Week 5 Reflection Assignment

I didn’t know what what to expect coming into this course. I had to fill out the STaR chart before, but never put two and two together. It all makes sense to me now. I wanted to learn more about how technology ties into everday learning and the policies regarding technology. I envisioned for my campus to have computers in every classroom by the time I finished with this course. After going through each week, I gradually started to gain knowledge as to where my campus stood with technology and where we needed to be. I gained so much knowledge about what my campus is doing and what other campuses are doing through the discussions. After I met with my leadership team to discuss technology, they realized we weren’t where we needed to be in terms of implementing it in the classroom. I think that our team has the right vision in mind and we are doing what we can to incorporate it everyday. I have learned a lot that will guide me as a leader in terms of technology needs. I know exactly where my campus needs to be when I do take on a leadership role.

After meeting with my leadership, I realized that they do have a concern for where we are in terms of technology. We did discuss how some resources were purchased for teachers, but that twe didn’t have the budget to purchase computers. I did get my principal to realize the importance of having technology as soon as possible and she agreed. I think the first step in doing something about it is realizing something needs to be done. What I did accomplish is very relevant to what my job entails. I did manage to help get some equipment like projectors and document cameras and we will be working on a plan for next year. I am a classroom teacher and I hope to help all of my co-workers by speaking up and taking the first step in getting what we need. As a founding teacher for my campus and a lead teacher, I hope to help my fellow classroom teachers and support them as we continue to grow. I think it is important for me to be a spokesperson. I want them to be able to come to me in the future when I become a leader to help support them.

I was not able to get computers in every classroom like I had wanted to initially do. I knew that that was a big goal, but we are taking steps to getting there. It may not happen within the next semester, but it is definitely going to happen next year. The one thing that prevented us from gaining these computers in the classroom was the budget. I know that budget plays a huge role in whether schools gain more technology. This is something that my principal and I plan to look at for the upcoming year. We want to sure we budget money for at least 3 to 4 computers per classroom.

The course assignments have been a bit of a challenge for me. Since I am coming from a brand new district, it was hard to do an analysis of data like the STaR chart. Last year we were one school and this year we split into two. I like the discussions and readings. The readings were very valuable in learning about technology and what is going out there in world. I think that the hardest assignement for me to do was to meet with my leadership team. It is very hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time. We were missing one member because he was out of town that week. I think that advance notice to schedule these meetings would be really helpful. It had just been difficult for me because I have had to tweek assignments due to our young age as a school. Thankfully, my coach and professors have been understanding about it all.

I learned so much about what is expected of a leader in terms of technology. I never knew that technology plays such a big role in learning. I realized that even though I am a digital native, there is still so much more for me to learn. I think that it is important to teach our teachers to be technology savvy and suppor the way our students learn today. I learned about policies, who makes the decisions, copyrighting, blogging, wikis, the Texas Long Range Plan, and the STaR chart. I also realized the importance of technology in our students lives. I didn’t realize what a huge impact technology has on our current students. I fully believe we need to meet the needs of our students and support them in our growing and changing world.

I have learned a lot through this course and one thing that I didn’t think I would normally do is blog. I didn’t realize I was blogger with Facebook and Myspace, but I am now aware that I have been all along. Blogging is great idea for our students to incorporate with their studies. I think logging is a great way to freely express your opinions and knowledge on a certain topic. It is a great way for teachers to communicate with students and other teachers as well as parents. Blogging can connect classrooms in many ways that we never thought of. Blogging can be used for news, reports, and getting connected with one another. I hope to see my school grow more as bloggers. Although blogging has become a huge trend, there are still some precaustions to take. There are risks that come with blogging and using any type of technology for that matter. We need to be able to teach students to be technology safe and cautious. It is our job to keep students safe from online predators and bullying. They need to understand the ethics involved with using technology. When we educate ourselves, parents and our students, we will be able to use technology to its fullest. Our job is to protect our students and teach them to always be careful when they are online.

Action Plan

Week 4 Assignment, Part 1: Development of an organization chart integrating technology

Persons Responsible- Roles and Responsibilities

Teachers- Teachers are responsible for planning and implementing technology in the classroom. They also ensure that our students are meeting technology standards as well as following technology policies.

Campus Technologist- Our campus technologist helps address campus technology issues and provides technology support of staff. He also makes sure that our teachers technology needs are met. He is in charge of planning and implementing technology standards to grades 6^th through 9^th.

Principals- Our principals are there to support and guide teachers in implementing technology in all classrooms. Our principals are also in charge of providing staff developments in technology to our teachers.

Campus IT- Our technician is assigned to a couple of campuses to support Mac users. He is Apple certified and works with equipment and resources that are used with Macs. The technician does weekly visits to make sure all systems are in working order.

District IT Director- The district director creates quotes for campuses when it comes to purchasing any technology for classroom use. This person is also responsible for the technicians and making sure they are supporting their assigned campuses.

Week 4 Assignment, Part 2: Professional Development Planning

· After reviewing my report from last week, we realized that we need several areas of improvement. We reviewed our campus STaR Chart and realized we are in need of improving our staff development in technology. Like I have mentioned before, our secondary and primary schools split this year, therefore leading me into our next improvement, infrastructure. Our primary campus has ordered some projectors and document cameras for our primary classrooms. This is not a lot, but it definitely is a start to staff development.

· A staff development designed to teach us about the new equipment lead by our campus technologist and possibly one of the secondary teachers would be very beneficial. Once we have our equipment and know how to use it, I proposed a follow up staff development that is like the first staff development I have held. It would be “Best Practices”, but with our new technology integration. I want my teachers to share the different ways and sites they use with the technology we do have. We don’t have very much, but our teacher computer, a projector, and a document camera, so this will be a great way to get “creative.”

· We have also contacted our District IT Director for quotes on computers for our classrooms. We will be talking to her about how to acquire the finances to purchase these computers for our classrooms in the near future.

Week 4 Assignment, Part 3: Evaluation Planning for Action Plan

To evaluate the staff development, we want our teachers to create goals for technology implementation in the classroom. We will then conduct an evaluation report for teachers to see if these goals are being met monthly. Our leadership team will also make sure we are implementing the technology during walk-throughs and observations. I believe it is also important to survey our parents and students. We want to hear their thoughts on what we will begin implementing in the classroom. We want to make sure that our students and parents know that we are doing our best with technology.

Week2 S Ta R Chart

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Week2 S Ta R Chart

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Week 2 Part 2 TX Long Range Plan Area

I have chosen to blog about Area 4, infrastructure for technology. This area is basically the foundation for using technology on campus. With out this area, the rest of the areas may not be able to be reached. This area includes, internet connection and access, network access, number of students per computer, other classroom technology such as smart boards, projectors, and document cameras. This area also covers technical support on your campus as well as the distance learning capacity.

As far as technology progress on our campus, I know that there will be in the near future. Right now our primary campus is in its first year and I know that we will soon be caught up to everyone else once we start off next year. We do have one computer per teacher and are working to get a couple of computers in the classrooms as well as a lab. At our campus we have full online access with lan/wan connection to allow us to print, email, and share documents.

Looking at the statewide data, I see that most are at an advanced stage, 57%, with infrastructure. This means that there are four or less students per computer, there is direct connectivity, and there is a shared use of other resources. This is awesome progress from where most schools used be at about ten years ago.

About 35% of schools feel that are at a developing level as far as infrastructure. I believe this completely because of the way technology is changing and how costs are dropping, which makes it easier for educators to buy more for their campuses. Being at a developing level means that 5 to 9 students per computer, there is direct internet service in 50% of classrooms, there is one educator per computer and there is shared use of other resources. This area I am sure will become a smaller percentage as more and more districts buy into more technology and soon they will become part of the advanced technology area.

The last two areas are early technology and target technology. About 1% is still in early technology, where I believe my primary campus would fall under. There are 10 or more students per computer and there is no web based learning. Although, we do have direct connection to the internet and not dial up, I still feel that we belong at the early stages of technology. About 7 % of campuses are at the target level, which I think everyone will aim to be in the near future. To be at a target level, there should be an on demand access for every student, with all the connections, and rooms are fully equipped with appropriate technology.

I believe that in order for my campus to improve in this area, there must be budget and support. I feel that my administration is fully aware of where we are and where we want to be. They are doing their best to get us there as quickly as possible. I hope that any school at the early technology stages have the support that my administrators give to my campus. It is very hard to move past this stage though, when there is lack of budget. I know though, that there are ways to overcome budget constraints. Computers are running so inexpensive these days, that if districts tried their very best, all campuses would be free of this early technology stage. From the looks of it, not very many fall under this category, maybe only first year campuses may be undergoing the same challenges we are facing right now. As far as the state growing, I think it will be sooner than later, that our advanced levels and target levels become ideal for all campuses.

Pre-K Technology TEKS

The technology TEKS for Pre-K lay the foundation for students because they learn how important and beneficial it is to have technology in our lives. Students at this age are exposed to the wonderful world of technology and begin to explore the many things that are possible with technology. They learn the basics of technology while being engaged in different programs that are age appropriate. This is a very hard age to teach because there are students with many different learning styles and learning rates. I have taught this grade level and have used technology with my students. I saw them really enjoy learning through technology and actually gaining knowledge from it. Many programs are audio, with following directions, one to one correspondence, and vocabulary building. These are just some TEKS that technology focuses on with these young learners. Students become familiar with technology while learning their alphabet, learning numbers, and other grade level skills. What better way of reaching our students that need different ways of learning. I have also noticed that technology makes it fun for students to learn. I think that is the most important thing of all. To have fun while learning. If students start to love learning at this age, they will always have a love for learning.

A spiraling or scaffolding curriculum is one that uses prior knowledge to learn new skills. Spiraling comes back around to a skill that has been learned and builds off of that skill. The skills continuously come around to build off of. Scaffolding is learning a skill and building off of that. So the two go hand in hand. In the technology TEKs for Pre-K and Kindergarten for example, I have noticed scaffolding TEKs as well as spiraling. For example students at each grade level are always expected to use correct terminology for technology. This grows as a child a learns. Also, using a variety of input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, cd-rom, camera, and audio recorder. These eventually build as students move up in grade levels. They become familiar with one, master it and then move on to use these devices in different ways for different outcomes. The last TEK that I see that scaffolds is acquiring information. Students will learn to acquire information in different ways as they grow and learn. It starts off slow for Pre- K students, then builds as they grow older. I believe that using technology is just like learning to read. You must know your basics such as your letters and sounds in order to start to link pieces together to learn that letters make words and those letters make sounds together to make words. Technology is a process that must be used everyday in order to be mastered just like anything else in education.

Long-Range Plan

I have never heard of the Long-Range Plan prior to taking this course. Reviewing it in its entirety was very eye opening for me. I wasn't aware that there was a guide for us to use when it comes to technology, how we use it, and when we use it. I am glad I have looked over this, because as of right now, my primary campus is not implementing a lot of what the plan calls for. As far as teachers using technology to help plan, we are using it to our fullest. We also use it for communication and personal use. This plan will now help guide me to start integrating more technology into our campus. I know that there has been some technology purchased for us to start doing this. As an instructional leader, I hope to help get the ball rolling faster when it comes to technology on my campus.

I believe that my school has already set the plan into place in the secondary building. There is infrastructure that supports teaching and learning, educator preparation and development, leadership, administration and instructional support. I think that the secondary principal has done a fabulous job of making sure that technology is fully incorporated into classrooms by installing smart boards and mounted projectors. Our secondary technology room is outstanding filled with all Apple computers. Students have technology as a class period in their schedule everyday. Also, I know that there have been staff developments for how to use this technology and how to incorporate it into everyday lessons.

After reflecting on what our secondary campus has, I am now more aware of where our primary campus needs improvement and where I can step in to help. This is something I am looking forward to discussing more with my principal in order to bring our campus up to par with the Long-Range Plan. Although this is our first year as a primary campus, I believe that my principal is doing all that she can to make primary like our secondary campus. I hope to be able to help her as a leader in the near future.

Educational Technology Leadership

For someone that has grown up in the technology age, I believe that I still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to technology. I have grown up using a computer, but at the rate that technology grows everyday I feel that I still have a lot to learn. Taking the assessments only affirmed my belief.

The first assessment that I took showed me that I was a little above average as far as foundations of technology. I know how to use a computer and its basic fundamentals. I did however realize that I am just about average when it comes to information acquisition, problem solving, and communication. I can navigate through my computer without problems, but when it comes to new innovative ways to do different things with my computer I tend to get a little lost. I am very proficient when it comes to the basics of computer programs, but I think I have the most difficulty when it comes to problems solving. I have learned a lot throughout the year from watching our campus technologist. He is ver patient and walks us through things so that way we are able to learn ourselves.

Although I love taking the first assessment, the second assessment was a little harder for me to complete. I had difficulty due to the fact that we are in our first year as a primary campus. We were able to share a computer lab with our secondary campus last year, but as both campuses grow, we had to separate. Now, we are left without any technology in the classroom or in a lab. We rarely get to use the technology lab because it is always being used by our secondary campus. The only computers we have for a classrooms are our school laptops. We have however, addressed this with our principal and she is the works of getting classroom computers for us to start with. She is in the process right now of ordering projectors for every classroom as well as document cameras. So as of right now, I have learned that we are not incorporating very much technology into our daily lessons for any subject areas. I do use various sites to show educational videos to my students, but hopefully we will be able to incorporate technology within the next year.

As far as technology for the teachers, it is readily available. We are constantly on our computers, using it for communication, data reports, and planning. From taking the second assessment I also feel that when we do have technology in place, we could use staff developments on helping us implement the technology in the classrooms. I feel that with the various learning styles we have, this will greatly benefit us as a whole. That being said, I have not seen any standards our district has set up for us as far as using technology in the classrooms. This is something I will be researching on as we study this course. I am very glad we took these assessments, otherwise I would have not been able to clearly see where our strengths and weaknesses are as a campus.

If you have any helpful information on how my campus can get a grant or any other funding to help us with our lack of technology, I would greatly appreciate it.