Web Confernece

I attended my second web conference yesterday morning with Dr. Abernathy. This experience was not anything like my first conference. The first web conference that I was in started off badly with not sound at all. Although we still had the text to read, there were over 50 people on at this time and it made it very difficult to follow along and read and answer questions. The script text and video box would move in and out getting small then large a good portion of the time. This made it very frustrating and not ever want to do a conference again. I decided after this that I would give another one a try. The second conference with Dr. Abernathy was great. I like the fact that it was limited to 25 people. This made it very easy to follow along and get a bit more personal with the other students involved. We were able to her voices that made it very nice and easy to get responses. Although I did not have a web cam or microphone, I was still able to actively participate in the conference with text. I learned more about web2.0 and also that it sounds like I am going to have to do a lot of studying for the LCE. It was great getting the different opinions and advice from fellow students on what they thought about the course and some of the ideas that they are using in their classrooms now.

Overall I had a very good experience the second conference that I attended. I am very glad that I gave it another try and was able to see the potential in using this technology in the schools. I do plan on talking with my principal and asking about using more web conferences to communicate with parents and stakeholders in our district. I can see that this tool will be very useful and become part of every school very soon.

Action Plan and Evaluation

Action plan and Evaluation

To begin a professional development, my plan would be to first evaluate last year’s STaR Chart to see what areas need to be addressed. I would also address the campus plan to see where we need to be. A survey out to the teachers would be another direction to go. We could see what technology the teachers would like to use more in their classes, what they feel they would like to be trained on. This professional development could be separated into an afternoon for either grade level, subject level, or interest level. Once I determined what areas were to be covered, how it would be spread out, and how long it needed to take, I would then seek out who could do our training. We may have teachers on our campus who are qualified in that area of technology and use it on a regular basis and would like to teach their peers. We could also look within our district for presenters. Equipment would be needed for teaching each area and it would be beneficial if teachers brought with them an idea of a lesson they would like to use with this technology. They would need to be given the opportunity to apply what they have been taught to do at the end or during their training. We would want them comfortable using this technology before they left the professional development.

For evaluation the Action Plan for the professional development, we need to get feedback from the individuals in the PD. One good way to get feedback in mass is www.surveymonkey.com. We can put in questions to directly see what worked for the teachers, what they would like to be done differently, and how we could improve the next one. In the following year, we can go back and compare the STaR Chart results to see if any improvement was made.

Texas s ta r chart powerpoint

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Texas s ta r chart powerpoint

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Transforming American Education EDLD 5352

In the technology draft plan for 2010 there were several issues that were brought up about educating and bringing our students up to date with the technology that is out in the world today. This plan reviewed 5 major goals that needed to be accomplished by teachers and students in schools today. One of the first goals was learning. We need to create and adopt learning standards that reflect 21st century expertise. Develop and adopt resources that show the flexibility of technology and how it can reach all learners. The second goal was assessment. Development of ways to give feedback in more timely manor was a concern. This goal also looked at the different ways in which assessment could be given besides your typical tests...such as gaming, simulations or virtual worlds. The third goal was teaching. In meeting this goal we need to be able to design and develop technology based content. I feel that what they really want from this is to make everything online learning...to be able to collaborate with others no matter where they are to learn and not just rely on the teacher for all the answers. The fourth goal was infrastructure. This goal was meant to make sure that all students and teachers has access to the internet and/or wireless connectivity inside and outside of school. To go along with this all students and educators need to have access to a device that will allow this connectivity. The last goal was productivity. Design, implement technology-powered programs and interventions to ensure that students progress will prepare them for the workplace of today's world. This plan has many great ideas and I think should be viewed by many people. I like that fact that through this plan teachers are able to become learners through it and not just sit through hours of training to learn. The idea that teachers are encouraged to use video sharing and social networking to observe others in classrooms is a brilliant idea. I feel that teachers watching others work can learn more from that than sitting through presentations of "how technology should be used". Overall I like the thought behind this plan but I do not feel that many of the older teachers would be on board. Another area I see problems with is providing all with devices to access the internet at any time. It seems as budgets are getting cut, so are the opportunities to get ahead with technology.

Action Research Plan

Goals and Objectives for research investigations: The goal of this research is to look at revamping the current tardy policy that is in place and to see if the changes made will affect classroom, hall and school management and will these changes lead to better productivity from teachers, students and administrators.
Activities designed to achieve the objectives:Surveys of teachers, administrators, students and parents will be administered and collected. The surveys will contain ratings systems as well as open-ended responses directed at feelings towards the current tardy policy, concerns about instruction time as related to discipline and current feelings of discipline in the classroom and in the school in general. Videotapes of daily passing periods will be evaluated with permission of our school resource officer and principal to determine relatively how many students are not in class due to being tardy.
Resources and research tools needed for data gathering: The resources that will be used will be teachers, administrators, students and parents. I will also be using videotape of daily passing periods to look at the different areas of the school that seem to have the majority of tardy problems.
Draft time line for completion of implementation of activities: The time line needed for this project will be one full school year. The information will be collected at three specific times during the year 1) At registration each parent and student will be surveyed on his or her feelings about tardies in comparison from the old system to the projected new system 2) Parents, teachers, students and administrators will fill out surveys after one full semester after implementation on its success or lack there of 3) Teachers will fill out surveys at the end of the school year on their perception of the new tardy policy compared to the old policy and answer questions on the affects it had in classroom management and instruction time.
Persons responsible for implementation of the action research plan: The people that will be responsible for implementation of the action research plan will be myself along with the administrative staff at my school.
Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives: I will review students past tardy records as well as behavior records to find patterns in tardy behavior as well as non-tardy behavior problems. These will be identified and observed to see if there is any change within the group. Overall school discipline will be evaluated from the previous 2 years to see if there is any pattern that is prevalent. The amount of time allowed for students to move between classes will be evaluated for relevancy.
Assessment instrument to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research study: In a collaborative effort among 9th grade teachers (where 10 of 12 are in the same hallway and separate from other grades) a panel of teachers will review the data gathered at all of the survey collections and compare pre-implementation policy and the data gathered one semester at implementation. I will also talk with administration and look at the amount of detentions that are being issued from past years through the current time and see if any progress has been made.

Action Research

After reading about Action Research I have learned that it will be able to involve not only the person who is doing the research, but also let the other teachers, administrators and even students get involved as well. Action research will allow us to search for specific solutions to the everyday real problems that we encounter and experience in school. This will give us a chance as a staff to think and develop ways that we can improve areas that we feel are hindering instruction and student achievement. It will give us a chance to make changes in areas that are of real concerns to the staff and allow us to make and put into practice these changes. I feel that action research will also give a better morale among the staff knowing that their input and thoughts can be used to make changes and also assist them in assessing the true needs of the students, how to document these steps, analyzing the data that is collected and use it to make the best decisions that can lead to a specific outcome. The staff will get a sense of ownership in the policies and not feel as only administrators have the final say so in all policies.

Educational leaders can benefit from blogs by not only getting ideas and gathering data, but also allowing others to take ownership in outcomes and success of actions put into place. I really feel that by allowing all to be involved and taking action and giving some input, it helps make a working environment run more smoothly and happily. When others feel part of any idea or solution they tend to take more pride and believe in it. Blogs are a great way to be able to get many people openly involved and share ideas with each other and feed off of one another.