Before this school year began, I reflected on how I could make this school year more meaningful and memorable for my students. I went to a Saturday training on technology and it's like a spark went off. I wanted to learn more about podcasting, streaming video, and exposing my students as a much as possible.
When I began this course, I felt like it was just what I needed. The reading and discussion proved to be so meaningful and worthwhile. I can actually say that this is probably the class where I have learned the most since I began my graduate studies.
Everything that I was doing at my elementary school as far as staff development was so much more easier because of my new knowledge from this course. When the presenter was talking about wikis, blogs and networking, I felt good that for once I knew what they were talking about before I even started.
During this course, I have talked to the District Technology Director, who is so awesome, and he has helped me start-up my wiki, and upload videos that my students created. I have held in-depth conversations with him about STaR Chart and NET*S. It was very interesting how we got to see online student survey results of our district and where more than three-fourths of our students feel teachers are who keep them from developing in their technology realm. The most popular response was that "teachers don't let them."
Something that would interest me would be to have web conferences with other schools in Texas or other states. I was able to enter a web conference but because I did not have the proper equipment, I don't feel I fulfilled the outcome and accomplishment I was looking for. I felt apprehensive and not fully comfortable with this task because when I finally got the equipment, I needed to download software which took forever. Then, when I did finally made it to a web conference, there was something else wrong. I could have done a better job on this task. I spoke to my CTC and she said she would look into having one with another campus. I am looking forward to that.
This was as you can imagine very discouraging, but everything with technology if something can go wrong it sometimes does. I remember being an undergraduate and having a PowerPoint presentation to do and it not being able to run or play. I was devastated. Luckily my professor allowed us to use the notes to present. With technology you always have to have a plan B. Maybe you have to have a plan C. I presented a Science workshop for four sessions on two Saturdays using "Podium", video and audio recording and shared Jeopardy games/powerpoints/songs/chants/ and movies on teacher tube. We networked, brainstormed and used Inspiration to create graphic organizers for the different Earth Science objectives. It was a whole lot of work, but I feel the teachers took resources and experiments they could use in the classroom.
How would I have been able to do this if I hadn't taken initiative and not been negative about this new technology? I believe that students need teachers who are not afraid to try new things. I don't like to hear I'm not doing that. I don't have time. My way works better.
If we can have a more positive, intuitive, and adventurous attitude, we can do so much with our students, and they would get so much learning because we have taken the time to learn as well. The most important idea that I take from the course is from our readings. Most of the readings noted the principal as being the main driving force to promote technology on campuses.
As a principal, it is going to be extremely difficult to get everyone involved. Yet I think that if we can develop a sound survey and needs assessment before developing a plan, we can gauge what our strengths and weakness's are as a campus compared to our data. Our data from AEIS, STaR Chart, AYP, TAKS, TPRI, Loti, and district benchmarks can serve as a starting point after surveying the constituents. Data is what drives decision making since we can gather, analyze, test and evaluate data and results.
Although having the one-to-one personal meeting is nice, it is far from realistic, especially with our busy lives and increasing paperwork that must be filled. As a principal, it is crucial to develop a communication system with all stakeholders during this 21st century. The best way to do this is through blogging, yet holding security at the highest priority. A blogging site can be used on our district website with each campus "parent corner" or "community forum" for questions or comments. During this course, I have learned that blogging on campuses is not encouraged for fear of opening the door to scandal or innappropriate comments. There needs to be a ban on people who do that. Educational Blog sites are for learning and sharing information that will benefit our students. Too long many have abused this though.
We read, hear and experience inappropriate behavior and language online so frequently that our students have become immune to it. They don't know the difference between what is inappropriate or acceptable. Because children and adolescents lack the knowledge and experience to make appropriate decisions, it is the district, their leaders, teachers and parents' responsibility to make sure that during blogging, children are protected from predators or extortion or sometimes even abuse such as cyberbullying.
As we did our organization chart, it's plain to see how all levels of a district are crucial to developing each student, teacher and district to reach their Target Tech. In order to reach that goal and NCLB law we must work together to drive our students towards reaching their goals by eighth grade. The place it begins is definitely in the classroom.
My ELL student put this together. She had us all sing this song.
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