Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Web Conference Reflections
Last night I participated in a web conference. I have participated a couple of times before and can see advantages and disadvantages of the conference. I enjoyed being able to directly contact a professor and get feedback on important assignments and tests which are coming up on my schedule. It was also worthwhile to visit with other students and see that we all had the same concerns and many times the same questions. The advantage in having a direct response and in being able to see individuals and chat with each other was phenomenal. On the down side, it was sometimes difficult to hear the professor due to some white noise and skips. I also heard other people typing which was distracting. I sometimes had difficulty being able to keep up with so many different chats going on at the same time. If I were to rank the advantages against the disadvantages of web conferencing, though, I would be a proponent of web conferencing. I enjoyed being able to interact with the class and the professor.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Action Report
The purpose of an action report is to use data from a variety of sources on effective technology integration for campus improvement. This falls under Domain II, Instructional Leadership which addresses Competencies 4, 5 and 7.
Organizational Chart for Technology Implementation and Integration of Technology
By: Cheryl Wilson EDLD 5352
Job Title of stakeholders responsible for technology integration. Description of role and responsibilities. Principal role in implementation and monitoring integration.
Principal Will serve as a consultant on the action plan and what needs to be incorporated into the plan. Will review the action plan and offer feedback and reflect upon any changes which need to be made before completed. Will set up any staff development with curriculum specialists and technology specialists. Will monitor staffs’ blogs and technology integration in classrooms on PDAS.
Assistant Principal Will determine how the plan will achieve success in the area of testing. To improve scores and to incorporate vocabulary through the use of SkeVA. Will assist the principal in planning staff development. Will also assist in monitoring blogs and technology integration in classrooms on PDAS.
Technology Specialist Will find programs that meet the needs of addressing technology concerns on the Campus Improvement Plan. Will offer training to all staff in afternoon sessions to bring this training to stakeholders. Principal will attend and monitor the staff development training sessions. Principal will get opinions through staff blogs about the sessions to determine if additional training is required in an area and the effectiveness of the training within the classroom.
Curriculum Specialists Will offer constructive feedback regarding the technology as it pertains to the TEKS and the TAKS for improvement of the campus on AYP. Principal will coordinate with the curriculum specialists as to relevancy of training to TEKS and our continued good standing on AYP.
Teachers and Staff Will use the integration of the action plan within the classrooms and report the success/concerns of the plan through blogs to other staff members and to the principal. Principal will monitor blogs and try to assign a mentor from the staff if one is successful in a certain area and another is struggling.
Parents and Students
Students will provide feedback through the teacher blog about the lessons and if they would like to add an idea they may. After all they know more about technology than anyone, they are the digital learners.
Parents will provide feedback through an evaluation of the training if they attend one of the parent involvement sessions. Principal will monitor blogs from students and parents. Random sampling of these stakeholders will also be accomplished through a survey.
ESL and ELL Specialists from District Administration Will offer training in methods dealing with ESL and ELL students as well as web sites that are in students’ language 1. Principal will attend training and have all staff attend training of the ESL/ELL academy in the summer. Questionaires/surveys will be completed by all attendees and lesson plans will highlight the ESL/ELL strategies.
Professional Development
From Week 3 Analysis that Generated Professional Development
On the Campus Action Plan there are several areas in which we wish to improve the use of technology. Our greatest impediment will now be the problems of financing. We have addressed how we gather our data through the use of DMAC, AEIS, TMSDS, and the StaR Chart which assists in disaggregating our data to make needed improvements in curriculum and learning and readiness of technology instruction. I discussed training with my principal for the coming year and what she sees as our needs. She stated that she “would like to see more training of all the staff on blogging, and also with SMARTBOARDS. She also feels that I-pads and I-touch need to become part of the tools that we use as they are current in technology.” C. Richie (personal communication, March 9, 2011).
Professional Development needs:
Blogging: This will increase our communication with all stakeholders at the school. Communication lines will be opened between principal and staff requiring fewer face-to-face meetings. Communication will also be opened between teachers and students for notification of homework assignments and projects that are due. Communication will also be opened between parents and staff. This will also save money for the school as we will no longer require a planner, we can handle all aspects of the planner through our web pages and the school web page. Communication can be delivered from the PTA to all stakeholders concerning meetings and special events. This training could be done by the Technology Representative through an afternoon training session during the month of April. Training would be done in the computer lab for a “hands on” experience.
SMARTBOARDS (Interactive white boards): The use of interactive white boards can really save the district a lot of money as lessons can be done now with C-Scope and by looking up information on the internet. This would assist in making our students who are already digital learners into global learners who seek answers to questions. We could have a day of staff development where we see how to use the boards and then make lessons and slide shows for our classes. This would be a working session and could be done during our June Staff Development. Training could be done in the Library or Science Lab with the interactive board and a Mobi.
I-Pads and I-Touch: The technology representative would conduct training sessions after school for a couple of days during May to demonstrate the uses of I-Pads and I-Touch. Since the principal, assistant principal and the three P.E. teachers have used them this past year they can model how they have used them. This training would be accomplished in the computer lab.
Evaluation Planning for Action Plan
Week 4, Part 3 Assignment, Evaluation Planning
Timeline for Professional Development:
The professional development will be accomplished during April, May and June of 2011. This will assure that all staff will be trained before the next school year begins. It will be fully implemented during the 2011-2012 school year by all stakeholders.
Monitoring of the Professional Development:
The Principal will monitor the use of the blogging as a means of communication by assembling a team to assist with this endeavor. The team members will include the Assistant Principal, the Technology Specialist, Curriculum Specialists and SBDM. Each will help to check the blogs for compliance as a means of communication. Walk-throughs will be conducted to ensure implementation of the SMARTBOARDS. This can also be done during evaluation on the PDAS instrument. The use of the I-Pad and I-Touch is a little harder but can be used to communicate with the office and with the principal and other teachers outside of school time. The time, and all pertinent data will be displayed. The I-Pad can also be linked to the projector in the classroom to transmit data.
Date Outcome
April, 2011 Principal, Assistant Principal, Technology Specialist, Curriculum Specialists and Site Base Decision Making team meet to discuss and brainstorm the mechanics of the plan
April, 2011 Technology Specialist will lead training on setting up a blog on the teachers’ school web pages.
May, 2011 Technology Specialist and Principal and Assistant Principal will lead training on the use of the I-Pad and I-Touch with classroom interactions and integration.
June, 2011 Technology Specialist, Curriculum Specialists and SBDM team will conduct Staff Development in the use of a SMARTBOARD and Mobi. This will link to C-Scope and to the lesson cycle for inquiry Five E model.
School year 2011-2012 Principal, Assistant Principal and SBDM team will mentor and monitor other teachers with the blogs and technology applications learned throughout the year. This will become part of the PDAS evaluation on the use of technology.
Week 4 Assignment, Part 4: Posting your Action Report and Responding to Other Students’ action plans
Using the discussion board and the blog that you have developed, please write and post your action plan, and be sure to:
Read and review at least two other action plans
Respond to other action plans by posting your comments and reflections
The purpose of the action report is to provide you with recommended procedures for gathering, analyzing, and using data from a variety of sources for informed campus decision making focusing on the effective integration of technology in curriculum, instruction, assessment and professional development. Students may wish to use this action plan as one of your school improvement projects for your Electronic Portfolio. You may also use the Week 3 and Week 4 assignments as campus supervised hours for your internship logs. As indicated these two weeks fall under Domain II, Instructional Leadership, and address elements of Competencies 4, 5 and 7.
Organizational Chart for Technology Implementation and Integration of Technology
By: Cheryl Wilson EDLD 5352
Job Title of stakeholders responsible for technology integration. Description of role and responsibilities. Principal role in implementation and monitoring integration.
Principal Will serve as a consultant on the action plan and what needs to be incorporated into the plan. Will review the action plan and offer feedback and reflect upon any changes which need to be made before completed. Will set up any staff development with curriculum specialists and technology specialists. Will monitor staffs’ blogs and technology integration in classrooms on PDAS.
Assistant Principal Will determine how the plan will achieve success in the area of testing. To improve scores and to incorporate vocabulary through the use of SkeVA. Will assist the principal in planning staff development. Will also assist in monitoring blogs and technology integration in classrooms on PDAS.
Technology Specialist Will find programs that meet the needs of addressing technology concerns on the Campus Improvement Plan. Will offer training to all staff in afternoon sessions to bring this training to stakeholders. Principal will attend and monitor the staff development training sessions. Principal will get opinions through staff blogs about the sessions to determine if additional training is required in an area and the effectiveness of the training within the classroom.
Curriculum Specialists Will offer constructive feedback regarding the technology as it pertains to the TEKS and the TAKS for improvement of the campus on AYP. Principal will coordinate with the curriculum specialists as to relevancy of training to TEKS and our continued good standing on AYP.
Teachers and Staff Will use the integration of the action plan within the classrooms and report the success/concerns of the plan through blogs to other staff members and to the principal. Principal will monitor blogs and try to assign a mentor from the staff if one is successful in a certain area and another is struggling.
Parents and Students
Students will provide feedback through the teacher blog about the lessons and if they would like to add an idea they may. After all they know more about technology than anyone, they are the digital learners.
Parents will provide feedback through an evaluation of the training if they attend one of the parent involvement sessions. Principal will monitor blogs from students and parents. Random sampling of these stakeholders will also be accomplished through a survey.
ESL and ELL Specialists from District Administration Will offer training in methods dealing with ESL and ELL students as well as web sites that are in students’ language 1. Principal will attend training and have all staff attend training of the ESL/ELL academy in the summer. Questionaires/surveys will be completed by all attendees and lesson plans will highlight the ESL/ELL strategies.
Professional Development
From Week 3 Analysis that Generated Professional Development
On the Campus Action Plan there are several areas in which we wish to improve the use of technology. Our greatest impediment will now be the problems of financing. We have addressed how we gather our data through the use of DMAC, AEIS, TMSDS, and the StaR Chart which assists in disaggregating our data to make needed improvements in curriculum and learning and readiness of technology instruction. I discussed training with my principal for the coming year and what she sees as our needs. She stated that she “would like to see more training of all the staff on blogging, and also with SMARTBOARDS. She also feels that I-pads and I-touch need to become part of the tools that we use as they are current in technology.” C. Richie (personal communication, March 9, 2011).
Professional Development needs:
Blogging: This will increase our communication with all stakeholders at the school. Communication lines will be opened between principal and staff requiring fewer face-to-face meetings. Communication will also be opened between teachers and students for notification of homework assignments and projects that are due. Communication will also be opened between parents and staff. This will also save money for the school as we will no longer require a planner, we can handle all aspects of the planner through our web pages and the school web page. Communication can be delivered from the PTA to all stakeholders concerning meetings and special events. This training could be done by the Technology Representative through an afternoon training session during the month of April. Training would be done in the computer lab for a “hands on” experience.
SMARTBOARDS (Interactive white boards): The use of interactive white boards can really save the district a lot of money as lessons can be done now with C-Scope and by looking up information on the internet. This would assist in making our students who are already digital learners into global learners who seek answers to questions. We could have a day of staff development where we see how to use the boards and then make lessons and slide shows for our classes. This would be a working session and could be done during our June Staff Development. Training could be done in the Library or Science Lab with the interactive board and a Mobi.
I-Pads and I-Touch: The technology representative would conduct training sessions after school for a couple of days during May to demonstrate the uses of I-Pads and I-Touch. Since the principal, assistant principal and the three P.E. teachers have used them this past year they can model how they have used them. This training would be accomplished in the computer lab.
Evaluation Planning for Action Plan
Week 4, Part 3 Assignment, Evaluation Planning
Timeline for Professional Development:
The professional development will be accomplished during April, May and June of 2011. This will assure that all staff will be trained before the next school year begins. It will be fully implemented during the 2011-2012 school year by all stakeholders.
Monitoring of the Professional Development:
The Principal will monitor the use of the blogging as a means of communication by assembling a team to assist with this endeavor. The team members will include the Assistant Principal, the Technology Specialist, Curriculum Specialists and SBDM. Each will help to check the blogs for compliance as a means of communication. Walk-throughs will be conducted to ensure implementation of the SMARTBOARDS. This can also be done during evaluation on the PDAS instrument. The use of the I-Pad and I-Touch is a little harder but can be used to communicate with the office and with the principal and other teachers outside of school time. The time, and all pertinent data will be displayed. The I-Pad can also be linked to the projector in the classroom to transmit data.
Date Outcome
April, 2011 Principal, Assistant Principal, Technology Specialist, Curriculum Specialists and Site Base Decision Making team meet to discuss and brainstorm the mechanics of the plan
April, 2011 Technology Specialist will lead training on setting up a blog on the teachers’ school web pages.
May, 2011 Technology Specialist and Principal and Assistant Principal will lead training on the use of the I-Pad and I-Touch with classroom interactions and integration.
June, 2011 Technology Specialist, Curriculum Specialists and SBDM team will conduct Staff Development in the use of a SMARTBOARD and Mobi. This will link to C-Scope and to the lesson cycle for inquiry Five E model.
School year 2011-2012 Principal, Assistant Principal and SBDM team will mentor and monitor other teachers with the blogs and technology applications learned throughout the year. This will become part of the PDAS evaluation on the use of technology.
Week 4 Assignment, Part 4: Posting your Action Report and Responding to Other Students’ action plans
Using the discussion board and the blog that you have developed, please write and post your action plan, and be sure to:
Read and review at least two other action plans
Respond to other action plans by posting your comments and reflections
The purpose of the action report is to provide you with recommended procedures for gathering, analyzing, and using data from a variety of sources for informed campus decision making focusing on the effective integration of technology in curriculum, instruction, assessment and professional development. Students may wish to use this action plan as one of your school improvement projects for your Electronic Portfolio. You may also use the Week 3 and Week 4 assignments as campus supervised hours for your internship logs. As indicated these two weeks fall under Domain II, Instructional Leadership, and address elements of Competencies 4, 5 and 7.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
A STaR is Born
I have created a slide show to compare the state readiness to our campus. The readiness is part of the Texas Long Range goals for technology.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Post # 3 National Educational Tech. Plan
the National Educational Technology Plan describes how information and communication technologies can help to transform American education. The first of the two primary goals is to raise the proportion of college graduates from where it is currently at 39% to 60% of the population holding a two or four year degree by the year 2020. The second primary goal is to close the achievement gap so that all students regardless of race, incoem, or neighborhood graduate from high school ready to succeed in college or in careers. To do this we must transform the American education system. We must do this through assessment, and using data to drive improvement. We must also use learning, teaching and production through goals and recommendations to assure that all Americans can use technology to progress toward the 21st century. There is a growing demand for skilled online instruction and the roles of the differrent parties to achieving this goal are outlined within the report. A quote which I have heard before but find to be reflective of what we want for the future of our country follows. "By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world."
Made by President Barack Obama in his address to Congress, February 24, 2009. This is a worthy goal for our country but in many respects a lofty goal. Especially with the new budget constraints placed upon our country and our schools.
Made by President Barack Obama in his address to Congress, February 24, 2009. This is a worthy goal for our country but in many respects a lofty goal. Especially with the new budget constraints placed upon our country and our schools.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Post #2 2010 Progress Report
Texas is addressing the importance and need for providing an appropriate instructional environment to prepare students for learning and working in the 21st century. The Texas Education Agency in 2008 and again in 2010 gathered data to issue a progress report toward this goal. The 2010 progress report sets forth the vision of the Long Range Technology goal. It also links this initiative to No Child Left Behnind Title II, Part D, Technology Requirments. Within the report are also ways to obtain tutuorials through an online tutoring pilot, Texas virtual School Network, and Interactive Videoconferencing. The report also outlines a rurarl technology pilot to assure all parts of Texas has the internet. How this report applies to Educator preparation, standards, and development is also a focus area. The report describes how the state is using the STaR Chart and how funding is alloted for technology. This would also be part of the infrastructure. The Education Service Centers role within the initiative as trainers and facilitators was also discussed as a directive of the report. What I found interesting was how the report shows how the tools and resources for all stakeholders in a school are to be provided and how they will impact teaching and learning for the 21st century learner. To support the teachers there will be a series of professional development opportunities that will focus on the needs or our digital learners. Teachers will also be able to share best practices and plan for their new learning opportunities. All of this will culminate in assisting the creation of our 21st century school.s
Post #1 Texas Long Range Plan for Technology
The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology within the Texas Education Agency is a tool for setting forth the objectives/goals and vision for moving students toward 21st century learning. For students to be successful they must be fully engaged in learning processes involving technology. Where a student goes to school should not be an issue in using technology. Teachers who integrate technology are preparing their students for the 21st century. Within the Teaching and Learning area teachers within the state have been surveyed for the last few years through the STaR Chart. There are four areas where a teacher or school or district may determine that they are operating, they are Early Tech, Developing Tech, Advanced Tech and finally Target Tech. In 2010 state teachers surveyed listed the following results. Those who were Early Tech were 2.95% an increase of .8% from the previous year. Developing Tech was the largest grouping with 65.7% an increase of 6.4% from the previous year. Advanced Tech was 30.5%, a decrease of 7.3% and Target Tech receiving just .8%, a decrease of .1%. The trend since the inception has been increasing slowly. At our school/local area the trend has also been increasing from an 8 in 2008 to a 2009 in 2010 and climbing from an Early Tech in both 2008 and 2009 to Developing Tech in 2010. At the national level they are not as far along as the state of Texas. They began developing their plan within No Child Left Behind but are only at the beginning stages of implementing the long range goals. Recommendations that I would make include making sure that high speed internet is available for all areas of the country including rural and mountain areas. Perhaps a satellite internet server in these areas instead of fiber optics. I would also recommend that educational service centers and districts offer training for teachers and staff. Administrators also need training so that when they are evaluating staff they are familiar with the programs and activities.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Week Five Action Research
Well here it is week five and I have submitted my assignment and completed my course completion survey. It feels good to be done. I have learned so much in this course and am pumped to get started on my action research project. Met with the site base team at school this week and they have agreed to assist with the project. Now my principal wants me to present to our staff on Monday when we go back to school. One of my favorite quotes from the text was if you are not moving forward you are moving backward. In Science terms if I'm not in motion then I'm inactive or at rest. Loved the course and loved blogging. I plan on using blogging with my kids this year at school. I am ready to go on a positive note for this school year. Stand by as I journey through middle earth and beyond this year. I hope my little hobbits and I have a great year.
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