Jon Moore's 20% Project

My 20% project has centered around increasing student access to independent reading and class reading material through different media. Specifically, allowing my students the opportunity to take advantage of new technologies for their independent reading, as well as research for class. For this project, I have done plenty of outside reading - Educational Leadership, Mindshift, and NY Times Learning have been great, specifically - to help in my decision making, as well as becoming aware of some benefits and challenges to increased use of portable devices for reading.

Working through this particular project has helped me in professional growth in two specific Technology Teaching Standards: 3 - Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, and 5 - Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. In regards to Standard #3, my students all use Google Docs for writing and collaborating in Language Arts, have gained experience in using Google and other search engines for research topics, have 'dabbled' in Google Reader/Books to see how some of the text they know is used and displayed digitally. All year long, my students have interacted with my classroom website, accessing articles posted, unit notes, and class news. I have roughly 105 students in Reading this year. About 8-10 students use a Nook/Kindle/I-Pad for the independent reading, and 4-5 use their SmartPhones for independent reading. I have had students do research on their SmartPhones in class when computer lab space is not available. Without the confidence I gained from research and the support of my administration, I would not have made these strides this year.

I have already touched on Standard #5. So much of what I have done this year has been a reflection of the reading and research I have done. Using Twitter professionally, taking advantage of groups and hashtags to quickly gain access to information, and broadening the scope of what I read has greatly impacted my knowledge on technology in teaching and learning. Throughout the year, I have periodically reflected on this experience on my professional blog: http://mrmooredreamteam137.blogspot.com/