Week 5 Assignment: Course Reflections

Completing the Pre-Course Self Evaluation should have been an indication that I would have a lot to learn in this class. My Pre-Course Survey score was low and revealed that I had no background knowledge of The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology and the shared vision of academic excellence and goals for educational technology through the year 2020. Before beginning this class, I was unaware that this Instructional Leadership class would focus on technology nor could I have imagined how helpful this focus would be in my preparation to become an administrator.

I considered myself technically-able; however this course taught me how to effectively use a blog, web conference, and Power Point to communicate with my colleagues and professor. I very much appreciated the opportunity to “meet” with Dr. Abernathy via web conference which gave a more personal feeling to my on-line program at Lamar. Dr. Abernathy is the only person I have “met” at Lamar and she was so encouraging and welcoming of developing a relationship with her students that I did contact her when I had a problem with a grade. Participating in the blog and web conference also helped me see how I could incorporate technology such as web conferencing and blogging in my role as a principal.

My experience with blogging prior to this course had been reading the blogs of people who appeared to be self absorbed and egocentric. In using a blog as an administrator to discuss issues on my campus, I plan to use a campus blog as an exchange of information among the stakeholders of my campus and not a place to pontificate or post only my views. Because I was not aware that this course would focus on technology, I had not envisioned a specific outcome for myself, but I am now more prepared to include technology in my vision as an administrator.

While the amount of reading and responding to the readings in this course was substantial, I feel that I now have a library of information that I can refer to as I explain to teachers why it is critical that we integrate technology into the classroom in order to prepare our students for the global economy of the 21st Century. I would like to have had more timely and current articles to read, but I will refer to the articles from this course in the future. I am now able to incorporate teaching, learning and technology and I understand the need to differentiate instruction using technology to meet the individual needs of all of my students. I think we may have been able to successfully display an understanding of the weekly readings by responding to one student on the discussion board each week. Submitting 24 postings on the discussion board each week seemed redundant and did not significantly increase the collaboration of students.

This course underscored that my campus is not data driven. Becoming a more data drive campus is goal that I have for my school. The STaR Chart Summary for my campus, Greentree Elementary suggests that the school needs to increase professional development for on-line learning and provide more access to professional development, yet there are essentially no technology-related goals for improvement in our Campus Improvement Plan. I am very excited to present my Power Point presentation called Seeing STaRs at Greentree that I created in this course. The teachers on my campus are unaware of why we complete the STaR Chart Survey, the importance of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology and how it relates to both the district and campus improvement plans. I now feel educated in sharing the long range plan for technology and have become an advocate for incorporating technology into each classroom.

I am excited to pilot a program that I created in this class. The program will allow my school to capitalize on the “digital natives” we are now hiring as new teachers who have grown up in the light of technology. In a reverse mentor situation, new teachers will be able to reciprocate learning as they teach their mentor veteran teachers new technical skills. Having novice teachers mentor the veteran teachers will tap into on-site experts at no additional cost, and will empower the beginning teacher and build his or her self esteem.

After completing Instructional Leadership: The Technology Link, I feel that I am well prepared to teach others about the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, The Texas Teacher STaR Chart, the Technology Applications TEKS, and how to model technology use and the integration of technology throughout the curriculum. I have become aware of cyber bullying and the need to explicitly teach young students about cyber ethics. Reading the extensive articles regarding technology use in education helped provide me with a solid background knowledge of the differences between “digital immigrants” such as myself, and the “digital natives” who I am instructing. I learned about the importance of updating my school’s Acceptable Use Policies and the need to negotiate, facilitate, and debate technical issues with my teachers and technical staff.

Week 4, Part 3: Evaluation Planning for Action Plan

Goal: Ensure that quality data is being used to drive decision making for student and campus improvement at Greentree Elementary School.


How Will Success be Measured?
Person(s) Completing Evaluation
Completion Date
Resources/Estimated Cost
Data Collected

1. 100% of teachers will complete the STaR Chart within the designated time frame.
Principal, Nancy Pinkerton
Carol Perkins, Campus Technology Instructional Specialist
February 2010
Professional Development Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Mrs. Pinkerton will sign off that all teachers have completed the STaR Chart Survey. She will share the data with her teachers and use the data to plan professional development.


2. Teachers will incorporate technology in their lesson plans across the curriculum and as part of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020.
Principal, Nancy Pinkerton
Assistant Principal, Linda Pearce
May 2010
Walkthroughs by the principals will take approximately 15 minutes per day from February – May 2010
Principals will review teachers’ lesson plans and look for uses of technology in classroom walkthroughs. This data will be captured on Palm Pilots that capture walk through data.


3. Teachers will learn how to access and use PEIMS data in the on-line grade book system to help develop individual education plans for students at risk.
Carol Perkins, Campus Technology Instructional Specialist
January – May 2010
No Cost
Professional Development time for RtI Assessment and review of at-risk students.
When attending RtI meetings for at-risk students, teachers will have PEIMS data from their on-line grade books to help support proposed interventions.


4. Teachers will use disaggregated data to identify students at risk, plan grade level tutoring, and develop campus improvement goals.
Nancy Pinkerton, Principal
Linda Pearce, Assistant Principal
Carol Perkins, Campus Technology Instructional Specialist
January – May 2010
No Cost
Professional Development time for RtI Assessment and review of at-risk students.
Teachers will understand how data is disaggregated in the AEIS report and how the data can be used to identify students at risk and campus improvement goals.


5. In meeting the district’s technology improvement plan, 25% of Greentree teachers will post activities from their classrooms on the district’s website.
Nancy Pinkerton, Principal
Linda Pearce, Assistant Principal
Carol Perkins, Campus Technology Instructional Specialist
May 2010
No Cost
Teachers will learn how to post on the district’s website
Principal and Assistant Principal will note in summative appraisals teachers who post on the district’s website.


6. Teachers will begin using the rubrics created by grade level team leaders and administrators to assess technology-related projects such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, and videos.
Carol Perkins, Campus Technology Instructional Specialist
May 2010
No Cost
Principal and Assistant Principal will note in summative appraisals teachers who post on the district’s website.

Week 4, Part 2 Professional Development Action Plan

Goal: Teachers will learn how to use quality data to improve student success and drive campus improvement decision at Greentree Elementary School.


Objective
Person(s) Responsible
Timeline
Resources/Estimated Cost
Description of Activity


1.Teachers will understand the importance of completing the STaR Chart accurately and on time each year. The data gained from the STaR Chart will be used for campus improvement.
Macaire McDonough-Davies, Instructional Coach
Carol Perkins, Campus Technology Instructional Specialist
January 2010
Professional Development time during teachers’ conference periods: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Teachers will view the STaR Chart PowerPoint Slide Show prior to completing the STaR Chart Survey


2. Teachers will understand the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 and will become aware of the need to integrate technology across the curriculum.
Nancy Pinkerton, Principal
Linda Pearce, Assistant Principal
Carol Perkins, Campus Technology Instructional Specialist
January 2010
Professional Development full day: January 4, 2010
8:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m.
Teachers will jig saw read different parts of the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020. They will understand the critical nature of making students technology-literate to compete in the global economy of the 21st century.


3. Teachers will learn how to access and use PEIMS data in the on-line grade book system to help develop individual education plans for students at risk.
Macaire McDonough-Davies, Instructional Coach
Carol Perkins, Campus Technology Instructional Specialist
January 2010
Professional Development full day: January 4, 2010
11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Teachers will meet in the Computer Lab to access the grade book system. They will learn that PEIMS data is contained in the on-line grade book. They will see that TAKS data is captured in the grade book system, enabling teachers to identify students who require interventions.


4.Reviewing the 2008-2009 AEIS Report.
Nancy Pinkerton, Principal
January 2010
Professional Development full day: January 4, 2010
1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
Hand outs/copies: $100
Teachers will meet in the library after having lunch with their teammates from 12:00-1:30
Teachers will read through the 2008-2009 AEIS report using handouts and the computer/presenter. Teachers will understand how data is disaggregated in the AEIS report and how the data can be used to identify students at risk and campus improvement goals.


5. Teachers will learn how to post web pages of classroom specific activities on the district’s web site as per the district’s technology improvement plan.
Carol Perkins, Campus Technology Instructional Specialist
Spring 2010 - ongoing
Professional Development days: April 14, April 21, and April 28 during the teachers’ conference planning periods.
In meeting the district’s technology improvement plan, teachers will learn how to use the district’s web site to post activities from their classrooms. Teachers will confirm that students’ pictures and work can be displayed on the district’s web site prior to loading any information to the site.


6. Grade level Team Leaders will meet with administrators to create rubrics to assess technology-related projects such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, and videos.
Nancy Pinkerton, Principal
Kim Gray, K team leader
Terry Putcher, 1st grade team leader, Cindy Hernandez, 2nd grade team leader, Natalie Wilkes, 3rd grade team leader, Katie Castagna, 4th grade team leader, Robin Laurence, 5th grade team leader
February 2010
Professional Development Day: February 15, 2010
Technology-related projects such as blog, wikis, podcasts, and videos are collaborative , so teachers and administrators need to work in that same kind of collaborative environment to measure student achievement on each project. Team leaders and administrators will create rubrics that measure the outcome and process as students begin to construct technological knowledge.