EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership: The Technology Link - My Reflection

After reading the syllabus, I was very excited about learning ways to integrate technology in my classroom and as an administrator, on my campus. Now that the class is almost complete, I am amzed by the knowledge I have obtained. Some of the interesting facts learned from the readings and lectures include: the major differences in knowledge of our students compared to that of their parents; the scary world of cyber bullying; and most importantly the desperate need for change in professional development for teachers in relation to professional development. Honestly, I learned more in this course than I ever imagined. There are numerous items that I can and will integrate into my classes immediately. I am now better equipped to integrate technology into my class and far more knowledgable about the social and legal ramifications of the internet. I feel that my goals were met, and I was able to far achieve the outcomes that I had envisioned.
Honestly, I have not been using technology in my classroom nearly as much as I should be – simply doing the bare minimum. After this class, I am definitely more knowledgable and comfortable using the internet as a very trusting and helpful tool to integrate in my curriculum. Now that I realize the needs of our “digital natives”, I will look for tools to enhance their educational needs. I feel like the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology will greatly impact our students education in positive ways. Thanks to this course, I feel like I can not only enhance my students education with the use of technology, but I will be able to help my fellow teachers with many of the concepts I learned in this class. The biggest way this class helped me and my educational venture, is by introducing me to blogs. Blogging will not become an integral part of my teaching and probably my every day life. I will also be using videos and webquests in my daily teaching. By achieving my “”learner outcomes” in this course, I have made technology a relevant part of my class.
There were numerous great ideas in this course, but a lot of them barely scratched the surface on how I could integrate the concepts in my class. I am extremely comfortable with using a blog, but I would have liked more information on blogging ideas in my classroom. There was a lot of talk about how cell phones and YouTube were assets, but currently those instruments are not prohibited for use in the classroom. I need more information to present to the current administration on positive ways we can use those very helpful resources. I also have some concerns about the current STaR Chart. It seems that the rubric is very vague and should become a lot more specific. As a teacher at Ennis High School, our technology has increased ten-fold but our scores have not changed that much at our campus. There needs to be some changes to the questioning to accurately gauge the impact of our vastly improved technology as well as the professional development that the school has been offering.
I feel like I was able to complete all of the course assignments, because the readings and lectures properly guided me through each step. What I enjoyed the most was the the hands-on use of the blog. Some courses give you the concept of a tool, but this course guided me through the practical use of my own blog (I actually had a great sense of pride with each blog entry). I also liked how each assignment was a summarization of what we should have learned each week. This allowed me to reflect on the knowledge obtained throughout the course.
Honestly, this course made me realize how little I knew about technology as well as how little I was currently integrating technology in my teachings. The greatest positive of this course was that with an open-mind and an eagerness to learn, anyone can use some of the most up-to-date technology tools. I was amazed at how easy a blog was to create and how helpful it could be to my career. I am so much more confident now in the area of technology and ways to implement it in my learning environment. As an instructional leader, I will have the knowledge, skills, and most importantly the vision necessary to create a better learning environment at my school. My goal is to turn all of my campus’ “digital immigrants” into “digital natives” – that is the only way to effectively reach our digital savvy students.
Blogging brings many positive aspects to today’s educational society. First and foremost, it gives educators an amazing sharing environment. Teachers, from all over the World, can communicate and wonderful ideas which will only enhance education. Another way in which Blogs can help in the classroom setting, is by providing a digital portfolio for students and their work. A student can submit assignments via their blog which will aloow for grading by a teacher as well as idea sharing with their classmates. Lastly, Blogging can be a great tool for communication between teachers and parents. Blogs can be wonderful online communication portals for teachers and parents.
I have very few concerns about blogs and blogging in education. As I stated above, there are so many positives to blogging for educators. The only negative might come in students copying another students work. The other negative which I feel could and should be closely monitored by teachers is cyberbullying. Students would be able to post negative comments about a student and their work if not monitored by a teacher.
I think blogging could illustrate a strong use of technology to a school’s stakeholders (a positive way for tax payers to see their dollars at work). Another way that Blogging could enhance a teacher’s classroom is by updating the community about “What’s Going on in Class”. Not only would parents be interested in knowing the in’s and out’s of a teacher’s class, but many members of the community would love to follow the classroom activities. Because almost everyone is on the internet these days, this is a quick and easy tool to not only post announcements and classroom activities, but it would be a great way to link other useful information to the community.

Week 4 Assignment - Action Plan for Improved Professional Development

Assignment 1 - Organizational Chart
Central Office Personnel

Superintendent – the ultimate decision maker for the campus.
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction – oversees and is responsible for all aspects of the district’s curriculum and instruction.
Deputy Superintendent of Finance – “the money woman”. She is responsible for the district’s funding; allocates and controls the budget.
Director of Technology – constantly seeks new forms of technology that will enhance and improve district operations. Oversees all technology operations.
Instructional Technology Specialist – responsible for technology professional development opportunities within the district. Also responisble for implementation into the curriculum.
Network Technicians – can be the most popular people in the district, “Mr. Fix-It’s”. Install hardware and software, which allows for classroom integration.

The Central Office Staff is an integral part of the education process, especially as it relates to technology. The CO staff works closely together to acquire, install and integrate technology so that each school within the district can be technologically successful. And as we have learned in this class, we must have exceptional technology tolls accesible to teachers if we want to reach today’s youth.

Campus Personnel
Campus Principal – The Principal serves as the “go between” between Central Office and the classroom teacher. The Principal must ensure that the mandated use of technology is being used on his/her campus. The Principal informs teachers of available technologies, provides appropriate training, and monitors that technology is being effectively used on campus.
Classroom Teacher – Obviously the most important person in this flow chart. Teachers are responsible for daily use of technology in the classroom to enhance a student’s education. Teachers must attend professional development so that they feel comfortable with all available technologies. Teachers must effectively integrate all new technologies into their current curriculum.

Assignment 2 Professional Development Planning-


My week three report illustrated the need to differentiate the technology training based on the learner’s current technology proficiency. I have noticed over the years that our current technology professional development sessions are either way too basic for many teachers or possibly even too advanced for other teachers. My suggestion would be to offer training sessions based on experience (i.e. Novice, Intermediate, or Advanced sessions). I feel like by offering the different levels of training you will be preventing “boring” sessions for the staff. By having teachers of similar levels in the training sessions, they will be more apt to ask essential questions that they might not ask if they are intimidated by their surroundings.

Assignment 3 Evaluating Planning for Action Plan

Just as I don’t think our professional development sessions are effectively reaching the entire staff, I believe that the way we currently evaluate the sessions our district provides is not adequate. The current process asks teachers to rate the session by answering five questions on a “1 to 5 scale”. This process tends to lead to teachers simply giving an arbitrary grade to the session but not giving genuine feedback. The district must create a new evaluation system that allows for a more honest feedback, which will lead to better professional development sessions. My suggestion is to ask “open-ended” questions, as well as surveys and personal interviews. There should be a separate form for each training session offered, and the questions should relate directly to the PDAS evaluation system.
The Central Office staff must then evaluate and analyze the data and create the most effective sessions possible.

Ennis High School Texas STaR Chart - Lamar Masters

Texas STaR Chart presentation for Ennis High School - Striving for Target Tech!

Star Chart Pp

View more presentations from Wade Bishop.

The Texas STaR Chart

As I've previously mentioned, I am very impressed with the "Texas Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020". My blog entry today will consist of my opinion over one of the four areas of the "Plan" - the Educator Preparation and Development section. I chose this area due to the difficulty of this section because of the differing technology skills of a campus, especially one as big as Ennis High School (This is our lowest scoring area on the STaR chart). Many of the new teachers have been exposed to technology for quite a while; not to mention all of their college studies in regards to technology. On the other hand, many veteran teachers are not as comfortable with different types of technology. At Ennis High School, our staff consists of teachers with a few years of experience as well as many teachers that are a couple of years away from retirement. Those teachers that are quickly approaching retirement are not as susceptable to all of the new technology training that is currently going on in our district. Those educators that are not technologically savvy can have trouble grasping the new concepts, while others only need a brief training session that builds upon prior knowledge. This disparity in learning can make Educator Preparation and Development very tough. Our trainers must prepare to teach to many different types of learners. On my campus, we scored "Advanced Tech" in this area, but it was the lowest score of the four areas. My suggestion to the district is to offer different types of technology training (maybe basic and advance training sessions), so that both the novice and experienced learners can be challenged. Another suggestion would be to offer interactive online training that can be done during conference periods.

Pre-K Technology Applications TEKS

As far as I could tell, Pre-K does not actually have technology TEKS? It appears that instead they have TEA "guidelines". I found a document on the TEA webpage that helped me considerably, specifically section 10, which was entitled the Technology Applications Domain. The five technology guidelines are in place to set outcomes for what a Pre-K child should accomplish during that year.
"Outcome 1"- Child opens and navigates through software programs designed to enhance development of appropriate concepts. Teacher strategies should include: providing time for technology use; model coumputer and software usage.
"Outcome 2" -Child uses and names a variety of computer input devices, such as mouse, keyboard, voice/sound recorder, touch screen, CD-ROM. Teacher strategies should include: provide instruction time to teach technology terminology.
"Outcome 3" - Child operates voice/sound recorders and touch screens. Teacher strategies include: model and discuss the use of voice/sound recordings and touch screen devices; provide a CD to listen to during independent play.
"Outcome 4" - Child uses software applications to create and express own ideas. Teacher strategies: model and discuss software usage; allow for interaction with software.
"Outcome 5" - Child recognizes that information is accesible through the use of technology. Teacher strategy: model and discuss how to access information from websites.
These guidelines are set up to ensure our young children begin obtaining the skills to be technology savvy. These guidelines are the precursor for future technology use by our students. These Pre-K guidelines begin the scaffolding effect for all technology TEKS (Pre-K to Kinder, Kinder to 1st thru 3rd, 3rd thru 5th, 5th thru middle school and finally middle school thru high school). Take one concept, build upon it, and then build upon it again. This is the sucessful guide that all of the TEKS for every subject follow for all grades.

The "Long Range Plan" for Educational Technology

I was so impressed by the "Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020"; I had no idea this was in the "works". The more I read about the program, the more amazed I became. I am not only excited about the opportunity of being an educator during this time of technological growth, but I am more excited to know that I will have 4 children that will be attending school during these exciting times.
Just the thought of having an online 24/7 educational opportunity is incredible. I realize it does not guarantee more parental involvement, but it sure does promote it - and that is a great thing! By allowing our students to be more interactive with their studies via digital platforms, we are promoting future success when they enter the "Real World".
Texas is not always thought of as having the best public school systems in the country, but with the implementation of the Long Range Plan, we are on the fast track to becoming the poster child for education.
Now that the plan is in place, I'm ready to be a part of the implementation. As an educational leader, I will have the opportunity to model the proper uses of technology and provide the proper staff developments to achieve the goals of the plan. I look forward to the many training opportunities that will better prepare me to become a more media-savvy educator!

****An update****
We had a staff development meeting at Ennis High School yestedray morning to inform us of new technology measures that will be going into place. We will be getting school e-mail addresses for all of our students as well as a new website platform that will allow teachers an easy format to create their own classroom websites. It appears the "Vision" is happening now!

Responses/Reflections to Technology Assessments

I was very surprised to realize how little I know about technology. I have always felt somewhat technologically savvy, but after doing the "Technology Applications Inventory", I realize how little I know. When looking at the "Foundations" domain, I noticed that I was only fluent at 6 of the 18 areas (and this was my high water mark on the assessment). On the "Information Acquisition"section I was unable to check yes to any of the questions. On the last two domains, "Solving Problems with Technology Tools" and "Communication", I could honestly only check "yes" to two questions. I am almost embarrased by my lack of technology knowledge and I grew up in the internet era.
The second survey I completed was the SETDA Teacher Survey (survey dealing with technology at school). As an English III and IV teacher at Ennis High School, this survey made me reconsider how little I am currently using technology in my classroom. As much as I personally use e-mail and the internet, I should take a similar approach with my students and their assignments. The survey left me with some other questions involving technology within our school district. I am not familiar with what kind if any data is being collected by our school regarding our students technology literacy. This survey also made me think about digital curriculum. The English department is going through a curriculum adoption and I am going to look at what forms of media come with the text books.
The last survey that I completed was "The Rubric for Administrative Technology Use". I felt like this was the truest technology survey. If I was the Principal at Ennis High School, I would answer "Level 3" to seven of the ten questions. There were three questions that I would give my school a "Level 2" rating ("Communications and Public Relations", "Online Research and Professional Development", and "Student Competencies" . I feel like our school is above average when it comes to technology and is always looking to improve. Our Curriculum Director does a great job of staying ahead of the technological "curve".

I am so glad that I completed these surveys prior to this class. I am highly motivated to learn as much as possible throughout this course and hopefully become considerably more "technological"!