Sunday, July 25, 2010
Week 2 (EDLD 5301) Reflections
Lessons Learned: No matter how good we think our school is performing, even if the school has achieved Exemplary ratings from TAKS results, there is always room for improvement. There are examples in the Dana book that made me start thinking about the way things are done at our school and then I started realizing that there are numerous procedures that could be improved. Now I don't really want to be the person responsible for making all of the changes but I could certainly work on a few.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
An Education Leader's Use for Blogs
I think leaders in education could use blogs for the purpose of communicating information to faculty/staff/students. If the administrator make a regular posting to the blog and has the teachers set up RSS feeds on their computers then the administrators ideas will be readily available for students/faculty and parents to read. This could be an excellent way for them to stay current with information from the educational leaders.
Learning About Action Research
In the process of reviewing articles, and books, I have learned several things about action research. Action research, or inquiry, is a self-evaluation of your teaching methods or if a principal then your leadership practices. This type of inquiry directly involves the people that will be affected by the outcome of the inquiry. Several steps are involved in this process.
First, you must recognize there is a need for improvement. Maybe you hear grumblings from the faculty about a procedure you have been implementing or you hear from unhappy parents about something the teachers are doing in the classroom, or maybe your students are not performing as well as they have in the past. Recognizing this need leads to the second step.
The second step is asking questions. This could be done as a survey or a questionnaire. The principal can ask the teachers to respond to a set of questions. If the inquiry is being done by a teacher, then the questions can be asked of the students and/or the parents. The questions need to be pertinent to the need the principal/teacher identified.
Third, the principal/teacher will take the results of the survey and analyze them. The surveyor needs to prepared for the answers to the questions if the students/faculty have been honest. After analyzing the data the practitioner should reflect on the results.
After reflecting on the results the principal/teacher will make a plan for the changes. This plan should address the problem that was identified in the beginning.
Last the principal/teacher will communicate the action plan to those actively involved in implementing the plan.
The outcome of the inquiry should be that improvement in student achievement has taken place on the campus. It could be the result of a change in the classroom, a change in rules and regulations, a change in the way evaluations are done or maybe even something as simple as a change in the cafeteria menus.
I can see how I could use action research to determine how I can improve the use of technology in the classroom. Both teachers and students can be questioned about their uses of technology in the classroom. From the results of the questions I can design a plan and implement the plan in the classrooms.
First, you must recognize there is a need for improvement. Maybe you hear grumblings from the faculty about a procedure you have been implementing or you hear from unhappy parents about something the teachers are doing in the classroom, or maybe your students are not performing as well as they have in the past. Recognizing this need leads to the second step.
The second step is asking questions. This could be done as a survey or a questionnaire. The principal can ask the teachers to respond to a set of questions. If the inquiry is being done by a teacher, then the questions can be asked of the students and/or the parents. The questions need to be pertinent to the need the principal/teacher identified.
Third, the principal/teacher will take the results of the survey and analyze them. The surveyor needs to prepared for the answers to the questions if the students/faculty have been honest. After analyzing the data the practitioner should reflect on the results.
After reflecting on the results the principal/teacher will make a plan for the changes. This plan should address the problem that was identified in the beginning.
Last the principal/teacher will communicate the action plan to those actively involved in implementing the plan.
The outcome of the inquiry should be that improvement in student achievement has taken place on the campus. It could be the result of a change in the classroom, a change in rules and regulations, a change in the way evaluations are done or maybe even something as simple as a change in the cafeteria menus.
I can see how I could use action research to determine how I can improve the use of technology in the classroom. Both teachers and students can be questioned about their uses of technology in the classroom. From the results of the questions I can design a plan and implement the plan in the classrooms.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
TEACHING and LEARNING
The Long Range Plan for Technology,2006-2020(LRPT) contains four key areas. The first of these is Teaching and Learning. This key area addresses the future of the ways curriculum will be taught and the ways the learning environment will change. The 'Old School' way where the teacher chooses what is to be learned and then gives lectures is not going to serve the 21st century learner.
One of the main ideas that is presented in the Teaching and learning area of the plan is the use of distance learning. Because of the physical or financial constraints of many schools, online courses provide access to curriculum that other schools are able to offer at their physical locations. Some of these classes include dual credit, Advanced Placement, credit recovery and other classes required for graduation.
Progress in the four key areas of the LRPT is documented through the Texas Campus and Teacher School Readiness(STaR) Chart. According to the 2007-2008 data from the document Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020, Texas schools are progressing toward Target Tech in the key area of Teaching and Learning. Data comparisons between 2007 and 2008 shows that Early Tech levels have dropped from 5% to 4% while Developing Tech levels dropped from 74% to 70%. Advanced Tech levels increased from 20% to 25% while Target Tech remained at 1%.
Locally our campus data from 2007-2008 showed the Teaching and Learning key area stayed the same at Developing Tech.
At the Federal level, No Child Left Behind, Title II Part D, addresses technology literacy and integration through Technology Applications TEKS. No Child Left Behind(NCLB) provides technology applications standards for teachers and students.
Progress in the implementation of these standards is also documented with the STaR Chart. The growth for Technology Application TEKS implementation from 2007 to 2008 was small. Campuses at Early Tech fell from 12.64% to 10.25%, while Developing Tech increased from 68.83% to 69.65%. Advanced Tech increased from 16.43% to 18.19%, while Target Tech increased from 2.09% to 2.59%.
NCLB requires every student be technology literate by the time they finish eighth grade. Documentation of student progress is done at the local level. Student Mastery of Technology Applications TEKS showed a decrease at Early Tech levels dropping from 16.23% to 10.80%, while Developing Tech rose from 61.03% to 61.72%. Advanced Tech rose from 20.16% to 24.81%, while Target Tech increased from 2.58% to 2.67%. The increases here were also small.
I feel the state is on the right track with the emphasis on distance learning in the key area of Teaching and Learning. As a veteran high school teacher I have had experiences with student who needed to work 40 hour a week jobs at the same time they attended school. Online courses give the students the 24 hour a day /7 days a week access that is not available through traditional classes. If online courses had been available in the past, school would have been easier for some of those students.
I have a recommendation in response to the NCLB requirement for schools to measure student mastery of the Technology Applications TEKS at grades two, five, and eight and report results to TEA. There is no standard statewide process for this assessment so the results are subjective. For this to be a true measure across the nation, there must be a standard assessment available to the states.
The Long Range Plan for Technology,2006-2020(LRPT) contains four key areas. The first of these is Teaching and Learning. This key area addresses the future of the ways curriculum will be taught and the ways the learning environment will change. The 'Old School' way where the teacher chooses what is to be learned and then gives lectures is not going to serve the 21st century learner.
One of the main ideas that is presented in the Teaching and learning area of the plan is the use of distance learning. Because of the physical or financial constraints of many schools, online courses provide access to curriculum that other schools are able to offer at their physical locations. Some of these classes include dual credit, Advanced Placement, credit recovery and other classes required for graduation.
Progress in the four key areas of the LRPT is documented through the Texas Campus and Teacher School Readiness(STaR) Chart. According to the 2007-2008 data from the document Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020, Texas schools are progressing toward Target Tech in the key area of Teaching and Learning. Data comparisons between 2007 and 2008 shows that Early Tech levels have dropped from 5% to 4% while Developing Tech levels dropped from 74% to 70%. Advanced Tech levels increased from 20% to 25% while Target Tech remained at 1%.
Locally our campus data from 2007-2008 showed the Teaching and Learning key area stayed the same at Developing Tech.
At the Federal level, No Child Left Behind, Title II Part D, addresses technology literacy and integration through Technology Applications TEKS. No Child Left Behind(NCLB) provides technology applications standards for teachers and students.
Progress in the implementation of these standards is also documented with the STaR Chart. The growth for Technology Application TEKS implementation from 2007 to 2008 was small. Campuses at Early Tech fell from 12.64% to 10.25%, while Developing Tech increased from 68.83% to 69.65%. Advanced Tech increased from 16.43% to 18.19%, while Target Tech increased from 2.09% to 2.59%.
NCLB requires every student be technology literate by the time they finish eighth grade. Documentation of student progress is done at the local level. Student Mastery of Technology Applications TEKS showed a decrease at Early Tech levels dropping from 16.23% to 10.80%, while Developing Tech rose from 61.03% to 61.72%. Advanced Tech rose from 20.16% to 24.81%, while Target Tech increased from 2.58% to 2.67%. The increases here were also small.
I feel the state is on the right track with the emphasis on distance learning in the key area of Teaching and Learning. As a veteran high school teacher I have had experiences with student who needed to work 40 hour a week jobs at the same time they attended school. Online courses give the students the 24 hour a day /7 days a week access that is not available through traditional classes. If online courses had been available in the past, school would have been easier for some of those students.
I have a recommendation in response to the NCLB requirement for schools to measure student mastery of the Technology Applications TEKS at grades two, five, and eight and report results to TEA. There is no standard statewide process for this assessment so the results are subjective. For this to be a true measure across the nation, there must be a standard assessment available to the states.
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