Monitoring

My Goal

• Make APA citation a common practice by every individual in my classroom.
• Create a social network on Ning that facilitates communication and collaboration about content that is being studied.

Progress Towards My Goal

• I have been referencing the textbooks and websites that have contributed to my lessons.
• Students are familiar with the bibliography section of both their handouts as well as PowerPoint presentations that they view.
• I have not cited the sources of the numerous visuals that I have obtained by using Google Images due to time.
• I have chosen to focus direct teaching on content as opposed to lessons on citation practices.
• I will focus on incorporating citation lessons into early lessons for next semester.
• I will continue to expose students to APA citation so they know it is common practice in my classroom.
• I have worked with colleagues on becoming familiar with Ning and its uses.
• I have incorporated the use of Ning into lessons and projects for next semester.
• Administration has agreed to purchase Ning subscription for the next school year.

Information and Resources

• I have found the information and resources that I need for citation and use of Ning during my experience as a Walden University students as well as during my collaboration with colleagues.

Modification of My Action Plan

• My action plan remains the same, however, the timeline by which it will be accomplished has been extended.
• I’ve decided to implement more of what I learned to next year’s classes. Proper APA citation will be taught and required of my students for next semester.
• The students in my classes for next semester will create a Ning profile and post blogs regularly.

Learning

• Modeling proper APA citation for students by exposing them to bibliographies on handouts and presentations makes it easier to require such a practice from them.
• Using Ning is similar to using Facebook and therefore it was easy for me to learn how to use it. Hopefully, the students will find as much ease as I did in learning how to navigate Ning.
• I can have students post blogs daily reflecting how the mini-lesson for the day contributes to their current project. These reflections can facilitate editing of projects as they learn what needs to be modified or added to their presentations or assignments.
• Ning offers a platform for peer editing. Students can collaborate with each other as they offer each other feedback and suggestions that can be used to improve upon their work.

New Questions

• How are images cited? If I take an image from a website, how do I know who is actually supposed to be credited for creating the image?