. Wiki is another form of web publishing that schools can employ to make learning relevant. Wikis are an easy tool to allow participants to add, remove, edit, and change content. The content comes from participants themselves and that can work together to create an educational piece. It is a “blank chart paper” that students to can use together to jigsaw their content information. The article cites some examples of how wikis are being used in classrooms, like creating “digital classroom dictionaries”. Warlick also talks about the potential wikis have as an effective communication tool for administrators in managing their schools to share most up-to-date information and developments. This book serves as a guide for educators to learn about Web 2.0 tools. It helps to clarify major terms that are associated with Web 2.0 and illustrates with numerous examples on how it is utilized in the classroom in various age groups. The books works with a premise that the wave of technological innovations are bringing changes in many aspects of our lives and these innovations would and should change how education to delivered to our students.
 * 1.   ****  Oliver, Kevin (2008, May). //Media Magic//. Learning and Leading with Technology.  **
 * Vol. 35 No.7, pages 33-35 **
 * 3.   ****  Russell, M., O’Dwyer, L., Bebell, D., and Tao, W. //How Teachers’ Uses of Technology Vary by Tenure and Longevity//. Educational Computing Research, V37, N4, 2007, pages 409-420 **
 * 4.   **** Livingston, Pamela (2008, May). //E-Learning Gets Real//. Technology and Learning, V.28 N.10, pages 20-22 **
 * 5.   **** Hooft, Mark (2006, March/April). //Envisioning the Future of Education, Learning While Mobile//. Learning and Leading with Technology, V.35, N.6, pages 10-16 **
 * 6.   ****  Kerawalla, L., Minocha, S., Kirkup, G. and Conde, G (2008, March). //Characterising the Different Blogging Behaviours of Students on an Online Distance Learning Course//. Learning, Media, an d Technology, V.33, N.1, pages 21-23 **
 * 7.   **** Yan, J. (2008, Winter). //Social Technology as a New Medium in the Classroom//. New England Journal of Higher Education, V.22, N.4, pages 27, 29-30 **
 * 8.   **** Akbulut, Y. and Kiyicim M (2007, July). //Instructional Use of Weblogs//. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, V.8, N.3, pages 6-15 **
 * 9.   ****  Warlick, David (2007, June). //The Executive Wiki: Wikis Can Be a Multitasking Administrators’ Best Friend//. Technology and Learning, V. 27, N.11, pg. 36 **
 * 10.   ****  Richardson, W. (2006). //Blogs, Wikis, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms//. Corwin Press. Thousand Oaks, California. **

Grade Level: 4th Grade Subject Areas: Language Arts and Social Studies
 * Final Project Abstract: Writing About California**

I created a wiki which brings students to write about California. The goal of this wiki is to give students an opportunity to write and share their thoughts and experiences about California. This wiki will motivate students to put their best effort more so than if they were assigned to write with pencil and paper, as they will share their work with a global audience and their peers. Writing is often a very frustrating and boring activity for many kids because they are expected to write, in most cases, for the sole purpose of being graded by their teacher. In many cases, teachers are too busy to follow up with their students’ written assignments and kids often feel that they have worked so hard for very little recognition or feedback. When they do get feedback from their teacher, their writing is often covered with corrections, which can be a discouraging experience for students that often lead to further dislike for writing. The subject area of social studies is labeled by students as a “very boring subject”. The goal of this wiki is integrate the subject areas of language arts and social studies. Students will discover that learning and writing about California is relevant to their lives because they will be sharing their experiences and what they know about California in this wiki. Also, they will be reading stories by their peers and will get to learn something about each other as well as something about California. Hopefully, the content of their writing in this wiki will appear in their social studies textbooks about California. Then, students will be able to make connections between what they will share and exchange in the wiki and what they will be learning during social studies time in their textbooks. I would like students to say something like this after reading about missions: “I heard about missions before because Jennifer had written about she had visited a mission in Santa Barbara.” This wiki has a very simple organization that is easy to use for fourth graders. The front page is an introduction and has a table that has basic facts about California such as the capital city, the state flag, and the name of the governor. Students can be assigned to enter the correct information on each of the categories. The all of the pages have links on the sidebar. These linked pages consist of student writings. The link “Writing about California” is the introductory page that guides students to choose a topic to write about. The topics are very easy and students can write a few sentences to a few paragraphs on a topic that they choose. These topics are: 1. Coming to California 2. Things that I like about California and Reasons Why 3. My favorite place in California <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin">4. I Bet You Didn't Know This About California! <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin">5. Famous Californians <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin">Students can comment on each other’s work and help each other edit their writing. They can also suggest topics that they would like to write about and create a page to display their writing. Initially, students can write personal narratives that deal with their own experiences. But gradually, as the class progresses though the year, covering different time periods of California history, students can write expository essays on a given topic that is important to its history such as Gold Rush and Transcontinental Railroad. As these topics will require learning of facts and extensive research, students can pair up or work in small groups. A visually-inclined student can upload and insert pictures and a verbally-gifted student can create a short podcast to narrate what they know about a given topic. Everyone can use their strengths to create this project. Students who are good at internet search can find useful links and display on the wiki. Creating this wiki can become an experience that students can feel proud of. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin">I would like this wiki to develop and evolve with the students. Students can expand this wiki by creating a blog and making a link to the wiki. In their blog, students can keep a journal of their learning. They can write how they feel about what they have learned. For example, students can write about their opinion and feelings about the Spanish mission and how horribly the Native Americans were treated. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin">I think that this kind of technology use will make learning come alive. It will make learning more relevant to the times that we are living and more exciting.