After exploring the
NETS, my goal is to strengthen my
confidence and knowledge with the following indicators:
1b. Engage students in
exploring real world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools
and resources.
3c. Communicate
relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers
using, a variety of digital age media and formats.
5b. Exhibit leadership
by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating a shared
decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and
technology skills of others.
The actions for 1b are:
Available Technologies
in the district:
Ø Computers
Ø Internet Access
Ø PowerSchool
Ø Schoology
Ø Projector
Ø Microsoft Office
Technologies that I’m
comfortable with:
Ø Computers
Ø Internet Access
Ø PowerSchool
Ø Microsoft Office
Technologies that I
need to work on: (What I still need to do)
Ø Projector (I need a remote, its light needs to be
changed, and I don’t know how to connect it to my computer to use it as the
demonstration computer)
Ø Schoology (I need to create an account, add all my
students, figure out how the interface works, and create and upload all my
assignments)
The actions for 3c are: (the reason I
selected this indicator is because I do not communicate with parents often)
Ø I have collected contact information for my students
in an excel sheet
Ø I have begun to set up a class website for the two
courses that I teach and will provide access to parents and students (and
administrators if they want access) when it is completed
Ø I will maintain the website with up-to-date
assignments and information so parents and students are able to access
classwork at all times
The actions for 5b are:
Ø I have signed up for the leadership committee at my
school and will attend their meeting next month
Ø I have emailed the head of the technology department
for permission and will be attending the professional learning community for
technology at my school; this will give me an opportunity to see if they have
additional resources
Ø I will do additional research on my own to see what
technologies I can integrate in my classroom and share with my peers at both
meetings.
Contained within my
action steps are the things that I still need to complete. I will continue working on my GAME plan and
will attend the aforementioned meetings.
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteI also chose standard 3 as one that I would like to improve on. I feel like this should be an easy task, however it also seems easier said than done. We already know how to make contact with parents and keep them up to date, it will just look differently using digital tools to do this. I also plan on keeping a website blog up to date for parents to access class assignments and information. I have been using Edmodo, which allows parents to create their own account to do just this, and they can only see their own student's progress. I will either explore this option in more depth or go with an actual class website. You might want to look at Edmodo, since it is free and a lot of the work is already done for you.
Jessica
Jessica,
DeleteI appreciate your advice. I actually used Edmodo last year, but my school is always changing the websites that they block. For some unknown reason, Edmodo is now one of the blocked sites so when the students go to log in, they hit a fire wall. The site that is widely used by teachers in my district is Schoology.com so I think that is the site that I am going to try.
Hi Heather, I think it's great that you chose to work on Standard 5.b as one of your goals in your GAME plan. I think your plan to join the leadership committee and contacting the head of the technology department is a great start. At my school we have a committee called Teacher University. Every month a teacher or a small group of teachers leads the workshop and teaches their colleagues something they are experts in and would benefit the staff. You should consider possibly having a voluntary workshop for your colleagues on incorporating technology in the classroom. You can provide resources for them to incorporate technology in their classrooms. In addition, speak to them of the benefits of incorporating technology such as preparing their students to be 21st century learners. I think that would be a great way to work on your goal and at the same time offer assistance to your colleagues. I'm actually thinking about putting one together at my school. Good Luck! Christine
ReplyDeleteChristine,
DeleteThank you for the suggestion. My principal is very supportive of these types of initiatives. I will try to work this into one of our conversations in the future. : )
Heather, as I said in your last post, I think it's great that you realize the importance of teacher-parent communication. Having a contact list readily accessible for your use is an important first step. How do you plan to determine how/when to contact parents? Do you contact parents about positive academic experiences? I understand that with large classes, it is difficult to maintain this level of contact, and I have found in the past, if I set a goal of contacting parents with positive student feedback once a month, it has been manageable. I like the idea of using a class website that allows parents to see what is happening and provides up-to-date assignments. For students who are interested in creating websites, maybe you could have them help create and update the class website. If your students had blogs, they could be linked to your class page. This could make the page feel more like the students owned it if they helped create it. Besides, then the parents could link to see their student's work if it is on a blog or wiki.
ReplyDeleteLisa,
DeleteI appreciate your suggestions about having the students write the blogs. I may have them contribute in certain aspects, but I think I am going to be using Schoology, which is teacher-created. It allows me to post all of the assignments online and then the parents can have access to that also. I can post updates for them as well. The students are able to blog on the site, which will be nice for the parents to see. As for contacting them, the district has a requirement for contacting the parents so I routinely send out letters both positive and negative. I was more concerned about giving them access to what we were doing in class.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteI commend you for being proactive in your school. I have often said that to help change progress we must enlist ourselves in the cause. Becoming part of your leadership team and taking on the challenge to communicate better with parents is a wonderful start to meeting the indicator that you choose. This year my school has worked hard to make parents a part of the educational team to help students reach the goal of graduation from high school. The school website has become a push, to help parents know what is going on at the school and how they can become involved. We are also using parent link to keep teachers and parents on the same page about their students work and testing scores. Each teacher's email has been linked to parent link so that students and parents can email teachers with any questions they may have regarding the class or grades. Parent involvement has increased at my school but we still have a long way to go.