Numbers 1.4 - first t-test analysis ever!

Here is my published shot on screencast and here is my image.  You can also access my document on my Google Drive.

For this exercise, my null hypothesis would be: There is no relationship between ethnicity and scores on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress.  

My research hypothesis (or test hypothesis) would be:  There is a relationship between ethnicity and scores on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress.

I ran a t-test for all of the scores, comparing White students' scores with Hispanic students' scores, then White students' scores with Black students' scores, and finally, Black students' scores with Hispanic students' scores.  I used the Data Analysis Toolpak add on in Excel and computed t-tests with the assumption that there were equal variances.  Each P value was 0.00 which indicates that these score differences are not simply due to chance.  The null hypothesis can be rejected.  There clearly is a relationship between ethnicity and scores on the 2013 NAEP.

If I were to represent this data in an academic paper using APA style I would first have to find and reference the data itself.  I believe the National Center for Education Statistics web page would be an excellent source as it allows you opportunities to select and access the exact data you wish to focus on as you can see here.


I would also have to include some references to P values, how they are calculated, what they mean, and how they are used in research.  Having just read two books by Neil J. Salkind that touched on this topic, I would probably reference at least one of those or look for others to explain this topic.

I would also do some additional research to support my findings, to see how results on this test compare to other similar tests and what experts believe causes these ethnic differences as well as what educators and communities are doing in an effort to limit these differences.

Numbers 1.3 - maybe I do love you Excel

I find myself wishing I had more reason to use Excel on a day to day basis because frankly, it is VERY COOL, but I don't use it enough to do anything easily.  This assignment was okay though because I just finished Measurement and Statistics and we used these same functions.  This was a good opportunity to practice them.  With that in mind, I used the Data Analysis Toolpak I had installed in the fall to do the calculations and then I did them again using the functions. I have no idea what half of the results  mean in the first chart I created, but I left it all in there in case it is useful to someone smarter than me.  In the second (down below the original data) I simply calculated what was required.  Here is my finished product.

Clearly, females have higher 8th grade reading scores than males, with an average that is 10 points higher. The highest female score beat the highest male score by 7 points while the lowest female scores was a full 14 points higher than the lowest male score.  There is a lot of evidence that girls read more for enjoyment than boys, and the types of reading that boys do enjoy is not as encouraged in the schools as the fiction is that girls prefer.  This chapter from a report by PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) documents that this phenomena is generally true not only in the US, but in all countries other than Korea.

Sadly, Virginia is not making us proud as far as this data goes.  Out of 50 states, the District and DoDEA, we are 24th.  We did beat 28 other jurisdictions and our overall average of 267.6 beats the average for all states by a full point..  Unfortunately, our scores falls 10 points behind the top score posted by Massachusetts.  White and Hispanic students in VA kept the same -10 ratio with those groups in MA, although black students in Virginia trailed black students in MA by only 5 points.


Virginia is a diverse state with several school systems that consider themselves "World Class."  I wonder how a regional breakdown of scores would compare to these.

Numbers in Excel - a little more love and a little more hate

Well, this was not so bad, other than the mystery errors I got the first time I tried it that went away as soon as I did the exact same thing over again... Ah Excel... why are you so complicated?   Here is my finished product.   I admit, I only used the IF Function for the final semester grade;  I thought it was rather tedious, and since excel help recommended some other options I tried vlookup for the next one and it was SO MUCH EASIER.  So...  that is how I calculated the rest of them.  I used my new favorite tool, Jing to grab you a capture of the function.  EASY!

I know that I could have copied and pasted the IF formula over and over again, but I am only good at things I do more than once, and I really never wanted to get involved in that IF Function again, so I thought I should see what else was out there.  Vlookup was cool (and also impressed my husband who has a love-love relationship with Excel.)

  Since I was being honest when I said I am only good at things I do over and over again, I used a ClipGrab to get a handy little video that demonstrates the vlookup function.  Enjoy!

Excel and I have a love/hate relationship

Excel is one of the coolest tools out there, but I don't use it enough to get really proficient which means that every time I need Excel I have to re-teach myself how it works.  Like playing Rook.  I have a vague idea what the rules are, but my partner usually hates me for the first 30 minutes while I get the hang out it.  So, here is my spreadsheet which I believe I was able to save to my Google drive.

My husband is the Excel pro- he even uses it for fun little personal projects like seeing how his fantasy hockey team would have done under different circumstances.  Thank goodness he was not home or I would have been sorely tempted to ask for his help.  As it was, despite the fact that I just completed Measurement and Statistics in December, I still had to go online and seek some assistance with the graphing part of the assignment.  I got all bogged down wondering how a Histogram is different from a bar graph.  In the end, I used a lot of tools I was fairly comfortable with: average, minimum, maximum, range, dragging the formulas, and some that were new: tilting the labels at different angles, adding back color to the headings, and the bar graph.  We used histograms in the other class.  I am still not convinced I made the graph in the most efficient way, but it worked.

Screencast o matic - that was kind of tricky

Screencast o matic offers some tools that Jing does not, but the help is not nearly as easy to find.  And I needed some help.  The biggest issue I had (that was not related to my own laptop/webcam) was figuring out how to get both myself and my screen in the video.  First I tried using my webcam inside the capture box, but each time I clicked on the screen to demonstrate something I disappeared.  I finally found the little help button on Screencast and watched this video.  Finally some clarity.

 Make the help button bigger, or place links to the help videos right on the screen like Jing does; that is the feedback I sent my new friends at Screencast.




I also created a YouTube channel for this class and if you would like to watch the video there, here is your link Making a word family Wordle.

iste.nets-t standards addressed using Screencast O Matic -

This tool is great for meeting standard 1, specifically making an educational video like this enabled me to teach my students how to do something creative but it would be even more powerful for older students to use to teach something to someone else.  When you are able to explain how to use or do something, you understand it in a much deeper way.

I can see Screencast being a great tool for meeting standard 5 as well.  Just prior to getting started on my Evernote assignment today, I completed an online module about goal setting.  I was able to complete it at my own pace and in my free time because someone used a tool like Screencast to put together the videos that showed me where to find and how to use the assessment tools that my school system has available. It was great.

Video Capture with embedded code

Jing has some great tutorials and really nicely laid out help.  As a result, I believe I was able to solve my video uploading problem a different way.  I added a button to my toolbar that enables me to capture embedded code and then I learned how to copy and paste that into this blog.  Check it out.  Also, if anyone has any advice on how best to size the video, I am all ears.  My approach here was to play around with the numbers in the top of the code until I got a size that fit.  I was careful to keep the ratios similar, but other than that it was not very scientific or technological.

Jing Screencast - so cool and easy to use!

I will admit I was a bit nervous about the whole video thing, but then I often am about things I am trying for the first time.  Jing is great, and frankly I made something useful, which is sadly not always the case with classwork. Can't wait to roll it out to my parents.  I used Padlet to create a wall with all the math games we are using for reinforcing addition and subtraction facts, as well as story problems.  The kids love these, but they are a bit of a pain to get to because they are rather buried in our web site.  My Padlet wall gets them all in the same place, with a little visual to help those who don't read as well, and they don't have to accept the Loudoun County disclaimer each time they select a new game.  I think it will be very useful for my students and their parents.

This assignment was actually quite simple using Jing.  To begin, I simply scrolled over the Jing Sun at the top of my screen.  I chose the first prong, the "Capture" prong.   The second prong is the "History" prong and it enables you to see the captures you have made in the past.  The final button on the sun is really handy, it allows you to get help (which I often need!) and change or customize settings.  Back to the first button, once I clicked the "capture" button, I was able to scroll across and select my entire desktop to be the image captured.  I then selected  the"video" button from the toolbar so that I would not get a picture, but a video with audio for my capture.  I recorded the steps needed for my parents to help their students access my Padlet and then I selected end.  I saved the video (an SWF file) in my windows photo library and in my Screencast library.  The Screencast button allows you to share your video.  Here is the link to mine. Math Resources Padlet video   I wanted to upload the video like I did with Harry Kindergarten yesterday, but it is not working.  I shall have to look into that.

iste.nets-t standards:  I think the use of Screencast to teach my parents how to use my Padlet wall as a math resource fits nicely with standard 3-Model Digital Age Work and learning.  It definitely allows for collaboration using digital tools and resources and although I could probably use some practice as a commentator, the video shares relevant information and ideas fairly effectively.  The Padlet itself facilitates my students learning because it really does make it easier for 6 year olds to navigate to the target games.

Padlet - a link that works.

How about this?  Before I was trying to use the share feature on Padlet.  That gave me a bad link, but just copying the url of the Padlet I made seems to work fine.  Much simpler.

Padlet - simple but full of possibilities

I think Padlet is sort of like Wordle in that it allows you to take a main idea and add details.  Or to associate a bunch of different things around a theme.  I could use it in the classroom for All About Me activities or Student of the Week.  My students are 6 and 7, so they would probably need some support dragging and dropping and uploading things, but once they knew what they wanted and where it could be found, I think they would have a lot of fun with this.  I could even create some padlets of my own to share with families - one with links to math games, one with links to vocabulary or sight word games or supports.  I could even create one each week for the parents to access any online resources I had used, like BrainPop Jr., YouTube, etc.  The kids LOVE math raps and could easily listen along at home if their parents could just visit my padlet and access the links.   Very neat application.  I made a padlet to represent this class so far.  In theory, you can check it out here.  But I keep getting a bad request.  Not sure why.  Here is what it looks like...  I will have to do a bit of work to see what is up with the link.

iste.nets-t standards address by this application:
I think with would work very well with standard 3 - Model Digiatl Age Work and Learning.  Padlet enables teachers to collaborate with students, peers, parents and community using digital tools.  (3b)   It is a great way to communicate relevant information effectively and incorporates as many different types of media as the poster wishes.  (3c)

Video Capture - trying out ClipGrab

I did it.  Whew!  Initially this assignment gave me some anxiety.  Although part of that is due to the relentless pace of the activities.  With grades and comments due this week, plus the general lesson planning necessary, I feel a bit overwhelmed when I need to spend time learning and using new things day after day.  My solution was to put the blog/assignment issue aside for 24 hours, get all my work stuff done, and tackle this first thing Saturday morning.  So, the sun is just coming up and I have managed to learn and accomplish something new.  I feel pretty good.

I had never attempted to download a video from YouTube before, but thought it was a very useful idea. Every year we lose our ability to access YouTube (and other vast swaths of the internet) during the SOLs.  The school system asks that internet access be extremely limited so that students who are taking the test online do not suffer from connectivity issues.  Downloading ahead of time means that teachers who were planning on using a video for instruction can do so as planned.  I love it.  But had no idea how to go about it.

I see from reading the Padlet wall that there are a number of ways to accomplish this.  I read the wall after I did a little Google research found a Wiki on the subject.  That led me to ClipGrab.  ClipGrab requires an initial download, but that only took a minute and within seconds of that I had my Harry Kindergarten sight word video ready to save on my computer.  Very cool.

iste.nets-t standards
Being able to download a video from YouTube or other video sources allows teachers to design relevant learning experiences using digital tools (2a), and if students were to use this skill as part of an assignment, it allows them to customize and personalize learning activities. (2c)