Reflections of EDLD 5352

When I first started EDLD 5352, I envisioned a course that would guide future administrators toward an understanding of an expectation of combined technology in the education. I was expecting to learn about acceptable use policies and maybe some new technology to implement as a teacher and as an administrator. I also expected to learn about the infrastructure of technology within a district. The overall expectation of the course was met, due to what could be expected from a five week course. I thoroughly enjoyed the discussions and readings dealing with student, teacher and stakeholder responsibility. The weekly readings were broad and reflected many different points of view. A few authors I did not agree with while some were directly inline with my administrative philosophy. Though the class did teach about blogging and posting to the web, I would have loved to see more introduction to web postings. As a younger adult who’s district does have teacher and campus web pages, It would be nice to see more exposure to this format. That said I understand that time is limited many topics need to be addressed within a short five weeks.
The campus that I currently work at is the most restrictive environment in Humble ISD. At the Behavior Training Center, we have to limit the use of internet and technology with our students based on their behavioral issues. While some student may be oppositional defiant and attempt to do anything that breaks the rules, others become physically aggressive and will flip desk or bookshelves which can easily break an Item like a smart board or projector that is hooked up to a classroom computer. Implementing strategies like having a students post assignments on a blog have to be under tight scrutiny if implemented at all. Confidentiality and public communication are things that we must assess before implementing these strategies.
The course assignments were well planned and established validity to the course. The readings allowed me to reflect upon my own administrative and educational philosophies and how they pertain to technology. Though the readings were plentiful in quantity and length, they created great discussion and debate among the students. The written portion of the assignments assisted in my ability to analyze a campus and its current and future technology needs. Rating my program against other campuses and the state in the STaR Chart was simple and enlightening. I enjoyed being able to implement one of the concepts by posting my assignments to a blog. I was able to post most of my assignments properly. I did have a little trouble on the week 4 action plan assignment. I placed my assignment in a table format and tried to copy and paste it to the blog site. Unfortunately the blog did not accept the table format and my information was out of order in my blog posting.
EDLD 5352 allowed me to develop and refine my technology philosophy and how it pertains to my campus and educational philosophy. Through the readings, I was exposed to many different ideas about educational technology and integration into instruction. M. Presnky is one author from the weekly readings I found myself often in conflict, while defining my own position on technology and education. Presnky implies that what holds education from fully utilizing the complete potential of technology is the reliance on traditional instruction. His postings establish a direction of integration of technology only to transition out the old traditional standards and steadily increase technology standards. I began to develop my belief that students must be expected to establish a foundation of education with both, traditional and technological standards. Teachers and stakeholders must help instill the ethics of using technology while giving the students only responsibilities and privileges they are mature enough to handle.
EDLD 5352 allowed the students to post all assignments to a blog site that allowed other members to comment on the posting. Blogging to the internet is a great means of providing 24/7 communication about common topics and ideas. This is a very useful for the 21st century learner, but it does come with some concerns and reservations that must be addressed before attempting to incorporate into instruction. First any posting to the internet are available to the public. This can invite predators who surf the internet for young children or information an targets. In order to address this concern, teacher and educators must develop a blog within a framework such as a district website where an administrator has ability to monitor content and security levels. Also through a district framework, staff members can communicate directly with stakeholders and parents with 24/7 communication. Educators have the ability to post expectations, class assignments, concerns and receive and reply to feed back from students and stakeholders. Administrators would be able to monitor communication between staff, students and stakeholders, as well as ad opinion, instant feed back on closs projects. Direct communication through a district blog site would create an ideal medium between stakeholders and educators.

an action plan gone haywire.

I tried to insert a table format but apparently it didn't work.

Humble ISD Behavior Training Center
Campus Improvement Goal: The Behavior Training Center will continue to gather, analyze and evaluate data from a variety of sources for informed campus decision making focusing on integrating technology, instructional leadership, professional development and organizational leadership.

Related to: Integrated Technology
Process Steps:
• Gather and assess information from STaRs, AEIS and ESC Works to identify areas of needed improvement.
• Develop and implement effective instruction within a learner centered environments and effective integrated technology.
• Provide staff and stakeholders with opportunities to participate in professional learning experiences .
Objective:
Action Plan:
What are we going to do? Who will be responsible, and who will be involved? What resources will we need? When will this activity begin? When will it end? How will we know we have completed the activity? Last Updated

Objective: Administrators and staff will gather and assess information from various data sources to identify areas of needed improvement.

Action Plan:
What are we going to do? Who will be responsible, and who will be involved? What resources will we need? When will this activity begin? When will it end? How will we know we have completed the activity? Last Updated
Anaylyze STaR Chart to Identify areas of growth for integrated technology Administrator
PBIS committee
Classroom Teacher PLC Time.
Campus Star Chart Data. Statewide campus star chart data January 2010 Ongoing Documented achievement of STaR Chart target tech in all domains 012/13/2009
Analyze AEIS Data to identify area of growth needed for instruciton Administrator
PBIS committee
Classroom Teacher PLC Time.
Campus Star Chart Data. Statewide campus January 2010 Ongoing 100% of the staff increase student performance through implemented educational technology 012/13/2009
Analyze E/School Swiss Data to identify area target behaviors and locations Administrator
PBIS committee
Classroom Teacher PLC Time.
Campus Star Chart Data. Statewide campus January 2010 Ongoing 100% of the staff decrease negative student behavior through positive behavior reinforcement 012/13/2009
Objective: Teachers will develop and implement effective instruction within a learner centered environments and effective integrated technology.
.
Action Plan:
What are we going to do? Who will be responsible, and who will be involved? What resources will we need? When will this activity begin? When will it end? How will we know we have completed the activity? Last Updated
Teachers will plan and implement instruction utilizing technology available to the campus and classroom Administrator Teacher
Campus IT personnel PLC time
STaR Chart campus Data
Lesson plans
Access to campus software and technology
Communication with It January 2010 Ongoing 100% of the staff increase student performance through implemented educational technology 012/13/2009

Objective: the campus will provide staff and stakeholders with opportunities to participate in professional learning experiences though 24/7 access to communication.

What are we going to do? Who will be responsible, and who will be involved? What resources will we need? When will this activity begin? When will it end? How will we know we have completed the activity? Last Updated
Provide information of district and regional opportunities for technology development on campus website Administrator
Professional growth committee
Teachers
IT Access to campus website
Access to ESC Works and Region 4 Professional development
January 2010 Ongoing Monitor professional growth through ESC Works and PDAS reports 012/13/2009

S Ta R Chart

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S Ta R Chart

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Park Lakes Elementary STaR Chart

In order to assess the growth of educational technology in texas classrooms, TEA created the STaR chart. The STaR chart is directly aligned with the Texas Long Range Plan and is compliance with the national No Child Left Behind implemented by President George W. Bush. The STaR chart is broken into four domains: Teaching and Learning; Educator Preparation and Development; Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support, and Infrastructure for Technology. Each Domain is rated on a 1 to 4 scale labeled Early Tech, Developing Tech, Advanced Tech and Target tech
The Teaching and Learning Domain of the STaR chart focus on teacher implementation and classroom and instruction management. An Early Tech rating in this domain has Teacher centered instruction with limited use of instructional software and no tech integration on fundamental subject area TEKS. A Developing Tech rating has teacher centered instruction with technological integrations and informational resources utilized and individually practiced, but minimal use for meeting TEKS. An Advanced Tech rating is given to a classroom that is Teacher facilitated with students working in groups to analyze data and solve problem. Technology is integrated into TEKS and all Technology TEKS are met from grades K-8. A Target Tech rating classroom is teacher facilitated with the teacher acting as co learner and mentor. On demand access to Technology is available toe complete seamlessly integrated assignments. All technology techs are met in grades K-8
Park Lakes Elementary opened to the district in the 2006-07 school year. The year before, the area had experienced a growth in housing with sub prime lending in full effect., and business growth.. Park lakes opened its doors with 350 more enrolled students than projected. Over 70% of students were on reduced or free lunch and over 75% of our students were from low socio- economic status. The inaugural year, PL 60% of its staff member having only 1 or 2 yrs teaching experience.
Park lakes received a Early Tech rating in the Teaching and Learning Domain which was in the bottom 5.4% with 419 other Texas STaR charted schools. The many department budgets had to me reallocated to other budget areas to best meet the needs of the large student population. The following year, 2007-08 PLE was granted a Title I status and was also received a Unacceptable TAKS score rating. PLE was in a reactive role to an unpredicted scenario. The same year PLE also received an Early Tech rating due to large student population and fairly new teachers. This falls behind in growth with according to the STaR Chart showing a decrease from 5.4% to 3.9%. PLE was still a teacher centered instructional school with limited Technological Integrations. By 2008-09 PLE was awarded a Developing Tech status showing growth in integrated technology and instruction, and addressing the fundamental TEKS with technology. Statewide results have not been posted to compare with PLE, but the growth show tremendous gain for a young school attempting to establish itself as a Premier Title I school.
The teachers at park lakes are still learning the best way to met the needs of low income students while meeting necessary TEKS and technology standards. While Park Lakes Elementary has really focused on professional growth programs that establish a caring, safe and nurturing environment in the past, the school may need to start focusing professional growth toward teacher instruction. Professional growth focusing one technology integration and instruction would be able to address the students educational needs. Combined with the already nurturing and safe environment, PLE would be able to flourish and raise its STaR chart rating as well as its overall TAKS rating.

Pre K TEKS

In my week one assignment I chose the k-2 TEKS to assess because that is the instructional level of my applied skills 16 year old students in my secondary class. As I reviewed the Pre-K TEKS I immediately saw the foundations that my children were missing. The Pre K TEKS begin by modeling and guiding the young learners on software and informational technology with oral and visual cues. This familiarizes the the students and prepares them for K-2 TEKS such as foundation TEKS 126.2.b.2b where students begin to use the proper tools to input and analyze data on product an process. The Pre K TEKS also develop the young learners ability to create information acquisition and problem solving skills that are necessary at higher grade levels. The teachers at the Pre K level begin by teaching them where and how to use web site information which in tern develops the students responsibility and ethics needed at the higher grade levels. As well the scaffolding between the for Pre K Technology TEKS allows practice of one TEKS to support and nurture the skills needed for the other TEKS. One example of this scaffolding is students using drawing programs develop skills for text and graphic analysis, but it allows the student time to develop skills to practice using different interfaces like touch pads, keyboards and a mouse.

the Texas Long Range Plan

Many of the goals and visions the state is trying to achieve in its Texas Long Range Plan have been reiterated each year at the Humble ISD Back to School teacher rallies. One detail that I was shocked to learn about was that administrators and leaders had to develop a continuity plan for students in time of a disaster. I guess it makes all the sense in the world, but I just never thought about what could happen and how a school or district would approach a disastrous situation. I also was not aware that a technical support team had to be readily available 24 hrs a day in case the infrastructure fails or security is compromised. This new knowledge will be useful as an administrator. I am a person that attacks a problem immediately to assess total damages and repair. If I discovered that part of the infrastructure (network) went down at 10:30 pm, I would be able to immediately address the situation with the help of tech support. I know it doesn’t sound like a big inspirational moment, but with my luck in life, everything always seems to go wrong exactly when you need it to be right the most. Its my dumb luck but it will also be my dumb luck as an administrator. As for technology integration, it is comforting to know that use of sources will be immediately addressed so that students are able to maintain educational technology.

No Such Thing as a Stupid Question…(except in surveys)

I found the Technology Applications Inventory to be very revealing for my current position and future goals. The TAI is a survey that ask specific abilities about your technological experience. Broken into domains, the TAI allows the participant to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses in technology.
This survey is very revealing to my current position and future goals of administration. As a musician who uses many different softwares to produce music and video, I have had a lot of experiens with digital technology and interface software. I have also had a lot of internet experience in chat rooms and site boards posting questions and trouble shooting software or technique complications. I have experience with photo editing, video presentation, and word processing software. One software I need and want more experience in is spreadsheet and data software. The survey reflected this information showing that I was strong in knowledge of formats, software, interface and network experience. The TAI also reflected my weakness with programs like Microsoft EXCEL and SWISS data programs. The TAI is a great reflection of personal knowledge in Technology.
The State Educational Technology Directors Association survey (SETDA) is a survey that focuses more on the application of technology into instruction. This survey was less useful toward my current position but very knowledge for my future administrative goals. As a high school applied skills teacher at the Behavior Training Center, the most restrictive special education environment in the Humble ISD. I try to incorporate technology into my instruction as much as possible but I have to make sure that it does not raise the instruction above the level of my students. I also have to limit my students access do to violent and destructive behaviors. The SETDA does , however, allows me to know what I will be looking for on a regular campus as an administrator. The SETDA is a survey that is more campus based than the TAI and is more focused on data to reflect technology infused in instruction.