Saturday, June 9, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
| Tool 7.1 Action Planning Template | ||||
| Goal: To increase parental involvement in the academic progress of their child through technology awareness. | ||||
| Action Steps | Person Responsible | Timeline | Needed Resources | Evaluation |
| Gather sample of students | Chris | 1-Mar | Skyward | |
| Gather student grades | Chris | 1-Mar | Skyward | |
| Create invitation | Kerri | 1-Mar | Publisher | Parent attendance |
| Translation of invitation | Michele | 2-Mar | Parent attendance | |
| Invitation mailout | Kerri | 9-Mar | Parent attendance | |
| Write parent survey 1 | Chris, Kerri | 10-Mar | Survey Monkey | Parent participation |
| Translation of survey | Michele | 11-Mar | Parent participation | |
| Collect parent access data | Chris | 15-Mar | Skyward | |
| Parent Tech Night | Chris, Kerri | 20-Mar | Computer Lab | Parent attendance |
| Give survey 1 | Chris, Kerri | 20-Mar | Survey Monkey | Parent participation |
| Gather survey data 1 | Chris, Kerri | 27-Mar | Survey Monkey | Parent participation |
| Write parent survey 2 | Chris, Kerri | 28-Mar | Survey Monkey | Parent participation |
| Translation of survey | Michele | 29-Mar | Parent participation | |
| Parent Tech Night | Chris, Kerri | 30-May | Computer Lab | Parent attendance |
| Give survey 2 | Chris, Kerri | 30-May | Survey Monkey | Parent participation |
| Gather survey data 2 | Chris, Kerri | 31-May | Survey Monkey | Parent participation |
| Gather student grades | Chris | 31-May | Skyward | |
| Analyze Data | Chris, Kerri | May-June | Skyward, Excel | |
| Write Report | Kerri | March-June | Word | |
| Submition for Approval of Report | Kerri | June | Approval | |
| Make revisions and Edit | Chris, Kerri | July | Word | |
| Submit final report | Kerri | July | Approval | |
| Present at staff development | Chris, Kerri | 9-Aug | PowerPoint | |
Friday, March 16, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
The lessons I found most valuable were the ones I learned from hearing Johnny Briseno and Timothy Chargois.
Johnny Briseno taught me that Data is extremely important, but numbers don’t tell everything about the kids. Numbers don’t tell you about children’s home life. They are not numbers but people. Data has become a real focus on our campus. We look at numbers from pre-assessments, post-assessments, and summative assessments. We look at the low and the high, the average, and the percent of proficient students. Sometimes I wonder if teachers, myself included, have bought into the process of collecting and analyzing data to improve instruction so much that they have forgotten about the individual child-the relationship that improves instruction.
Johnny Briseno taught me that Data is extremely important, but numbers don’t tell everything about the kids. Numbers don’t tell you about children’s home life. They are not numbers but people. Data has become a real focus on our campus. We look at numbers from pre-assessments, post-assessments, and summative assessments. We look at the low and the high, the average, and the percent of proficient students. Sometimes I wonder if teachers, myself included, have bought into the process of collecting and analyzing data to improve instruction so much that they have forgotten about the individual child-the relationship that improves instruction.
Timothy Chargois talked about teachers and how they should never stop learning. Whether you attend meaningful staff development sessions and conferences, pursue another degree, read professional books, or conduct an Action Research project, teachers have to continue learning. I heard someone say once that once a teacher stops learning, he stops teaching. We are educators who promote learning. We have to be lifetime learners as well.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Leaders and Blogging
Leaders can use blogs in order to garner better communication with faculty and other staff as well as parents and community leaders. Our superintendent sends out weekly messages about the events that are occurring in the district. Instead of sending out emails, he could make use of a blog which would be a way to allow for a public forum. In the same way, our principal sends a weekly bulletin to the faculty where he chooses a "notable quotable" to inspire faculty morale. A blog would again allow more people the opportunity to view the quote and hopefully foster a better relationship between the school and the public. Any opportunity to share the happenings in the district, or campus will help to answer questions about the daily events of our campuses and could lead to better parent/student relationships.
3...2...1...Action!
Action research is a systematic way for educators to ask and answer questions that arise in their personal classrooms or campuses. you are able to choose a topic or problem that is of particular interest to you or your school.The research actually takes place where the teacher or principal works with the students in their classroom or school. Educators formulate questions, collect data that will help answer the questions, analyze the data collected, present the findings of their research to their colleagues, and actually apply the information discovered to improve student achievement. That is the "action" part of action research-putting into practice what you have learned along the way and sharing what you have learned.
Action research is not what you first think of when you hear the word "research." It is not spending hours in the library reading about what other people have done, although there is a literature review. It is spending hours in the classroom or school on a journey for knowledge about how to change your practice and grow as a teacher or principal.
Action research is not what you first think of when you hear the word "research." It is not spending hours in the library reading about what other people have done, although there is a literature review. It is spending hours in the classroom or school on a journey for knowledge about how to change your practice and grow as a teacher or principal.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Course Reflections
My expectations for this course were admittedly unknown in the beginning. I didn’t really know what to expect. The quizzes and evaluations at the beginning of the course made me believe I would be learning how to use the technology more than how to teach others using these techniques. I did learn some new technologies, for example I learned how to start a wiki and a blog. I feel like these two techniques alone will increase my abilities as a teacher in reaching out to my students on their own level. Over the progression of this course I found myself implementing the technology covered into my lessons. I have attempted to reach out to other teachers at my campus and share with them the value of the lessons I have learned in this course. I feel that technology is no longer beyond my ability. The mystique behind both the set-up and implementation of technology is now in my grasp.
I achieved the outcomes of this course; however I realize that I will need more practice to truly master these technology aspects. I feel that obviously the best way to practice is to continue to use this technology as often as possible. I have also found that some of my new teachers are the students themselves. Often the technologies that I implement in my lessons are already known by some of my students. They can sometimes answer questions that I might not be totally comfortable with. An example of this is a classroom blog. I didn’t have to teach them how to blog only give them a topic to blog about. The best thing about lessons such as this is the reaction that I get from my students. They are passionate about the topics that we are learning. They are passionate because the lesson relates to them and activities that they know about.
I feel that I achieved all of the outcomes in this course. I feel that I must continue to practice in order to overcome my biggest challenge, speed. I know that currently the amount of time that I need to set up and use technology is longer than it needs to be. In my mind this will lead to difficulties in altering lessons “on the fly” and improvising when discussions lead to new possibilities. I found it discouraging while reading the discussion boards that others in this course where so far ahead of me in the level of skills possessed. Being new to this field it was a daunting task to catch up and learn at the same time. Given the amount of material that we covered in a five week period I’m actually proud of the fact that I did as well as I did. I feel that a longer time frame would have been better suited to my learning needs.
I feel that the things that I learned from this course will greatly benefit my students, my campus, and me over the long run. I found that I get easily frustrated with things that I don’t inherently know or that don’t come easy to me. In focusing on the big picture however I learned about the importance of integrating technology in today’s lessons in order to procure a greater interest by students in my classroom. Today’s student needs to find relevance in their studies. There is no better way than the implementation of technology. Their lives are a constant stream of videos, blogs, streams, downloads, and hits. By using technology and bridging the gap between instruction and events in kid’s life you as a teacher are able to get better results because that lesson will stick. They are already using these methods in their social lives so if we are able to connect it and show them how it will be relevant in their future the lesson will have a more lasting impression.
I achieved the outcomes of this course; however I realize that I will need more practice to truly master these technology aspects. I feel that obviously the best way to practice is to continue to use this technology as often as possible. I have also found that some of my new teachers are the students themselves. Often the technologies that I implement in my lessons are already known by some of my students. They can sometimes answer questions that I might not be totally comfortable with. An example of this is a classroom blog. I didn’t have to teach them how to blog only give them a topic to blog about. The best thing about lessons such as this is the reaction that I get from my students. They are passionate about the topics that we are learning. They are passionate because the lesson relates to them and activities that they know about.
I feel that I achieved all of the outcomes in this course. I feel that I must continue to practice in order to overcome my biggest challenge, speed. I know that currently the amount of time that I need to set up and use technology is longer than it needs to be. In my mind this will lead to difficulties in altering lessons “on the fly” and improvising when discussions lead to new possibilities. I found it discouraging while reading the discussion boards that others in this course where so far ahead of me in the level of skills possessed. Being new to this field it was a daunting task to catch up and learn at the same time. Given the amount of material that we covered in a five week period I’m actually proud of the fact that I did as well as I did. I feel that a longer time frame would have been better suited to my learning needs.
I feel that the things that I learned from this course will greatly benefit my students, my campus, and me over the long run. I found that I get easily frustrated with things that I don’t inherently know or that don’t come easy to me. In focusing on the big picture however I learned about the importance of integrating technology in today’s lessons in order to procure a greater interest by students in my classroom. Today’s student needs to find relevance in their studies. There is no better way than the implementation of technology. Their lives are a constant stream of videos, blogs, streams, downloads, and hits. By using technology and bridging the gap between instruction and events in kid’s life you as a teacher are able to get better results because that lesson will stick. They are already using these methods in their social lives so if we are able to connect it and show them how it will be relevant in their future the lesson will have a more lasting impression.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
National Educational Technology Plan
To summarize the National Education Technology Plan of 2010 one must keep in mind that education is the foundation of American growth. Only through working to achieve common goals in education will we be able to lay down the path to better economic and social promise. There are goals that are defined in the National Education Technology Plan of 2010. These goals provide a framework for our school districts and educators to follow. These goals are: Learning: Engage and Empower, Assessment: Measure What Matters, Teaching: Prepare and Connect, Infrastructure: Access and Enable, and Productivity: Redesign and Transform. In short all of these goals mandate that educators integrate technology in their lessons. This will give them the ability to educate 21st century learners. This will give their students the abilities and confidence to succeed the fast paced and ever changing world of technology. These goals also ask that teachers become life-long learners themselves. Our educators not only learn new technology as it becomes available, but they also must learn new and exciting ways to present this material. One of the statements that I agree with in the Plan is “As we enter the second decade of the 21st century there has never been a more pressing need to transform American education or a better time to act.” This places the focus of teachers acting now. The times of archaic classrooms techniques are gone. Lesson plans that were used repeatedly for many years have to be replaced as new technology becomes available. The time for complacency is behind us. In order to move forward in today’s world teachers must become the front line for technology education to our children.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
School Technology Plan
I never realized the lack of a technology plan at my campus. In comparison to other technology plans that I have realized that there is quite a bit of room for improvement. There is one main goal stated in my campus technology plan. This goal states “Staff development will be provided to support integration of technology to meet the needs of teachers, librarian, principals, and students.” Strategies for achieving our technology goal include online training, campus staff development days, and small groups during planning periods. The people who are in charge of coordinating professional development opportunities are the campus principal and CBLT (Campus Based Leadership Team). Professional development opportunities include LOTI, integrating technology into the middle school curriculum, Class XP and IG Pro, and Tech Connect. One of the things that our technology plan is lacking is budget information. It does talk about the use of online resources and things already paid for by the district. The evaluation process that enables the school to monitor the progress of teachers toward the technology goal mandates that teachers have to complete assignments before credit is given. In addition teachers are required to complete surveys that provide insight into the way technology is being implemented in our classrooms. Unfortunately our technology plan will probably not see further development for some time. Budget cuts forced our campus to eliminate the position of instructional technology specialists whom oversaw these applications. Perhaps this is one of the projects that CBLT, of which I am a member, would like to address in the future.
Technology Assessments
In today’s world it is imperative to assess the technology skills of today’s educators. Technology is rapidly expanding. Every generation is expected to utilize newer and newer products that provide an easier time in life or just a better form of entertainment. Often times the technology expands every few years as companies push better products to store shelves. Today’s students will soon join tomorrow’s workforce. They will be competing for positions that not only create new technology, but that have to use it to expand their company’s ventures. As educators we in the front lines of giving the first and most exposure to technology. If we are not educated in the uses of technology then our ability to teach others has to come into question. On my campus are technology leaders are chosen to attend learning seminars to keep pace with the ever expanding technological world. They then bring that information back to our campus to share with other educators. We have an atmosphere of shared learning and we encourage our teachers to stay on the cutting edge of technology and utilize it in every lesson plan.
We try to use technology to engage our students in learning. As I stated above the world is filled with technology. By harnessing that and using the students interests in video games, music, social media, computer applications and relating those topics to our lessons we often have a greater degree of success in lesson retentions and general interest in the classroom.
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