Prior to beginning this Instructional Leadership Course I was anxious and nervous at the same time. I graduated high-school ten years ago and more often than not, I feel like I am on the backside of technology. I don't consider myself, "out-of-the-loop" like some educators I know, but I did think that I knew just enough about technology to know that I didn't know near enough! I envisioned this course covering a multitude of topics and information, and quite frankly, I figured that I would struggle from day one. However, once I understood the concept behind technology, and creating 21st Learners, I felt very intrugued and interested in creating a 21st Centure Learning atmostphere in my classroom, more so than I already had. I actually surprised myself in that I knew more about technology than I originally thought. I thought this course was going to focus on the "techie" side of technology, not the administrative ideals as it did. Even thought I missed the initial mark of what this course was going to consist of, I feel that my learning did align with the majority of the outcomes that I envisioned. Not only can I illustrate waht a 21st Century campus should look like in the form of technology, but I have gained useful insight regarding technological functions, data, and usage. I am now confident creating a post to my blog account, which I use daily and plan to continue to use. In addition, I can accurately elaborate on various search engines, Wikis, Web 2.0 tools, etc. In the end, this class exceeded my expectations and taught me much more than I had envisioned because I learned the skills and knowledge base myself and learned how to apply and administer these skills and knowldege personally.
The work I do in my school consist mainly on working with struggling readers to improve their learning by raising their oral reading fluency rate, and expanding their comprehension skills, among other things. The outcomes that I achieved from this course are immensely relevant to the work that I do. Everything that I learned during this course, from implementing the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, to re-vamping our Acceptable use Policy incorporates nicely with my classroom lessons because I have students who are in desperate need of technological instruction to better succeed in school. I have already begun the work of creating a blog for my small group pullout classes beginning at the first of the year. Also, due to the vast amount of knowledge I reveived regarding internet safety for children and dealing with internet predators, I have begun sending home "Techie Tips" with my students each week, in hopes of educating our parent population. Also, I am working to constatnly remind my campus of copyright laws and restrictions in which I am striving to maintain "best practices" at my campus. I would say that the wealth of information I learned form this course had drastically changed the way in which I approach technology, I am not afraid to use it anymore and I realize the benefits it can produce.
I don't believe that there was even one outcome from this course that I didn't achieve, I do know that I wasn't prepated for the changes that were going to effect my teaching style after I obained the knowledge that I have from this course. Since beginning this course, I am more aware of technological obstacles and goals and I can't in good conscience ignore them. I came into this course with an open-mind and a thirst for knowledge, which in my opinion, is all it takes to learn and suceed in life. I know so many teachers who are negative towards technology for no other reason that just being plan stubborn, they are set in their ways and don't want to change. Despite the fact, that change is proven to be positive for our students. I believe that some teachers could approach this course with a negative attitude and that could possibly prevent them from obtaining some of the outcomes designed through the coursework! I was thrilled at the beginning of this course, because I am comfortable enough with my inadequacies to understand what I need to work on; I feel this is hard for many administrators. I understand that technology is a very important piece of public education right now, and it's only going to get more involved and important through my career, therefore, through this course I made the choice to embrace technology which enabled me to achieve all the outcomes of this course.
The course assignments at first glance were daunting. I will have to admit, that each week as I opened up the assignment on Monday morning, I would catch myslef holding my breath, praying it wouldn't be something I had not ever heard of, or something that my computer wasn't capable of. The moment when I read over Assignement #1 the feeling in my stomach was one of excitement and dread. Excitement because, I thought, (Yes!), I am finally going to learn something about technolgy that I didn't know before. Learning something new meant I would become a better teacher and more in-tune with my students. I was also dreading the assignment because; I knew that it was going to take me out of my comfort zone dealing with technolgy. The instuctions in each week's assignment proved to be a lifesaver and I actually began to look forward to each week in anticipation of what I would learn to do this week. I also found myself wanting to "wander" out on my own and begin to take risk trying new things applying the technology skills I had been learning. I thought this was ironic when I realized what I was doing, because the Texas-Long Range Plan for Technolgoy stresses the importance of teaching students to take risks and apply their knowledge. I was very successful in carrying out the course assignments.
Before beginning this course I knew that I was a strong teacher. I have always been the kind of teacher who strives to use the "best practices" in my classroom and with everything that I do. I attend workshops every year in order to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in Reading. I also encourage other teachers to "go the extra mile" in their classrooms, by incorporating interactive lessons, success initiatives, and down right good'ole teaching methods. However, when it came to technology, I always felt like I was inadequate and didn't measure up to the technology standards as I should. I do not consider myself a "digital native" as our students consider themselves, but on the other hand I don't think that I am completely unattuned to the technology era in which our students live. I believe because of my strong work ethic and wanting to succcedd in life and make my students be the best they can be, that I entered this course wanting to learn more about my lack of technology skills. I leanred that the way that I am, helped me to succeed in this course. I learned just exactly what I needed to do to become more literate with today's technological standards. By being the type of person that I am, I believe that it helped me to be successful concerning technolgy and learn more. The first step to learning is admitting how much you need to learn.
I believe that the educational value of blogs can contribute to a students' learning immensely. Blogging is the 21st Century. As a student I can keep up with specific blogs which relate to my interest solely, and I don't have to worry about filtering through tons of spam and junk e-mails to stay up-to-date with want I want to know. In my opinion blogging, is the bridge that is going to unite teachers and students in the 21st Century. As a teacher, I have been to countless staff devleopment workshops discussing student discipline and creating relationships with those students. Teaching in a low-socio economic district it is sometimes hard to maintain a positive relationship and keep our students headed in the right direction, once they leave the school campus and return to their homes. As a teacher, blogging gives me the inside scoop on what that student is doing afterschool while he/she is at home. As a blogger, I can follow my students blogs and correspond with them outside of class over class topics. I beleive that when I assign opinion papers or reflections to our readings students will report more on their feelings and be themselves when posting comments to their blog. The concerns that I have as an administrator is that students will hold a high standard of ethics and morals when working with thier blogs and blogging in education. Also, as an administrator I worry about whether my teachers are creating positive personal relationships. Blogging can make or break a classroom. Yes, we want students to open up while blogging possibly more so than they would do in person. But, on the other hand a teacher has got to create that positive relationship with trust in person before a student is going to care enough to elaborate on their viewpoints and opinions in a blog. I beleive that blogging can used to communicate with all stakeholders because they can check it anytime and the can set their account up for a RSS feed and have constant feedback from you. At my campus a couple of years ago we were all given the information to set-up our classroom homepage from the district website. Like all the other teachers I set up my homepage, but after much dilema....it was one of the hardest things I have done through technology. As a result, very few teachers webpages have timely information, they basically all just say, "Welcome to Class!" because they are so not user friendly! On the other hand, using a blog is super easy. I absolutely love it! Teachers could update their blog account in a matter of minutes, I do! I believe that teachers would enjoy the immediate communication and feedback they recieved from stakeholders if they were bloggers.
In conclusion, this course enlightened my perspective regarding technology and the future of public education. In my opinion the future is no longer grim, just a huge opportunity awaiting our students to become successful learners.
Cameron Elementary Action Plan
Assignment Week #4 Instructional Leadership
Cameron Elementary Action Plan
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