🔍Case Studies🔎

Case Study #1: Sherry

• Sherry is a 56‐year old 7th grade science teacher.  

• She has limited knowledge of technology, but is willing to learn.  

• She notices that her kids are more motivated to learn when they are allowed to use technology.  

• She has an upcoming chapter on cells where the student outcome is for each to be able 

to name and explain the function of each cell part.  

Case Study #1: Sherry

In order for Sherry to meet her goals of having her seventh-grade students name and explain the functions of each cell part as part of their science unit learning, I would need to be a peer-oriented technology integration coach that assists Sherry through The Fives Phases of Coaching: Establishing educator need; creating a partnership between us educators; targeting differentiated projects based on educator needs; assessing the progress of both educators and students; and reflecting on the integration of technology for meeting educator and student needs. 

Phase 1: Establishing The Need

In my initial diagnostic interview with Sherry as her technology integration coach, I will be looking to establish trust between us both by work collaboratively with her on what she needs and what she is looking to ultimately do with her seventh-grade science students based on adult learning theory--that "Adults are internally motivated and self-directed" and "Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences" (Alaniz & Wilson, 2015, p. 42).  That way, Shelly's needs for specific science chapter materials on naming cell parts and their functions is duly noted and allows me as her coach to do the proper research on finding several different digital resources and tools to that could potentially best serve both her and her seventh-grade students over the course of a given academic school year. 

Phase 2: Create Partnerships 

In creating a partnership where I demonstrate and guide Sherry through the digital resources and tools I have found for educator and student use, we both will learn at the same time which of these technologies will actually work and will not work for her cell functions learning unit.  That way if there is any resource or tool I am modeling for her that does not provide enough content knowledge and/or does not allow her to feel comfortable in applying the right technical skills for students to express cell part names and cell functions, then I can quickly go back to doing further research and discovery on her behalf on the same well in advance of her upcoming science chapter discussion plans.  The social learning concept of Sherry observing my modeling is that while Sherry is learning from my careful modeling of different technological resources and tools, she can turn around and coach others on what she has learned through this means of sharing (Alaniz & Wilson, 2015, p. 49).

Phase 3: Target Differentiated Projects

In targeting differentiated projects based on her expressed educator needs, I would have Sherry take a good look at a few different digital science resources early-on in our bi-weekly meetings leading up to this particular science chapter work that should suit her and seventh grade students' academic needs through multiple learning approaches: LearningApps.org, Learn.Genetics, National Geographic Education, or Quizizz.  

I would also consistently remind Sherry "...that integrating technology is not always easy [...] [that] it cannot be accomplished without time, energy and careful thought invested both in and out of the classroom" (Alaniz & Wilson, 2015, p. 50).  In other words, I will make sure that she knows that she is not alone in furthering her abilities to use 21st Century technology for herself and her students alike both at and away from school--that she has me alongside her to work through any adjustments or tweaks needed for best implementing any or all of the previously-mentioned digital resources and tools.

Phase 4: Assess The Progress

In order to effectively assist Sherry in using her provided technological resources and tools for students to complete their cell part names and functions learning, I will personally be responsible for assessing each of these resources and tools mentioned prior and offering multiple options to Sherry on how they each can be implemented.  At the same time, Sherry as "...the coached teacher [will] assess the options presented [while] attempting to determine the best solution to address the needs of [...] her students" (Alaniz & Wilson, 2015, p. 51).  In this fashion, Sherry and I can see which cell part labeling and functions listing resources would best be used in creating formative assessment options and which other resources would be better utilized for establishing a proper summative assessment.

Phase 5: Reflect On The Integration

As with any distribution of digital resources and tools with educators, I would make sure to emphasize to Sherry in our collegial coaching discussions before and after her cell functions learning unit that "...the challenge comes in deciphering how to best utilize the information at hand as well as in knowing which data to discard" (Alaniz & Wilson, 2015, p. 28).  Through our collaborative reflection, Sherry and I will evaluate the possible future need to "...seek out new projects on which to focus..." (Alaniz & Wilson, 2015, p. 54).  Through these means of communication, we can see what worked, what needs improvement and what needs to be changed in presenting the cell part labeling and functions listing chapter materials paired with the infused technological resources and tools as previously-mentioned.

Overall, I strongly believe Sherry would have the most success in formulating her cell parts naming and functions listing assessments with her seventh-grade science students around the utilization of the following interactive websites: LearningApps.org and Learn.Genetics--especially if Sherry is looking for the simplest means to showcase technological applications on a computer that she can model with students in-class and have them work on labeling cell parts and writing out the functions of each cell part both in-class and outside of the formal classroom setting.  In this case, Sherry could very well have her seventh-graders working on a Jigsaw activity where students work in pairs or small groups to help each other label different cell parts and write out their functions on paper or a whiteboard and then have them work alone within a learning management system like BrightSpace, Canvas or Google Classroom to submit their own typed-out cell part labeling and functions listing.

References

Richardson, W., & Mancabelli, R. (2011). Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education (3rd ed.). Solution Tree.

(Education.NationalGeographic.org, 2024)

(Quizizz.com, 2024)

Case Study #2: Tim

• Tim is a 24‐year old 6th grade math teacher.  

• He is savvy with technology, but has a habit of using it as tool for a good, fun "filler".  

• He does not give students clear expectations for students learning. 

• Tim is not thrilled that he is being asked by his principal to have a technology coach meeting, but complies.

• He has an upcoming lesson on graphs.

Case Study #2: Tim

In order for Tim to meet his goals of having his sixth-grade students working on graphs as part of their upcoming math lesson, I would need to be a peer-oriented technology integration coach that assists Tim through The Fives Phases of Coaching in a brief amount of time: Establishing his exact educator need; creating a partnership between us educators; targeting differentiated projects based on his educator needs; assessing his progress as an educator and his students'; and reflecting on the integration of technology for meeting both his educator and his students' needs. 

Phase 1: Establishing The Need

In my initial diagnostic interview with Tim as his newly-appointed technology integration coach, I will be looking to establish trust between us both by work collaboratively with him on what he needs for his upcoming math lesson on graphs and what he is looking to ultimately do with his sixth-grade math students based on adult learning theory--that we "...might need to experiment and try alternative resources, tools, and implementation strategies before deciding upon that address the needs of [his] students..." (Alaniz & Wilson, 2015, p. 87).  That way, Tim's needs for specific graph materials are duly noted and allows me as his coach to do the proper research on finding several different digital graphing-related resources and tools to that could potentially best serve both him and his sixth-grade students over the course of his lesson on graphs. 

Phase 2: Create Partnerships 

In creating a partnership where I demonstrate and guide Tim through the digital resources and tools I have found for educator and student use, we both will learn at the same time which of these technologies will actually work and will not work for his math learning unit.  That way if there is any resource or tool I am modeling for him that does not provide enough content knowledge and/or does not allow him to feel comfortable in applying the right technical skills for students, then I can quickly go back to doing further research and discovery on his behalf on the same well in advance of his upcoming graph lesson plan.  While Tim is learning from my team-centric modeling of different graphing resources and tools, I will ensure Tim that I will do my very best to "...highlight [his] progress and achievements realized by [his work] while speaking with fellow faculty members and school leaders" (Alaniz & Wilson, 2015, p. 84).  Put another way, I will raise him through how I praise him!

Phase 3: Target Differentiated Projects

In targeting differentiated projects based on his expressed educator needs, I would have Tim see what he would like to use the most from a few different digital math resources in the couple of meetings that we would have leading up to this particular math lesson that should suit him and sixth grade students' academic needs through multiple fun and engaging approaches to graphs: IXL, Math Games, Mathigon, or Toy Theater Math Games.  

I would also consistently remind Tim that we "...are stronger working together than as individuals" (Alaniz & Wilson, 2015, p. 87).  In other words, I will make sure that he knows that he is not alone in further focusing his technological savviness for himself and his students alike both at and away from school--that he has me alongside him to work through any adjustments or tweaks needed for best implementing any or all of the previously-mentioned graphing-related digital resources and tools to be more than "filler" materials.

Phase 4: Assess The Progress

In order to effectively assist Tim in using his provided technological resources and tools for students to complete their graph learning in math class, I will personally be responsible for assessing each of these graph resources and tools mentioned prior and offering multiple options to Tim on how they each can be implemented for the upcoming graph lesson.  

Phase 5: Reflect On The Integration

As with any distribution of digital resources and tools with educators, I would make sure to emphasize to Tim in our collegial coaching discussions before and after his lesson on graphs that (Alaniz & Wilson, 2015).  Through our collaborative reflection, Tim and I will evaluate the possible future need to "...seek out new [graphing] projects on which to focus..." (Alaniz & Wilson, 2015).  Through these means of communication, we can see what worked in graph lesson, what needs improvement and what needs to be changed in presenting the graph materials paired with the previously-mentioned technological resources and tools.

Overall, I strongly believe Tim would have a lot of success in creating his math assessments for his sixth-grade math students by using the following interactive websites: IXL and Math Games--especially if Tim is looking for the simplest, most-fun means of showcasing graph applications that he can properly model with students in-class and have them work on in small groups and by themselves both in-class and outside of the formal classroom setting on a computer, phone and/or tablet device.  In this case, Tim could very well have his sixth-graders working as partners on a Battleship-like activity (which could involve finding items instead of destroying items in a Hide-and-Seek, Scavenger Hunt or Treasure Map Adventure) that has students working on guessing their partner's hidden item coordinates.  That way, students are able to then work out real-world problem solving for their upcoming summative assessment using Graphing Coordinates in the following quadrants: 

Quadrant I (Positive X-Axis #, Positive Y-Axis #)

Quadrant II (Negative X-Axis #, Positive Y-Axis #)

Quadrant III (Negative X-Axis #, Negative Y-Axis #)

Quadrant IV (Positive X-Axis #, Negative Y-Axis #).

References

Richardson, W., & Mancabelli, R. (2011). Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education (3rd ed.). Solution Tree.

(CueMath.com, 2024)

(IXL.com, 2024)

(TeachMe.com, 2024)

(Mathigon.org, 2024)

(ToyTheater.com, 2024)