Field-based+Activities+Monthly+Report+and+Reflections

Everything I do as Elementary Instructional Technology Facilitator (ITF) falls under one or more of ISTE’s Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards (Williamson and Redish, 2009). But rather than reflecting on every activity (1600 + hours of “internship”), I have several major job responsibilities that encompass all of the standards and most of the indicators:


 * T3 (Target Tech in Texas) Project**: In the fall of 2009, our district received notice that we had qualified for a grant that would put Promethean Interactive Whiteboards in every grade 3-5 bilingual classroom with the goal of improving math achievement. This began a yearlong implementation process that included professional development and monthly cohort meetings. While most teachers were excited to give the new technology a try, many still struggled to use their own desktop computers. The grant required monthly meetings and proof of collaboration. So, a fellow ITF and I, the technology leads for the four campuses involved, developed a wiki to encourage the sharing of success stories, provide a one-stop shop for resources and how-to help, and serve as a place to upload activities that our teachers created to share with their colleagues. Most teachers had very limited knowledge of wikis, so even that component required training. But in the end, teachers from all over the district were using this tool to communicate with each other, most of them willingly. Our hope is that they will see wikis as a useful tool for their students as well. The monthly meetings my colleague and I hosted were beneficial. These meetings allowed us to share best practices and research, provide just-in-time training, and take their knowledge up to the next level. The best part was when teachers would show each other the projects they had created. Comments like, “If I can do this, anyone can,” and “Show us how you did that,” were quite common. The project will continue through next year. I can’t wait to see what the impact is on student learning. Standards and indicators addressed by this project are: TF-I.A, TF-II.A, TF-II.B, TF-III.B, TF-IV.C, TF-V.D, TF-VI.C, TF-VII.C, and TF-VIII.A


 * Westside Elementary PLC meetings:** This campus held Professional Learning Community (PLC) grade-level meetings almost every Thursday this year. I attended most of them to provide support with technology integration into the teachers’ lesson plans, suggestions for classroom management while integrating the new technology that had recently been placed in the classrooms as a result of a bond, help with using online assessment and data systems and to analyze the data that resulted, and to provide any type of just-in-time learning as requested. Many times I walked into these meetings, hosted by the campus’ Instructional Coach, with little advance notice as to what would be covered. I learned real quickly to think on my feet and be prepared for anything. Impromptu trainings on how to integrate “clickers”, how to edit video using iMovie, and how to use their web pages more productively, among other things, were common. These meetings gave me the opportunity to socialize more with the teachers in this smaller setting, enabling me to develop relationships that made it easier to gain acceptance into the group. In my job, I seem to spend more time on putting out fires here and there, but these meetings give me a chance to show teachers that I provide curricular support as well. Standards and indicators addressed within these meetings are: TF-I.A, TF-I.B, TF-III.A, TF-V.B, TF-V.C, and TF-VII.A.


 * Elementary Curriculum Team-Social Studies:** Instructional Technology Facilitators are included as members of our district’s Elementary Curriculum Team. This rather large team meets at least once a month for a whole day of new learning. We have studied Wiggins and McTighe’s (2000), lesson design extensively. We discuss strategies for working with teachers to improve student learning. We always walk away with something new to try out back on our campuses. My particular responsibility is in support of Social Studies. While most subject areas have been implementing units to provide a guaranteed and viable curriculum, Social Studies is just now beginning the process of writing them. Last summer I joined the 5th grade curriculum writing team for three days of creating units using the backward design template. I was able to ensure that technology would be embedded into this curriculum by providing resources and lessons that could be included. We expanded the group this year by adding 3rd and 4th grades. Once again, my role was to provide ideas and resources that guaranteed that technology would be a part of these plans. We referred to the technology TEKS to be sure to incorporate skills that were developmentally appropriate. I’m looking forward to seeing these lessons in action this year. Standards and indicators addressed by this activity are: TF-II.F, TF-III.A, TF-III.E, and TF-VII.A.


 * //Tech Times// newsletter:** A colleague and I meet once a month to create the latest issue of //Tech Times//, a newsletter that we email to all of our campuses to provide tips, strategies, ideas, and resources to advance the use of technology in the classroom. We try to model a different Word feature each month in order to show teachers what can be done. Initially, we relied on the templates built in to the software. But we’ve enjoyed creating our own newsletters from scratch as we became more proficient ourselves. Oddly enough, the most popular issue seems to be the one that included tips for organizing your desktop. We have inspired many teachers to create newsletters for their own classrooms, and consider it a great compliment when their newsletters use some of the features we shared. In addition to emailing these newsletters, we upload them to our web pages, inspiring teachers to do the same, leading to requests for training for using their web pages. Little did we know that this small project would lead to bigger things. Next year will be the third year of the //Tech Times//. Personally, I need to learn more about the features in Pages, so I plan to create the newsletters in that format. Also, I have been guessing at what the teachers would benefit from, so now I’d like to ask for input regarding topics they’d like to know more about. Standards and indicators addressed as a result of creating and sharing these newsletters are: TF-I.A, TF-I.B, TF-II.A, TF-II.C, TF-II.E, TF-III.A, TF-III.E, TF-V.A, TF-V.C, TF-V.D, TF-VI.A, TF-VI.D, TF-VII.A, TF-VII.B, and TF-VIII.D.


 * Faubion Elementary Tech Team:** This campus formed vertical teams with the intent to meet monthly to share ideas and strategies and increase alignment of curriculum across the grade levels. I co-lead the Tech Team. Although the teachers chose to be on this team, they seemed to be more interested in being sure we were done by 4:00. My intent was to increase their knowledge of the aligned technology TEKS and to give them time to create lessons that they could integrate into their curriculum that addressed these TEKS. Sometimes that required training, other times we just discussed what was going on in their classrooms. Technology integration is not a big priority of this campus, including many of the members of this vertical team. We are making plans to develop a technology show-and-tell, much like the art show with which this campus is familiar. I think this is a step in the right direction. This may be the way to encourage teachers to give the technology embedded lessons already given to them a try. Standards and indicators addressed as a result of these meetings are: TF-II.C, TF-IV.A, TF-IV.B, and TF-VIII.C.


 * Technology Conference presentations:** Every February, our district sends students home for three days so that all teachers and staff may attend the annual Continuous Improvement Conference. Teachers may choose from over 300 presentations on all kinds of topics. The best part is that most of the presenters are classroom teachers who have decided to share their knowledge with others. This is also the perfect time to offer sessions on integrating technology into the classroom. Sessions I helped plan and deliver this year include “Got Computers…Now What?”, “Web Pages: If You Build It, They Will Come”, “The 21st Century Model Classroom”, “Print, Cut, Fold Pizzazz”, and “Comic Life: Come Have a Laugh with Us.” We start the planning process by analyzing various assessments to determine what teachers need, and researching best practices and strategies for integrating technology. Most sessions were very well attended; however, the one that took the most time to plan and prepare had too few participants to make it work as intended. We blame a last-minute location change for the low turnout, but will reflect on what other causes may have led to the poor showing. I love the part of my job that gives me the feeling of being back in the classroom that I get when I look out in the audience at all my eager “students,” waiting to hear what knowledge I plan to impart that day. Some of the standards and indicators addressed as a result of planning and presenting these conference sessions are: TF-I.A, TF-II.D, TF-III.D, TF-IV.A, and TF-VI.D.


 * Back-to-School Inservice:** Instructional Technology Facilitators are responsible for providing back-to-school technology training to all teachers who are new to the district. This hands-on training involves showing them how to use their email accounts, how to use their web page, and a discussion of the district’s acceptable use policies, among other things. Then the rest of the teachers come back to school, and once again we go to every campus to hold back-to-school sessions to remind them about the district’s policies and expectations, as well as reminders of logins and resources and our role as technology and curriculum support. To prepare for these presentations, the ITF team meets to develop the PowerPoint that ensures the message will be the same across the district. We know that the most pressing thought on teachers’ minds this time of year is getting their rooms ready, so we make sure the information is concise, important, and just a little humorous. It is quite a challenge to make it to all of my campuses in that short time frame, but the chance to remind them what I can do for them makes it all worthwhile. Some standards and indicators addressed in the planning and presenting of these back-to-school sessions are: TF-V.A, and TF-VI.A.


 * Personal Professional Development:** As most of my time is spent professionally developing others, it is always a refreshing change when I am able to attend conferences that allow me to stay current and excited about the latest trends in curriculum and technology. In fact, as I write this I should be packing for my trip to Dallas to attend the ASCD conference. For the past two years, I have attended the TCEA convention. This conference is always on the heels of our district’s Continuous Improvement Conference in which I am heavily involved, so attending TCEA’s conference is like a well-deserved break. Last year I attended a session titled “Print, Cut, Fold”, and have made it my mission from then on to encourage the use of the templates I received from that session in every curricular area. This year I attended one that shared 50 web sites that could be used in education. I did my duty and passed on several of those websites to teachers as soon as I could. I also had the pleasure of attending Tech & Learning’s Tech Forum. I learned so many tips and tricks, but have to say the highlight was having my picture taken with Dr. Abernathy! We don’t always have to travel that far to attend conferences. We have a great amount of knowledge within our department. Each of us makes presentations for our district’s conference. But we are all so busy presenting our own sessions, that we can’t attend our colleagues sessions. So we started having “Tech Share” sessions this year that allowed us to come together and present our sessions for each other. Of course, this program through Lamar has been an 18-month long professional development that has benefitted me over and over. Standards and indicators addressed as a result of professional development are: TF-V.A and TF-VII.A


 * ITF (Instructional Technology Facilitator) department meetings:** At least once a month, the ITF team gathers to discuss upcoming events, policies, and questions we have. We also use this time to create how-to documents, prepare for upcoming presentations, and develop materials that will assist teachers in the integration of technology. One of the more recent projects was to create a brochure that teachers could use with their students to teach about digital citizenship. Even our youngest students are spending more and more time online, so we developed this kid-friendly brochure to share some of the Do’s and Don’t’s when using the Internet. We also addressed how to properly cite the images they are so eager to use in their projects. Another topic taking up much of our meeting time deals with implementing the new technology equipment campuses have received as a result of the passing of a bond. Much time has been spent discussing the equitable distribution of equipment, leading to our creation of a bond template that outlines what every grade and department will have access to. In the past, PTAs would help fund campus technology; meaning PTAs in higher socio-economic schools would have more access. This template has helped level the playing field. Some of the standards and indicators addressed by attending these meetings are: TF-VI.A, TF-VI.E, TF-VII.C, and TF-VIII.D.

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2000). //Understanding by design//. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009)  //Technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
 * [[file:Field-based Activities Monthly Report_Aug_Nov2009.docx]] || [[file:Field-based Activities Log_Jan2010.docx]] ||
 * [[file:Field-Based Activities Monthly Report_Feb2010.docx]] || [[file:Field-Based Activities Monthly Report_Mar2010.docx]] ||
 * [[file:Field-Based Activities Monthly Report_Apr2010.docx]] || [[file:Field-based Activities Monthly Report_May2010.docx]] ||
 * [[file:Field-Based Activities Monthly Report_June2010.docx]] ||  ||