This class was quite a ride and I must say it is has been a battle to make it to the finish line. With this class I expected to learn more about being and Instructional Leader here on my campus however, that was not the case. The overall experience of this course is a bit mixed for me because I do not feel that I became an Instructional Leader. On the other hand, I do feel that I learned valuable information that has made me more prepared to be a Technology Leader here at my campus and any other campus that I sent foot in. Nonetheless, it is hard for me to pin point an outcome because what I thought I would be learning did not happen. Everything I learned in this course was of value and relevant to what I do as topics such as blogging, STaR charts, and podcasting were very influential and have made an impact on me. As a campus administrator, I know a great deal more than I did before and would do my best to bring in technology to my campus. I would also make sure my teachers were professionally developed in this new technology age in order to give our students the best education possible. Even though I am not an administrator yet, this course has helped me be more informed and has allowed me to achieve the mindset of a technology leader. Strangely, until this final paper I did not even know that my thinking had changed to one that is all about technology in our schools.
In looking back at this course I can say that I was successful in carrying out the course assignment but I have to be honest and say that the discussion assignments were pointless. What really was the point of having me respond to quotes from other classmates? I can understand having me read an article and write a reflective response on it or a quote, like what was required. Nevertheless, it seemed like just busy work to not only have me read 8 articles per week, but respond to quotes from each article AND respond to two from classmates on the same article. That is a total of 24 responses with 16 of those really having no point. I do not think I was the only student that thought these were very unnecessary and at times I just wanted to take a zero because I do have a life and a job outside of this. I do not feel like that was taken into consideration as those discussion assignments took many hours to do and took everything I had to complete them and the other assignments that we were given.
From this course I learned that Graduate school which at one point I thought was fun become work that was not engaging and did not keep my attention. We read so many times about how teachers should make sure students are getting something out of the assignments and in this technology age we should use technology to keep them engaged. This course used technology but I felt it was used in the wrong way and in no way tried to keep me or any student engaged but tried to keeps us busy in this “experimental course.” To change gears, in technology I learned that our school does have some technology but we could use a lot more to help our students out. From the STaR chart I learned that many teachers on campus need some more professional development so that they can become masters in what they are doing. They should be able to give their students the kind of technological education that they could succeed in as opposed to the classic, “sit and listen to lecture” model. What I learned about my leadership skills with this course is that as a leader I can ruffle some feathers and go against the norm. It is ok to speak out and if I do not agree with someone for the greater good I will do what is needed to be done but I will speak out about it and let it be known that certain things are not right. In this reflection I am being brutally honest and hopefully I will not get a backlash from this. My hope is that those that come after me will not suffer the same grueling path that I just went through.
A great resource that I learned from this course was the new innovative concept called a web blog. The value of blogs is that students will be able to learn a new technology and are able to fully express themselves in a format that was never seen before by their parents. Blogs are very helpful in that they get various people (in this case students) to agree and debate about ideals that they may currently be facing. They also allow students to reach far and wide to those that they thought they would never be able to reach such as scientists, politicians, and even movie stars to get questions answered or even discuss various issues that may be occurring. When dealing with class content this can be an excellent tool to just learn a lot more about what happened in the past but with an added “current event” feel to it. This resource can also be used by us to reach community stakeholders and let them see what are kids are learning. We want stakeholders to see what are kids are learning and how we are integrating technology into our classrooms to make our 21st century learners technologically savvy. What better way than to show them this action than by letting them reach out to our students and get prime responses in a matter of seconds?
Sadly, along with the positives that I just mentioned there are some negatives when dealing with blogs in an education setting. As I said, blogs can bring about debate but sometimes with kids debate is not always mellow. It can get very heated and intense. This is when blogs can take a turn for the worst. We have heard a lot in this class about cyber bullying and a blog can be a place for this type of situation to occur. We just must be vigilant and make sure that when we are doing this kind of online open forum in our classes, that we take steps to not have students see the negativity that comes from blogging like many other sites that have this type of application do. All in all this course did provide some helpful resources and let me see a side of education that I had never seen before. Many parts of this journey I did feel were pointless as I would have gained the same insight doing 50% of the work required as the other 50% just seemed to be extra with no basis or reasoning behind it. Technology is the future but we must remember as educators and as students that if we want to make it work for us we must use it to give our students knowledge and let them feel as if they have gained something. Not push them to the brink were they question if they still want to continue something they were excited about all along.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Technology Action Plan 12/09
Scarborough High School
Technology Action Plan 12/09
Organizational Chart
A. Rivera, Instructional Technology Secondary - Designs and implements on-going campus technology training and Research and disseminate technology information to the campus.
P. Collins, Technology and Information Services - Serve as technology liaison between the campus and others to evaluate campus technology strengths, resources, and needs.
A. Summers, Principal - Support’s computer based classroom instruction, assuring that technology is incorporated into the curriculum.
N. Thorn, Campus Technology Director - The technology support person for educational initiatives at the campus level.
Campus Technology Goal – To have Scarborough High School be at the forefront of technology and learning in Houston ISD.
Teachers at our campus will be committed to participate in ongoing professional developments to enhance their technology skills and move towards our Campus Technology Goal. In order to achieve this we will focus on not just one type of training but a plethora of trainings in order to bring various insights back to our campus. In doing so, we will make technology available in every classroom and to every student, teacher, and staff member. Training from simple integration of technology, to how to use technology tools, to how to use technology to incorporate differentiated instruction will all be on the forefront of the development training list. We will constantly be reviewing and revising our plan to meet student and teacher needs and wants to make sure that we not only are providing the service for our students but also remain on track for our campus wide goal.
Short Term Goals for Immediate Action (Assessment/Monitoring)
• Have a website that serves not only the staff and students of Scarborough but also the entire learning community and that is updated on a daily basis.
• Form a Student Tech Team to help with troubleshooting and computer upgrades to give certain students skills at a vocation.
• Create Podcasts of school events to be posted for the world to see.
• Start a morning "Internet Cafe" for early arrivals to bring in a college campus culture.
• Provide monthly technology opportunities for teachers to maintain and enhance skills.
• Create and maintain electronic portfolios on the school server for all students in grades 9-12 (District effort).
• Communicate staff info and correspondence through e-mail.
• Upgrade technology in all classrooms so that every child has the same opportunities.
• Deliver valuable information to students and parents via our School website.
• Have all teachers complete an online course in technology because we want our teachers to be learners as well.
Long Term Goals to Achieve (Assessment/Evaluating)
• Bridge the gap between teacher’s technical abilities and those that we have set forth as a campus.
• Use technology to efficiently communicate within our school, between school and home, and between school and community.
• Have paperless classrooms with an electronic management system for assignments, data collection, grade books, and calendars.
• Have an established technology budget so that we may be able to take full advantage of any new technologies that will benefit our students.
• Produce students that are technology savvy so that they may improve their education by maintaining web sites, using e-mail, appropriately searching the internet, and creating dazzling presentations.
• Continue to strive for technology excellence.
To conclude, we want our classrooms to be a place where students can get the information they want, when they want it, and have the equipment and guidance to use that information in creative, unique ways. We want our students to have full advantage of every new technology available such as the internet, so that they may explore places that they have never been and communicate with areas they once did not know exist. Keeping with HISDs district wide plan we also want our teachers, students, and parents to have online access to assignments, records, and school information. For our students we want to make sure our plan is new, exciting, and innovated. For our teachers we want our plan to keep them motivated and eager towards our campus improvements and to strive for success, as our new endeavors will make them strong technology talented educators.
Technology Action Plan 12/09
Organizational Chart
A. Rivera, Instructional Technology Secondary - Designs and implements on-going campus technology training and Research and disseminate technology information to the campus.
P. Collins, Technology and Information Services - Serve as technology liaison between the campus and others to evaluate campus technology strengths, resources, and needs.
A. Summers, Principal - Support’s computer based classroom instruction, assuring that technology is incorporated into the curriculum.
N. Thorn, Campus Technology Director - The technology support person for educational initiatives at the campus level.
Campus Technology Goal – To have Scarborough High School be at the forefront of technology and learning in Houston ISD.
Teachers at our campus will be committed to participate in ongoing professional developments to enhance their technology skills and move towards our Campus Technology Goal. In order to achieve this we will focus on not just one type of training but a plethora of trainings in order to bring various insights back to our campus. In doing so, we will make technology available in every classroom and to every student, teacher, and staff member. Training from simple integration of technology, to how to use technology tools, to how to use technology to incorporate differentiated instruction will all be on the forefront of the development training list. We will constantly be reviewing and revising our plan to meet student and teacher needs and wants to make sure that we not only are providing the service for our students but also remain on track for our campus wide goal.
Short Term Goals for Immediate Action (Assessment/Monitoring)
• Have a website that serves not only the staff and students of Scarborough but also the entire learning community and that is updated on a daily basis.
• Form a Student Tech Team to help with troubleshooting and computer upgrades to give certain students skills at a vocation.
• Create Podcasts of school events to be posted for the world to see.
• Start a morning "Internet Cafe" for early arrivals to bring in a college campus culture.
• Provide monthly technology opportunities for teachers to maintain and enhance skills.
• Create and maintain electronic portfolios on the school server for all students in grades 9-12 (District effort).
• Communicate staff info and correspondence through e-mail.
• Upgrade technology in all classrooms so that every child has the same opportunities.
• Deliver valuable information to students and parents via our School website.
• Have all teachers complete an online course in technology because we want our teachers to be learners as well.
Long Term Goals to Achieve (Assessment/Evaluating)
• Bridge the gap between teacher’s technical abilities and those that we have set forth as a campus.
• Use technology to efficiently communicate within our school, between school and home, and between school and community.
• Have paperless classrooms with an electronic management system for assignments, data collection, grade books, and calendars.
• Have an established technology budget so that we may be able to take full advantage of any new technologies that will benefit our students.
• Produce students that are technology savvy so that they may improve their education by maintaining web sites, using e-mail, appropriately searching the internet, and creating dazzling presentations.
• Continue to strive for technology excellence.
To conclude, we want our classrooms to be a place where students can get the information they want, when they want it, and have the equipment and guidance to use that information in creative, unique ways. We want our students to have full advantage of every new technology available such as the internet, so that they may explore places that they have never been and communicate with areas they once did not know exist. Keeping with HISDs district wide plan we also want our teachers, students, and parents to have online access to assignments, records, and school information. For our students we want to make sure our plan is new, exciting, and innovated. For our teachers we want our plan to keep them motivated and eager towards our campus improvements and to strive for success, as our new endeavors will make them strong technology talented educators.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Scarborough High STaR Chart
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
Scarborough High STaR Chart
View more presentations from smorris7.
Week 2 Assignment, Part 2: Using a Blog
The area I have chosen to focus on for this blog is Key Area II: Educator Preparation and Development. It is a new day and age and learning is not using an abacus anymore. Learning is Windows XP, Vista, IPhone, Halo, and any other eye catching finger tapping technology that is out there in the world today. It may take me hours to figure out an IPod where it would take a student 30 minutes to do that very thing. We must prepare our educators to be technology literate because if not they will fall by the wayside. Can you imagine the students boredom in your class if in the class next door they are using Smartboards to look at Google Earth? You yourself would want to see what is going on and why there is Oos and Ahhs going on. You may even go next door to your colleague and ask, “what was going on in there?”
In order to get to that level you must be trained currently on various technologies in order to have them work for you efficiently in your classroom. Sadly, older teachers are the ones will attend more of these trainings because they were not brought up in technology like the new crop of teachers. Administrators can even fall in this category as will since they are suppose to push technology on their campus as information rich and invigorating but if they do not use it what does that say about the effective use of technology on their campus? Although, we have moved toward monitoring campus technology and its use we still are not to the point where everyone is using technology as they should. There will come a time and it’s soon that so much technology is out there to be used and that will go hand and hand with teaching, that teachers and administrators will begin to retire because they just can’t keep up with the every changing world of education.
That statement speaks volumes as education today is ever changing. We are here to become administrators and change the world of education ourselves. Can we do this by coming in and saying we are going to do it the way I was taught? Or are we going to come in and say everyone is going to be trained on Smartboards because I want our students to be as advanced as those kids on the other side of town. Training is key for all and kids today need to have that foundation in order to have it scaffold onto higher learning. We can only teach what we have been taught and today we need to be taught and prepared on technology.
In order to get to that level you must be trained currently on various technologies in order to have them work for you efficiently in your classroom. Sadly, older teachers are the ones will attend more of these trainings because they were not brought up in technology like the new crop of teachers. Administrators can even fall in this category as will since they are suppose to push technology on their campus as information rich and invigorating but if they do not use it what does that say about the effective use of technology on their campus? Although, we have moved toward monitoring campus technology and its use we still are not to the point where everyone is using technology as they should. There will come a time and it’s soon that so much technology is out there to be used and that will go hand and hand with teaching, that teachers and administrators will begin to retire because they just can’t keep up with the every changing world of education.
That statement speaks volumes as education today is ever changing. We are here to become administrators and change the world of education ourselves. Can we do this by coming in and saying we are going to do it the way I was taught? Or are we going to come in and say everyone is going to be trained on Smartboards because I want our students to be as advanced as those kids on the other side of town. Training is key for all and kids today need to have that foundation in order to have it scaffold onto higher learning. We can only teach what we have been taught and today we need to be taught and prepared on technology.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Week 1 Assignment, Part 4: Technology Applications TEKS Summary
Using the Pre-K TEKS children learn how technology can enhance their lives. Technology at this level means any technological item that would be in a classroom such as computers, voice/sound recorders, televisions, etc. Teaching students these wide varieties of technological devices, we can be sure that children will benefit from being able to become familiar with these devices and take that knowledge with them as we begin to establish real world connections. The five focuses that are concentrated on for end of year outcomes are 1) child opens and navigates through software programs designed to enhance development of appropriate concepts, 2) child uses and names a variety of computer input devices, such as mouse, keyboard, voice/sound recorder, touch screen, CD‐ROM, 3) child operates voice/sound recorders and touch screens, 4) child uses software applications to create and express own ideas, and 5) child recognizes that information is accessible through the use of technology.
Using these five main focuses students are introduced to a plethora of foundation skills that will be used to scaffold their future learning as they enter upper grade levels. To name a few skills acquired at the Pre-K level that will be part of the spiraling curriculum, students will follow basic oral or visual cues for operating programs successfully, moves and double‐clicks the mouse to interact with software programs, use terminology to describe work on computer, insert and plays CD to listen to songs, and use a variety of software packages with audio, video, and graphics in order to enhance learning experience. Technology is a must in this day and age and we must teach our children the skills necessary to keep up with the times or we are doing them a great disservice. The TEKS have done a great job of helping us establish basic skills for our little ones and the building of knowledge for our big ones. As we become more advanced so will the basic skills needed to teach the future leaders of the world. We just need to continue on the path that we are on in order to let our children master the skills necessary in order to have vast opportunities in the future.
Revised Texas PreKindergarten Guidelines. (2008, May 21). Retrieved November 24, 2009, from Texas Education Agency: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/ed_init/pkguidelines/PKG_Final_100808.pdf
Using these five main focuses students are introduced to a plethora of foundation skills that will be used to scaffold their future learning as they enter upper grade levels. To name a few skills acquired at the Pre-K level that will be part of the spiraling curriculum, students will follow basic oral or visual cues for operating programs successfully, moves and double‐clicks the mouse to interact with software programs, use terminology to describe work on computer, insert and plays CD to listen to songs, and use a variety of software packages with audio, video, and graphics in order to enhance learning experience. Technology is a must in this day and age and we must teach our children the skills necessary to keep up with the times or we are doing them a great disservice. The TEKS have done a great job of helping us establish basic skills for our little ones and the building of knowledge for our big ones. As we become more advanced so will the basic skills needed to teach the future leaders of the world. We just need to continue on the path that we are on in order to let our children master the skills necessary in order to have vast opportunities in the future.
Revised Texas PreKindergarten Guidelines. (2008, May 21). Retrieved November 24, 2009, from Texas Education Agency: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/ed_init/pkguidelines/PKG_Final_100808.pdf
Week 1 Assignment, Part 3: Key Ideas of the Long-Range Plan for Technology
Technology is ever changing and in Texas teachers use technology on a daily basis. There is a 3 phase plan ending in 2020 that will bring about a new more technological advance education system beginning in phase 1 which started in 2006 and ends in 2010. After review of phase 1, phase 2 which is 2011-2015 and phase 3 which is 2015-2020 will then be implemented using best practices. The goal is to have technology savvy teachers as well as students in order to bring this vision to the forefront. In looking at the needs we come to find that a realistic and dependable funding model is needed to not only expand but sustain student and teacher technology. There is also a need for ongoing professional development, instructional and technical support, and a robust technology infrastructure. Districts need strategies to measure the progress of students and teachers in meeting the Technology proficiencies that are critical to teaching and learning in this day and age. Administrators are key in bringing in and making sure technology is used correctly and efficiently on their campus. Leaders must be on board so that their team can see the positives when implementation is taking place. Technology is needed in all area of a school campus and education in general. Administration must use technology and show how the vision of combining education with it is the direction we are going and we as future administrators need to help steer that movement in the right direction.
The Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020 . (2006, November). Retrieved November 24, 2009, from Texas Education Agency: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/technology/lrpt/LRPTCompleteDec06.pdf
The Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020 . (2006, November). Retrieved November 24, 2009, from Texas Education Agency: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/technology/lrpt/LRPTCompleteDec06.pdf
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Week 1 Assignment, Part 2: Creating and Using a Blog
Being technology savvy is a must in this day and age especially in an education setting. With video games being so prominent in kids lives these days, we as educators need to be able to bring some form of technology into the classroom in order to engage students and keep them intrigued. I am proud to say that my campus is technology savvy and technology is used every single day. From computer labs, to library, to PowerPoint’s, technology has a strong presence at my campus. I am from the new crop of educators that was brought up with technology and I know for a fact that will guide me as I implement certain technologies into my campus once I gain a principalship.
My assessment results for both the technology inventory and the SETDA building survey (we were to omit the Johnson survey) do show that myself and my campus are both strong in technology. However, our weakness indicated is that access to a lot of these technologies such as scanners and digital media is not plentiful. It is present on our campus however it is just not easily assessable as I would like. If one teacher is using something then another can’t so lesson plans need to be modified and certain contents are not getting the full grasp that the teacher would have hoped.
Both of these surveys were very informative as they not only let me see my skill level but also my campuses. From the SETDA building survey, I do see that I need to learn how to link technology to campus data in order to show teachers how to improve student performance. I also need to learn about technology funding and how that ties into the overall campus technology goal. All in all I would say these surveys were very helpful in letting me see positives and negatives on my campus. It is now just a matter of learning much more in order to turn those negatives into positives.
Profiling Educational Technology Integration (PETI) SETDA/Metiri Resources for Assessing Readiness & Use. (2004). Retrieved November 21, 2009, from Suite of Tools: http://www.setda-peti.org/tools.html
My assessment results for both the technology inventory and the SETDA building survey (we were to omit the Johnson survey) do show that myself and my campus are both strong in technology. However, our weakness indicated is that access to a lot of these technologies such as scanners and digital media is not plentiful. It is present on our campus however it is just not easily assessable as I would like. If one teacher is using something then another can’t so lesson plans need to be modified and certain contents are not getting the full grasp that the teacher would have hoped.
Both of these surveys were very informative as they not only let me see my skill level but also my campuses. From the SETDA building survey, I do see that I need to learn how to link technology to campus data in order to show teachers how to improve student performance. I also need to learn about technology funding and how that ties into the overall campus technology goal. All in all I would say these surveys were very helpful in letting me see positives and negatives on my campus. It is now just a matter of learning much more in order to turn those negatives into positives.
Profiling Educational Technology Integration (PETI) SETDA/Metiri Resources for Assessing Readiness & Use. (2004). Retrieved November 21, 2009, from Suite of Tools: http://www.setda-peti.org/tools.html
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