IB- Integration of Technology into the Curriculum: Integration of technology into the curriculum has the most direct impact on student learning. You should have a firm grasp of how to plan lessons that use technology effectively to improve student learning.
During the 2012- 2013 school year, I partnered with another teach in my school to lead a technology based Professional Learning Community (PLC). Our school creates PLC groups for teachers to choose from that meet once a month. Our PLC group included 4 teachers, 2 of which teach Kindergarten, 1 4th grade teacher, and one Academic Life Skills teacher. Prior to our first meeting, we used an interest survey to find out the needs of our group. We used the information from this data to plan our first few topics. Although the group was small, I enjoyed being able to tailor each session to the needs of our learners. For each PLC session, we chose one type of technology to focus on, at the following session our group members would quickly share how they used it in their classroom. We explored using Word forms, EPR clickers, and the Wii, just to name a few. We created a Wiki in order for the members in our group to share any resources they created, however this was a challenge for our group.
I think that our group really tried to take what they learned each month to incorporate it in their classrooms. One of my Kindergarten teammates in the group planned a lesson during our weekly math planning meetings for the team to use. She offered to teach the lesson for another teacher that was not willing to give it a try. I think that being in our PLC really helped to empower the teachers to try something new in their classrooms.
As I look back on co-leading the Technology PLC this school year, I would say I feel relatively successful. Although our PLC group had only 4 teachers, I felt that we were able to tailor each session to the needs of the teachers in the group.
Something valuable that I learned was to slow down and think more simply. When I think of technology, I typically think about big, complicated technologies such as the Wii, EPR clickers, etc. Working with my PLC group taught me to look at more everyday type technologies such as using the copier as a printer or scanner and using the document cameras in different ways. Although I know our group enjoyed learning about ‘big’ technologies, I think that the daily technologies we looked at was the most useful for them.
I enjoyed the opportunity to teach other staff members about technology. Working with Cheryl was a great collaborative experience for me. Even though we may have different teaching and planning styles, we were always able to plan effectively for our group.
IC- Technology Resources: Being a technology facilitator requires the ability to use technology resources, find new resources, and find ways to acquire new resources that are compatible with the standards used in your school.
On my Kindergarten team, I feel like I am the ‘go to’ person when it comes to technology. I’ve learned this past year, that others outside of my team also see me in the same way. Besides helping others find resources on an ‘as needed’ basis, in April of 2013 I offered a session to teachers on ways to make teaching easier using Technology resources. In this group I shared a variety of websites, such as Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers, that are available to find resources for lessons. During this group session, I helped guide them through the various websites and showed different ways to filter and explore the resources. I found this session to be very valuable to the group and since that session I have heard some of those who attended have continued to use the websites to enhance their lesson planning.
ID- Managing the Technology-Rich Classroom: Managing a classroom that uses technology can be a challenge. You should have a variety of strategies for managing the technology itself as well managing students in a technology-rich learning environment.
Since the winter of 2010, I have been the Dreambox coordinator for my school. Dreambox is a webbased math program that helps students to develop and strengthen basic number awareness. The program is self-paced, engaging to students, and scaffolds their learning by adjusting the difficulty of questions according to student responses. Our school has a limited number of licenses, so we have decided to use them for struggling math students in grades K-2. In the fall each year, teachers identify students that may benefit the most from the program. I create classes and add students for each grade. For the teachers, I offer a tutorial to get their students started for the first time. During the tutorial session, I also show them how to monitor each student’s usage and progress. Most classes try to have their students use the program 2 times per week at school, however, students have access to the program at home as well. Monitoring each students’ progress is very helpful so that each teacher can see in which areas the students are gaining mastery.
This is a sample of a Dreambox report (no student names included)
A different kind of management tool that I began using in the Spring of 2013 is called Class Dojo. This is a behavior management system where students can earn or lose ‘points’ based on criteria set up by the teacher. Parents are able to see their child’s ‘points’ each day as well as any notes posted by the teacher. After using the program for 2 weeks, I was very pleased with how the students responded to it. I held a small session for other interested teachers in my school to share the program with them. I showed the group how to create classes, change the characters, and customize behaviors. Although it was near the end of the year, I think it was very motivating to both the teachers and the students. I know that many of the teachers look forward to using it much sooner next school year!
IG. Technology for Diverse and Special Needs: Technology can facilitate the needs of special needs students through adaptive and assistive technology and differentiated instruction. As a technology facilitator, you should understand these tools, use them in your classroom as needed, and be able to work with other teachers to use these tools as needed.
As part of the Professional Learning Community (PLC) that I co-lead, we showed our group how to use Word Forms. One member of our group only works with students with severe special needs. Many of them type, rather than write when it comes to writing activities. There are also times when it is most appropriate for some of her students to have choices for their response. Using Word Form is a great way to create choices or typing fields so that students cannot alter the questions that you have created. In our group we shared many examples of Word Forms. My co-leader even created a video on our Wiki for use at another time. I think that this feature turned out to be very helpful for all students, not just the students with specials needs because it allows the teacher to set up a variety of question structures.
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IIA- Assessment with Technology: You should have an understanding of technology tools that aid teachers and schools in assessing student learning and using assessment data to improve instruction and student learning.
At my school, each team meets on a monthly basis to discuss math data collected in order to see how the students are progressing and to also design interventions for any outliers in the group. One of the Common Core Math standards for Kindergarten is for students to be able to add and subtract with in 10. As a team we decided one way to collect the data would be using the EPR clickers. We created a variety of addition questions, horizontal, vertical, and missing addend, this way we could see how well the students could perform on different problem structures. After each class administered the clickers assessment, we were able to analyze the data at our monthly data meeting. We were please to see how well the students did on the assessment and we were able to identify the students that needed additional instruction.
Another opportunity for me to provide professional development with data collection was part of role as the Dreambox coordinator. Since 2010, I have been theDreambox coordinator for our school. The self-paced math program helps scaffold individual student learning to help them build on their areas of weakness. Since our school has a limited number of lisences, we have decided to use it as an intervention only for students that are struggling. When teachers are ready to set-up accounts, they contact me. After setting up the accounts, and helping the students get started, I typically schedule a time to meet with teachers using Dreambox. I am able to show them how to access the data through Dreambox to find the areas that their particular students are still struggling in. This helps guide some of the instruction during math intervention groups.
In ET 680, I completed this Plan for a Plan mini paper. The paper explains the importance of planning for technology in a school. Different stakeholders need to have a voice when it comes to planning in order to see things from different viewpoints. The most important part of the plan includes the creation of a technology committee in order to set technology goals for the school. The plan also allows for flexibility since schools, students, staff, and technology can change very quickly. The technology committee would need to constantly reflect on practices and procedures in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the practices and procedures.
Technology Leadership
A. Staff Development
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IB- Integration of Technology into the Curriculum: Integration of technology into the curriculum has the most direct impact on student learning. You should have a firm grasp of how to plan lessons that use technology effectively to improve student learning.
Our PLC Wiki
During the 2012- 2013 school year, I partnered with another teach in my school to lead a technology based Professional Learning Community (PLC). Our school creates PLC groups for teachers to choose from that meet once a month. Our PLC group included 4 teachers, 2 of which teach Kindergarten, 1 4th grade teacher, and one Academic Life Skills teacher. Prior to our first meeting, we used an interest survey to find out the needs of our group. We used the information from this data to plan our first few topics. Although the group was small, I enjoyed being able to tailor each session to the needs of our learners. For each PLC session, we chose one type of technology to focus on, at the following session our group members would quickly share how they used it in their classroom. We explored using Word forms, EPR clickers, and the Wii, just to name a few. We created a Wiki in order for the members in our group to share any resources they created, however this was a challenge for our group.
As I look back on co-leading the Technology PLC this school year, I would say I feel relatively successful. Although our PLC group had only 4 teachers, I felt that we were able to tailor each session to the needs of the teachers in the group.
Something valuable that I learned was to slow down and think more simply. When I think of technology, I typically think about big, complicated technologies such as the Wii, EPR clickers, etc. Working with my PLC group taught me to look at more everyday type technologies such as using the copier as a printer or scanner and using the document cameras in different ways. Although I know our group enjoyed learning about ‘big’ technologies, I think that the daily technologies we looked at was the most useful for them.
I enjoyed the opportunity to teach other staff members about technology. Working with Cheryl was a great collaborative experience for me. Even though we may have different teaching and planning styles, we were always able to plan effectively for our group.
Our PLC Wiki
IC- Technology Resources: Being a technology facilitator requires the ability to use technology resources, find new resources, and find ways to acquire new resources that are compatible with the standards used in your school.
ID- Managing the Technology-Rich Classroom: Managing a classroom that uses technology can be a challenge. You should have a variety of strategies for managing the technology itself as well managing students in a technology-rich learning environment.
IG. Technology for Diverse and Special Needs: Technology can facilitate the needs of special needs students through adaptive and assistive technology and differentiated instruction. As a technology facilitator, you should understand these tools, use them in your classroom as needed, and be able to work with other teachers to use these tools as needed.
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IIA- Assessment with Technology: You should have an understanding of technology tools that aid teachers and schools in assessing student learning and using assessment data to improve instruction and student learning.
B. Reflection
In ET 680, I completed this Plan for a Plan mini paper. The paper explains the importance of planning for technology in a school. Different stakeholders need to have a voice when it comes to planning in order to see things from different viewpoints. The most important part of the plan includes the creation of a technology committee in order to set technology goals for the school. The plan also allows for flexibility since schools, students, staff, and technology can change very quickly. The technology committee would need to constantly reflect on practices and procedures in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the practices and procedures.