Web Conference 01-27-11

I really enjoyed this conference. I had the opportunity to be more casual and friendly with my cohorts, felt camaraderie with classmates and was able to make sense of some of the direction I needed to be in with my course internship. I also appreciated having a chance to speak with Dr. Borel about the book I just finished reading and then found out I could use it with my studies in this course. I am just very excited to be a part of this program and know that I am finally reaching the goals I have set for myself.

Pearsall ISD E-Rate Presentation

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

E rate presentation

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Blog #3 Week 2

The Draft Plan include these five goals:

(Source: http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/NETP-2010-final-report.pdf, 2010)

1.     Learning: All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and outside of school that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally networked society.

2.     Assessment: Our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what matters and use assessment data for continuous improvement.

3.     Teaching: Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that connects them to data, content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that enable and inspire more effective teaching for all learners.

4.     Infrastructure: All students and educators will have access to a comprehensive infrastructure for learning when and where they need it.

5.     Productivity: Our education system at all levels will redesign processes and structures to take advantage of the power of technology to improve learning outcomes while making more efficient use of time, money, and staff.

This biggest concern I have with this plan is the global effect of change that does not account for the individual responses of teachers who may not want to change or budget restrictions of those who simply cannot change. As small districts with low income residents try to move into the global economy and technology many households may not be engaged in the same manner. I work in a small district with very few parent resources. I just came from a district in the Dallas area to South Texas and am very surprised at how computer illiterate many of our students are. We are also in an area where the median household income is only about $22,000. There are not a lot of luxuries outside necessities in these homes.

These areas may make it difficult to cultivate a learning environment of teachers that are technologically savvy, ready to implement technology learning strategies, or are willing to take the time to bring the students up to par with their skills so it can be implemented into the lessons. This takes precious time, sometimes days, from the limited time allotted for rigorous curriculum. This can be very hard for many teachers to do.

Personally, as a first year, secondary teacher, I am very committed to using Layered Curriculum to employ rigor, productivity, and choices to my students. You may see what I am referring to at http://www.help4teachers.com/. My first two weeks in the classroom went remarkably well as far as the students tending to what needed to be done. I will grade their unit test and assignments this week to measure where adjustments needs to be but they were able to complete 16 activities in 10 days including a webquest on the history of Biology and scientists who made contributions, an online survey with www.MyFootprint.org and a journal writing about what they learned, a power point presentation (student made) on lab safety and an online lab equipment quiz at http://www.quia.com/quiz/386664.html. 

Blog #2 Week 2

There are five goals of the Pearsall ISD Technology Plan that include:

1.    Enhance the technology skills of the educational staff through a comprehensive staff development system.

2.    Improve student learning through the appropriate use of technology.

3.    Pearsall ISD will incorporate new and existing technologies into the instructional process at all campuses.

4.    Pearsall ISD will continue to expand the use of school facilities to improve education in the community.

5.    Pearsall ISD will use technology to provide timely and accurate data for decision-making at the campus and district level.

According to the Needs Assessment from the Pearsall ISD 2011-2012 Technology Plan all campuses have been identified as being in the developing stages of technology implementation as indicated by the Texas Teacher STAR Chart. This has necessitated the implementation of a campus technology committee for each campus that will meet annually to discuss technology improvement and invite input from each of the campus stakeholders.

Staff development is provided through consultants and online learning and is supported by five full-time technology employees for the district.

Assessments ensuring improved student learning is evidenced through increased use of technology in the classroom with student projects and assignments; documented staff development and increased technology use in the workplace with technology assisted lesson planning; increased technology budget allowances for classroom technology devices for teaching and learning in every classroom.

The 2011 Budget allowances for these improvements total $589,000.00 including funding sources within the district, state technology funds, and E-Rate funds. This budget seem appropriate for the current stage of technology implementation for the size of district in Pearsall, TX.

Blog #1 Week 2

There is an intrinsic value in knowing and understanding a teacher’s technology leadership knowledge and skills as well as their student’s. In order to align with the StaR Chart and the LRPT and NCLB initiatives a teacher must be technologically literate beyond the student to help further skills and successfully integrate technology based curriculum; successful for both the teacher incorporating the lessons and the student having the ability to perform the expectation. Evaluating both the teacher and the student provides a baseline for instruction and measuring improvement. These skills should be assessed annually to show the learning stages and skills increasing each year.

Being able to access the knowledge and skills of educators and students makes evaluation, planning, and remediation (if necessary) possible and measurable. This will also allow the educator to maintain a position of the learned over the student to help them increase their knowledge or ability to apply their knowledge to educational endeavors.

Unfortunately, the only real means of teacher measurement at this time are through self reporting methods as with the StaR Chart where teachers may see their technology prowess as advanced when it really lacks the rigor or full incorporation into curriculum and lesson planning that would allow for a richer and more diverse learning experience. There are also many teachers, of different experience levels, that are not savvy with technology and do not find issues with that. Asking a teacher to change may feel like being told they are not a good teacher instead of understanding that they are able to reach more kids by being more diverse.

Web Conference 01-20-11

Several of the 5306 students participated in a mandatory web conference today that outlined out requirements for graduation; especially as they related to the internship hours. This was very helpful to show the bigger picture of what the expectations are for me and from me; I have a better focus with the end in site as I begin. We also had the opportunity to practice with some of the technology and interact with other students. This helps to make the learning environment more friendly and interactive. I also like to have the interaction to collaborate on assignments or have discussion about the course with others so it was nice to meet today.