The Texas S Ta R Chart & Blum ISD
View more presentations from Traci Bellomy.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The Texas STaR Chart
Educator Preparation and Development is the area of the Texas STaR Chart that interests me at this time. As I look at the Campus Statewide Summary by Key Area chart, I see that 74.2% of our school campuses fall in Developing Tech level of application of standards, and the concern I have with this statistic is that the Teaching and Learning area of the chart will not improve until the Educator Preparation and Development do.
The Target Tech level on the standards demands that the campus implements technology-supported learner-centered projects in a consistent manner. The Technology Applications TEKS are vertically aligned. The campus must have use of online resources 100% of the time. All teachers must meet the SBEC standards, and at least 30% of the budget is allocated for professional development.
Teachers without proper preparation will dabble in the world of technology, but they will never fully integrate it and fully utilize the technology to its fullest potential without further training. In our district, far too much time in our staff development is spent on the discussion the handbook, schedules, and various beginning of the school year issues, and not enough time is spent on building teacher’s skills in the art of teaching in general. One area that needs specific blocks of time is in the area of technology development of the staff and clearly delineating a system to address the needs of the students at various grade levels. Teachers need to report to one another and to the administration what specific technology skills they will address through their course on a yearly basis. The staff also must develop an assessment for the level of proficiency of the students in the use of technology in order to track their progress or lack thereof.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Pre-K Technology Applications TEKS
Pre-K students will open and navigate basic software for the purpose of learning. Most schools will use software applications such as interactive books or other interactive programs teaching various introductory academic skills.
Child uses and names a variety of technology hardware devices. The children are exposed to and learn what the basic components are of technology in the classroom such as the keyboard, a mouse, a monitor.
Child operates voice/sound recorders and touch screens. The students will use the touch screens and the voice components to interact with the software they are using.
Child uses software applications to create and express their own ideas. Even in the pre-literate stage of Pre-k, the children will create images for communication.
Child recognizes that information is available through technology. Because the computers are used in a variety of ways as individual students and through the teacher's implementation of technology in the lessons, the students will recognize technology as an instrument of learning.
The spiraling and dynamic nature of the technology standards and TEKS are evident when one analyzes the skills required at the Pre-K level, because they mirror the same skills being developed all the way through grade 12, but only in a more intricate and demanding manner. Where the Pre-K student is recognizing that technology is a great source of information, the 12th grade student is evaluating the information given for potential bias, validity, and copyright issues. The younger student is just beginning to utilize technology to create or express ideas. The advanced students must create elaborate presentations including multiple forms of media.
Because of the spiraling nature of the technology standards, the students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery of those skills. Presentations of the simplest kind begin as Pre-K students express their ideas. As they progress through elementary school, they are introduced to more forms of software for their presentations. Then as they are in middle school, they begin to layer the media forms so that they have multi-media presentations. By high school they are to become proficient in their abilities to create presentations and can alter them to their intended audience.
Child uses and names a variety of technology hardware devices. The children are exposed to and learn what the basic components are of technology in the classroom such as the keyboard, a mouse, a monitor.
Child operates voice/sound recorders and touch screens. The students will use the touch screens and the voice components to interact with the software they are using.
Child uses software applications to create and express their own ideas. Even in the pre-literate stage of Pre-k, the children will create images for communication.
Child recognizes that information is available through technology. Because the computers are used in a variety of ways as individual students and through the teacher's implementation of technology in the lessons, the students will recognize technology as an instrument of learning.
The spiraling and dynamic nature of the technology standards and TEKS are evident when one analyzes the skills required at the Pre-K level, because they mirror the same skills being developed all the way through grade 12, but only in a more intricate and demanding manner. Where the Pre-K student is recognizing that technology is a great source of information, the 12th grade student is evaluating the information given for potential bias, validity, and copyright issues. The younger student is just beginning to utilize technology to create or express ideas. The advanced students must create elaborate presentations including multiple forms of media.
Because of the spiraling nature of the technology standards, the students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery of those skills. Presentations of the simplest kind begin as Pre-K students express their ideas. As they progress through elementary school, they are introduced to more forms of software for their presentations. Then as they are in middle school, they begin to layer the media forms so that they have multi-media presentations. By high school they are to become proficient in their abilities to create presentations and can alter them to their intended audience.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Long-Range Plan Summary
Through my analysis of the Long-Range Plan, I have a better understanding of where the state sees technology in the classroom. As a teacher, I have used technology as more of bonus or extension of learning for my students. It has not been an area of focus where I have taken full benefit of all that technology can offer them. It has become clear to me that I must utilize technology for more than research on the Internet, word processing, and the occasional PowerPoint presentation. Students need to experience the real-world applications of technology that will be expected of them beyond the classroom doors.
As an administrator, I will have to become more aggressive in my acquisition of knowledge on the newest trends in technology and study their applications to the classroom as I work to implement the acquisition of the technology and then measure its integration into the classrooms. The funding will not be easily attained if I cannot fully justify its use and application, and I will not be able to do either one without being knowledgeable of the programs or hardware I am endorsing. It will be vital to surround myself with capable and skilled people that can advise me on the interoperability and other infrastructure issues involving new technology purchases. I will also strive to offer incentives to my staff for reaching out to learn more about integrating technology into their classrooms. And I will also implement a program to better assess the progress of the students in their proficiencies in technology. I will foster an environment that demonstrates the importance and benefits of technology. Students will see how it is a tool that increases our ability to make decisions and stretch us to be more creative in our problem-solving and critical thinking.
As an administrator, I will have to become more aggressive in my acquisition of knowledge on the newest trends in technology and study their applications to the classroom as I work to implement the acquisition of the technology and then measure its integration into the classrooms. The funding will not be easily attained if I cannot fully justify its use and application, and I will not be able to do either one without being knowledgeable of the programs or hardware I am endorsing. It will be vital to surround myself with capable and skilled people that can advise me on the interoperability and other infrastructure issues involving new technology purchases. I will also strive to offer incentives to my staff for reaching out to learn more about integrating technology into their classrooms. And I will also implement a program to better assess the progress of the students in their proficiencies in technology. I will foster an environment that demonstrates the importance and benefits of technology. Students will see how it is a tool that increases our ability to make decisions and stretch us to be more creative in our problem-solving and critical thinking.
My strengths and weaknesses in educational technology
My strength in the area of technology in education is my willingness to try new things. Even though I did not have the benefit of electronic technology when I was in school, I am open to it and have embraced it as it has become available over the years since I first began teaching.
My weakness is that I have not kept up with the latest in the trends in technology. One reason for this recent gap is moving from a large 5a school district with incredible resources to a small 1a title I school with somewhat limited resources. The small school itself has acquired technology to accommodate more detailed and complicated projects than I have been able to attain the training to provide my students with the opportunity to use.
As I completed the two assessments, I became aware of the fact that I stalled out in my incorporation of technology into my classroom with the introduction of PowerPoint. I have not ventured into the world of utilizing video and audio components into presentations. As a language arts teacher, the integration of spreadsheets and intricate charts and graphs has not really been appropriate. Other personnel have been responsible for the distance learning, video conferencing, and many of the data manipulation applications. I will need to master these in order to be an effective technology leader on my campus. However, my abilities as a language arts teacher has afforded me the expertise of written communication and the power of visual representation as well. I will have skill in developing presentations for my staff and student body. I will have to branch out though to include the addition of video and audio to catch up with the current trends in technology. And what better way to do that then learn side-by-side with my staff.
The assessments were accurate in my estimations of where I am in my skills with technology. I believe that they are somewhat accurate in the assessment of my school in regards to the availability and assessment of student proficiencies in technology. We have not been accurately measuring the ways in which teachers are implementing technology and certainly have not been measuring the students' progress in their technology abilities.
My weakness is that I have not kept up with the latest in the trends in technology. One reason for this recent gap is moving from a large 5a school district with incredible resources to a small 1a title I school with somewhat limited resources. The small school itself has acquired technology to accommodate more detailed and complicated projects than I have been able to attain the training to provide my students with the opportunity to use.
As I completed the two assessments, I became aware of the fact that I stalled out in my incorporation of technology into my classroom with the introduction of PowerPoint. I have not ventured into the world of utilizing video and audio components into presentations. As a language arts teacher, the integration of spreadsheets and intricate charts and graphs has not really been appropriate. Other personnel have been responsible for the distance learning, video conferencing, and many of the data manipulation applications. I will need to master these in order to be an effective technology leader on my campus. However, my abilities as a language arts teacher has afforded me the expertise of written communication and the power of visual representation as well. I will have skill in developing presentations for my staff and student body. I will have to branch out though to include the addition of video and audio to catch up with the current trends in technology. And what better way to do that then learn side-by-side with my staff.
The assessments were accurate in my estimations of where I am in my skills with technology. I believe that they are somewhat accurate in the assessment of my school in regards to the availability and assessment of student proficiencies in technology. We have not been accurately measuring the ways in which teachers are implementing technology and certainly have not been measuring the students' progress in their technology abilities.
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