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Title of Presentation: Bringing the Smartphone into Your Classroom... It Isn't As Scary As It May Seem! Raising Interest and Understanding of Literature in High School Classes Using Technology

Presenter: Clare Freed, M.Ed, NBCT Apex High School Wake County

What is the Governor’s Teacher Network? A talented group of 450 outstanding teachers were selected from 1400 applicants for 2014-15. Teachers identify instructional needs, create innovative digital instructional resources and design professional development to support key Race to the Top initiatives in Home Base. Network Teachers continue their current educator roles in their schools and districts and serve in one of two pathways.

What is the Governor’s Teacher Network? Pathway 1 Teachers: Professional Development Identify problems of practice around instructional needs and conduct action research projects in their schools. Investigate and analyze the effectiveness of strategies and practices on student learning. Create professional development sessions and materials to be posted in Schoolnet and the Professional Development System in Home Base.

What is the Governor’s Teacher Network? Pathway 2 Teachers : Instructional Resources Create instructional sequences for Home Base aligned to the NC Standard Course of Study (unit plans, lesson plans, assessment components). Produce resources available to all NC teachers through Schoolnet in Home Base.

Action Research Systematic inquiry conducted by teachers and other educators to find solutions for critical, challenging, relevant issues in their classrooms and schools. Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 2014

What is Action Research? Classroom and school research conducted by teachers to: Positively impact student outcomes Identify and promote effective instructional practices Create opportunities for teachers to become reflective practitioners Share research results with other educators Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 2014

Background to Project I became interested in the Governor’s Teacher Network because I felt as though it would be a challenge to my learning and growing as a teacher. I believe in being a “lifelong learner” in order to continue to be relevant in my students lives. When I moved to the high school setting, I noticed the students seemed disengaged with English. They only saw relevance in Math, Sciences and Technology.

I Became Curious… How can I make literature relevant to my students? How can I increase their engagement with high level texts? How can I make them stop caring about twitter and see how technology can be used to make them better readers? There had to be a way…..

So Here is Where I began… Please log into Survery monkey.com/s/TNY6L6M There are four questions to respond to…

Action Research Plan The purpose of this study is to increase student interest, engagement and understanding of high level texts in an English classroom by incorporating technology in the learning and assessment phases of the units. Students of all academic levels, struggle to understand higher level works of literature, only understanding basic plot line.

Action Research Plan This study will use technology in pre, during and post reading strategies in order to elicit changes in student reading comprehension from basic plot understanding to analyzing and evaluating the author’s writing style and purpose of writing. As a result, the students will be able to evaluate the value of reading classic works of literature because they will be able to make connections to the world they live in.

Connecting to Your Focus on Rigor While dictionaries define the term as rigid, inflexible, or unyielding, educators frequently apply rigor or rigorous to assignments that encourage students to think critically, creatively, and more flexibly. Likewise, they may use the term rigorous to describe learning environments that are not intended to be harsh, rigid, or overly prescriptive, but that are stimulating, engaging, and supportive. -taken from The Glossary of Educational Reform

Connecting to Your Focus on Rigor Rigorous learning experiences, for example, help students understand knowledge and concepts that are complex, ambiguous, or contentious, and they help students acquire skills that can be applied in a variety of educational, career, and civic contexts throughout their lives. -taken from The Glossary of Educational Reform

Three Units of Focus 1. George Orwell – 1984 2.Mary Shelley- Frankenstein Robert Lewis Stevenson- Jekyll and Hyde 3. William Shakespeare- Macbeth Simplified Essential Question: How can I make these works of literature relevant while keeping students engaged?

Pre, During and Post Reading Map Introduce Text Assign Reading Discuss Reading Assess Understanding Planning the unit was critical in the research. Typical Unit Design Unit Design For The Action Research Project Pre- Reading Technology Grabber Introduce Text and Assign Reading During Reading Technology Grabber Evaluate Data Discuss Data and Connections Assign Reading Assess Evaluation of Text

Example Pre Reading Strategy For 1984, I began by posting a video about modern day government surveillance in Great Britain. The video was 45 minutes long. I told my students this was not a graded assignment and that it was just intended to help them understand the complexities of the world of Big Brother. Like many teachers, I was mostly concerned with the students not watching it. “If it isn’t for a grade, they won’t do it”

The Data Results Conducted on a Survey Warm Up

The Data One question on the survey asked how they viewed the video.

Your Turn To Try… I thought it would be better if you tried out another online pre- reading strategy that I used in my classroom. Voicethread is a free program to teachers in Wake County. I have used it in this study for pre and post data. Please log in to wcpss.ed.voicethread.com/share/6697540

Application of Learning As you can see, some of the assessments dealt with qualitative data. I was quickly concerned with measuring the evaluation of student learning. How do I measure “how well they got it”? How do I measure “text” responses?

My Bloom/Webb Rubric for Qualitative Responses Level 1 Response Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Response Level 5 Response Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Evaluating Recall and Reproduction Skill/Concept Strategic Thinking Evaluative Thinking A level 1 response simply provides information that is connected to text with no thinking. A response in this category restates plot. A level 2 response provides a slight increase in understanding by explaining the thinking but is limited because it still only connects to the text. A level 3 response provides greater thinking about the text because it applies the understanding of what is happening. Students in this category often make predictions about what will come next. A level 4 response demonstrates analysis of the text by making connections to theme, symbol, and author’s purpose. Students in this category will explain how they think this will impact the rest of the work. A level 5 response evaluates a text by making connections to other works, historical time periods, and current events. Students in this category will apply the text outside of the plot of that particular story.

Example During Reading Strategy While I had many strategies to check for comprehension, the one in this example seemed to spark the most effective classroom discussion. The purpose of the strategy is to check comprehension of the student’s reading and clarify misconceptions while increasing engagement with the text. Pre- Reading Technology Grabber Introduce Text and Assign Reading During Reading Technology Grabber Evaluate Data Discuss Data and Connections Assign Reading Assess Evaluation of Text

Reading Comprehension During Reading Survey Let’s go back to the survey that you took in the beginning of this presentation and pull up the data. Using this data, I created a conversation about what the numbers say, asking participants why they responded the way they did.

Shakespeare During Reading Survey Let’s look at the survey data collected from students. This data was gathered using cell phones as a warm up activity. It provided a lot of useful information. Let’s take a look…

Data Analysis Conversation Using the same Bloom/Webb rubric for the in class conversations, I was able to measure the responses in the conversation. (watch video here)

Other During Reading Strategies Posted audio version of the text During reading Blog conversations Flipped classroom PowerPoint notes Historical background PowerPoint notes Literature Circle Blog Discussions

During Reading Data Results The data results for these three units was impressive but not quite what I expected. Based on end of unit testing data, students in all three levels (AP, Honors, and Academic) scored within relatively the same numbers. AP average test score- 93% Honors average test score -87% Academic average test score- 86% Comprehension questions were the same/ differentiation with analysis/ essays

Post Reading Strategy Summative Assessments are usually geared to state testing formats. (mc/essay) How can I use technology as a means for students to demonstrate higher levels of understanding (Bloom) and make the literature relevant? Project based assessments in addition to standard assessments allow for all levels of Bloom to be demonstrated.

Post Assessments and Rigor Remember a rigorous classroom should “help students acquire skills that can be applied in a variety of educational, career, and civic contexts throughout their lives.” My study wanted to make the literature meaningful and purposeful in their lives. Each project based assessment required connections to their world.

Sample Post Reading Assessment One example of a post reading assessment was the link between Frankenstein and their world. Students were required to research a current science and technology issue that presents a moral challenge to our society and present their research findings via a PSA commercial they create. The assignment sheet for this project can be found on the Weebly site.

Sample Post Reading Project Students posted their commercials on the Weebly and on Edmodo. AP: sample commercial- Honors: sample commercial- Academic: sample commercial-

Post Reading Assessment Results These are sample project based assessments. Very little difference in academic levels. Each unit provided both traditional and project assessments Participation for the assessments was 100%. ALL students posted a commercial by the deadline assigned. (with an accompanying works cited and notes page)

Conclusions of Post Reading Projects Student interest in the commercials was evidenced in posting and in follow up activity sharing in the classroom. Students were eager to take out their phones and watch and share videos. Classroom discussion participation and evaluation (using Bloom rubric) again measured positive connections between the literature and real world issues.

End of Course Paideia Seminar http://www.paideia.org A research based strategy to increase rigor and engagement in a classroom. Many teachers reserve this format for advanced classes. Participation and preparation for end of the semester seminar was required. Again, 100% of students submitted required material.

What I Measured… While this method did not utilize technology, I was measuring the impact of technology on the learning, evaluating and application of the literature. Data for the seminar was gathered using the same rubric. Students in Academic, Honors, and Advanced Placement classes were able to demonstrate similar levels of understanding and application.

End of Course Reading Survey Results 88% of the students surveyed believed using technology during their reading assisted in their understanding of the literature. 91% of the students saw relevancy in the survey data and believed it helped to clarify their understanding of the literature. 86% of the students felt the use of technology/ cell phones in the classroom helped relate the literature to their life.

Conclusions Evaluation of the data in this study shows incorporation of technology in pre, during and post reading strategies increases student engagement, understanding and application of literature. Using technology in addition to traditional teaching strategies aides in student participation and mastery of higher level texts. Incorporating technology in a classroom can “level the playing field” between academic levels.

Concerns Classroom Management- beginning teachers struggle to control cell phone uses in their classroom. Incorporation of technology would require strong classroom management to control the learning environment. Students Without Access- teachers would need to make adjustments/ arrangements for students without smart phone access. At times, (students had phone taken away or broken)I needed to adapt and allow them to use the computer in my classroom or my laptop. Some students brought laptops into my classroom.

Research, Questions and Feedback On the card provided, I have listed a variety of ways in which I can be contacted about my research. The website will provide documents, data, and web links to research and important sites used in this study. The website will also provide a forum for teachers to contact me and ask questions as they incorporate technology into their own classrooms.

Thank you!