Joshua Petras EDUC 526 Growth Assessment Murrieta Campus Fall II 2013 Page

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Celebrating a Launch, Not a Landing
Joshua Petras
EDUC 526 Capstone Experience in Digital Teaching and Learning
Dr. Gilbreath
Murrieta Campus
December 12, 2013
















Joshua Petras EDUC 526 Growth Assessment Murrieta Campus Fall II 2013 Page

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SECTION ONE:
Introduction Setting the context.
Prior to enrolling in the Digital Teaching and Learning program, I was debating whether
or not I wanted to enroll in a masters program. Since graduating high school in 2007, life has
been incredibly busy. Immediately after the summer I graduated, I began working at a job where
I worked early mornings with a schedule consisting of 32-40 hours a week. Along with that, I
was not only a full time student, but I was the intern for the middle school ministry at our church.
This continued for two years, when life changed again. I was still a full time student, but I was
now at San Marcos, working at Red Robin, running middle school ministry, and trying to put
together a plan for my upcoming marriage to my new fianc. Another transition occurred in
2012, when I began teaching at Temecula Preparatory School the same year I took over the high
school ministry and started my teaching credential program. I was joyful, but a little burnt out. I
knew I only had to endure eight more months and six more classes for the degree, but I was
seriously considering delaying.
However, in May of 2013, my mind was swayed by a few factors. The first was I began
to see the need for getting a firm grasp on everything relating to technology and education. I
learned about our school, and all schools, heading in that direction and I wanted to make sure
that I wasnt categorized with the majority of teachers who dont have clarity on integrating
technology. I had convinced myself that this degree would be useful and I would probably be
using this for the rest of my life. I also was swayed by the reputation of Azusa Pacific University,
and by the fact that my masters would be accredited no matter where I eventually moved. A
friend of mine who has given me counsel since I was sixteen years old also encouraged me. He
helped me realize that there is not time in life where it will be easier for me to complete this.
Since my wife and I are still fairly young and we have no children at this point, I realized that
this would be the best time to accomplish this final academic goal.
I am very excited that the end is so close. Very few members of my family have
graduated college, let alone completed post-graduate work. I will be one of two family members
that have a masters degree. In my own reflection, I realized that I have never been someone who
saw himself as wanting a masters or even the type of student who would get one. I was a terrible
student in high school and spent the first year of college with no idea of the direction I was
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headed. I knew I wanted to be a teacher, but I had no idea how far along I would be at this point.
I feel blessed and am so thankful for every opportunity I have received.
Currently I am an Algebra 1 teacher at Temecula Preparatory School, a charter school in
Winchester, CA. While I also teach one class of Speech and Debate, my five Algebra classes are
the main focus of my job. This is my second year at the school and I love it. I enjoy the small
school atmosphere and have continuously been amazed at all the differences between a small
charter school and the large public school from which I graduated. I teach all Algebra students at
the school, which includes students all the way from grades 6 to 11. Along with teaching those
classes, I am also one of the lead members of the newly established assessment team. This school
year, our school is moving all its benchmark examinations onto a program known as EADMS.
EADMS is designed to help store, create, and distribute exams along with providing teachers
with an abundance of statistical resources for analyzing data from exams. My role is to assist in
helping teachers use the program, aiding them in everything from creating exams to analyzing
the data.
My goals for this masters degree are two fold. The first is the obvious one of pay and
prestige. I firmly believe that it is my duty to make decisions that are best for the future of my
family. This degree not only increases my pay, but it also puts me in a position to continue my
salary increase to support my family for years to come. The second reason is the practicality of
the degree. I wanted a degree that I could put to use right away. Already in this program I have
easily been into practice way more than I did in my undergraduate and credential work
combined. I am thankful I can put this degree to use right away.

Personal Growth
I would say that the biggest area of personal growth that has occurred during my time in
the program has been coming to an understanding of what I can and cant handle. As I described
in the prior section, I have been increasingly busy for the past six years. While I have tried to
prioritize different areas of my life, I have been placed in a position where all of my duties are of
high priority. High school ministry, being a husband, work, and school all have equal weight of
importance. While some require more time and care then others, none of them can be placed on
the back burner. Each one of them demands excellence.
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There have been times where I have thought to myself about the impossibility of doing
everything well, yet time after time the Lord has been gracious and has allowed me to complete
the tasks at hand. Sermons have finished, exams graded, essays written, and dates have stayed on
the calendar when they seemed like they wouldnt.
However, this semester was the first semester where I have learned that I have a limit.
High school ministry required more time than ever this year, and I began to realize that this time
it wouldnt work. The Lord humbled, not out of punishment, but in order to show me that I have
a limit and everything do well is from Him. I had to learn to delegate, learn to schedule, and had
to learn again that life is not about me. It was a very difficult semester, but one for which I am so
thankful. God is gracious in showing us our limits, and the correct response from me shouldnt
be more determination but more prayer. This has been a huge area of growth and one that I am
sure wont end here.
In this turmoil, I have learned some things about my work habits. I have learned that I
work better by mixing up the location of my work area, alternating back and forth from my home
office to a Starbucks or even a McDonalds. I have also learned that I need large chunks of time
to work on stuff. I would rather work on projects in long 4-hour sittings than working on them in
30-45 minute increments. I have recently noticed that I have suddenly become a little bit of a
perfectionist, becoming downcast when my work isnt the best I think it could be. All of these
have been strange but exciting discoveries.
This degree means the end of a road. In the fall of 2007, I started a journey towards
finishing my college education. A lot has happened along the way. The mindset has always been
to finish all the necessary details of life while Im you so I can then start focusing on things I
love doing. I am looking forward to February, as now I will be able to smile as I have earned the
right use my strength and efforts to focus primarily on the things I want to do and not just on the
things I have to do.

Professional Growth
The Digital Teaching and Learning program has had a large impact in my growth as a
professional educator. As this is only my second year of teaching, I feel that my experience in
this program will shape the direction of my career for the next couple decades. I have learned so
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much from this program and have already began to dream of its applications in my life in the
next three, five, and ten years.
The biggest value I have seen in this program is the change I have experienced in my
vision for how technology should be integrated into the classroom. I must start by saying I have a
lot of trouble embracing the philosophy of Howard Gardner. I understand the idea of students
learning in different ways, but I dont necessarily agree with everything. I believe that the role of
the teacher isnt necessarily to teach towards all the different ways in which students learn, but it
is to engage students through different means of interest. Teachers must find different methods,
types of assignments, and approaches then create students that want to learn.
This has helped shape my new view of technology and the two major roles I feel it plays
within education. The first role is that technology allows teachers and students to live within the
same world and speak the same language. The younger generations will always be filled with
digital natives. The older generations must put in effort in order to avoid becoming digital
immigrants so they can live in the same world as the younger generation. While this is a youth-
centered view, it is the reality of the world of communication. Technology, when wielded
usefully, is the tool that allows teachers to bridge the communication gap with teachers. The
second role it plays is the role of creating interest and engagement. Teachers need to stimulate
the interest of their students and help stir up their hearts to want to learn. I believe that all the
different resources available through technology today create the opportunity needed spark the
interest of every student.
While using technology can be very useful, it does take time and effort in order to utilize
it to its full potential. With all the variety of duties teachers have been assigned, sometimes it
feels like there isnt enough time to create these technology based lessons and activities. That is
why I made time management and discipline the focus of my Action Research Project. My study
was designed to examine the effects of overeating on my discipline and time management. What
I have been finding is that when I am undisciplined in one area, such as snacking, I am also
undisciplined in other areas, including time management. My study has led me to some helpful
aids and practices, such as scheduling and accountability, which will help me to ensure that I am
maximizing the amount of time I can spend ensuring that the technology I use will be as
effective as possible.

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Technical Growth
At the beginning of this program I was under the impression that this program would be
simple and require little effort. I have been using technology for almost my entire life and I felt
this program was created to help older teachers catch up with where I was in my knowledge of
technology. The first class didnt help me in changing my false thinking and I left under the
impression that this program would be simple. I saw myself as a digital native who had already
attained to the standard for a graduate of the program.
One week later, I realized I was completely wrong. While I understood the ins and outs of
using iPads and computers, I had no idea how to practically put into place what I knew. I used a
lot of the apps that were discussed in the course, including Evernote, Dropbox, and the App
store. What I began to realize is that I had no idea how to put in the effort required to make those
technologies become tools for everyday in the classroom. I soon began to realize that simply
having a computer or an iPad wasnt enough, but I had to learn how to integrate these
technologies affectively.
What I began to learn was these technologies can be most affectively integrated when
they are done so under the concept of universal access. As a teacher, I have many different types
of students in my classroom everyday. Part of my job is to make sure that I am teaching in a way
that can impact all students and not teaching in a way that is most comfortable to me. I need to
use lessons, activities, and examples that can be adapted so that all the different types of learners
I encounter can learn. While this need to adapt for all students has existed for years, technology
is the most effective way in which teachers can adapt in our modern times. My goal as a teacher
is to take the variety of learners in my class and connect them with technologies that would be
most helpful to them in their learning process. Prior to the program I would have no idea how to
accomplish this task. While I still need to improve dramatically, I now have a developing
understanding of how to do this.
The major benefit of the program was the immediate incorporation of the programs I used
into my classroom. I still use Evernote, but have recently been using Skitch for my graphing unit.
Canvas, which I used in my EDUC 512 course, is an incredible web-based classroom that I have
started using in my Speech and Debate class for online journals and assignments. While I have
not completely developed my website yet, learning about Weebly has generated a deeper interest
in developing my classroom website beyond the normal expectation. I have also become a
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faithful user of Educreations and TouchCast as a result of the program. None of these apps and
programs had ever touched my computer or iPad prior to this program, and now they are some of
my most frequently used toys.

Life Long Learning Plan
I have always compared knowledge in any subject area to a muscle; the less it is used,
stretched, and exhausted, the weaker it becomes. There a few people in the world that can be an
expert an anything without constant energy towards that area, and I am not one of those people.
If I am going to stay sharp as a teacher I will need to continue to pour energy and time into my
own personal development. I will need to take time to ensure that my spiritual, pedagogical, and
technological growth is being prioritized and nourished.
One of the reasons I need to prioritize my spiritual growth is because of the impact on
every other area of my life. My heart towards Christ, His church, His word, and His glory
directly impacts my integrity, passion, and professionalism. If I am some who loves sin, himself,
and comfort, then I will fail to serve students and to work hard. I must make sure that I am loving
and serving Jesus primarily and all other areas can then fall into place. I will need to make sure I
am reading my Word, getting accountability, and spending time in prayer on a regular basis. I
need to prioritize my spiritual health or I will fail.
In regards to developing in my teaching skills and the way I use technology in the
classroom, I still need to learn where it is I need to learn. I have mentally bought into the idea
that time needs to be spent developing in these areas. There will be times where I will spend
hours not benefitting my current classroom but my future classes by developing my uses of
pedagogy and technology. But I still need to learn exactly what is the best way to go about
developing in these areas. From some of my colleagues I have learned that the best way is to
spend time reading books on the subjects, absorbing all the available information and adopting
what seems most intriguing. Others have encouraged the attendance of conferences in order to
take ideas that are being shared by others. Still others have said that the best way to develop is
collaboration with other teachers, observing them and then dialoguing about different techniques.
While all of these seem like great ways to develop, the one clarity is that all of them will take
time. I have a long way to go in my development as an educator, and I will need to take the time
to see which of these routes to development is the best suited for me.
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While the present is very exciting and talk of development is just as interesting, trying to
determine where I will be in five or ten years is as intriguing as it is frightening. I have honestly
been so busy the past few years that most of my thoughts are always towards the next hurdle in
life. However, there are a few things I know that I on which I can base a hypothesis. I know that
I am a leader. I know that I prefer math to any other subject. I know that I am fascinated by the
ever-growing world of technology. I know that I want to serve Christ in His church. With these
facts I know, I have determined that there is a possibility I may not be in the classroom in ten
years. I have been trained in ministry, and I see myself as possibly being in a full-time role if the
Lord should lead me in that direction. I also see myself as potentially being within a leadership
role within education, whether that is in administration or as someone who oversees the
integration of technology into the pedagogy of a school or school district. If I am still in the
classroom, I definitely believe that close to 50% of my students will be online students and that
my classroom will either be flipped or have no set meeting time at all. Either way, I am very
excited to see where the future takes me and I am thankful that I can trust my God will direct me
in a way that is most joyful to me and most glorifying to Him.

SECTION TWO:
History of Coursework and Course Evaluation

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INSTR0CT0R:
Boyle Pottei
Summei
2u1S
- LiveBinuei
- Woiule
- Keynote
Thought the class was gieat in
getting people on tiack in the
piogiam. Appieciateu the
appointment with the piogiam
uiiectoi to make suie I'm on
tiack.

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Instiuctional
Applications
Piouuctivity
Softwaie

INSTR0CT0R: }im
Sullivan

Summei
2u1S
- 0se of Aiiseivei
- Incoipoiating iPau
- Piioiitizing use of
technology
- Testing anu
ieseaiching apps
- Webquest

Couise was gieat at placing
the minuset foi the entiie
piogiam. As a stuuent, was
challengeu to begin thinking
tech-fiist. Nay have been a
little to simplistic foi uigital
natives, but few changes
woulu be neeueu.

Joshua Petras EDUC 526 Growth Assessment Murrieta Campus Fall II 2013 Page

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=>?!
@AC
Bigital viueo in the
Classioom

INSTR0CT0R: Toiy
Temple

Summei
2u1S
- Cieating movies
with couise content
- Neeu to auapt to
stuuents sense of
attention
- 0nueistanuing
stuuents attention
patteins
- 0se of iNovie
- Youtube
Bownloauei

Couise was piobably the most
fun. Alloweu people to expiess
theii cieative siue was helpful
in unueistanuing the neeu to
holu stuuents' attention anu
uiscoveiing uiffeient methous
to uo that.
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Evolving
Euucational
Technologies

INSTR0CT0R:
Lance Naitin

Fall 1
2u1S
- 0se of skitch
- Intiouuction of
cieating peisonal
website
- Seeing how tech can
help with
communicating with
paients
- Piezi
- Polls Eveiywheie
- Touchcast

Leaineu a lot about little apps
that I coulu use. The couise
was the most helpful couise in
builuing my "app aisenal." The
couise was also helpful in
seeing how cutting euge apps
coulu be useu in piactical
ways.
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Leaining in the
21st Centuiy

INSTR0CT0R:
}ennifei Couiuuff

Fall 1
2u1S
- Thinking of multiple
intelligences
- Lesson that aie
completely
technology baseu
- Web-baseu apps

Couise was piobably the most
piactical in iegaius to
implementing technology into
my classioom. Belpeu me see
the big pictuie anu ieally
"stietch to the limit" of
technology integiation.
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Capstone
Expeiience Bigital
Teaching anu
Leaining

INSTR0CT0R:
}oanne uilbieath
Fall 2
2u1S
- 0sing uoogle+
- Cieating a full
website
- Thinking thiough a
unit filleu with
technology
uieat couise in putting it all
togethei. Appieciate that the
final pioject is not a "busy
woik" oiienteu thesis, but
something that will be useful
foi yeais anu that captuies the
meaning of the couise.


Evaluation of the impact of the Digital Teaching and Learning Program
I am so thankful for this program and the way it has impacted my teaching career. As
someone who is only in his second year of teaching, I must say that I truly feel that the eight
months I have spent in this program will have an exponentially greater impact than my
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undergraduate and credential work combined. The program is extremely practical and I believe
only scratches the surface of what the future of education will be.
One of the most simple things this program has done for me is to instill in me the ability
to let students be creative. This is something that is difficult for me as a math teacher, as I
typically like keeping things rigid and structured. However, the technologies introduced in this
program help me to see how little work it is to let students be creative. I able to use blogs or
other writing apps if students would prefer to do a quick write describing a mathematical
process. If students want to create a video that demonstrates a process, they can do so using a
variety of apps. I am able to let students create and edit images through websites and other free
apps. This program really is beneficial in helping teachers give their students access to all of
these options.
While everyone typically sees creativity as a good thing, it must be pointed out that this
program wasnt designed to be creative for creativitys sake. We are living in a world that is
more and more becoming about technology. No longer can it said that there is the technology
world and there is the real world, but for the younger generation the two worlds have become
one. As teachers we must relate to our students in this world. Instead of finding one method by
which teaching occurs and requiring students to join in that world, teachers instead can use
technology to invade the modern world and invite students to knowledge. These different
technologies, programs, and apps then act as different roads by which students can travel to
access knowledge. This is the goal of this program and I have seen its use in my classroom
already.
Program Evaluation
Overall, I would have to say that my time at APU and specifically within this program
has been a very positive experience. I picked APU as my school for the credential and for my
post-graduate work because of the flexibility they offer to those who wish to work while being in
school Other credential programs require that you only focus on the program during the year
long process and then focus on the career after the program. I disagree with this approach on a
philosophical level. I believe the best way to learn something is to experience the practice of the
subject, and APU has allowed me to do just that. I have been able to learn about the technology
in the classroom by night while trying to put it into practice during my daily work at my school I
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feel that has allowed my to not only learn the content but to also assign value to the content that I
may have never discovered.
I feel the strength of this program is the size of the classroom and the personal access
each student is given. Obviously, every single person at the front desk or that I have spoken with
on the phone has been courteous and genuinely helpful. However, the power of this program is in
the personal access students have with the professors. This class has little to do with memorizing
statistics and facts, but has everything to do with refining and building your practice. The best
way to do that is through hands on practice and discussion. I have not only been able to create
projects I may give in my classroom, but I have been able to get personal feedback from each
professor along the way. The experience has been incredible.
I would recommend that the program does consider a few changes. The first I would ask
for them to consider is the lens by which they view their pedagogy. While this program is
extremely practical, there are really only two classes that speak about teaching philosophy and
the only pedagogical focus is through the lens of Howard Gardner. I am thankful that this course
doesnt waste time on every methodology and philosophy, and being only a young teacher I feel
inadequate to make this request. However, I am sure that there exist many people who would
agree entirely with the philosophy and would ask if there is any other philosophy the program
may consider as filter for some of their projects. My thought is that it would simply expand the
application of the program.
My second request is that the program may consider some availability based projects.
While the trend of education is bending towards technology, the money for a lot of schools cant
always bend as far as others. I think it would be nice of some projects were asked to be
completed with unlimited resources and some with limited. I believe this would simply increase
the practicality of the program. In all, this program has been beneficial to my future and I am
thankful for the experience.