Will Technology Transform Education? (youtube)

Contemporary teachers are pushing technology to new and exciting limits. They have watched their students and embraced their ways of being engaged and applied it in the classroom. I would like to have the flexibility to be innovative in my classroom without the feeling of doing something wrong or the thought that, if someone walks in right now, I'll probably get written up.

In this video, you see teachers have incorporated the use of students phones, ipods, as well as laptops and computers. The title of this video should not be titled, "Will Technology Transform Education?" but the measure of at what rate, and can educators and policy makers adapt?

How would your School Look if you were in Charge?

The three videos that provided information that I feel would have the greatest impact on my school are Dan Meyer video, A Vision of K-12 Students Today, and Mike Wesch video. I completed my Development Plan on Thursday and one of my goals are to implement a sense of awareness in global matters. These videos stressed the importance outside the walls of the classroom and beyond textbooks which is one of my biggest focuses this year.
Dan Meyer talked about creating patient problem solving and being less helpful for students and basically facilitating more than directing. This ties into Bloom’s Taxonomy where we are teaching students how to think as well as create.
As a military veteran I personally relate to Mike Wesch in traveling to other countries and experiencing culture shock. Understanding that some things we teach aren’t being absorbed by our students because we have not made it relevant to real life. It’s not personal to them, therefore it is not retained.
In the video, A Vision of K-12 Students Today, I couldn’t agree more that our students are digital learners. I know that technology is costly but I am concerned at the lack of resources available to teachers and students in the classroom.
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte did a wonderful job of showing us how to create interactive lesson plans, the use of multimedia, increasing the use of technology in our classrooms. I was excited to get into my classroom and start teaching. I arrive and my first year I am presented with a scripted Literacy Teacher’s Manual which I was told to follow to the T. My following year I was presented with a scripted Math Manual that I was told to follow to a T. I thought back to my large file of internet activities that I was so excited and created the summer before I began teaching, and thought to myself, “When will I have a chance to use these?”
I looked at the three computers in my room, which have now been downgraded to two, for 19 students. I asked for an avery key to connect my laptop to the television we have and was told our school only has 2 and they are both checked out. I asked how can I gain access to the one smart board we have in our school, and I was told to sign up for it. When I go to sign up I realize, the only time slots that are available daily is during kindergartens lunch and recess. We have a problem! Needless to say grant writing will be the next thing I plan to conquer.
I am aware that in most cases, not even a principal has say so over how his or her teachers will be teaching because the district has it’s mandates, but if I were a principal and I had the freedom to run the school the way my teachers and I saw fit, this is what I would like for it to look and sound like;
In a third grade classroom, you may see different heterogeneous groups of students surrounding computers or laptops assisting one another in creating PowerPoint presentations and uploading pictures of different animals around the world. Discussing the regions you may find those animals in and why, as the teacher walks from group to group making suggestions and monitoring how well the students are working together.
In a kindergarten classroom, students are sitting in front of computers with headsets on, going on a virtual fieldtrip of their choice, then asked to draw a picture describing their fieldtrip, as well as write a sentence for those who are able. In small groups, allow students to tell each other about their fieldtrip and share their drawing.
In a second grade classroom, you may hear students working together in small groups to come up with various problems to a solution already stated. For example, students can pull a number, and come up with various addition, subtraction, multiplication or division problems to get the answer. Have students work as a team to display their work on a smart board to present to the class.
In a first grade classroom, you may see students venture outside to take pictures of solids, liquids and gases. Plug the camera into a laptop, upload the pictures and display on the television and classify each picture into the appropriate category.
In all classrooms, sight words, labeled words, color words, number words are listed in English, Spanish, French, and any other language that is prevalent in your students’ surroundings. There are so many ideas that come to mind after watching the videos as well as a few others that have opened my eyes to try new things this year. I look forward to the changes and hope that I can incorporate, or at least take small steps in incorporating this atmosphere in my school this year.

Solving vs. Handling - Should Schools be held Responsible?

Should Schools be responsible for solving or handling social issues as those presented in the videos? What other social issues do you believe schools should be responsible for addressing in some form or another?

I feel that schools should be responsible for handling some social issues such as those presented in the videos but not necessarily solving them. In order to handle the situations, schools could use preventative measures to address the communities most critical needs when it comes to our children. Parent University is a great way to communicate with families on issues affecting our children as well as providing strategies they can use outside of school.
Teachers, administrators and staff should have intervention processes established within the school to enforce a zero tolerance policy in promoting safe schools. For example, identify what bullying is and the expectations as well as consequences when this behavior is exhibited. Provide seminars, anti bullying activities early in the school year or over the summer for both families and students. Seminars and activities can be offered through programs such as Parent University to increase awareness of rising problems.
If students are identified as bullies, first time offenders can be required to go to an anger management class offered in the community. As long as they are enrolled and attending the anger management class, they will be able to attend school. If students continue to show negative behavior, maybe have the student attend an alternative school temporarily (out of school suspension) in conjunction with meeting with a counselor. As stated in the Safe Schools Ambassador video by April Dominguez, Prevention Specialist, “In order to address the academic needs of a student their social and emotional well being really needs to be met first.”
Teachers, administrators, families, students, and local agencies, can build an intervention program to redirect students without pushing them out of the school systems, which in turn will only affect the drop-out rate. Some of the issues children come to school with go beyond the capabilities of what the school can “fix.” So I do not feel that schools should be responsible for solving the problem however, I do feel that using preventative measures, providing awareness, establishing expectations, making consequences known, having an established intervention program, will assist with redirecting children to the right path as well as doing their part in handling the issues.
Another social issue I feel schools should be responsible for addressing are those of families in need. There are schools that provide this type of service, but they are far and few between. When a student is exhibiting behaviors that stem from the home, teachers, school psychologists, and administrators should be knowledgeable of the resources available to those families. Inform the family of these available resources in turn, ensuring that a child’s basic needs are being met.

Decisions

Coming to a new school as a new principal, making the decision to move teachers to different grade levels and demote a facilitator to a teacher were two of many tough decisions my principal had to make.
In an attempt to close the learning gap, my principal explained how she looked at teacher’s previous experiences with other grade levels as well as a need for teachers on particular grade levels. Although many teachers weren’t happy with their new placements, she new it was something that had to be done.
My principal strategically staggered teachers throughout the grades, me being an example. I student taught kindergarten, then taught first grade and was brought to kindergarten this year. The reason for the move was because she wanted to raise the bar for the class of 2023. Considering the fact that I had experience with both grade levels I was familiar with both curriculums, which when applied correctly can show significant growth. Our school is big on vertical planning and this is one of the first steps in setting that plan in place.
A lot of teachers weren’t all to thrilled with their new placements, including myself (even more so now than at the beginning of the year), causing some teachers to leave the school entirely. Those are the tough decisions that have to be made behind the scenes. Even when people walk away you have to know within yourself that you made the right decision as the principal.
The leadership style my principal went with was a “decide and announce.” She did get together with a team of teachers who had been teaching at the school for some time and gathered their input however, when it came down to asking for volunteers first, that did not happen. One on one, each teacher was notified of whether or not they would be in the same or new grade next year.

The second big decision was demoting the previous literacy facilitator to a teacher and hiring the literacy facilitator from her previous school. But she continues to remind me and the rest of the staff that she has to do what’s best for the students. When she looks back on our AYP and see’s that we have not made progress as we should, I agree that changes need to be made. What or who can show results? Well that’s who I want on my staff. I thought of something my old commander used to say and it was, “If you keep doing things the same way, why would you expect anything to change.”
Again, the decision-making process used was “decide and announce.” The first day of school, our old literacy facilitator was introduced as a fourth grade teacher much to everyone’s surprise.

The Cuthbertson Review

What were the problems in the context of decision-making?
In an attempt to gather as many facts as I could, I gathered the main consensus was how the entire situation was handled. Parents appeared to be mainly upset at the fact that the principal did not follow proper protocols in the decision-making process. I read that the Cuthbertson High’s principal did not have the site base team visit the school before offering the wing to this program, as well as failing to notify parents in a timely manner.

Look at this from the point of view of a school official?
I attempted to gather as many facts as I could without finding sites that kept repeating the same information. Overall, I feel the program is a good idea. The county has taken preventative measures in providing every possible opportunity for young adults to graduate from high school. So as a school official I would support the program, however, the idea of placing this “school within a school” is not appealing to me. As a school official and a parent I would have expected to hit the road blocks that were to arise. I would have attempted to get a separate facility specifically for these students, or have researched the possibility of them enrolling in a continuing education program provided through their local community college.

Look at this from the point of view of a parent living in the area?
I can see looking at this from a parent’s viewpoint in two ways. One, as a parent of students attending Cuthbertson High, and another, as the parent of a student identified as needing to attend Cuthbertson Academy. I’ll begin with the latter. I would appreciate the district providing a system that would grant my child a chance to get themselves together, but I would be concerned at the strong feelings of the home school parents and community not wanting my child there. I think it would be unhealthy to have these young adults in an environment where it has been made known that their presence is not wanted.
On another note, I can imagine the frustrate I might feel when carefully choosing a home, that may even be a little out of m price range in an effort to place myself within limits that would allow my children to go to a school that will provide safety as well as a good well-rounded education for my child. Surrounding myself with parents and teachers who have the communities children’s best interest at heart, only to be told that students known for behavioral problems will attend the same school as my child.