Technology as a Tool for Organization and Communication

Tatum Valleroy
EDUC 526 Capstone Experience in Digital Teaching and Learning
Dr. Joanne Gilbreath
San Diego Regional Center
May 19, 2015
Technology As a Tool for Organization and Communication

Technology as a Tool for Organization and Communication

Introduction
The decision to pursue a Masters degree was made easily. I enjoy school, learning, and the
challenge of pushing myself academically. Admittedly, another motivator for continuing my
education was finances. While I love learning and desire to become a better educator, as a young
adult with little savings I felt pressured to increase my salary in any way possible. My experience as
an undergraduate and credential student of Azusa Pacific University (APU) was so positive that
continuing my education at APU was an easy decision. The next step was to evaluate the Master in
Teaching degrees APU offers. Digital Teaching and Learning (DTL) stood out to me as the most
practical and immediately applicable degree for a beginning teacher. One of my goals for the DTL
program was to gain strategies to access in any given teaching situation.
Another goal for the DTL program was to improve my ability to navigate technological tools
so that my effectiveness as a music director, not just music teacher, would increase. Music directors
wear many hats, one of which is logistics manager. The DTL program appealed to me because I
believe in the power of technology to make things simpler and more efficient. Through the DTL
program, I wanted to have the resources needed to communicate and plan in such a way that students
and their families have a clear understanding of expectations.
The DTL has helped me reach both of those goals, but not without sacrifice. I am currently in
my first year of teaching. My thought was that, because I only teach two classes, now is the best time
to get a Masters. However, I had not yet learned the following: 1. Regardless of how many class
sections a new teacher has, teaching takes a lot of time. 2. Music teachers have many outside of class
responsibilities, like rehearsals and performances. 3. New teachers get asked to assist with many
extracurricular activities. At the start of the school year, I got asked to be the AP Coordinator. I
immediately accepted, desperate for any extra pay and wanting to please the assistant principal who

Tatum Valleroy
San Diego Regional Center

EDUC 526 Growth Assessment

Spring 2015

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May 2015

asked me. If I had enough foresight, I would have noticed AP exams fall in the midst of the music
departments biggest production of the year and my most challenging Masters classes. If I was to
complete the DTL program, it would be at the cost of sleep and leisure time.
Personal Growth
As previously mentioned, I chose to pursue a MA at a busy time in my life. This revealed
some interesting aspects of my approach to learning. School has always been an area of my life in
which I excelled with little effort. When I reflect on my experience in high school and even as an
undergraduate, I do not remember feeling stressed about studying or assignments. I knew that if I
exerted some effort I would get an A in any course. I say this not to boast, but to illustrate this point: I
never learned how to manage my time or how to study because I never had to.
Therefore, the level to which graduate school challenged me came as somewhat of a shock. At
the start, I put forth the same effort I always had. I soon learned, though, that amount of effort would
not suffice if I wanted to learn anything from this program and pass my classes. The teachers I was
used to always told me exactly what to do and I would simply do it. I was not used to professors who
give students more independence, expecting us to know our deadlines and assignments. I learned
what I needed to do to become more organized at better at managing my time. This degree has forced
me to prioritize my time more efficiently so I can maintain my relationships and stay in balance.
On a personal level, this degree has taught me to make my time with friends and family richer
because my free time was so sparse. On a spiritual level, this degree revealed to me the intermingling
of profession and missional calling. My motivation for completing assignments I did not feel like
doing was knowing it would make me a better teacher, and therefore better equipped to reach students
on a more personal level. Just as no one would have listened to Pauls preaching if he made tents of

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San Diego Regional Center

EDUC 526 Growth Assessment

Spring 2015

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poor quality, I would be unable to touch students lives if I was not first and foremost an excellent
teacher.
Professional Growth
Through my study at APU, I have gained confidence as an educator. I feel I now have special
skills to offer, even as a new teacher, because of my improved ability to use technology in the
classroom. I have also gained confidence through the new instructional strategies I have adopted,
including varying seating arrangements and how I design and implement assignments. For example, I
typically have the men seated in the back and the women in the front because this is how they are
arranged during performance. Occasionally I will switch the rows or have the students sit mixed if I
sense they are losing focus. This sensitivity to learner responsiveness was gained through the DTL
program, particularly through EDUC 522 and the discussions about learning styles.
Through EDUC 514, I learned how to network to improve my teaching. Before this program,
I was not aware of the power of Twitter and Pinterest to learn best practices and connect with other
educators. This lesson expanded beyond technology to helping me be more proactive in seeking help
in my profession. I am now more aware of my resources and who to talk to for assistance with
specific issues.
The awareness of where to seek help came just in time, as I soon found myself overwhelmed
with professional responsibilities, including AP coordinating and after school tutoring. Because I had
grown to be more proactive in asking for help, I managed to fulfill each of my professional roles
successfully. If I had not learned about the power of networking through this program, this year of
teaching would have been immensely more challenging.
As I became more proactive in seeking help, I became more proactive in changing things
about my life that I wanted to change. The action research study in EDUC 526 helped me realize that

Tatum Valleroy
San Diego Regional Center

EDUC 526 Growth Assessment

Spring 2015

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May 2015

I can change my actions and habits if I strategize. The particular question I wanted to answer was:
Will using cash almost exclusively cause me to spend less? I enjoyed seeing the tangible change in
my spending from one small change to my lifestyle. I am excited to experiment with the other action
research questions I considered and plan to be more strategic about the things in my life I want to
change.
Technical Growth
At the beginning of the program, I was already skilled at several technology systems,
including iPhone, iPad, and Google Drive, and quick at learning how to use new systems. My greatest
takeaway from the DTL program is awareness of the variety of tools available and the situations in
which to use those tools. I also made progress in using technology more efficiently for organization
and communication.
While I knew that I could use Google Drive to improve organization, I learned in EDUC 512
the extent to which it could assist. I now use it for all my document storage because it is secure and
the space is unlimited. I can also now access those documents wherever I am, whether thats at work,
home, or at a friends house. This removes the stress of sending files from my home computer to
ensure I have access to it whenever I want to work. Another organization lifesaver I learned about in
EDUC 512 is an iPhone app called Mailbox. Mailbox combines email inboxes to one account, just
like the iPhone mail app. However, Mailbox provides the user with several options for any email
message: swipe to send at a later time (Later Today, Tomorrow Eve, Tomorrow, This Weekend, Next
Week, In a Month, Someday, Pick Date), add to a list (To Buy, To Watch, To Read, Create New List),
archive, or trash. This has helped me balance my work and personal life by preventing emails from
piling up and reminding me of messages I need to respond to. Past 6pm, I swipe any work emails to
Tomorrow so they are out of my mind for the moment and will be resent when I am ready to reply.

Tatum Valleroy
San Diego Regional Center

EDUC 526 Growth Assessment

Spring 2015

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May 2015

Professor Mark Rounds introduced those incredible tools to me in EDUC 512. In EDUC 515,
he introduced me to the app Remind. Remind is a safe, private way to text students. The app
functions by assigning a class code, which students use to enroll in the class on Remind. Therefore,
the teacher and students phone numbers are not revealed to either party. I use Remind to text my
choirs about rehearsals, what to bring to class the following day, and for quick communication of
urgent messages when were off campus for a performance or competition. My favorite aspect of the
app is that students cannot respond to my messages, which keeps it simple and professional.
Lifelong Learning Plan
Several areas for improvement were elucidated through this program and my first year of
teaching. The first area in which I can improve is planning. Music teachers typically teach with a
format that is very different from a typical classroom setting. I prepare my choirs for four
performances a year and teach music theory and sight reading along the way. We work on three to
four pieces of music for three months, then move on to new music after the performance of those
pieces. I do not plan much before I teach each day because my instruction has to adjust moment by
moment to their sound and what they are accomplishing. However, on the days I plan an outline of
the rehearsal, the students accomplish more because I am more confident. This summer, I hope to
select most of the years repertoire and outline the dates by which students should have certain songs
or concepts learned so that more of my energy during the school year can be devoted to being present
as I teach.
I will also be able to be more present during my instruction if I have a clearer understanding
of my classroom management policies and procedures. Through this program, I discovered several
apps and systems that assist with behavior management, such as Class Dojo. In addition to planning
for the years music over the summer, I will develop a classroom management plan that I can

Tatum Valleroy
San Diego Regional Center

EDUC 526 Growth Assessment

Spring 2015

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May 2015

implement with ease and consistency. Part of this plan includes a more Zero tolerance policy
toward late comers and side conversations. A choir will not be successful unless every individual is
committed to excellence. When I reflect on how I began this school year, I see that I did not present
myself as a totally capable professional, but as a fun coach. Through this program, I learned about
how to present and carry myself as a professional when interacting with students.
As the years pass and I gain teaching experience, it is my hope that my planning and
classroom management will become more effective and I can therefore be more impactful as an
educator. In 5 years, I see myself living in Oregon with my hopefully then husband. Ideally, I would
be teaching music full time, but I would be willing to supplement my music sections with math if
necessary to be full time. I also have a dream of starting a choral program at a high school who lacks
choir. The idea of building a program from the ground up is terrifying, because I know it would be a
difficult beginning, but exhilarating because I would be introducing something I am passionate about
to students. During summer vacations, I would plan my repertoire for the next school year and travel
or do mission work with my husband. Ten years from now, I hope to be doing much of the same
thing, but perhaps with children.
History of Coursework and Course Evaluation
Name
:
Term:
Cours
e

EDUC
511

Tatum Valleroy
Spring 2015
Course Title
& Instructor
Name
Foundations in
Digital
Teaching and
Learning

LiveBin
der
URL:
Term
Complet
ed

Key Skills
Acquired

Comments/Suggestions

Spring
2015

INSTRUCTOR:
Gilbreath

Tatum Valleroy
San Diego Regional Center

EDUC 526 Growth Assessment

Spring 2015

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May 2015

EDUC
512

Instructional
Applications
Productivity
Software

Website creation
Online forums
WebQuest
Fall 2014

INSTRUCTOR:
Mark Rounds

EDUC
514

EDUC
515

EDUC
522

EDUC
526

Digital Video in
the Classroom
INSTRUCTOR:
Mark Rounds

Fall 2014

Evolving
Educational
Technologies
INSTRUCTOR:
Mark Rounds

Learning in the
21st Century
INSTRUCTOR:
Lisa Rodriguez

Capstone
Experience/
Digital
Teaching and
Learning
INSTRUCTOR:
Joane
Gilbreath

iMovie
Photography
framing/angles
Sound editing

Twitter
Weebly
Blogging

The experience of
creating my own website
was empowering. It was
amazing to see how easy
it was and how it can be
used for my own classes.

Multiple
intelligences
Lesson planning
Tech tools for
special
populations

This class was almost

entirely geared around
elementary teaching and I
teach high school. It was
difficult to stay engaged
because I felt many of the
apps and tools did not
apply to my teaching
assignment.
This class was by far the
most challenging for me
because it involved a lot
of detailed planning, and I
am not much of a planner.
It helped me improve my
planning skills.

Fall 2014

Spring
2015

Critical reflection
SMART goals
Strategic planning
Spring
2015

Incredibly useful class. I

learned about so many
tech tools that I could use
in the classroom the next
day.
The WebQuest seemed a
little out of place and
dated amidst the amazing
tools we learned about.
It was so fun to learn
about video making. I now
quickly create videos for
my classes whenever I
need to.

Evaluation of the Impact of the Digital Teaching and Learning Program

Tatum Valleroy
San Diego Regional Center

EDUC 526 Growth Assessment

Spring 2015

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May 2015

Among the many tools I learned about through the DTL program, the app Class Dojo
stands out as one I would like to use in my next year of teaching. Classroom management is my
biggest area of need for growth, so this app excites me. Class Dojo makes the provision of
positive and negative consequences more consistent and simple. It would help me keep track of
individual student behavior so I can better communicate with families if a problem arises. I plan
to have the website open on my computer and actively record students positive or negative
behaviors during class.
Program Evaluation
I have been at APU for five years and have developed a love and loyalty toward the
university. Generally, the professors have a genuine interest in student learning and are kind
people who reflect Christ well.
I thoroughly enjoyed the courses, EDUC 512, 514, and 515, in which I learned about
what seemed like countless apps and websites that I could use in my classroom immediately. The
projects for these classes were practical and useful for my personal teaching assignment. I felt
motivated to invest time into these classes because I could see the direct correlation between my
coursework and my instruction. I was excited to come to class because my professor, Mark
Rounds, was a true expert in educational technology and was devoted to continually finding new
technological tools to use.
There are, however, a few areas of the masters program I believe could improve. The
course I struggled to be motivated in was EDUC 522. I felt unmotivated for a few reasons. I am a
secondary school teacher, and the tools and strategies were almost exclusively for a primary
school setting. I found myself ignoring some of the strategies the professor introduced because I
could not see how they applied to my teaching assignment. Understandably, the course is

Tatum Valleroy
San Diego Regional Center

EDUC 526 Growth Assessment

Spring 2015

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May 2015

designed for both elementary and secondary teachers. Another reason I felt unmotivated is
because I did not trust the professor was truly an expert in technology. I felt many of the tools
offered were gimmicky and would be outdated very soon. I expected each of my professors to be
innovators in the edutech field, and I did not feel this expectation was met. Additionally, I was
frustrated to have to take an entire course on learning styles when we had already spent many
hours studying this concept in credential classes. I was confused as to why a course with a sole
focus on learning styles was part of the DTL program.
In general, my recommendations for the program are to have courses in which the
projects and assignments are immediately useful to the classroom and to have professors that are
not only excellent teachers, but also innovators and experts in technology and emerging edutech
trends. Overall, my experience in the DTL program has been positive and I believe I am a better
educator because of it. Thank you for all the time and effort you have dedicated to APU and its
students.

Tatum Valleroy
San Diego Regional Center

EDUC 526 Growth Assessment

Spring 2015

Page 10
May 2015