Action Plan
Stacey Kluttz
Data Analysis:
Through looking at all the data in our Campus Improvement Plan and STaR charts it is evident that teachers do not feel adequately trained to use the current software, tools and equipment available on our campus.
Professional Development: Teachers will first look at the data from the AEIS report, STaR chart, and campus information from our PDAS applications – Eduforia to show how to use this information and complete a survey as to what specific areas they would like to be more trained in to improve the technology use and integration on our campus. Teachers may also take a survey as to what technology tools they use for themselves and what they use in their lessons such as charts, spreadsheets, documents, etc… Once this information is gathered another PD session should take place to show teachers how to use technology effectively in the classroom.
Evaluation: Teachers will complete the above survey and campus leaders will evaluate the needs of the campus to help teachers integrate lessons. Teachers will be given a time frame to implement lessons and report back to campus leaders/staff about successes and things that need work.
Professional Development: Campus leaders will improve decision making in the integration of technology with instructional and organizational leadership by creating a team of technology equipment, tools and software “experts”. This team will help the campus administrator to effectively implement technology requirements throughout the campus to ensure district goals and objectives are being met.
Evaluation: Campus teachers and administrators will evaluate the effectiveness the team of experts looking at the new AIES, STaR charts, and Eduforia items for this year. This will see if there was improvement on these levels. Also teacher surveys should be administered to see what worked and receive ideas for the next year.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Week 5 Assignment - Course Reflections
I must admit that I didn’t have many, if any, expectations for this particular course. I haven’t been the best technology instructional leader so I knew that I would be more of a “sponge” in this class and soak up all of the information and ideas that I would receive. After the first two weeks, I was sure of one thing: that I needed to start somewhere integrating more technology in my classroom. This course has been a personal reflection of my teaching in this area. I think the one thing that has been brought to my mind is that up to beginning this course I am not really incorporating any more technology in my class than when I began teaching in 2003. That was truly an awakening for me. I think also that I am more fearless when it comes to starting somewhere and trying something so it just really has brought up the fact that every teacher should be involved in professional development in our software and tools that can be used to better serve the students. Saying all of that to say this course has spurred me on to become a greater technology instructor and to hopefully inspiring my peers to do the same.
The outcomes of these eye-opening reflections on my part are more than relevant to my current position and hopefully future position in my district. What I have learned is that when it comes to technology, the students and teachers are speaking two different languages and we must bridge that gap. Many of the students are miles ahead of the classroom teacher. In those cases, we must learn that this is an incredible moment to use to empower the students to become the teacher. I know my students always love when they can teach me something new. We must lead by example to show them that sometimes we will all in life will play the role as the teacher while at other times playing the student.
As I stated earlier, I had no preconceived notions about this course so there weren’t any outcomes that I failed to accomplish. Maybe ignorance was bliss in this case. I am trying to implement some new things in my class and have quickly found what won’t work but that didn’t stop me. I just found a different venue to do the same thing. I really wanted to introduce my students to blogging. As a 4th grade class, many didn’t know what this was. While I was able to show them my page that I made over the summer while working on an online technology course called 23 Things, my students were not able to view the site with the student sign-on to respond to my posts. I began talking with my principal and director of technology regarding the security and availability to possible inappropriate sites through the blogspot site. I hit a roadblock but didn’t stop. I found an educational site to create a discussion board and only invited guests could view it. So I am still getting the same results and my students love sending messages.
Although I think many people are blogging today and it is the new way of communicating and students should be exposed to the venue. I see the great advantages of using blogging for personal and professional assignments. Beyond the electronic advantages, it also saves a lot of paper which is great for the environment. As a teacher it is great to look at the blogs to see the creativity of people and what they have to say. I also love the idea of twenty plus less papers because they are online. As I stated above the drawbacks to the blogs are the possible inappropriate sites that can be accessed. On Blogspot there is a link that will take you to “next blog”. You never know where this will lead and we have to be responsible when implementing technology at all levels K-12. Fortunately, I was able to find another venue to achieve the same goals.
Communicating with stakeholders via blogging could be good but there would have to be issues addressed first. As I learned in this class, people my age and older are digital immigrants. Even the younger parents didn’t have the digital world that our students are immersed in. As leaders of the school, I think we would need a focus group – possibly the site based committee to see if people would embrace this method of communication. In my school, it is heavily populated by economically disadvantaged and Hispanic students that do not have access to the internet. This would totally exclude them leaving only a small population to weigh in on topics that would possibly be discussed or mentioned through blogging. If there was a shift and the majority of our stakeholders had access to the internet, we would still need to hold some kind of training so the parents would understand how to use the blog page. Otherwise it will render itself useless.
While this course was very interesting many weeks than not I was very overwhelmed by the amount of reading and reflections needed – not as much for myself but having to respond to 2 people’s readings as well. When there were 8 reading that was 24 posts and while I enjoyed reading other’s ideas, it felt more like busy work than something that I was really internalizing for future use. I felt the assignments were fine and I did learn a lot from this course. I had problems with my internet during week 4 and went into a full panic mode. I really just wanted to quit at that moment but all was well and I just did what I could to complete what I could and do the best on week 5 so that I could keep my 4.0 average.
I am grateful most for the inspiration to become a better teacher. With the use of technology being integrated through all of my lessons, I know my students this year will truly get the best of me because they will see that there are things we all are not comfortable knowing but they will see me try and sometimes possibly fail but most importantly they will see the problem solver that I am to find a solution. These are life lessons that are worth all of the pain and yes, I’m sure tears while becoming an instructional leader in technology on my campus and in my district.
The outcomes of these eye-opening reflections on my part are more than relevant to my current position and hopefully future position in my district. What I have learned is that when it comes to technology, the students and teachers are speaking two different languages and we must bridge that gap. Many of the students are miles ahead of the classroom teacher. In those cases, we must learn that this is an incredible moment to use to empower the students to become the teacher. I know my students always love when they can teach me something new. We must lead by example to show them that sometimes we will all in life will play the role as the teacher while at other times playing the student.
As I stated earlier, I had no preconceived notions about this course so there weren’t any outcomes that I failed to accomplish. Maybe ignorance was bliss in this case. I am trying to implement some new things in my class and have quickly found what won’t work but that didn’t stop me. I just found a different venue to do the same thing. I really wanted to introduce my students to blogging. As a 4th grade class, many didn’t know what this was. While I was able to show them my page that I made over the summer while working on an online technology course called 23 Things, my students were not able to view the site with the student sign-on to respond to my posts. I began talking with my principal and director of technology regarding the security and availability to possible inappropriate sites through the blogspot site. I hit a roadblock but didn’t stop. I found an educational site to create a discussion board and only invited guests could view it. So I am still getting the same results and my students love sending messages.
Although I think many people are blogging today and it is the new way of communicating and students should be exposed to the venue. I see the great advantages of using blogging for personal and professional assignments. Beyond the electronic advantages, it also saves a lot of paper which is great for the environment. As a teacher it is great to look at the blogs to see the creativity of people and what they have to say. I also love the idea of twenty plus less papers because they are online. As I stated above the drawbacks to the blogs are the possible inappropriate sites that can be accessed. On Blogspot there is a link that will take you to “next blog”. You never know where this will lead and we have to be responsible when implementing technology at all levels K-12. Fortunately, I was able to find another venue to achieve the same goals.
Communicating with stakeholders via blogging could be good but there would have to be issues addressed first. As I learned in this class, people my age and older are digital immigrants. Even the younger parents didn’t have the digital world that our students are immersed in. As leaders of the school, I think we would need a focus group – possibly the site based committee to see if people would embrace this method of communication. In my school, it is heavily populated by economically disadvantaged and Hispanic students that do not have access to the internet. This would totally exclude them leaving only a small population to weigh in on topics that would possibly be discussed or mentioned through blogging. If there was a shift and the majority of our stakeholders had access to the internet, we would still need to hold some kind of training so the parents would understand how to use the blog page. Otherwise it will render itself useless.
While this course was very interesting many weeks than not I was very overwhelmed by the amount of reading and reflections needed – not as much for myself but having to respond to 2 people’s readings as well. When there were 8 reading that was 24 posts and while I enjoyed reading other’s ideas, it felt more like busy work than something that I was really internalizing for future use. I felt the assignments were fine and I did learn a lot from this course. I had problems with my internet during week 4 and went into a full panic mode. I really just wanted to quit at that moment but all was well and I just did what I could to complete what I could and do the best on week 5 so that I could keep my 4.0 average.
I am grateful most for the inspiration to become a better teacher. With the use of technology being integrated through all of my lessons, I know my students this year will truly get the best of me because they will see that there are things we all are not comfortable knowing but they will see me try and sometimes possibly fail but most importantly they will see the problem solver that I am to find a solution. These are life lessons that are worth all of the pain and yes, I’m sure tears while becoming an instructional leader in technology on my campus and in my district.
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