There's a Beginning and an End

Sometimes the timing is just off or for whatever reason everything comes down at once and that seemed to be the case for a couple of weeks of this class. The first two weeks, especially with Thanksgiving was a time when I seriously considered if I was going to be able to do everything that was required and though I got all work done I know that some of it was not my full effort. It simply came down to priorities and what I was willing to sacrifice, which happened to be homework in case you were wondering. I certainly enjoyed learning about technology and actually having to create a blog sparked the desire to have my own personal blog, but for the first time there really were not enough hours in the day. Much of that stemmed from extra duties at school and then unforeseen events in the home life, but though I may not have been able to give my full attention to every assignment I was able to weather the storms and still complete the class.
Before starting this class I hadn’t had many expectations other than learning what technology is being used and maybe how my school rates in technology use. What a surprise having to create a blog and post assignments. A little daunting at first but well worth it and I enjoyed putting what I was learning to practice. And what do you know, there’s this thing called the Long Range Plan that has to do with schools implementing technology into the curriculum. I had no idea until this class, but it has good information and guidance for campus leaders to use and refer to when guiding technology decisions. I am rather excited about what I have learned and excited about sharing it in professional developments. Already working on a technology driven professional development with our curriculum instructional specialist that’s how fired up I am.
The ease of creating a blog makes it a great resource for educators. Creating my own blog for the first time seemed a little daunting at first but it was so easy that any teacher no matter their technological level could use this in the classroom. The ability for students and teachers to communicate with one another and with others around the country and world opens up so many possibilities. However, that very advantage is also what makes it a scary prospect as well. You never really know who is on the other end of the communication, so as the teacher it makes me nervous. This doesn’t mean that teachers shouldn’t use blogs, it just means they will have to be vigilant about the communications students have. Blogs are also a great way for parents to keep up with what’s going on in the class too. Email is the way they communicate with the teacher but viewing the blog will help answer that “what did you do in class today” question.
So, as I look back over the weeks of this course I started with the feeling of being very overwhelmed by how little I was incorporating technology into the classroom. As I read through article after article of all the examples of how teachers were using blogging and creating websites and portfolios it made me feel very inadequate. And it’s not necessarily the technology itself. Most of the uses have become so easy to use, like the blog in the first two weeks, it was literally click this button, name this, click this button, done. It literally became I want to do all this and do it now but where to begin and how? It is the implementation into the classroom, creating the actual lessons and rubrics that overwhelms me the most, which is why professional development should focus on not only just showing what technology is out there but create lessons implementing the technology should be a focus. Along those lines it’s the principal that needs to take the lead on this as well. The campus leaders have to model technology use and set the expectations that every teacher should incorporate technology into the curriculum. So by now, the end of the course, I’m feeling more fired up and my initial idea for leading a professional development has changed to a technology focus. Cell phones aren’t the evil things that they used to be and instead of trying to do it all at once I’m taking small steps to implementing a more technology rich class.

Week 4 action plan

Plan:

 Use the NETS*T standards to plan professional developments.
 Teachers meeting these standards to be in compliance with state requirements

Professional Development:

 Much of the responses from last week’s interviews revolve around using the technology in the classroom. Not only knowing what is available to use but to create lessons to be used. One professional development will includes breakout sessions on how to use wikispace in the classroom.

o Lead by two teachers who use wikispace, they will guide teachers on creating a discussion board and have groups by content work on their discussion board then brainstorm other ways to use it and come up with one other lesson.

Assessment
 Surveys done at level 4 and 5, addressing how the teacher is using wiki in the lessons and student use will be done at the end of each semester.

Professional Development:

 In teacher’s PLCs, they will access student TAKS data from the previous year using the AEIS-IT online. As a group they will disaggregate the data and identify the objectives that are weakest for their students this year.

o Using this data the teachers will develop smart goals to address these areas.
Assessment

 Teachers will disaggregate the nine week benchmark tests to evaluate their progress.


Responsible Personnel:

 Chief Technology Official
 Secondary Instructional Leader
 Principal
 Curriculum Director
 Campus Technologist, Curriculum Instructional Specialist
 Teachers

4. the teacher voice in the long-range plan

The goal of education is to provide students the necessary tools to become thinking, contributing members of a 21st century world. The Long-Range Plan has set the guidelines to continue to provide a challenging curriculum but with the digital tools of today and tomorrow as a major part of the learning process.
Part of the Long-Range Plan involved a survey of 5,000 Texas teachers on the use of technology in lessons and to aid in everyday work tasks. In the area of professional development, Texas teachers are comparable to national percentages, including all wanting more in terms of how to use technology in lessons. I have to agree with this. My campus has done a decent job getting the infrastructure in place, especially wireless connections to all parts of the school, establishing four computer labs and six mobile labs. We have also purchased licenses to software specifically targeted to students who do not pass the TAKS test, as well as providing credit recovery opportunities online. In the past two years the campus has purchased classroom sets and heavily encouraged the use of CPS, or “clickers” as we call them, for instant feedback within lessons and data collection for unit tests. This is better than many campuses and districts however, beyond the one 30 minute how to use the “clickers” and here are a few examples of how to use them in class, there has been no other follow up sessions on integrating them into class lessons. This is where our campus fails teachers and students. Comparable to the survey, most teachers on campus us computers for administrative tasks, grades, corresponding with parents and other teachers and using search engines. Just as the survey indicates, more emphasis needs to be on how teachers can integrate digital tools into lessons so that we continue to see the rise in student engagement and achievement as noted in the survey.

3. Pre-K technology

Wow! Starting technology skills in Pre-K is amazing and wonderful. To introduce students to all the basics of using a computer, along with the beginnings of how these tools can be used to create, is a great start to their education. Students will now move into kindergarten with knowledge of how to get information into the computer, that the computer can be used to find information and to create. This sets the ground work for every year of education to come provided K-12 teachers continue to incorporate technology and build on these skills. Before they even get into kindergarten they could demonstrate math skills using the computer to create pictures of the accurate number of something. With the growing numbers of computers in the homes, introducing technology early into education lets the students continue with the development of integrating these tools into everyday use and learning and for those who may not have a computer at home, it levels the playing field from the beginning to keep them from staring off behind.

2. the long-range plan

I never knew the Long Range Plan for Technology existed. I knew that in our little bubble of a district we were hearing more and more about technology of the future. That the jobs our students are going to have, most haven’t been created yet and that it is our job to prepare them for those jobs, but that’s really where it seems to stop. There has been little to none when it comes to how to do this. Oh sure, there have been a few professional developments, where if you’re interested, so and so will demonstrate how to create a wiki space, but no real emphasis or direction. The Long-Range Plan gives you that direction at least, and one of the more valuable pieces of information is the “student voices” because it lets us know directly from the students what they expect.
I know as an instructional leader this plan will be referenced time and time again to remind me what direction the campus is suppose to be going. I would also want to continually check the recommendations the plan has for educators, higher education and teacher certification plans to make sure we as a campus on track as well as being knowledgeable about the other areas as well.

1. technolgy; strengths and weaknesses

I may rate rather competent on my personal use of technology, but in the classroom I am poor at best. First, after taking the Technology Applications Inventory I found that for the most part my foundation knowledge is strong but with one very obvious gap and that is in copyright law. My knowledge of this area is extremely limited at best and if I plan to pursue the use of technology in the classroom, which is my goal, then I will need to better this area quickly. Other areas which I lack quality knowledge falls under using technology to solve problems. I have had classes in which I used, manipulated and created information using spreadsheets and Microsoft Access database and I did very well. However, when it comes to programs like these, if I do not do it over and over again it is as if I did not learn it in the first place and why I simply make tables and if I must calculate some data I must find our Excel guru and ask him how it is done. I have yet to have a need to use a database, or I am just not trying hard enough because, like spreadsheets, I remember very, very little about how to use them. Beyond these things, I don’t publish.
Taking the SETDA was rather disheartening. I knew I was not doing a good job of incorporating technology into the lessons on a regular basis, but it really brought to light that I rarely ever do it period. It is an area that I know I think about and want to get better but need guidance and collaboration which I do not get at my campus. I also realized that, as good as our school is doing in setting the infrastructure to use technology; the leadership does not set any expectations that I am aware of, nor is there any recognition for those who are using it beyond research and electronic poster board.