What I did not accomplish

3. I did not learn as much about the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology as I wish that I could have. I feel that this is going to be very important for schools in the future. While wealthy schools may already have much of the technology needed to meet the criteria for the plan, schools with less money are going to find it hard to purchase new technology. I worry about the poor schools because I feel that as a new principal this is where I will most likely end up. I didn’t learn as much as I would have wanted because the class had to move on. The class did everything it was supposed to do.

Using Blogs to Communicate with the Community

8. School administrators need to start taking advantage of blogs. Blogs are inexpensive, easy to use, and can get information out quickly. These are all things that schools are looking for. School administrators can use blogs to interact with their communities without ever leaving their offices. Blogs could allow school administrators to inform the community of upcoming events or give details of events that had already occurred at the school. Blogs would be great for a school trying to do things like pass a bond. It would allow the school to get feedback from the public while getting the information out.

Concerns about Blogs

7. Blogs create two major problems for schools. The first is that blog sites are blocked by school internet filters. Unblocking blog sites would open up millions of blogs for students to read. Many of which might contain things that are not acceptable for students to see. The second problem is that everything a student post to a blog is out there for the world to see. This would open students up to online predators. It would be a major disaster if an online predator met a student through a school blog. Also if the blogs were not monitored tightly, the blogs could turn into a sort of MySpace for students.

Educational Value of Blogs

6. Blogs are going to be an important part of the future of education. Blogs are one way that will allow learning to become a twenty-four hour a day process. A teacher can start a blog about a topic and let the students take over. It would be like having a classroom discussion that never stopped. Students could comment a home or in class. Also students could create their own blogs about a subject. Schools could team up with schools across the globe. This would allow students in different countries to comment on other student’s blogs. Using blogs would allow teachers to create a global atmosphere without ever leaving their classroom.

What I Learned

5. The first thing I learned from this course is that I work for a great school district. After viewing our campus STaR Chart I was very impressed. I now know that not everyone gets to work at a campus that provides each student with a laptop and every classroom with a Smart Board. By being provided all of this technology I have learned to do a lot of things using technology. I am above most teachers in the things I can do using a computer. I also realized that to be a good principal I am going to have to continue to learn about technology and that being good with technology is going to be a major asset to me.

Assignments

4. I believe that I was successful in my assignments; however my academic coach might beg to differ. I turned in all of my assignments on time and usually had them done a day or two in advance. I would just hang on to them until the last day just in case a great idea popped into my head. The only problem that I had with some of the assignments was that the assignments were so open. In all of my past classes I had been given step by step instructions on how to complete the assignments. In this class it almost seemed that I was given free range on some assignments. The problem with that is that the entire time I was working I was afraid that I was on the totally wrong track. This could also be a good thing because it forced me to contemplate several different options.

Was the class relevant to my job?

2. The things that I learned in this class are relevant to my everyday job in some ways. As a technology director my main responsibility is the constant upkeep of all school technology. This includes everything from computers to the school’s internet server. I probably only spend ten percent of my time doing things that deal with the STaR Chart, Long-Range Technology Plan, or professional development. While those things are the base for everything that I do, I spend most of my time on upkeep. I use all of the things that I learned in this class, but sadly it always seems that other things are more important to the people around me.

Outcomes Envisioned

1. After the first week’s assignment I thought this class was going to be a sort of introduction to technology in education. I thought we would do things like learn how to use the internet and PowerPoint. I thought this class was going to be a walk in the park. I was totally wrong on all of those assumptions. This class made me think. The last two assignments were so open that I had to just sit and think about all of the possibilities. I achieved the outcomes I thought that I would and then some. I did use PowerPoint and the internet, but I also learned so much more. The course outcome did not align with what I had envisioned. I had envisioned a class about how to use technology where I would learn nothing. Instead I learned about everything from the Long-Range Technology Plan to blogging.

Technology Action Plan

Action Plan for Integrating Technology

Part 1 = Gathering Information
The following groups will each be assigned a task. Each task will help see what is needed for us to integrate technology into the classroom better. All groups will return their findings to the superintendent.
1. Campus Principal
a. Go to a school in another district that has successfully integrated technology
b. Determine what technology campus will need
2. Site-Based Committee
a. Determine what technology campus will need
b. Determine how community will feel about increasing technology
3. Technology Director
a. Inventory technology that district already has
b. Determine what technology district needs
i. Prioritize list
ii. Try to find technology that will compliment technology that district already owns
c. Determine the increase in funding needed for upkeep of additional technology
d. Determine cost of professional development to educate staff about new technology
4. Special Needs Director
a. Determine what grants there are for technology
b. Determine if the school is eligible for these grants
i. If so, begin paper work for grant
ii. If not, what does the school need to do to become eligible?
5. Curriculum Coordinator
a. Determine what technology campus will need
b. Determine if it will be more cost efficient to move away from paper books in the classroom
6. Business Manager
a. Determine what the school has budgeted for integrating technology
b. Determine if the school can pull funds out of other budgets to increase technology budget
7. Committee of Department Heads.
a. Go to a school in another district that has successfully integrated technology
b. Determine what technology campus will need

Part 2 = Creating and Approving Plan
At this point the Superintendent, Campus Principal, Committee of Department Heads, and the Site-Based Committee will create a plan that includes what technology will be purchased. Using a sort of checks and balances procedure will ensure that the best plan is created. The Superintendent will then take the plan to the School Board for approval. If approved, the technology will be purchased and begin to be implemented.

Part 3 = Implementing the technology
1. The new technology will be given to the teachers for 2 weeks to allow the teachers time to become accustomed with the new technology before receiving professional development.
a. During these two weeks the teachers will be given a technology placement exam. This exam will identify the teachers’ high and low points of technology knowledge.
b. The campus principal will then decide on what professional development needs to occur for the technology to actually be used.
2. The staff will receive professional development about the new technology.
a. Professional development will provide staff with both knowledge of product and specific examples of how to use the technology within their teaching field
3. The staff will receive professional development based on their low points from the technology placement exam.
4. The principal will hold a staff meeting to tell the staff what is expected of them with the new technology.
a. Staff will be told that they are expected to use the technology in class
b. Staff will be told that refusal to do so will result in nonrenewal or reassignment within the district
5. Principal will monitor use of technology through use of classroom walkthroughs, technology sweeps, by monitoring classroom computers through his computer, and by just asking the students.
a. The assistant principal, curriculum coordinator, and the technology director will also aid in this process.
6. After three months will hold a refresher professional development. At this time teachers will be asked to show ways that they have used the technology in the classroom.

Professional Development Planning
Teachers will be given a technology placement exam to allow the administration to provide professional development that the teacher’s actually need. The teachers will also be provided with professional development that will provide the staff with the knowledge needed to use the new technology.
Professional Development to be given:
1. How to use technology that was purchased
a. Teachers will be broken down by subject and shown how to use the hardware for their classes
2. Copyright Laws
a. Teach ethical legal behavior for technology
b. Teach teachers to teach students the same behavior
3. Protecting Students from Online Predators and Themselves
4. Good Search Engines
a. Teachers will learn how to use search engines better and more efficiently
5. After three months with the technology, will have teachers show examples of how they are using the technology

Evaluation Plan
1. Evaluate Professional Development
a. Principal will email teachers asking what professional development that they believe that they need
b. After each professional development the principal will email teacher about what the teachers learned in the professional development
c. Campus principal will attend each professional development
2. STaR Chart
a. Each year principal will review both teacher and campus STaR Charts

Texas S Ta R Chart2

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: This is a breakdown of the STaR Schart for Reagan County High School

Texas S Ta R Chart2

View more presentations from LeviBox.

Texas S Ta R Chart

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: This is a breakdown of the STaR Chart for Reagan County High School in Big Lake, TX

Texas S Ta R Chart

View more presentations from LeviBox.

Infrastructure for Technology

I have taken the Star Chart five times in my teaching career, and I have never spent more than five minutes taking it. I am embarrassed to say that I am one of those teachers that click 3 on everything and are done with it. Luckily I work at a school that has teachers that actually take the time and do things correctly.

My school scored a twenty-three out of a possible twenty-four in the Infrastructure for Technology area, and I am sure that this year we will have a perfect score. I am so blessed to get to work at a school that provides so much for its teachers and students. Infrastructure for Technology includes things like student to computer ratio, internet speed, other classroom technology (smart boards, scanners, etc.), technical support, and distance learning.

My school’s one three was in student to computer ratio. This year the district purchased every student a laptop. We also now have two full computer labs that also have new computers, so now we have more computers than students at our campus. We also have smart boards in every classroom with projectors in the ceiling. We also have wireless internet through the entire campus that runs at 100 Mbps. We have two technology directors that always respond in less than twenty-four hours.

More and more schools are seeing that increasing technology increases learning. Schools are starting to go to the One to One program where each student has a laptop. Before my district did the program our administrators went to Floydada ISD and Ballinger ISD.

My recommendations for improving the infrastructure for technology in Texas schools would be to increase funding for technology. Technology is not cheap and neither are technology directors.

Pre-K Technology TEKS

The student will learn how to open and navigate through a variety of software applications. The student will also use a variety of devices to input data onto a computer. The student will learn to use voice recorders and touch screens. The student will also use technology to express their own ideas.

The first way that the Pre-K TEKS lay foundation for future learning is by sparking the interest of the students. The students get to use a little bit of everything. That way they want to use it again. It also lays a foundation by teaching the students the base operations that they will need to do in the future.

An example of a spiraling curriculum is our math curriculum. Students learn skills in elementary and build on those skills every day. The basic skills that students learn in elementary are used every day in every high school math class.

Things I Learned Today

Technology is not cheap and neither is technical support. Both the state and schools are going to have to budget to increase technology. Texas teachers are willing to use the technology as long as they feel comfortable using it. Texas teachers need professional development in learning how to integrate new technology into their classrooms.

Texas is gaining a new type of student. Hispanics are now the majority, and immigrants from Mexico are moving to Texas every day. Texas is going to have to change the way it presents the knowledge to its students. The sit in straight rows and listen technique is not going to work anymore.

Texas is now part of a global economy. Texas now has to prepare its students to compete against students from all over the world.

One Size Fits All education plans do not work. A principal in Presidio, Texas is going to have to ask his teachers and students to do different things than a principal in Dallas Highland Park. Students are going to need to be connected to other students in different parts of the state.

Everyone is going to have to do their part to help Texas change for the better. Adding technology cannot be done by the schools alone. It is going to take everyone from the TEA to local school boards for something great to be accomplished.

Colleges are going to have to teach future teachers how to use technology. More time is going to need to be spent on using technology than on creating Madeline Hunter lesson plans.

Whether a student is going to go to college or straight to the workforce, the student still needs to be proficient in using technology.

I needed to know that this change is coming. As a future administrator I am going to have to take steps to get my school to where it needs to be. A lot of Texas schools are going to have to totally overhaul their technology, and they are going to need leaders that know how to get them up to standard. Schools are also going to need administrators that believe in technology. Knowing this will help me know what to put on my vita. I also learned that when I interview new teachers for jog, I am going to need to see what their technical skills are.

Technology Assessments

After completing SETDA survey it is obvious to me that I work for a great school district. The SETDA was asking questions about if your students have access to computers and the internet. Every student at my high school is provided with an Apple laptop. The computers have built in video cameras and every program that a student could possibly need. We also have wireless internet throughout our entire campus. To make that even better, every classroom has its own modem so the internet never gets slow no matter how many people are on it.

I have several technology strengths. I have these because I am relatively young, took a very useful college course, and have been provided with some very pertinent professional development. In college I was forced to take a class called Technology Education. I thought the class was a waste at the time, but it is the most useful education class that I ever took. The entire class was devoted to teaching things like using a smart board, an ELMO machine, and integrating technology into the classroom. I have also been blessed to work at a school district that strongly believes in technology. In the last year I been through at least seven days of professional development devoted entirely to using technology. Having been taught all of this I know how to do quite a bit. I can easily use Word, PowerPoint, Excel, iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, and GarageBand. I use Spaces to navigate between programs that I way I can have multiple programs running without having the programs overlap each other. I do not have my students turn in assignments on paper unless it is a test. All other assignments are put into drop boxes. So far this year my students have created talking Word documents, filmed themselves demonstrating Newton’s three laws and posted movies to YouTube. My technology strength is that I can use most computer programs to an advanced degree and teach others how to use them also.

My technology weaknesses fall under the domains of Solving Problems and Communication. I believe that many of weaknesses are in these two domains because many of the questions asked I have never been asked to do and probably will never be asked to do. I also do not know how to create a webpage or manage a network.

The Technology Applications Inventory showed me that I know how to do more than I thought that I could. It also showed me that I have a good understanding of basic computer skills. The SETDA Teacher Survey showed me that I work for a great school. My school not only provides a large amount of educational technology, but also teaches us how to use it. My school has everything that the SETDA ask about.

The technology area where I need the most improvement is in creating documents that communicate all types of information. As a principal I will be asked to give presentations to all kinds of groups of people. It would be very useful to know how to easily create all types of documents that look professional and are still easily understood.

I do agree with the assessments. The SETDA shows that I work for a school that provides more than enough technology for our students, and that is completely true. The Technology Applications Inventory shows that I have a good foundation in technology.

Checking to See if this Works

This is my first time creating a blog. This initial blog is just to see if I can return to my blog for my homework assignment.