Reflection

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Reflection

View more documents from Stephanie howell.

Action Plan

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Action Plan

View more documents from Stephanie howell.

Texas Long Range Plan for Teachnology

Educator Preparation and Development is vital part of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology. If teachers are not trained properly then they will be unable to teach our students to be technology literate. “Teachers must be able to prepare students for their future in a manner that assures that all students will not simply survive, but truly thrive in the world that awaits them.” Continuous professional learning is essential for all in the education field in that everything we teach is directly related to the experiences that are brought to the classroom. Teachers have got to be taught how to bring technology into the curriculum and lesson cycle itself. Teachers currently coming out of college with an education degree should have mastered all of SBEC’s technology requirements before entering the classroom to teach. The current professional core of educators needs to be re-tooled to ensure they have the technological expertise to meet the changing needs of the 21st century. This requires time, resources and effective models – and this is a tremendous challenge for all. Professional learning should include new ways to teach, instructional strategies that reflect current research and classroom assessments that effectively measure what students are learning.
Administrators must believe in the importance of technology in the classroom and develop that importance with their teachers. The role of professional development is to teach teachers how to transform their teaching and learning, to renew and invigorate their passion for teaching. This section ended with recommendation to TEA, SBEC, the Regional Education Service, Local Education Agencies, Texas Higher Education and Parents, Communities and Private Sector compelling all parties to activity do their part on ensuring technology education is brought to the level that is needed to take our US students into the global 21st Century.

STaR Chart

See more presentations by steff99 | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations

Technology Assessments

My greatest strength as identified by the inventory was Foundations, which I do agree with. I believe that I do have a strong foundation in technology; however, it is a little outdated and needs to be upgraded. I am proficient in word, excel and PowerPoint applications. I can work my way though other Microsoft and Word products. I do feel with training I could become proficient quickly in all areas. My weakest link in technology was communication tools, which I too agree with. I am not comfortable in database applications, I have done these things but I need additional assistant throughout the process. I do feel I need more training in database applications and multimedia applications.

• How do the Pre-K TEKS lay the foundation for student performance in future grades?

The Pre-K Technology Application TEKS introduces the smallest of students to the basics they need to acquire a foundation and exposure to computers. In these formative years they develop the initial vocabulary, the ‘how-to’ of turning on, using and exiting programs, the use of the keyboard, mouse, voice/sound recordings and touch screen devices. They extend the requirement of listening and interacting from the classroom onto the computer screen. This is their beginning exposure to many software applications that assist them in the learning lesson cycle. Clearly the Pre-K TEKS lay the groundwork for the very young student to become intrigued and informed about the technology that will ensure them being a lifelong learner. This is where today’s Technology Immigrant is born and developed. Without it, our children will indeed be left behind in the 21st Century.


The Technology Applications TEKS are designed as a dynamic, spiraling curriculum. Describe a series of TEKS in which students have multiple opportunities to master knowledge and/or skills.

I have opted to review the spiraling curriculum through the Foundation Strand of the technology TEKS. First, the curriculum itself allows for the same requirement for three consecutive years, Kindergarten through 2nd Grade – thus allowing students to master the TEK, somewhat, at their own pace and allowing the ‘early emerging student’ to move into areas related to the 3rd-5th Foundation Strand. TEK 1.1A states use of technology terminology appropriate to task, very similar to the Pre-K guideline that states begins using technical terminology, such as ‘mouse’, ‘keyboard’, ‘printer’, and ‘CD-ROM’. In Kindergarten and 1st the student can continue to acquire a technology based vocabulary to include words such as CPU, ‘log off’, ‘password’, etc. In Pre-K the student sees the teacher accessing interactive storybooks and on-line text, then in Kindergarten they are expected to reenact the teacher’s modeling of accessing and saving files by creating and saving their own personal files. When we move into the 3rd-5th Grade TEKS the foundation states – “use of technology terminology appropriate to task. What, another two more years acquiring technology vocabulary? However, this year they get the opportunity to build on what they have learned the previous year and expand into digital files and cross platform connectivity. The spiraling is consistent throughout all strands across all grade levels. The student is not just thrown in front a computer and told, “here, figure this out”. They are given specific instruction and guidance until they are ready to explore on their own. Remembering they learned the laws and requirement of the internet as early as Kindergarten and reinforced in subsequent years to ensure compliance.

How can your new learning assist you as an instructional leader who is guiding technology use and integration at a campus?

First and foremost I learned that there was such an initiative. I had no idea! I have participated in the STaR survey the past two years, but was not given a clear explanation as to why. I have already started a memo to my campus principal asking him to allow me to utilize the laptops that are currently sitting idle in a cabinet with a COW in my classroom next year. My initial thoughts are to have a summer session for my GT cluster and allow them to utilize the computers throughout the upcoming year in every facet of their learning. The objective of their lesson will be directed by the content I am teaching and they will be given choices as to what they will access and deliver as an end product. Now, as an instructional leader, I would champion the need for technology in the classroom. I would ask a group of teachers to join me in visiting schools that are recognized in the best in class of technology. Upon our return, I would ask they present their findings to the rest of the teachers/staff. I would implement a needs analysis for the teachers and from those findings; I would plan and implement in-service initiatives that would focus on integration of technology in the classroom lesson. Focus would be on identifying opportunities for training to get teachers up to a somewhat equal playing field in the technology world, then courses/time on integrating technology into every lesson. I would begin by asking each teacher to have at minimum one CIL (computer integrated lesson) for each of their core subjects a week. At mid-year, I would increase that to 2 lessons CIL per subject per week. During the next in-service opportunity I would ask the teachers to bring their year long CIL’s and present them (and share them electronically) to the rest of the staff. This way they can modify them to meet their TEKS and have some baseline to add to the CIL repertoire.