1. Develop strategies for funding.
Goal 1: Teachers will attend professional development to enhance their use of technology in the classroom to support and increase student achievement.
Funding: Funding for professional development in technology already exists in CFISD. Hopper could utilize these training possibilities available through the district without any additional cost to the school. However according to my plan, teachers will be rewarded for their attendance. For this plan to be put in place, the school will have to include it in their budget proposal to the district for the next school year or possibly find grant money that could support this need. The highest cost possible for the reward system would be approximately $40,000. ($50 per professional development hour, for 8 hours, for each teacher)
Goal 2: Teachers will be supported by a technology liaison full-time on campus for instructional technology support.
Funding: Funding for a full-time on campus technology liaison would have to come from the district, as the cost includes the salary and benefits for this position to be filled. This would have to be submitted in the budget for next year to the school district.
Goal 3: Find potential sources of funding for technology improvement at Hopper Middle School.
Funding: No cost - just time in investigating potential grants and sponsors for increased technology and technology supports in the classroom. Possible grants could come from sources such as TEA or Educational Technology Grants.
Resources:
TEA Grant Resources (2012). Retrieved March 14, 2012 from
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=2147487920&menu_id=951
Technology Grants Resources. Funding for Libraries and Museums. Retrieved from March 14, 2012 from
http://technologygrantnews.com/grant-index-by-type/educational-technology-grants.html
2. Develop strategies for management plans.
Goal 1: Teachers will attend professional development to enhance their use of technology in the classroom to support and increase student achievement.
Management: Teacher attendance will be monitored through sign-in sheets and by the technology liaison. Teachers will be required to document their use of technology in their lesson plans. Our district submits lesson plans through iExplore, which the administration could use to monitor teacher progress in integration of technology. Teacher surveys will also be conducted to reach goal 1, which could easily be accomplished through Google Docs.
Goal 2: Teachers will be supported by a technology liaison full-time on campus for instructional technology support.
Management: The technology liaison would answer to the campus Director of Instruction. Interactions between the teachers and the technology liaison would be conducted and documented through the district e-mail system. The Director of Instruction for Hopper Middle School could reward teachers for their interactions and use of the technology liaisons suggestions and resources.
Goal 3: Find potential sources of funding for technology improvement at Hopper Middle School.
Management: The newly hired technology liaison would primarily in charge of meeting this goal, and would submit proposals and all possible sponsorships to the Director of Instruction and the Principal. Progress could be monitored through e-mail interactions and monthly meetings.
3. Describe the required procedures for the proposed strategies.
Grants procedures are individual to each grant and would need to be closely monitored and followed for the grant process to be productive and received.
ADDITIONAL INFO ABOUT HIRING PROCESS TO COME SOON. - I have e-mailed the director of instruction for Hopper Middle School about the necessary procedures that would happen for these goals to become reality. I have not received a reply as of yet. When I do, I will update my post.
UPDATE: In a personal e-mail response, Dr. Antwanette Hill, the director of instruction at Hopper Middle School, wrote about the process required for hiring a technology liaison on campus: "I would think that you would first approach the campus principal, who would then approach the technology department director with the proposal (which includes a strong rationale for the position), who in turn would actually "walk it through" the proper district channels. Alternatively, the principal could possibly give up a teacher allocation for the position. However, that too would require a strong rationale" (Hill, 2012).
References:
Personal correspondence Dr. Antwanette Hill. March 21, 2012.
Casey,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned the need for staff development in your school. I found a great resource and have been trying to tell everyone about it. This summer, Denton ISD will be hosting TIA (Technology Integration Academy), and it's only $35 to attend. You can find all the details at http://www.dentonisd.org/51210727153512820/site/default.asp?
Thanks for sharing such a good resource Kayla! I appreciate it!
DeleteCasey,
ReplyDeleteI noticed you have planned to reward teachers for their attendance to the trainings and I think is great. We do not get paid for any in-district trainings. My district only pays when we have to travel out-of-town for a workshop. School District "No Child Left Behind" funds (NCLB Title II-A) can be used for professional development activities. I was wondering if your school would get the funds to pay for trainings from these source or somewhere else.
U.S. Department of Education (2006). Improving teacher quality -state grants. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/teacherqual/guidance.pdf
I think that this would be an appropriate place to get the funds, you are right. Apparently my district used to pay teachers for ALL their professional development hours, but with budget cuts, that is not happening anymore. I wish schools would place emphasis on the importance of making both TEACHERS and students life-long learners!
DeleteCasey,
ReplyDeleteYou discussed managing the use of technology with teachers. I agree that this can be monitored through lesson plans, but do you feel this is enough? I know that not all teachers are honest with lesson plans, they just want to get them done. I feel that administrators need to be in the classroom to truly witness the technology being used. However, I feel this raises another question, do administrators know enough about technology to judge if it is truly being utilized. I have seen administrators get excited because a teacher was using her interactive whiteboard, she was simply showing a PowerPoint, the use of the board could be so much more. One research found that “information gathered [from the research] raise serious questions about how school administrators promote technology in their daily work, how they demonstrate the use of technology and what they expect of those with whom they work...A strong link between educational technology and school leadership is necessary to support improvements in education” (Thomas).
Cara Moreland
Reference:
Thomas, W. Educational Technology: Are School Administrators Ready For It? Retrieved from http://info.sreb.org/programs/EdTech/pubs/ReadyForIt/EdTech-ReadyForIt.pdf
Cara,
DeleteGreat point. No I don't think it's enough...but it's a start. There has to be a starting line, and I agree it is a long way to the finish line when it comes to full integration of technology. Administrator observations would also be beneficial, along with teacher to teacher observations. I witnessed this being used well when I student taught. I think it is important for schools to build communities that support every teacher, and making classrooms open doors to anyone would be a great way to do that.
Casey, I used to work in a district that not only paid teachers to attend a week long summer institute, but teachers had to write a summary of how they would use what they learned in the institute with their students. The outcome was greater than we expected. You may also try obtaining gift cards from local businesses like Kohls, JC Penny and others.
ReplyDeleteEducation World, (2011). 25 Ways to Motivate Teachers. Retrieved March 19, 2012, from: http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin289.shtml
Wonderful idea! I am sure there are many companies who would be glad to help sponsor teachers and support our schools. I like the idea of teachers having to write about how they plan to use what they learned. I will have to try to incorporate that in the coming weeks!
DeleteCasey,
ReplyDeleteGoal One is a great goal! Professional development is so important to help give teachers different ideas to intergrate into the classroom. To follow-up it is important to monitor the teachers use of technology into the classroom. Katy ISD currenrtly mointors the use by looking at lesson plans and walk-throughs and observations. Google-docs is a great way to survey teachers. What other ways can your school increase ways of intergrating technology into the classroom? ISTE encourages teachers to "design, implement, and assess learning experiences to engage students and improve learning; enrich
professional practice; and provide positive models for students, colleagues, and the community."
ISTE. (2011). The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T). Retrieved March 5, 2012, from: http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS-T_Standards.sflb.ashx
Ashley,
DeleteCara, above, had a similar point. I think making classrooms open to observations from other teachers would help encourage technology use, support between teachers, and accountability for what is being taught in each classroom.
Casey,
ReplyDeleteI love your idea about rewarding teachers for attending trainings. This is a great way to get teachers to attend even if they don't want to because of the monetary compensation. Where would the money come from to pay the attendees? My district has recently decided to pay teachers $100 for up to 10 SMARTboard lessons they create. The district had to move money around in the budget in order to compensate the teachers. 31 teachers signed up, so it will be interesting to see how their homemade lessons are created and implemented in the classroom.
What an awesome initiative for your school! Are you participating? I think we could find money in Title 1 funds, shifting some technology funds in that direction, or through donations. Where did your district find the money? I do not think like a administrator. I would love for money to grow on trees!
Delete