Course Embedded Reflections

Course Embedded Reflections

Description of Activity	Reflection (150 words or less describing what you learned from this activity) (Required)
Students will complete all parts of each Technology/Leadership self-assessments and thoroughly document the results as required. Students will thoroughly summarize key ideas of each section of their State’s Technology Plan and describe their State Technology Curriculum Standards.	This course gave me a greater understanding of the long range plan for technology integration into the classroom. I knew we pushed technology, but I did not know that my District and the State of Texas had a formal plan for technology integration. This course showed me that my district has built an impressive technology infrastructure to support the current and future needs of the schools, teachers, and students. This activity also highlighted that one of the greatest needs is in the area of Teacher Preparation. The State and Districts can invest millions into hardware and software, but if teachers don’t know how to use and integrate technology, it will all be for naught. In reviewing the campus STaR charts and this class’ Technology/Leadership self-assessments, I learned that I am on the advanced end of technology integration and that I have the potential to be a leader in helping others improve their skills.
Students engage in identifying an action research topic(s) or research question(s) and designing a draft action plan completing a recommended template or format of a blueprint of the action research plan.	In the previous course, I discovered a personal talent and a school need that matched up. It made perfect sense to combine the two into an action research project. I decided to work with other teachers to improve their integration of technology into the classroom. This course helped me understand the concept of action research, or “research while doing.” I had always assumed research was done primarily in the university setting and was intrigued that research was done on much smaller scales, in a less formal manner. This class gave me the resources and guidance to complete my own action research project.
Students review comments from colleagues and site supervisors and engage in revising their draft action research plan. By the end of Week 5, students should confer with their site supervisor(s) and agree on an action research topic and plan.	The biggest thing that I came away from my supervisor was that my research project was initially too broad and involved and I needed to narrow the project down and figure out the best way to come up with and judge the results of the action research project.
Students create a personal vision of leadership.	This course required much personal reflection. I had to formalize what my key values and beliefs are. I had to analyze the leaders I have worked with and determine which aspects I valued in them. I also came to the realization that to be a successful leader, your leadership style should align with your personality. I am an easy going, nurturing person and it would not be beneficial for me to take a “hard-nose” stance as a leader. I am also personally interested in technology and realized this is the area I will be most successful.
Students attend a Site-Based Decision-Making (SBDM) meeting, record reflections, and interview the principal and one other staff member regarding collaboration, consensus building strategies, ethical relationships, typical agenda items, etc.	I discovered that our SBDM team consisted of the team leaders, administrators, etc. They meet weekly to discuss the events and issues coming up in the school. This is an open forum meeting with an agenda set by the Principal with input from the participants. I volunteer for some other organizations and I noticed many similarities and differences. The meetings are very respectful and attempt to build consensus on the campus. It was interesting that the committee can get sidetracked easily and it would be beneficial to implement some formal guidelines to the proceedings (similar to Robert’s Rules of Order). The committee is also very helpful in sharing information and decisions with the rest of the campus. The committee is very democratic in nature and acts similar to our voting system. The teachers give input to the Team Leaders, who share it at the SBDM meeting. Decisions are made and information is then passed back down the line.
Students demonstrate leadership for accountability by researching best practices, including specific professional development to address a target area and list the strategies and rationale for using each strategy.	By studying the AEIS report for my school, I noticed that our Math scores, especially for our Special Education and African American students lagged drastically behind the rest of the student population. My campus has implemented several strategies to meet these needs and these two subgroups are making incremental progress.
Students conduct a data-based needs assessment. Based on the areas of need identified, students create a campus action plan to address the needs identified including professional development plans, allocation of resources to support the plan, and any tools needed for school improvement efforts	This activity showed me that my campus is already trying to do as much as possible to improve the test scores of our lowest performing students. This makes perfect sense and I’m not going to reinvent the wheel. I did notice that we needed to do better, as teachers, at disaggregating our data. It is also beneficial to work as a team to come up with solutions to problems that are persistent. By having our math teachers work collaboratively, they are able to come up with solutions that will work for their unique set of circumstances and students. I also suggested that a Math Coordinator be hired to assist teachers with design lessons plans that meet the needs of all the students. However, I learned that this is an expensive suggestion and a Principal has to weigh the cost versus benefit of such a hire. Would that money be better used in hiring another math teacher to reduce class sizes? What would the likely outcome be? How would a math coordinator directly impact the success of the students?
Students conduct a data-driven, comprehensive needs assessment using the latest AYP and AEIS data, a multi-year history of this data, and a comparable improvement report.	My campus regularly goes through disaggregated data, but they rarely explain the process. The Principal just presents the information in a faculty meeting, and then explains what areas we need to focus on. This activity showed me how to go through the reports and read them correctly. I was able to see the progression or regression of scores over several years. I wish I could see the interventions that had been implemented and correlate the data with them to evaluate their successfulness. As a Principal, this data and the interventions would be of the utmost importance in deciding the future plans of the school.
Application of learning by designing a remediation to a situation you would like to improve in your school. In your School-Based Analysis, you familiarized yourself with special education policies in your state and school district. For your Application, you will use this knowledge as you follow a fictional student, Julia, who has just enrolled at your school. You will develop an Individualized Education Program for “Joseph,” monitor how her program is implemented in the classroom, and use your knowledge of student rights and school management to make sound decisions when she engages in behavior that calls for disciplinary action. This assignment will require you to use knowledge gained from your lectures and readings, and from communication with leaders at your school, including your principal, special education coordinator, and classroom teachers. Your final step will be to make suggestions about how management policies and procedures for special education students at your school can be improved. In all instances, you are expected to cite relevant law and/or policy that you used to formulate your answers.	The School Law course was one of my favorite courses and contained the most information directly applicable to my current position as a teacher. This specific activity was also very valuable in illustrating the complexities and depth of Special Education law. I have recently been attending many more ARD meetings and I now understand more of the proceedings. I have also learned that some of the decision I would have made, would not have been legal. For example, we had a special education student that was in a fight. I would have immediately sent him to the Alternative Education Center, but I now know that we are required to have a Manifestation ARD and that there is a specific due process to be followed, if we are to stay within the law.
Students review Chapter 247 of the Texas Administrative Code, "Educators' Code of Ethics," conduct observations and/or interviews in your school, and use the results of those observations interviews to complete the "Code of Ethics Mind walk."	There are three main areas of Chapter 247. The biggest area of concern that I saw was in the third section, Ethical Conduct Toward Students. Standard 3.1. The educator shall not reveal confidential information concerning students unless disclosure serves lawful professional purposes or is required by law. Educators tend to overlook this standard.  We are privy to some very sensitive information regarding our students and we often leave this information just lying around.  Other students should not be able to see Special Ed information, TAKS/STAAR scores, ESL status, or even grades of another student.  A big infraction that happens most years is when TAKS/STAAR scores are released.  The information comes in one big packet and often this packet is directly copied and passed out.  Educators should not see this information about students they do not teach.
Students conduct an interview with an administrator at their school regarding strategies for recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and administrators.	I have previously worked in HR and am familiar with the laws regarding hiring and firing. I found it interesting to learn that my campus has difficulty finding qualified personnel. My administrator expressed concern over the quality of applicants, especially for mid-year hires. She explained that there is typically a bad reason a person does not have a teaching job at the beginning of the year and that she has to be extra cautious when interview candidates for open positions. She eventually find a qualified person, but she explained that she has to interview twice as many people to find one good fit.
Students access the policies and procedures in place in their district related to teacher mentoring programs by accessing the district's webpage or contacting district Human Resources Office and reflect on the policies in place for mentoring induction.	I learned that the mentoring program is continually growing and changing to meet the needs of the district and school. The mentoring program is design to support new teachers and new-to-the-district teachers. When I transferred to this district, I was assigned a mentor, but my transition was smooth and I did not meet with the mentor much. My VP suggested that my experience was common. She said that experienced teachers need a little help to learn the new systems and software, but they are usually ok. Most of the mentoring happens with the brand new teachers. My VP said that they are careful who they pair up for mentoring, because it can have a big impact on the new teacher’s success.
Students complete the Cultural Proficiency Receptivity Scale, use the Cultural Proficiency Professional Development Rubric to assess the level of professional development at their campus or workplace, and identify and describe where and how their campus has responded to each of the elements of Cultural Proficiency	Through this activity, I learned that my district places huge importance on learning about cultural diversity. There are over 60 different nationalities in my district and we are constantly learning new ways to interact and integrate all aspects of the cultures of our students. It allows us to better understand our students, and it allows the students to better understand each other. This is also a topic that we can continue to learn and grow in.
Students develop a plan for a family-school-community partnership(s) to increase student achievement	This was a fun project to plan and I was able to address a need that I see every day in my class. I planned a community-wide school supplies donation drive. Many of students do not come to class with even the simplest of supplies like pencil and paper. This project should directly impact student achievement because it allows the students to start the year right with all the needed supplies to be successful in class.
Students develop a presentation to be given to key stakeholders in their school that emphasizes the importance of parental-community involvement to student achievement.	This activity was difficult and enlightening. As a teacher, I often complain about the lack of support from parents and community. Through this activity, I learned that the community is there to support us if they know where to help. It was difficult to identify specific community stakeholders. It is also very difficult to come up with a great presentation on this topic. It is easy to list off the things that are missing or wrong with schools. It is much more difficult to present a solution that is feasible to accomplish.
Create a public service announcement for parents and community partners. Capture and integrate sound, video, and digital images; create RSS feeds; and publish the final product on the web. Use short teacher and student interviews to focus on 21st century technology for engagement and achievement.	This was a great project. I learned how to effectively collaborate with group members that were hundreds of miles apart. I also learned that these technologies appear to be difficult at first, but with just a little bit of research and experimentation, they can be fun to use. Our group chose to do a PSA on the dangers of texting. We decided to go with an over-the-top version to keep it interesting. I discovered one of my students was double-jointed and I used his thumbs to represent someone that had texted too much and broken their thumbs. The concepts and use of technology I  learned from this project  have been directly used in my classroom. For example, I recently had my students working in groups on a project. The groups were comprised of students from different class periods. So the kids had to learn to use the available technology (Google Docs for our purpose) to collaborate and create project. It was a great example of 21st Century Skills in action.
Analyze district technology after completing interviews with at least two school administrators who are involved with the planning and budgeting of technology.	My district spends a large amount of money on technology. I did not realize how much software and hardware costs, especially on the scale the district is responsible for purchasing. It is nice the government subsidizes some of the costs through e-rate, but the district is still responsible for much of the bill. I would like to see how the district analyzes the effectiveness and usefulness of the equipment and software it purchases. The list I was given had many pieces of software that I have never heard of. It would be beneficial if the District asked to teachers to annually rate the programs they use. This would allow the district to compile data and make accurate decision about where to budget their resources.
Students will evaluate and analyze a school district’s Student Information System, including the evaluation of total cost of ownership, feature set, ease of use, customer support, and training.	I learned that the district utilizes several different systems, but is in the process of consolidating to one system. I also learned that there is a plethora of data that is collected on every student and that this data is used to analyze the effectiveness of many programs. As a teacher, I do not have access to all of this information currently, but it was suggested that when we go to one system, every teacher will have full details on their students. This may be information overload, but it could also be useful in determining interventions to help struggling students.
As campus professional development activity, create a wiki-based study group with 3-5 teachers leading and support teachers who analyze data related to student learning , create a lesson using Universal Design for Learning at the CAST Lesson Building at http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/, create a sample electronic book to share with your learning team members. Lastly, add a team reflection to your Google site about the process of creating an electronic book.	UDL is a great concept and was useful in creating new lessons. I have not  had much experience with vision-, hearing-, or mobility-impaired students. It was eye opening to go through this activity and learn that the way I teach would not be useful to many children with disabilities. The concept of UDL allows me to set my goals and allow the students to find their own path to be successful. I have mostly implemented this philosophy in my classroom. I now let the students use whatever resources they want to help them achieve the goals in my class. I still give them some guidance and share with them the resources I would use, but I also leave it open for the students to determine the best manner of completing a task. I still struggle with the UDL concept when it comes to teaching specific tasks, like using a calculator or teaching spreadsheet software. I will continue to work on finding resources that could help all students, regardless of ability.
Students will collaborate to create a  website that addresses digital ethics, design principles, diverse learners, and  communication with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning.	This course and activity has been very useful in my teaching career. I built my Google site in this class and I use it every day as my classroom website. I post all of my lectures, pdf’s, ppt’s and assignments on the site. I also learned how to create appealing graphics and to focus on the design, and look, of a page to make sure it conveys the message I want. My students still struggle with this concept, but I use what I learned in this class to teach them how to structure their products to look better. I also learned to solicit feedback from peers and to accept their suggestions as actual help instead of just negative feedback. I need to incorporate a space on my website for parent/community input. I should also look into ways of automatically translating my website for my non-English speaking parents.

Principal Competencies 1-9

Domain I – School Community Leadership

Competency 001 – The principal knows how to shape campus culture by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.

In Competency 001, I completed a total of 20 hours between course-embedded and campus activities. These activities included reviewing school law, covering topics like Special Ed and the NCLB Act, examining the campus STaR chart, interviewing school personnel, comparing and finding the strengths and weaknesses of two different campus vision statements, creating a personal leadership vision statement, and observing the site-based decision making committee. I would rate myself as proficient in the area, but I need to work on the articulation of my vision. I understand the concepts and goals of a vision of learning, but still find it difficult to succinctly articulate, especially in writing, this vision.

For a campus to be successful, the principal needs to first determine what their vision of learning should be. One important aspect in determining this campus vision is to be familiar with the various laws pertaining to education. The School Law class was a great resource for this information. This class gave me the resources and the mindset to ensure that all students are being given the opportunity for a free and appropriate education. I now understand much more about special education law and how, even though the states regulate the schools, the federal government steers the education sector through the use of “purse strings.”

My personal vision for education also includes the integration of technology into the classroom. Technology is a personal passion of mine and I believe that our students will benefit the most through the successful use of technology. I understand that I still have much to learn about school law and articulating a vision to be shared with the campus and community. I will also need to refine my vision and determine what type of leader I want to be.



Competency 002 – The principal knows how to communicate and collaborate with all members of the school community, respond to diverse interests and needs, and mobilize resources to promote student success.

Communication and collaboration is a great strength of mine. Throughout this program I have had the opportunity to collaborate with my peers in class on group projects, like creating a public service announcement, and working with my people on campus to create new lessons and share new ideas. I had the opportunity to create and present a staff development over the Instant Challenge portion of Destination Imagination. I have also assisted in designing how the district implements a new career readiness and training module. Throughout the 25+ hours on this competency, I have not had as much experience working with the outside community. I understand working with the local community, including parents, churches, local businesses, is a large portion of a principal’s job. This is also an area that can greatly improve the success rate of the students on campus. Due to my inexperience in this particular area, I would rate myself as proficient overall.

One of the most difficult, yet rewarding, tasks I completed was to create and lead my own staff development. After teaching for six years, I thought this would be easy. But presenting to a group of your peers is much more difficult and nerve wracking. It took 5 hours to create a simple 45 minute presentation. I now have a greater respect for those that present often. I also now understand why our staff meetings are boring. A principal or vice principal does not have the time to make everything fancy. State testing information, AEIS reports, upcoming events are all dry topics. In an effort to respect the staff’s time and improve the delivery of this information, I would like to try “flipping” the staff meeting. This would be similar to the flipped classroom idea, where the information would be sent electronically and the meeting could be spent going over comments and questions.

As I previously stated, my greatest weakness in this competency is working with the outside community. Part of this is due to a language barrier, with most of my parents speaking Spanish. The other part is a general lack of experience in addressing the needs and concerns of the local community. I would love to partner with local civic organizations to get the students more involved in helping the community. I would also be interesting in learning what the local businesses need from my campus, if they need anything at all. My school holds several events throughout the year to incorporate the local community. This could be a great opportunity for me to learn what is involved in working in this area.





Competency 003 – The principal knows how to act with integrity and fairness and in an ethical and legal manner.

Competency 003 is very closely related to Competency 001. A principal’s vision of education should include integrity and fairness for everyone. This is a an area the I excel in, especially after taking the school law, human resources management, and other classes. Most of time in this competency comes from the class work, but I still have over 30 hours of activities and experiences. I have room to grow, especially in the area of school law and teacher contracts, so I would rate myself as proficient, bordering on accomplished.

For a direct campus experience in this competency, I remember my day as a “substitute” Vice Principal. My VP was ill and needed to stay home. She also knew I was working on my master’s degree and asked if I would substitute for her. I put on my suit and played the part for the day. One of the most difficult parts of the day, other than my sheer nervousness, was ensuring that I listened to the students and acknowledged their side of the story. I remembered this from my course-work and I also see it as a valuable part in being fair with the students. As teachers, we become jaded and assume everything a student says is only half-truth’s. As an administrator, I assume this sentiment is also true, but there needs to be more caution. The administrator has the unique position to know all the students, but to be able to work with the most difficult students one-on-one. I believe many difficulties in class stem from legal constraints that the students do not understand and then see as unfair. For example, I have a special education student that is not required to present in front of the class. The other students do not understand the legal requirements and see this as unfair. As a principal, working one-on-one with a student, you are able to find what is fair and legal for each student and each situation.





Domain II – Instructional Leadership

Competency 004 – The principal knows how to facilitate the design and implementation of curricula and strategic plans that enhance teaching and learning; ensure alignment of curriculum, instruction, resources, and assessment; and promote the use of varied assessments to measure student performance.

I now have a large amount of experience in Competency 004. Through the activities in the course work and the implementation team I am on, I have 30-40 hours. I need more experience with varied assessments and review data to evaluate the success of a program, but I would rate myself as proficient in this category.

To be successful in Competency 004, an administrator needs to think in the big picture, to ensure the programs and curricula being used are meeting the needs of the entire school. In the course work we analyzed various pieces of data, including the AEIS reports, school vision statements, and district budgets. All this information shows an administrator how the pieces fit together and why they all need to be considered before any decisions are made. Another great experience I have is working on a district implementation team. The school district has purchased a new career and college readiness and soft skills program. I am on the committee that is designing how this program will be rolled out next year. I have spent several days working with the team to design how the campuses will structure and teach the program and how we will look at the reporting throughout the year. This committee has reinforced the concept of thinking about the big picture to meet the various and unique needs of each campus.



Competency 005 – The principal knows how to advocate, nurture, and sustain an instructional program and a campus culture that are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.

Competency 005 is an area of need for me. I have not had much experience in this area, other than the course work. I have 15 hours overall and would rate myself as “needs improvement.”

I understand the concepts covered in Competency 005, but I need more practice working with them. I have good experience in nurturing a program through my action research project. With it I was directly responsible for helping the other teachers implement my programs. But, I do not know how to take this full scale to the entire campus. I need more experience delegating responsibilities to trusted members of my team. I believe time is needed to build the experience and the trust in your personnel. This is a big topic for an administrator and it is important to get right the first time. Teachers, parents, and students need an experienced administrator to guide them and help them be successful. For me to do this, I need more opportunities and support from my administrators to model what I have learned. I also need time to find the appropriate research to guide my own learning so that I can make sound decisions.



Competency 006 – The principal knows how to implement a staff evaluation and development system to improve the performance of all staff members, select and implement appropriate models for supervision and staff development, and apply the legal requirements for personnel management.

This is an area that I have had many short experiences with. I am continually working with other teachers to help them with some piece of technology. The course work taught me the legal side of running a school and my experiences taught me how to model lifelong learning. All of these activities add up to at least 35 hours and I feel comfortable rating myself as proficient.

I definitely need more experience with formal appraisals, contract recommendations, and creating a staff development plan that meets the needs of a campus. But, my personal desire to keep learning new things is a huge factor in leading a campus towards the vision of learning. The most impressionable teachers that I remember are the ones that lived what they taught and were excited to share it with you. I believe this is a necessity in this competency. The administrator needs to lead by example and share their excitement about learning. This will guide teachers and inspire students.





Competency 007 – The principal knows how to apply organizational, decision-making, and problem solving skills to ensure an effective learning environment.

Competency 007 is an area of personal strength. The course work and internship experience has only strength this area too. I have 20 hours in this area and pride myself in being knowledgeable and thinking globally when making decisions and solving problems. By reflecting over each course and experience in this program I have honed my skills to be a good leader that is organized, makes good decisions, and finds solutions to issues that affect the learning environment.

One of the best experiences I had in my internship was working as the Vice Principal for the day. During the day I was able to really use my problem solving skills. One specific example happened at the end of the day. There was a large group of students in the cafeteria at the end of the day. There was an ongoing argument between the students and the security guard on duty. The problems arose from too many people talking at once and nobody listening, but I was able to calm everyone down and figure out that the students had planned a dance club practice, but the chaperone was not there to supervise. The easy solution was to simply supervise the students until the chaperone showed up. This is a small example of the decisions an administrator needs to make. I was able to listen to all the parties and come up with a solution that worked for everyone. The Security Guard had other duties and could not stay to monitor, but the kids also needed to practice. There are obviously more difficult problems to overcome, but it all comes down to being able to calmly listen to and acknowledge all stakeholders, research the solutions and deciding what is in the best interest of the students.






DOMAIN III—ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP

Competency 008 – The principal knows how to apply principles of effective leadership and management in relation to campus budgeting, personnel, resource utilization, financial management, and technology use.

Competency 008 covers the business side of running a school. This is also an area that I did not get much practical experience with my internship. My undergraduate degree is a Bachelor’s of Business Administration and along with my graduate course work I have a solid foundation to build off of. In total, I have 30 hours of experience and I would rate myself as “needs improvement.”

The business side of schools is a big area in running a successful campus and I know I need more mentorship and guidance. I have been able to maintain a budget for my classroom and a student organization, which has given me the basic understanding of school finances. I have also been able to observe the school board meetings to better understand the budgeting process for the district. But, I still need more experience with running the various tasks of a school. I need to learn the process for determining how many teaching units to allocate to the different subjects and how the budgets affect these decisions. I also need to better understand the process for requesting bids on different aspects of the school. From observing the board meetings, I know many of these tasks are run through the main offices in the school district and there are various supports and procedures in place to help an administrator maintain fiscal and legal responsibility. A large part of this competency is to ensure that the tax payers’ money is being appropriately spent. I have the conceptual knowledge to ensure this happens, but I need more practical experience to feel comfortable translating the concepts to reality.



Competency 009 – The principal knows how to apply principles of leadership and management to the campus physical plant and support systems to ensure a safe and effective learning environment.

I believe that Competency 009 is the core purpose of a school. Student success should be the main focus and ensuring a safe and effective learning environment is a top priority. I have gained much experience in running a safe and effective classroom and I have also had experience with running a safe campus while working with security personnel. I do need more experience working with the physical plant of a campus, maintaining the HVAC system, and the custodial staff. I would rate myself as proficient in this area, with a total of 20 hours during my internship.

Safety and security are hot topics with the recent tragedies across the country. Safety and security covers a large group of duties, not just campus security officers. It is also important that the physical building of a campus is taken care of. Students will have difficulty staying focused if they are constantly tripping over wires or cracked floor tiles. There are also security problems if students can gain access to unapproved or unmonitored areas of the campus. I had the opportunity to address several safety and security issues when I was the substitute Vice Principal for the day. I was able to discuss with students why their actions affected the safety of the classroom and how their actions impacted the other students around them. I was also able to interact with other campus personnel to ensure the students were being appropriately monitored after school. I have had minimal exposure to and need more experience working with food, health and transportation services.

Activities and Reflections

These are the Activities and Reflections I completed throughout my coursework

Description of Activity	Reflection (150 words or less detailing what you have learned from this activity)
Action Research Project: I teamed with my peer teachers to increase the level of technology use in our lessons and classroom. The team met on a daily basis and I was able to create and collaborate with my peers on new technology-integrated lessons and projects.	My Action Research Project allowed me to practice my leadership skills and utilize many of the items I was learning in my course work. This was a great opportunity to highlight my technology skills and to work on improving all the other leadership skills I will need in the future. Working with my peers also solidified my decision to move into a job position where I can assist teachers incorporate more technology into their classrooms. I see this as the future of education and I have a unique ability to work with adult in a manner that makes them successful at improving their own technology skills.
Create and lead a staff development covering the topic of the Instant Challenge portion of Destination Imagination. This was a fully interactive staff development using various pieces of technology.	I did not know that leading an hour long staff development would be so difficult. This experience taught me that teaching a class of children is much different that teaching adults. I spent a significant amount of time creating and refining the presentation. I also learned that how to coordinate the available campus facilities and the participants.
Create a class Google Site to keep students and parents informed. Create an information pamphlet about the class website in English and Spanish to send home to parents.	My class Google site is a great way to disseminate information to my students and to keep parents informed. I have received positive feedback from many parents and they appreciate being able to monitor what their child is doing in school. To reach many of my Spanish-speaking parents, I initially received help from different colleagues. But, then I discovered a neat utility that would automatically translate my page when parents came to it.
Create technology videos and upload to YouTube to be distributed to the staff.	I have created many quick training videos about different pieces of technology. The point was to make the videos and create a little library for the staff to use later. So far, the videos are a success. I get frequent requests to create a new video about different features of our software.
Joined the committee responsible for implementing the new career readiness and soft skills software (WIN) across the district.	I was lucky enough to be chosen for this committee and it has been a great experience working with various staff throughout the district. We have to consider the needs of the various campuses and ensure our plan will be successful for everyone. I have been able to lead the area of technical expertise since I have a background in network administration and database design.
Create a class video project and share with others.	With the success I was having with my own tech videos, I decided to create a lesson and teach the skill to my students. I required them to find some piece of technology they enjoy using and to create a training video on how to use it. They had to create a script, find actors, film the video using various resources and finally edit and upload the video for others to critique and use. The students enjoyed this project and many of them have continued to make more videos.
Utilize online resources to collaborate with other educators to promote lifelong learning.	I have been an avid online forum user for a while and there are many forums that keep me informed about my hobbies. Last January I dove into the world of Twitter and I was amazed at the resources available to educators. I have since learned how use hash tags #edtech, #edchat, and #txed to collaborate with peers across the globe. I use Twitter a personal PLC and I actively promote it to other teachers and students.
Reviewed and evaluated purchases of additional software, equipment and supplemental materials for CTE class.	As a CTE teacher, I am now responsible for a sizable budget. I am also responsible for locating a reviewing all the software and equipment I need for my class. As this is new to me, I have collaborated with several peers and reviewed how they manage their budgets and the processes used to purchase and maintain their equipment.
Research and utilize online resources to teach technology.	I was able to find several online resources to teach my students about the history of technology, in particular the history of programming computers. I was able to use sites like CodeHS and GameMaker to show them how coding languages have changed and what to expect in the future.
Provided instruction to teachers on online grade book, attendance and discipline program.	I have learned that it is important to go back to the basics, even with existing teachers. Many teachers have been teaching for a long time and are still uncomfortable with technology. Patience is key.
Assisted new teachers in utilizing the technology tools available in their classrooms and on campus..	In my role as a CTE teacher, without the stress of a state test, I have the time and freedom to explore new technologies and learn to use the technology tools to meet the needs of others on my campus. I have collaborated with several teachers to see what they are struggling with and then I try to find resources that help them.
Shared and utilized Copyright Lesson Plan as they apply to music downloading and copyright infringement with high school technology teachers.	I am always looking for fun ways to get a serious message across to our students. This is a lesson I found that I shared with some other teachers in my department so that students can understand the importance of copyright laws.
Worked directly with staff to assist in implementing Google Sites, Edmodo, and Schoology – answer questions and troubleshoot issues where needed.	Our school district chose not to renew the license to Blackboard, which left the teachers to find their own learning management software. I was able to assist several teachers  setup different software to meet the needs of their classrooms.
Created lesson plans on utilization of a Google Sites and Google Docs for a collaborative inter-classroom activity.	I created a project for my students that required them to work with students in different classes and different periods. I intended the project to reflect the real world scenario where they have to collaborate with people all around the world. It was a fun project and my students are able to effectively work with collaboration utilities like Google Sites and Google Docs.
Developed and implemented curriculum for Principles of Information Technology classes. Wrote Scope and Sequence and Year at a Glance (YAG) with CTE teachers	The district is updating the curriculum for the CTE courses and I have been an active part in creating and updating the information about my class. I have also worked with the other CTE teachers to ensure that our classes are vertically aligned.
Utilized and promoted online test taking websites (testmoz.com) and Google forms to gather, analyze data and examine results.	Teachers are always looking for better and quicker ways to create and grade assessments. I was able to find different online resources that met my needs and I was able to share that with my peers. I also showed them how I used the systems in class and worked with them on how they would utilize the technology. With testmoz.com specifically, I was able to contact the owner of the website and had him create some new features that met the needs of our campus.
Worked with the Special Education department via annual Admission, Review and Dismissal (ARD) meetings to review schedules for students to evaluate and ensure they have appropriate placement in CTE classes including technology classes.	It was great working with all the Special Education staff and students to discuss their plans for the future and how we can integrate CTE classes into their high school coursework.
Attended bi-annual long-range technology plan committee meeting to discuss district technology needs.	This was a great experience in working with other district technology and general education teachers, administrators and community leaders in developing a technology plan for our district and being proactive in this planning process to ensure our faculty and students have the technology resources they need for academic and career readiness skills.
Review and compare the data from the old CTE software (Kuder) to the new software (WIN) and analyze how to better utilize the systems to improve students soft skills.	This was a great opportunity for me to learn more about soft skills and to review the different systems the school district is utilizing.
Attended session to review how Response to Intervention (RTI) is implemented in other districts and how the program utilized in my district. Implementation of program such as this will hopefully assist in increasing our test scores, specifically in our special populations.	RTI is new concept to me and this training session was a great way to learn about the process. It was interesting to find out that many school have been using this model for years and that we are building upon their experience.
Developed a pamphlet inform parents about my class and to get feedback about the technology use at home.	This was a quick activity to create, but took some time to go through the responses. I found it very interesting that many of my students did not have broadband internet access at home, but could use cell phones to access the internet when needed.
Sponsor the Girls of Technology Club. This club is designed to promote and support young women in their desire to enter the predominantly male dominated fields of engineering and technology. I have scheduled field trips to see Microsoft and brought in speakers from Research in Motion, the makers of the Blackberry smart phone, and Fluor Engineering.	Sponsoring a club is quiet intense. I can understand why teachers receive a stipend for all the extra duties they take on. I wish I had requested this stipend before I accepted the job, but I enjoy working with the girls and helping them advance in their education. This club has taught me many different leadership skills, like budgeting money, inspiring others, collaborating with peers and the outside community, and organizing school services like bus transportation and food services.
Review the job description and evaluation criteria for the CTE job I would be taking.	After teaching math for six years, I wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into by changing from a core subject to an elective CTE subject. The job details and evaluation are basically the same on paper, but are hugely different in practice. There is a bigger importance placed on collaborating with the community and businesses in CTE.
Interviewed a close friend that had recently retired after 30 years of teaching.	My friend was a great resource in helping me through my first few years of teaching and she is now a great resource to figure out how education has changed. She taught business, marketing and DECA and she has some very interesting perspectives on how technology has affected education. She stated that the current use of technology had actually decreased the amount of information she was able to cover in class. She said that basically the students are constantly distracted, even when they are good students and actually working on their projects. The students spend time waiting for computers to start, checking email, and checking grades. All of this lost time adds up.
Lead an activity with my 12th grade students. They were to research and discuss ethics in college and the work place.	This was a fun activity to prepare my seniors for the world they would enter in a few short months. I am very worried about a few of them and fear that they will learn after they have been fired once or twice. But, most of my students know how to behave ethically in the outside world, even if they choose to act different at home.
Strive to be more positive and encouraging with peers.	Teachers are often negative and it is sometimes difficult to see the positive side of things. I was able to maintain a positive attitude for much of the year, especially when working with my team teachers on integrating technology. I found that new technology is more easily accepted when my tone during the entire meeting had been positive.
Attended or view several School Board Meetings.	I was unable to attend many board meetings in person, however the board meetings recorded and broadcast. I was able to see how the board discusses funding issues of schools, the hiring of contractors for new school construction, and school, teacher and student award ceremonies. The process was interesting to watch.  I was impressed how the board followed Robert's Rules of Order, which made the board meetings have a calm flow that was conducive to the decision making process.
Assist in the modification and development of the Engineering and Information Technology programs of study and the course flow for each.	My campus revamped the course flow and class names of our programs of study. This was a great opportunity to see how these programs vertically align and how the name of the course can affect the budget of the school. The course we have pull from CTE and general electives, with CTE having a bigger budget. By renaming a class from Computer Science to Video Game Design, we were able to better align the program while also gaining more money in our budget.
Conduct classroom observations using the clinical model.	I was able to conduct three observations and debrief with my Principal for an hour on what I observed. This allowed me to see what an administrator is looking for in a PDAS evaluation.
Attend a workshop on motivating low performing students	This was a day-long workshop over motivating low performing students. I learned that students become self-defeating and that teachers should highlight the small successes to show these students they can be successful at anything. By highlighting the small successes, their self-esteem and motivation will build and they will tend to try more and work harder on difficult tasks.
Substitute Vice Principal for a day.	My Vice Principal was ill one day and asked me to substitute for her. I was able to put on my suit, get to school early and assume the role of a VP. I was very nervous, but I was able to successfully deal with 10 different student discipline issues, lunch room monitoring, one after school supervision problem and various other tasks throughout the day. I was busy all day and barely had enough time to eat. At one point, I was the only administrator, out of four, on campus, and I was only a substitute. I left for the day after everyone else and went straight to bed.
Collaborate with administrators, teachers, students and parents about the issues that affect teaching and learning.	My campus has a very proactive atmosphere and we are constantly trying to pinpoint the issues that are affecting our students to come up with ways to solve them. Some of the problems we have been able to help, for example, by offering additional busses after tutoring. While other issues are out of our hands and we try our best to support the students however we can.
Review and participate in the interview process including application, certification, background checks, and questioning techniques.	I have been able to review the interview process both as an interviewer and interviewee. It is quite interesting to know the types of questions that can and should be asked and what information to pull from the answers given. There are legal constraints on the types of questions, but with some decent word-smithing, almost any information can be obtained.
Reviewed and implemented the procedures to inventory and install a computer lab.	This was a pain staking task that I had to accomplish three days before school started. I walked into my computer lab assuming it would all be setup. However, in the corner of my room, was a stack of 28 computer and monitors, a box of keyboards, a box of mice and a 1000 foot box of Ethernet cable. I spent the entire weekend going through my inventory to ensure I had a record of all the asset tags. Then I installed all of my computers and made my own cables. I then had to reimage all of the computers with new software. Much of this work continued after the school year started. Luckily my students all have laptops, so I was able to hold class as normal.
Involved as a member of the Texas Classroom Teachers Association and various online communities that promote and support education.	These organizations are great opportunities to collaborate and discuss the most current issues with other teachers. I enjoy being able to work in partnership with these educators to ensure our students are aware of all of the opportunities available to them especially in CTE.
Collected various educational, instructional and collaborative books, DVD’s, and online materials to broaden my knowledge of administration, CTE and Business Education areas of study.	Throughout my seven year career as a teacher and especially during my study in graduate school, I have been able to obtain and collect many various instructional materials to support and enhance my role as a teacher and instructional leader. During my time in graduate school, I have discovered and enjoyed many readings that will only serve to help me as a future administrator and I know I will refer back to many of these materials in the future.
Met with Assistant Director of CTE to discuss the maintenance needs of my computer lab.	I was able to discuss the process for installing network cable outlets throughout my lab to connect my computers. We discussed the forms and the money that would be needed to make this happen. The cost seemed high and the time frame is very long, but the process has been started.
Scheduled transportation for the Girls of Technology Club to attend a conference.	We like to give the young women in the club I sponsor an opportunity to attend conferences and events highlighting the importance of engineering and technology careers. I was able to find an event and I had to schedule the transportation of the students. This was not a tough process but I did have to coordinate with the event staff and our bus depot to make sure our students arrived at the right location and on-time.
Scheduled food for a luncheon for the Girls of Technology Club.	We also like to bring in guest speakers for luncheon with our students. I was able to schedule two ladies from Research in Motion, to come talk about patent law. Since this was a luncheon on campus, I had to coordinator with food services to make sure our students were fed and that the food met the proper nutrition guidelines.

Connecticut School Shooting Tragedy

I feel the need to write, both to process the tragedy and share my thoughts.

My Life and History:
This school shooting has had a profound affect on me. I was a senior in high school for the Columbine shooting. I was just married for the Virginia Tech shooting. I now have a 2 year old daughter and another one on the way. My views of the world have completely changed since my daughter was born. As a senior in high school, I didn't really understand the Columbine Shooting. It happened in a far away place to people I didn't know. I did not truly understand what a tragedy it was or even what real grief was.  I was much older for the Virginia Tech shooting. I had been out of college for several years, but was still in my 20's and could associate with college life. I understood that it was a very bad event and that people lost brothers and sisters. I could visualize the event and put myself in their place. I could see myself sitting in a classroom, listening to a lecture, when all hell broke loose. But, again, it happened far away from me and to people I didn't know. The Connecticut shooting happened at an elementary school. All the victims were educators or children aged 6-7 yrs old. I am an educator and my daughter is 2. This hits too close to home. If you have children, you know the unconditional love a parent has for a child. You also know that you would do anything to protect your child. I feel a responsibility to protect my daughter and the lives of the children I teach. Their parents trust that I will care for their children, as I will trust my daughter's teacher to protect her while she is at school. I cannot imagine the amount of grief the parents' of these victims feel. I saddens my heart to just contemplate losing my daughter. I worry when she gets too quiet at home. I do not know what I would do if she was permanently silent. What would I do if I couldn't see her face in the morning? Or hear her say I love you? How would I plan a funeral? How would I continue on? A parent should not have to bury a child and I would gladly trade my life to save my daughter.

Mental Health:
Information is still coming about the shooter, but it appears that he had a mental illness of some sort. There are many articles discussing mental health issues and the social stigma associated with it. There is a general lack of understanding or support for families dealing with mental illness. We need to have a serious discussion about mental illness and help families get the resources they desperately need. Through family and friends, I have my own experiences with mental illness. My family is not a stranger to it. But, we still shy from the topic and hide from ourselves, even though we know things are not right. I pray that my daughter will be able to talk to us instead of hide from us. I will stay ever vigilant looking for the signs of problems. I will discuss mental health with her and teach her to not be afraid to seek help. If you are sick with virus, you seek a doctor. If you need financial advice, you seek a banker. If you car is broken, you seek a mechanic. Why then do we not seek help if our mind is not right?

Guns:
All major shootings naturally bring up discussions about guns and gun control. However, gun control is an issue that should be discussed by rational people making rational decisions. Not by grieving families reacting to a tragedy, or politicians looking to leverage that same tragedy for their own ends. The truth that many people do not want to accept is that we will simply not be able to get rid of all guns in this country. Let me repeat my point:

Regardless of your beliefs, legislating a ban on guns will not eliminate gun violence.

A determined attacker will acquire whatever weapons they deem necessary to commit evil. The attackers in Columbine planned for months and obtained guns and explosives illegally  Convicted felons buy illegal guns every day. You will not be able to legislate the elimination of every gun in this country. We have thousands of miles of unprotected boarders on every side of this country. Criminals would continue to smuggle in illegal guns to commit illegal acts.

School Safety:
Like Mental Health issues, we need to have serious discussion about how to really make schools safe. Does our "duck and cover" drill really make us safe? Does our one Police Officer make us safe? Should we look at Israel or Mexico as example? Both of these countries surround their schools with high, razor-wire fences and armed guards. Do we follow the lead of school districts like Harrold ISD in Harrold, TX? There, teachers that have a TX Concealed Handgun License, can be approved to carry on campus. There is currently a huge push to combat bullying in school. This could have helped prevent the violence experienced in Columbine, but would not have prevented the Connecticut shooting.

Answers:
I don't know the answer. I believe it will be a combination of many things. What I do know, is that I am terrified for the future of my daughter and the future of all children. We cannot simply point fingers and try to blame one aspect, while turning a blind eye to all the other contributing factors. I will do everything in my power to protect my classroom of children when I am with them. And I will continue to protect my family when I am with them.

May God have mercy on the souls of children. I thank every educator for protecting the children entrusted to them. Someday you will have my daughter in your class, as I might have your son in mine.

Course Reflection - EDLD 5364 - Teaching with Technology

Course EDLD 5364, Teaching with Technology, centered on a single group project. Each week encompassed different readings, videos, and tasks that added to the group project. After going through this course, I realize the main goal was to get us to understand that we should not consider technology to be an add-on to our lessons, but should be an integral part of the lesson design.

Throughout the class, we focused on incorporating technology, mainly Web 2.0 technology, into a format of lesson plans called Universal Design for Learning, UDL. In the first week we formed a group and started collaborating using a shared Google Doc. Luckily, I was able to team up with members from the previous course, with the addition of one new member. Since, we knew each other, things started to roll easily. One of our first tasks was to research and create individual UDL lessons. This was a new concept for me and I have learned a great deal from the UDL lesson planning process.

"Universal Design for Learning is an extension of an architectural movement called universal design" (Rose & Meyer, 2002). Universal design is the concept that every building and structure should be accessible to every person, regardless of abilities or impairments. Some examples of universal design are the curb cutouts that allow people in wheel chairs to access sidewalks and the fact that Braille placards are placed at the same height in every building to allow visually impaired people to easily locate what they need. UDL bring this concept to the education realm and opened my eyes to how restrictive our current system is. The lessons in my class are based on the assumption that every student has full vision and hearing and that every student's brain functions pretty much the same. What I have realized after this group project is that I may be missing many of my students especially those with impairments that are not external and easily seen. I have learned that I should start my lesson plans with the end in mind. I should set my learning objectives first and then design activities that meet these objectives. I should also incorporate different levels and types of activities to allow my students the freedom to learn the material on their terms. Most of the activities use technology and Web 2.0 resources, but they should also include paper-based products and traditional textbook and library resources. This is the first concrete reason I have learned of to validate the use of technology in the classroom. I have always understood that technology opens the door to the outer world, but now I understand that without technology, many of my students are shut out of their full potential. I can also concretely explain to others why they should start to incorporate technology into their lessons. I can explain that "technology is simply a tool that assists [our] ongoing assessment of the students’ progress and supports in [our] efforts to make learning interesting, engaging, and meaningful to the students." (Sprague & Dede, 1999, pg. 16).

In college, I finally realized that I learn best when I have examples to work from. I can read a textbook and figure things out, but I have always been drawn to math and science, because the math and science textbooks are full of worked examples. When working a problem, I typically find a similar problem in the book and follow the pattern. This is also how I approached this course. I worked best on the UDL Lesson Builder assignment because I could reference the example lessons on the CASTwebsite. But, I also realize that this is a shortcoming of mine. I struggle when I have to create a new product and there is not an example to work from. This makes it difficult for me when I progress past the examples and need to extend them to new products. However, I am having better successes with this and am becoming more familiar with creating entirely new ideas as I become a more seasoned practitioner, and eventually expert, in the field of educational technology. These group assignments are also helping me in this realm. We are able to work together to create new ideas and I am able to receive instant feedback from my group members on everything. I have seen great improvements in my teammates and my work. It's this type of instant feedback that was discussed in a video from the course. Mr. James Gee explored the relationship of video games and assessment (Edutopia.org, nd). In a video game, you learn and try new tasks and get instant feedback on the results. If the results are positive you move on, if they are negative, you try again. This concept is reflected in these group assignments. When we find something that works, we share it with each other and we all learn from it. When we find a fault, again we share it with each other and we all learn from it. I am beginning to incorporate this concept in my classroom. I have been giving my students shorter assessments that are quicker and easier to grade, so that I can share their results sooner. I also have the students share their results with the class and we collaborate on why certain questions were missed and what we can do to improve for the next time.

The ideas covered in this course have caused a shift in my thinking as I design my classroom lessons. The collaboration in the course has caused a shift in my thinking as I collaborate with my peers on my campus. Google Docs are a great way to share ideas and create a product together. I have also noticed some short comings in the design process when it comes to the Google Docs. We created a new document for each week of the course and copied a bunch of stuff to each new document. There was also a bunch of information in each document that did not necessarily pertain to the assignment at hand. I found it difficult to wade through everything in the document and find out what was new and needed to be done. In the future, I may need to find a better way to arrange the shared document to make it easier to understand and use. There may be some better software to use, or we may just need to setup some guidelines on the use of the document. One of the main issues we encountered was due to scheduling and procrastination. There were several of us, me included, that would wait until Sunday to start working on the weekly assignments. In the future, we should setup some time lines and goals so that we are not "cramming" at the end.



References:

Rose, D. H., Meyer, A. M., & , F. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age, universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Assn for Supervision & Curriculum. Retrieved fromhttp://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/chapter4_2.cfm

Sprague, D., & Dede, C. (1999). If i teach this way, am i doing my job: Constructivism in the classroom. Retrieved from http://imet.csus.edu/imet9/280/docs/dede_constructivisim.pdf

Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games. Retrieved on April 1, 2012 from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-james-gee-video

Wk 5 Reflection - Assessments

Assessments and tests were the focus of this week's information.  The Web 2.0 chapter brings up a problem I see in my class. There is a disconnect between the way we are expected to teach and the way we are expected to test, especially for state testing. The book put it this way, "if you are integrating new tools, you do not want to assess these outcomes with old models" (Solomon & Schrum, 2007, p. 170). That quote is taken slightly out of context. The authors meant it more that we should create lessons and assessments together so that they align better. But it also illustrates the problem with current high-stakes, state testing.  Currently, teachers do not create the state test, nor do we have much, if any, input on it. This makes it very difficult to align everything. It also highlights the fact that the state testing is becoming more and more unreliable as an indicator of student performance. What it does really indicate is that our students do not do well on high stakes tests. It says nothing about their ability to collaborate and problem solve in a group setting, which is how most classrooms are structured now. It says nothing about their ability to find the information they need when it is needed. Many of my students learned another language before they learned English and struggle with definitions and vocabulary. What I am finding in my class is that these students understand the math concepts I teach, but get hung up on random vocabulary words in the test. They are more than willing to look up these words, but the State has determined that they should not be allowed to use a dictionary on the math test. So, does the student's score reflect their math ability?  Or, does it really reflect their vocabulary and language ability? We all need to work together to revamp the entire testing system to reflect the changes being made in the classroom and education system.

Mr. James Gee had some great suggestions on where we might look to find inspiration for changing the way we assess our students.  "If you think about, video games are one big assessment" (Edutopia.org, nd).  And he is right.  The entire point of any video game is to learn the game, then beat the game, or in educational terms, show that you have mastered the game.  This is exactly what we want out students to do in school.  Learn the material, then show us you mastered the material.  It sounds like schools and video games are basically the same thing structure-wise, which in some respects they are, but there are some major differences in delivery and timeliness.  In video games you learn by doing.  You control the widget on screen and figure out what it does.  In a video game you get instant feedback.  When you control that widget, did you progress or did you die.  In a video game, when you fail, you try again until you get it right.  Your life starts over and you go back and try another widget and you keep doing this until you mastered the game.  Often times, school is lacking in these basic componenets.  In school, students often learn by reading a textbook, then are tested over facts.  They receive their scores after a week or so and do not typically get a second chance.  If I were to describe how schools run now, most people are ok with that.  They will understand this system because that is what we have all grown up with.  But in light of the explanation of video games, doesn't the current system of education seem outdated, slow, and even wrong?

References:
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0, new tools, new schools. Intl Society for Technology in educ.

Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games. Retrieved on April 1, 2012 from
http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-james-gee-video