May+Field-based+Activities

May 2009 Field-Based Activities Monthly Report



Field-Based Reflections May 2009

WEEK 2 During the second week, I attended our monthly district Campus Technologists’ meeting. Throughout the meeting, we were able to visit with other CTs and get caught up on information available through campuses. We are a very close group and we share so much information. I wouldn’t hesitate to call anyone in this group for help or advice. I met with one of the CTs at an elementary school in our learning community and we discussed having me come to their Technology Cadre meeting so that we can work on vertical alignment. I thought this was a great idea and I look forward to meeting with them. We will be changing members of our Technology Cadre for 2009-2010 so perhaps we can work toward our cadres meeting and working on the vertical alignment. If all goes well, I would like to see about meeting with all the other elementary schools in the same way and then move up toward the high school. The topics discussed during this meeting included all of the summer academies that will be offered to district employees. This is now the Holiday Exchange and all principals must approve the choices of the teachers. I will meet with Malinda to discuss which academies would be good for the different teachers and their subjects. We were given information about the updates to administrators’ iPod Touches for evaluations and walk-throughs. However, we were not provided the training the administrators received for the iPod Touches and I feel that we should have if we are to provided “ongoing and continued technical support…” (Williamson and Redish, 2009). All information discussed will be placed on our website for review (iPod Touch, 2009). There was a short training on the Promethean Boards that included some new information. Any type of technology in the classroom should start with effective and quality classroom teaching (Zepeda, 2004). I believe that using the technology such as interactive white boards, we need to remember that “using technology for technology’s sake isn’t a good application of instructional time or funding and is unlikely to improve student achievement” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007). We were encouraged to work on creating online agendas for all meetings on the campus. Finally, there was discussion about the end of year laptop procedures. Nothing has changed in the procedures. This includes checking them for damage, making sure they work, and signing a summer contract extension. Perhaps we need to look at including money in the ICAP for technology replacement of these laptops if they are found damaged. This meeting provided me with opportunities to demonstrate my advanced understanding of the Promethean and iPod Touch operations and concepts. References

//iPOD Touch Basics.// (2009). Retrieved May 8, 2010 from [] Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards// (First ed., p. 160). Washington, D.C.: International Society for Technology in Education.

Zepeda, S. J. (2004). //Instructional Leadership for School Improvement// (p. 19). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education, Inc

Field-Based Reflections May 2009

WEEK 3  For two days this week, I attended a Comprehensive/Common Needs Assessment Training at the district offices. The team for the CNA on the campus attended. It is very late in the year to be doing a CNA training. Following recommendations they made at the trainings, we should have CNAs before preparing the ICAP (Campus Improvement Plan), and the budget is written based on the ICAP. We have done parts of it backward at this point. The budgets have already been submitted. The CNAs will be distributed and then the ICAP will be written. The ICAP must have the blessings of the CEIC (Campus Improvement Committee) for the Professional Development and we won’t have a CEIC meeting until after the meeting with the learning community for peer review of the ICAP in June. The ICAP has been placed online and we will make any all changes through the site (Eastwood Middle, 2009). All of this training was created using technology resources that will improve and enhance productivity and professional practice. The training was very good and included a lot of valuable information. Some of the information included how to write more targeted and effective objectives and that we must take into account multiple data sources for student improvement. We also worked on the inquiry process for the Comprehensive/Common Needs Assessment. Our training included the necessity of using different types of data to be able to determine the needs to write the ICAP. We used the Multiple Measures of Data by Bernhardt (as cited in Zepeda, 2004, p. 98). As I read through //Instructional Leadership for School Improvement//, I found that Corson provided a list of data sources that are readily available on a campus (as cited in Zepeda, 2004, p. 99). After the training, the committee met to discuss options for creating a comprehensive ICAP that will address all student and campus needs. Malinda wants no “wiggle room” for the teachers to make excuses. I think that we will be writing the ICAP based on the district objectives of being a Commended campus, different types of professional development, and then a third part this will include extra-curricular activities and parent/community involvement. I think it will be a good way to set up the ICAP this year. We discussed a few different ways and looked at a few different campuses but we feel this way will fit the needs of our campus. According to Williamson and Redish (2009), “a Shared Vision and Implementation Planning must represent the needs and interests of all stakeholder groups. Engaged Communities must be involved in constructing the vision and the implementation plan to ensure that diverse opinions and needs are represented” (p. 137). This is what we will be doing as we write our Comprehensive Needs Assessment for our campus. References //Eastwood Middle School ICAP//. (2009). Retrieved May 8, 2010, from [] Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards// (First ed., p. 137). Washington, D.C.: International Society for Technology in Education Zepeda, S. J. (2004). //Instructional Leadership for School Improvement// (pp. 98-99). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education, Inc.