Week 4 Action Plan

Action Plan
Integration of Technology

Richardson Heights Elementary 2010-2011

Goal: To make sure that all educators and students are advancing in their technological knowledge by learning how to utilize all electronic equipment and digital devices that will propel our school into the 21 century

Objective 1

Teachers will effectively utilize digital cameras and video cameras in curriculum lessons to enhance the learning process
Person(s) Responsible/DutiesPrincipal/J. Lanier- Introduction and explanation of camera us and why it is important
Computer Lab Specialist/J. Wells- Explains new digital cameras and video cameras. Teaches the applications that will be used on computers to integrate into classroom lessons
Professional Development Activity
Teachers will take pictures and videos of a mock math lesson and upload them into their computers and lessons
Timeline3-31-11 Staff Meeting
Assessment and Evaluation of Action PlanImplement into lesson plans by April 11 and use until the end of school. Each Teacher will share uploaded pictures and videos and explain their use in lessons to peers.
Principal or Instructional Specialist will check Lesson Plans for video inclusion.
Staff will evaluate the professional development with a small group video clip and send to J. Wells

Objective 2

Teachers and Leadership will effectively use Blogs to convey information about the school and classroom
Person(s) Responsible
Principal/ J. Lanier- Introduce Blogging and its importance
Computer Lab Specialist/J. Wells explains blogging its uses and functions. Includes the different sites where blogging may be started and which one Heights will use.
Professional Development Activity
Leaders/Teachers will make blogs and begin their personal blog for the school and will send their blog address to J. Wells to upload to the school website
Timeline
4/8/2011 Staff Meeting
Implement into weekly lesson plan and make available for viewing by April 11 and provide one blog experience per week until end of school year.
Assessment and Evaluation of Action Plan
In a small group each teacher/leader will quickly share their blog and what their thoughts on blogging are -
J. Wells will gather all blog addresses and upload to the school website.
Staff/Leadership will take a small survey about the staff development and elaborate on what they think about blogging

Objective 3
Teachers will learn photo story and its uses so that students will use it during learning and share them with others
Person(s) Responsible
Computer Lab Specialists/J. Wells explains the benefits of photo story its uses and functions. Includes an example of from a student
Instructional Specialist/K. Lattimer-Check lesson plans for inclusion of photo story incorporation

Professional Development Activity
Teachers will make a photo story with music about their classroom and share it with a small group. They will then upload their story to their blog
Timeline
5/05/2011 Staff Meeting
Implement photo story to lesson plans one time per week. Upload student photo stories to classroom blog weekly
Assessment and Evaluation of Action Plan
Each teacher will share photo story within a small group and upload the story to their existing blog
Teachers will complete a survey about the professional development

Objective 4
Use AEIS, AYP, TAKS, and STaR chart data to assess campus goals toward the districts Long-Range Plan for Technology
Person(s) Responsible
Principal/ J. Lanier - Explains data to teachers and uses examples of specific areas (i.e. Math) that can utilize technology to make student achievement higher
Instructional Specialist/K. Latimer guides data gathering and collects teacher data and helps to create technology goals from this
Professional Development Activity
Teachers look over and disaggregate data to find out the schools progress in these areas up until this point. Will draw conclusions and make recommendations to leaders in group presentations
Timeline
5/20/2011 Staff Meeting
Continue to understand data and incorporate results into new lessons for the remainder of the school year
Assessment and Evaluation of Action Plan
Each group will share the information they found out and will share with the whole group with a power point presentation
Teachers will evaluate the staff development by completing a rating survey and write their thoughts about the staff development

Blog 3 Summary of National Technology Plan

The National Education Technology Plan


The National Education Technology Plan is intended to put the educational system in a technologically advanced position so that students will achieve more and be able to enter into college. The plan has five key areas which include:

 Learning
 Assessment
 Teaching
 Infrastructure
 Productivity

This plan includes a vision about technology and how teachers will continually learn and utilize technology so that they are able to lead their students in technological advancement and raise the bar in student achievement. In order to keep up in the 21 century this plan states that all students will meet all technological standards by the 8Th grade. The date set for this goal is in the year 2020 therefore the plan is in full progress and continues to shine in our schools.

According to the plan schools will empower the leaders and teachers so that learning is interactive and reaches global levels. The connection is 24/7 so that opportunities are provided to diverse students needs. These opportunities require a decision making process about what and how this information is utilized and will be based on data. An essential component of continuous improvement is making decisions based on data, which will require fundamental changes in how we collect and use data and in the processes we currently use for decision-making (p. 65).

Professional development will be needed based on the fact that any plan that involves student achievement and educational change will need proper training and guidance so that goals are achieved. Professional learning must be collaborative and ongoing to ensure the highest quality of technology infusion within the classroom and schools.



Sources:

National Educational Technology Plan (2010). Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/NETP-2010-final-report.pdf

STAR CHART POWER POINT PRESENTATION

View more presentations or Upload your own.

Blog 2

Blog #2
TEXAS LONG RANGE REPORT REFLECTION

The 21st century will bring many challenges to our students as they enter into a world that requires more and more technology. Libraries, colleges, and community businesses will all be connected with technology that allows access to data as well as providing a tool that will enhance academic achievement. According to the plan this change should happen by the year 2020.

The Progress Report reveals findings from the Star Charts. These charts are required by the state to make sure each campus is making progress in its quest to achieve Long-Range Technology goals. In the 2009-2010 goals for Teaching and Learning there was a 7% gain in the Advance Tech goals which reveals an increase in the number of teachers utilizing the TEKS and incorporating them into their classroom technology practices. There was an increase in the other areas as well as a big rise in the Advance Tech goal in the Infrastructure area.

Included in this report was the Region 10 report (my region) that states it technological goals and offerings. The report reveals that they offer internet, email, web hosting, DNS, filtering, access to online instructional tools and a broad range of videoconference servicing including access to TETN.

As I reflect on this information it is enlightening to see the technological advancement we have made in our school and districts. I have taught for 22 years and know how much these technological gains have helped my school in student academic achievement. I look forward to seeing the increases in the four areas of the Texas Long-Range Technology goals as we progress into the 21 century.


Citation:

Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/comm/leg_reports/2008/08pr_to_lrpt.pdf.

EDLD 5352

BLOG POST 1 EDLD 5352
Teaching and Learning Area (Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2010)

In the Teaching and Learning area the emphasis is on the learner being able to have access to technology and being able to use this technology to communicate with others. They should be able to convey knowledge about the real world and are supposed to be able to use research in the curricular areas they study in school so that they will be able to improve in their academic endeavors. Collaboration skills will be enhanced as they progress through the advancement of technological exposure and practice as stated in the goals of the classification and area descriptions found in the Long Range Plan (Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2010).
In this area my school district has maintained a Developing Tech classification for the last three years. This information reveals that there has been some advancement in the area but confirms the need to move on to the Advanced Tech classification (Star chart, 2010). At the state level in the 2009-2010 school year 59.3% of our schools are at this same level. However, as I examine this data there is significant increase of the advanced tech classification at 37.8% for the state. This shows a trend in the use of technology being integrated into the foundation of the TEKS (Star chart, 2010).
At the national level there is progress as most of stats I found disclose that there is a 59% to 69% developing tech classification confirming that the trend is aligned with the state of Texas in their classification status.
Upon the discovery of this information I would recommend that our state focus on the utilizing technology to advance in the Teaching and Learning area of the Star Chart. In my opinion, I believe that there should be more of an importance place on the utilization of technology by our teachers and students. We seem to use it to some degree but need to get to a place where it is actually an integral part of teaching and learning. It would seem that our school as well as many others would and should to get to the place where the foundation of the TEKS are integrated into technology use as it states in the goals for Advanced Tech classification (Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2010).
Sources:

Texas Campus StaR Chart. (2010). Retrieved from http://starchart.esc12.net/

Texas Long Range Plan for Technology. (2010). Retrieved from http://portal.esc20.net/portal/page/portal/doclibraryroot/publicpages/netvision20/n20files/LrptBrochure.pdf

Healthy Food Choice- What If?

If healthy food choice directly affects energy levels, I do believe that others will see the logical implications for change. I will have to consider further assessment, reflection and changes that happen with healthy food choice and know that new wonderings such as exercise and social practices can also affect energy levels and academic performance. I will share these new wonderings with the right people so that I may once again perform action research to change my school. I can improve my action research by making sure that my information will lend itself to other administrators that would like to make changes in their school. My research will prove beneficial as I take the results and make sure that healthy food choice changes energy levels and more than likely many more aspects that will help schools function at higher levels.

Week 4 Reflection and Changes to Action Research Plan

I have made some changes to my action research project after this week's homework. I separated activities by grade level in my student data collection and am now going to get more nutritional data from my school district. These changes will allow me to get more pertinent data that will add to my research.