I cannot believe that my internship is almost over! I have finished leading all of my professional development sessions, although the one-on-one sessions will last the entire year and so will the ASPEN and Moodle sessions.
I met with my principal last week before the holiday and he was really pleased with everything that I have been doing. I told him that I would be more than willing to lead any workshops or professional development on technology this year and in the years to come. He knows this, and will continue to keep me posted as there are new developments. We all know that ASPEN is still the focus for the rest of the year for the staff usage of technology.
This has definitely been a more difficult process than I expected. Not that every school year does not have its fair share of tears and stress, but this added another element to it. Keeping up this blog, the staff blog, my final portfolio, and lesson plans! I feel like I have not had too much free time on the weekends, but I am hoping that is soon to change. Even as I write this it is almost 10PM on a Friday night, and I am at home, blogging about my internship!
I have done so much work on my portfolio and all of the resources from my internship, but sometimes it does not feel like enough. I keep staring at my portfolio, and it feels like a lot, and looking back from when I started, I do feel like I have come a long way.
Overall, I am pleased with how my internship was shaped. Even though there were changes, especially with ASPEN, I have a supportive principal who was always there to lend an ear, give advice, or just be a physical presence at various sessions. I also have an extremely supportive husband who is going through the same exact thing; thankfully, we have had our ups and downs at different times so that we could support ourselves better.
Although it did not turn out how I originally planned, I don't know if internships ever have the initial anticipated outcome. Here's to a couple more weeks of editing, creating my presentation, and sharing my experience with others!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Glogster
I led a session on GlogsterEdu today for a handful of interested staff members. It was nice that there were teachers from other departments today! Winter sports are in full swing this, so it is difficult to get the attention of the social studies department (most of them are coaches)! Even one of the assistant principals came by today just to say hello, and he stayed for awhile because Glogster peaked his interest!
Glogster was interesting to attempt to facilitate because I basically had to sit down with the teachers to help them "play" with the program. I created a Glog and showed them some sample Glogs that my students had made last year and this year. Once their accounts were set up, I walked them through changing the wall background and adding text, graphics, pictures, audio, and video. The drawing and data additions are not accessible with the free account.
The teachers had a lot of fun working on test posters to try out different features. Before I knew it, 45 minutes had gone by. I was so thankful today that they were patient, willing to learn something new, and that the wireless Internet did not have any issues today! One of the teachers did not seem to have as much fun with the program by herself, but she told me later that she was really excited because she knew that her students would love it!
After using this program with my students, I know how much they enjoy doing this, and could not imagine the possibilities and growth if more teachers were using programs like this. Our students really want to utilize technology, but many of our teachers are using it occasionally in the classroom, but they are not meeting the students needs with technology. Taking the students to the computer lab for research or checking out the mobile lab for the same thing are not meeting the kids at their level. Mine have loved new challenges with using Glogster, Weebly, Museum Box, and Prezi already this year.
While it was not a challenging session today, it feels great and overwhelmed all at the same time to be finished with the sessions. Now, I just have to add a few more things to my portfolio, make some edits, and work on my virtual presentation!
Glogster was interesting to attempt to facilitate because I basically had to sit down with the teachers to help them "play" with the program. I created a Glog and showed them some sample Glogs that my students had made last year and this year. Once their accounts were set up, I walked them through changing the wall background and adding text, graphics, pictures, audio, and video. The drawing and data additions are not accessible with the free account.
The teachers had a lot of fun working on test posters to try out different features. Before I knew it, 45 minutes had gone by. I was so thankful today that they were patient, willing to learn something new, and that the wireless Internet did not have any issues today! One of the teachers did not seem to have as much fun with the program by herself, but she told me later that she was really excited because she knew that her students would love it!
After using this program with my students, I know how much they enjoy doing this, and could not imagine the possibilities and growth if more teachers were using programs like this. Our students really want to utilize technology, but many of our teachers are using it occasionally in the classroom, but they are not meeting the students needs with technology. Taking the students to the computer lab for research or checking out the mobile lab for the same thing are not meeting the kids at their level. Mine have loved new challenges with using Glogster, Weebly, Museum Box, and Prezi already this year.
While it was not a challenging session today, it feels great and overwhelmed all at the same time to be finished with the sessions. Now, I just have to add a few more things to my portfolio, make some edits, and work on my virtual presentation!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Multimedia Moodle!
Yesterday, my mini-department team met to talk about the multimedia elements in Moodle. Since so many sites are blocked about Mt. Hebron (and Howard County in general), we have had to find other ways to upload music and videos to Moodle or provide a link and have the students view the material at home. I thought that uploading various files to Moodle would be similar to other Web 2.0 applications, but like everything else on Moodle, there are a million options and settings. I have a video that I want my students to watch next week that is a depiction of the short story they are going to read, but completely done in Legos! I embedded the video and provided them with the link to the site in case the video does not work for them.
With Moodle, I feel like we are constantly creating a back-up in case the technology fails. While I know this is good practice, I cannot even begin to add up all of the time that I have spent on this program this year. I know that is has been worth it, especially for the practice that students are getting by having a hybrid class.
Today did not take too long, and it is a busy week, so we only met for about 30 minutes to go over some settings and make sure that we are not only attempting to embed resources but also provide links to them.
I think next month we are going to work on the mid-year survey that we need the students to complete in compliance with having the program approved for us to use this year. I am hopeful that we will get to use Moodle again next year, but I suppose that time will tell!
With Moodle, I feel like we are constantly creating a back-up in case the technology fails. While I know this is good practice, I cannot even begin to add up all of the time that I have spent on this program this year. I know that is has been worth it, especially for the practice that students are getting by having a hybrid class.
Today did not take too long, and it is a busy week, so we only met for about 30 minutes to go over some settings and make sure that we are not only attempting to embed resources but also provide links to them.
I think next month we are going to work on the mid-year survey that we need the students to complete in compliance with having the program approved for us to use this year. I am hopeful that we will get to use Moodle again next year, but I suppose that time will tell!
Monday, November 7, 2011
ASPEN...take 4
I led the FINAL session on ASPEN for today. It was a disastrous day at school with millions of excuses as to why students did not have their projects to turn in, so I did not have the most positive attitude going into the session. My team leader had a few things to discuss, but that did not take long because we had just met on Friday for the professional day.
This last ASPEN session was fairly easy because we only had to change one setting in the ASPEN gradebook settings, and then, walk through how to add a course recommendation for each student. We will not complete recommendations until January, but this process does allow us to mark specific classes for the students without them being able to change their schedules (on the old paper copies). Students will also no longer be able to forge signatures because there are no more paper copies! YAY! This will not change the time that recommendations will take, however. I still want to have a conference with each child about what they are considering for the following year. It typically takes me 2-3 class periods to meet with each student and talk about college and course recommendations (since I teach mostly juniors).
My department was very receptive to this change on ASPEN and they have decided that this is the easiest change thus far! Walking them through the steps did not take that long. This session was slightly difficult only because teachers cannot actually practice with this, or they will be completing the recommendations for students! I am sure that they will have more questions once they start the actual recommendation process.
I am thankful for my department that they now have everything that they need in order to be successful with ASPEN this year. I know that other departments have not had as much support, and I have made myself available to them as well. I'm sure there will be follow-up sessions all year for this one!
This last ASPEN session was fairly easy because we only had to change one setting in the ASPEN gradebook settings, and then, walk through how to add a course recommendation for each student. We will not complete recommendations until January, but this process does allow us to mark specific classes for the students without them being able to change their schedules (on the old paper copies). Students will also no longer be able to forge signatures because there are no more paper copies! YAY! This will not change the time that recommendations will take, however. I still want to have a conference with each child about what they are considering for the following year. It typically takes me 2-3 class periods to meet with each student and talk about college and course recommendations (since I teach mostly juniors).
My department was very receptive to this change on ASPEN and they have decided that this is the easiest change thus far! Walking them through the steps did not take that long. This session was slightly difficult only because teachers cannot actually practice with this, or they will be completing the recommendations for students! I am sure that they will have more questions once they start the actual recommendation process.
I am thankful for my department that they now have everything that they need in order to be successful with ASPEN this year. I know that other departments have not had as much support, and I have made myself available to them as well. I'm sure there will be follow-up sessions all year for this one!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Only one person needed some follow-up help with Weebly today, and it was simply to start linking to other pages in the Weebly, websites, and personal files. Once we practiced with linking the various items, she felt very comfortable with each type. Rote practice for her is the way to go! She had some other questions regarding the contact form that is available on Weebly and how any contacts from the kids will be sent directly to her school email address. Teachers are loving having technology to supplement our old gradebook program that was all-in-one. Eventually, ASPEN will be the all-in-one, but it's just not there yet. I like all of those features on Moodle, but I also know that my school will never get there because of the difficulty of accessing Moodle.
I'm sure there may be more Weebly questions in the coming week. One difficulty that I've had with this internship are the follow-up emails with questions and need for immediate help. People email me questions that I could not possibly answer unless I was looking at their computer screen. In some ways, I kind of feel like I know what it is like to be a computer support technician over the phone! I can only imagine how our technology specialist feels on a daily basis...and she is so calm and supportive!
I'm sure there may be more Weebly questions in the coming week. One difficulty that I've had with this internship are the follow-up emails with questions and need for immediate help. People email me questions that I could not possibly answer unless I was looking at their computer screen. In some ways, I kind of feel like I know what it is like to be a computer support technician over the phone! I can only imagine how our technology specialist feels on a daily basis...and she is so calm and supportive!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Moodle Quizzes
I keep forgetting to post about Moodle! Moodle has seriously saved my life this year! It was a ton of prep work over the summer, but it is so worth it now. In our honors program, (the four of us who are piloting this program) we are designing literary analysis where our students still complete a portion of the analysis on paper and the other portion on Moodle. These are set up as quizzes on Moodle...quizzes that grade themselves! Before this, the kids were completing 6-7 page literary analysis. Multiply that times 25-30 students and multiple classes, and grading used to take forever. Now, all of the objective questions are online!
This has seriously cut down on cheating because Moodle scrambles the questions and the answers so that students do not have the same question order. We used to watch them in the hallways before school and you could see kids trying to copy each others answers. Now, we can see when each student started and stopped the quizzes and get an immediate grade report. The students also like it because they can see which ones they got incorrect and have immediate feedback after the quiz window closes.
We met last month, not to work on our actual quizzes (we had mostly made these over the summer) but instead to set the quiz settings and the feedback possibilities. There are SO many options with Moodle that it can get overwhelming, and I did not understand all of the options. A colleague of mine had done a good bit of research over the summer, and answered many of our questions.
I cannot get enough of Moodle this year! My students are turning in projects on Monday on Moodle so that all I have to do to open their presentations is click on each one! I am excited that they will be all in one place this year!!!
This has seriously cut down on cheating because Moodle scrambles the questions and the answers so that students do not have the same question order. We used to watch them in the hallways before school and you could see kids trying to copy each others answers. Now, we can see when each student started and stopped the quizzes and get an immediate grade report. The students also like it because they can see which ones they got incorrect and have immediate feedback after the quiz window closes.
We met last month, not to work on our actual quizzes (we had mostly made these over the summer) but instead to set the quiz settings and the feedback possibilities. There are SO many options with Moodle that it can get overwhelming, and I did not understand all of the options. A colleague of mine had done a good bit of research over the summer, and answered many of our questions.
I cannot get enough of Moodle this year! My students are turning in projects on Monday on Moodle so that all I have to do to open their presentations is click on each one! I am excited that they will be all in one place this year!!!
Weebly
This afternoon I led a session on Weebly. This one actually took quite some time because of setting up the account, and then, playing around with all of the features. I planned on giving a lot of time so that teachers could actually get their websites up. The session lasted an hour and a half even with just five teachers! I am actually thankful that there were not more teachers there because they all had so many different questions and I was busy jumping from person to person to help them with their unique questions.
The overall presentation of information went well, and I felt like it was smooth. This time, I offered an incentive to come...a wireless Mac mouse. I thought in offering that, that I would get more participants, but I did find out that many teachers in the science department are already using Weebly as a class website. Others are also committed to the end of the quarter grading/report cards or are busy coaching the end of the fall sports season.
We talked about how Weebly can be a teacher website, a teacher/student presentational tool, and a way to organize information for taking students to the computer lab. The teachers that came today were mainly looking for the class website aspect of this site, but everyone was surprised how easy it was.
Tomorrow, we have a professional day without students, so I offered to provide follow-up if anyone needs help. Most of the attendees said that they were going to go home to play with their new sites some more, and would come with questions/problems tomorrow. We'll see if anyone takes me up on the offer. Everyone was so thankful and seemed really excited. I have been excited seeing others this way about technology, especially since people are not this way with ASPEN.
The one discouraging thing about today was the Internet access. Our building is supposed to have wireless everywhere, but the wireless access in my room was SO slow during the session. People were enthused by the drag and drop nature of Weebly, but the drop portion was taking forever to load. I may hold the next session in the media center if it continues.
Next Monday, I will lead the final session on ASPEN with my department. This one should be an easy one, but I am certain that there will still be numerous questions!!! Here's to almost finishing my internship!
The overall presentation of information went well, and I felt like it was smooth. This time, I offered an incentive to come...a wireless Mac mouse. I thought in offering that, that I would get more participants, but I did find out that many teachers in the science department are already using Weebly as a class website. Others are also committed to the end of the quarter grading/report cards or are busy coaching the end of the fall sports season.
We talked about how Weebly can be a teacher website, a teacher/student presentational tool, and a way to organize information for taking students to the computer lab. The teachers that came today were mainly looking for the class website aspect of this site, but everyone was surprised how easy it was.
Tomorrow, we have a professional day without students, so I offered to provide follow-up if anyone needs help. Most of the attendees said that they were going to go home to play with their new sites some more, and would come with questions/problems tomorrow. We'll see if anyone takes me up on the offer. Everyone was so thankful and seemed really excited. I have been excited seeing others this way about technology, especially since people are not this way with ASPEN.
The one discouraging thing about today was the Internet access. Our building is supposed to have wireless everywhere, but the wireless access in my room was SO slow during the session. People were enthused by the drag and drop nature of Weebly, but the drop portion was taking forever to load. I may hold the next session in the media center if it continues.
Next Monday, I will lead the final session on ASPEN with my department. This one should be an easy one, but I am certain that there will still be numerous questions!!! Here's to almost finishing my internship!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
ASPEN...take 3
ASPEN is becoming the bane of most people's existence, but I really don't mind it! Today during our department meeting, I showed the staff how to complete report cards with ASPEN. It is SO much better than last year because we are using the ASPEN gradebook. All this means, is that teachers have to simply import their gradebook grades into the report cards and post them! The same can be said for attendance. I cannot believe that we are going to be doing report cards in 3 weeks! YIKES!
The issues that we had today were not really with what to do. I think that people seem to have a pretty strong grasp on that. There was tons of complaining because of the attendance issues and how it takes 6 steps to change a student's absence from the default unexcused to excused. ASPEN will automatically update the absences for the report card, but you have to go back and change every unexcused absence to an excused one if you want it to be accurate. The parents are going to have a field day with this one! I do not mind doing this part simply because it helps me hold the students accountable with whether or not they are permitted to make up their work. My department is not so happy with all of the extra steps...I just think it becomes routine and a good habit after a while.
I'm hoping that after a full year of ASPEN that teachers will be more used to it and that everyone will stop freaking out so much. I really feel that if teachers spent as much time working on ASPEN as they do complaining about it, that all of their work would be done!!! Overall, today went well, but I am getting really sick of the complaining.
The last ASPEN session will be on course recommendations. I am very excited to do these online this year because it means that the students will not be able to forge our signatures! I do not know what it looks like yet, but hopefully, it will be fairly easy. I am going to play with this feature when we come back from vacation. After that, the teachers will have everything that they need for ASPEN for this school year. Next year could bring a new round of PD sessions if they open online submission of assignments as well as student accounts. So far, I have resolved any issues that existed between the old grade program and the new one by using Moodle with my students!
The issues that we had today were not really with what to do. I think that people seem to have a pretty strong grasp on that. There was tons of complaining because of the attendance issues and how it takes 6 steps to change a student's absence from the default unexcused to excused. ASPEN will automatically update the absences for the report card, but you have to go back and change every unexcused absence to an excused one if you want it to be accurate. The parents are going to have a field day with this one! I do not mind doing this part simply because it helps me hold the students accountable with whether or not they are permitted to make up their work. My department is not so happy with all of the extra steps...I just think it becomes routine and a good habit after a while.
I'm hoping that after a full year of ASPEN that teachers will be more used to it and that everyone will stop freaking out so much. I really feel that if teachers spent as much time working on ASPEN as they do complaining about it, that all of their work would be done!!! Overall, today went well, but I am getting really sick of the complaining.
The last ASPEN session will be on course recommendations. I am very excited to do these online this year because it means that the students will not be able to forge our signatures! I do not know what it looks like yet, but hopefully, it will be fairly easy. I am going to play with this feature when we come back from vacation. After that, the teachers will have everything that they need for ASPEN for this school year. Next year could bring a new round of PD sessions if they open online submission of assignments as well as student accounts. So far, I have resolved any issues that existed between the old grade program and the new one by using Moodle with my students!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Study Stack
This afternoon, I led a PD session on Study Stack, a web 2.0 application that creates online flashcards and games for students to practice vocabulary, events and dates, or even science/mathematical terms. I was only quasi excited about this session, even though my students use the application every week.
Since we are right in the middle of fourth quarter, I guess most people are busy because I only had a few people come. It is okay though! A few others have told me that they are using the site, but didn't have time to or didn't need to come. They know that I am still here for support though.
I walked the small little group through the account set-up (one person had already done that part), setting up the first stack options, and inputting data for the flashcards. I think people were surprised how easy it was.
The session was fairly short (only 30 minutes) compared to the 45 minutes to and hour and 15 minutes that some of the others have been. I answered everyone's questions, and people went on their way. I sent the PowerPoint presentation to everyone so that if they had questions the next time they needed help setting up a stack that they could walk through something that has screenshots and directions.
The next PD session is next week for ASPEN with my department. I am going to add one more session in December for my staff because I love Glogster so much, and I really wanted to share it with my staff since I will not be able to share it in depth with my department. The plan is still to graduate this winter...that's if I can ever get this portfolio done! I set it up over the summer, but now I am finding it difficult to have time to work on artifacts and descriptions. I know that I will have the time as it gets closer to the end, but right now, all that I can focus on is this seminar class (with my discussion leading pending) and vacation in less than 2 weeks!
Since we are right in the middle of fourth quarter, I guess most people are busy because I only had a few people come. It is okay though! A few others have told me that they are using the site, but didn't have time to or didn't need to come. They know that I am still here for support though.
I walked the small little group through the account set-up (one person had already done that part), setting up the first stack options, and inputting data for the flashcards. I think people were surprised how easy it was.
The session was fairly short (only 30 minutes) compared to the 45 minutes to and hour and 15 minutes that some of the others have been. I answered everyone's questions, and people went on their way. I sent the PowerPoint presentation to everyone so that if they had questions the next time they needed help setting up a stack that they could walk through something that has screenshots and directions.
The next PD session is next week for ASPEN with my department. I am going to add one more session in December for my staff because I love Glogster so much, and I really wanted to share it with my staff since I will not be able to share it in depth with my department. The plan is still to graduate this winter...that's if I can ever get this portfolio done! I set it up over the summer, but now I am finding it difficult to have time to work on artifacts and descriptions. I know that I will have the time as it gets closer to the end, but right now, all that I can focus on is this seminar class (with my discussion leading pending) and vacation in less than 2 weeks!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Moodle Discussion Board
The pilot team of four of us met this past week to make sure that we had everything ready for our students to log on to Moodle and to verify their accounts. The beauty of Moodle is that the students can enrol themselves if you set up an enrolment key.
Each of us set up our individual sections of classes...which took awhile to figure out! We have no guide through thismess application since we are piloting it, so it has been in baby steps. We each created an opening activity that was appropriate for the upper level of the language. We also wanted to ensure that we were not doing a similar activity so that we can use this from year to year if possible. This way, the students would be forced to immediately create their accounts and have an activity in which to engage them. So far, I have only had a few emails from the students regarding technical problems, and most of those could be fixed if the students closed their browser and reopened it or if I confirmed their accounts from my account because their confirmation email arrived in their spam!
My students are completing a debate in an online forum on whether cell phones should be permitted in schools or not. This is also in accordance with the new Race to the Top argument writing.
Here is their prompt:
Here is part of a current discussion:
So far, I am only missing 7 students (who have until tonight at midnight) who need to create their accounts and participate in the debate. It is interesting to see how many of the students have already personalized their accounts by changing fonts, colors, and uploading pictures. Students were provided with a document (on Moodle of course!) on appropriate netiquette on discussion boards.
I spent a good deal of the summer creating "quizzes" on Moodle that will be part of the literary analysis for Spanish 4 Honors. Every time they have short story or poetry analysis, they will complete half on paper and the other half on Moodle (which will grade itself! YAY!). There is a lower risk of cheating because Moodle will scramble all of the questions and the answers, and I have set it up so that students can only take each quiz once. I felt lost the first time that I had a hybrid college class where a portion was online and another was in class; I had no idea how to participate in a discussion board. I am hoping that these students will feel more confident upon entering college if they have practice with a program like Moodle.
Although this ate up the last half of my summer, I am excited to see where it will take these classes. My only fear is that the county will say that we cannot use Moodle next year or that we switch to another server and lose everything that we've been doing!!!
Each of us set up our individual sections of classes...which took awhile to figure out! We have no guide through this
My students are completing a debate in an online forum on whether cell phones should be permitted in schools or not. This is also in accordance with the new Race to the Top argument writing.
Here is their prompt:
Here is part of a current discussion:
I spent a good deal of the summer creating "quizzes" on Moodle that will be part of the literary analysis for Spanish 4 Honors. Every time they have short story or poetry analysis, they will complete half on paper and the other half on Moodle (which will grade itself! YAY!). There is a lower risk of cheating because Moodle will scramble all of the questions and the answers, and I have set it up so that students can only take each quiz once. I felt lost the first time that I had a hybrid college class where a portion was online and another was in class; I had no idea how to participate in a discussion board. I am hoping that these students will feel more confident upon entering college if they have practice with a program like Moodle.
Although this ate up the last half of my summer, I am excited to see where it will take these classes. My only fear is that the county will say that we cannot use Moodle next year or that we switch to another server and lose everything that we've been doing!!!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
ASPEN Follow-Up Sessions
I have been providing SO many one-on-one follow-up sessions for ASPEN. These have been not only for people in my department but also all over the building!!! It has been exciting because I've actually had answers for people, but it has been exhausting as well. I am not sure how people have been able to complete all of their work and their internship, but I am hanging in there.
I have been able to answer a great deal of questions about the new program and have helped people with some quick fixes that really changed how they used the program. I've also been trying to encourage people to play with the program without the instructions sheets in front of them. The instructions limit them to accomplishing a task the only way the county knows, even though there are many shortcuts that I have figured out. I've even been helping my husband!
On another note, I am leading my next staff PD on Thursday for Study Stack. I was only going to have one more for the staff as a whole, but I just used Glogster with my kids, and they have been telling other teachers about it. That being said, I think I am going to lead one more session in early December for that. Also, the following week, I will be leading the next ASPEN session for my department! I know they will not be happy that there is more to come about the program, but I'd rather be able to be there to help them than to let them try in on their own and be frustrated. So far, I think I am one of the only people in the whole county who actually likes the program!!! It could also be due to the fact that I am using Moodle with my classes and it supplements some of the things that ASPEN cannot and will not offer. Oh well! Such is life! I'm off to edit my Postman paper and finish the reading for this week!!!
I have been able to answer a great deal of questions about the new program and have helped people with some quick fixes that really changed how they used the program. I've also been trying to encourage people to play with the program without the instructions sheets in front of them. The instructions limit them to accomplishing a task the only way the county knows, even though there are many shortcuts that I have figured out. I've even been helping my husband!
On another note, I am leading my next staff PD on Thursday for Study Stack. I was only going to have one more for the staff as a whole, but I just used Glogster with my kids, and they have been telling other teachers about it. That being said, I think I am going to lead one more session in early December for that. Also, the following week, I will be leading the next ASPEN session for my department! I know they will not be happy that there is more to come about the program, but I'd rather be able to be there to help them than to let them try in on their own and be frustrated. So far, I think I am one of the only people in the whole county who actually likes the program!!! It could also be due to the fact that I am using Moodle with my classes and it supplements some of the things that ASPEN cannot and will not offer. Oh well! Such is life! I'm off to edit my Postman paper and finish the reading for this week!!!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Constant Improvement
As I have been starting projects and other activities in my classes that utilize technology, I have noticed that the students are coming in with better skills and stronger skills. This is the first year ever that students have asked me (prior to explaining a project entirely) if they need to cite the pictures that they use in their projects and checking for website credibility. I discovered that this is due, in part, to our new G/T resource teacher who came to our school last year. Prior to the students beginning their internship or their independent research project, they are required to spend most of first quarter learning how to find credible resources and the facts/issues with plagiarism and copyright. I am SO proud of this school!!!
This teacher and I are going to work together to present the basics of this to the staff at the beginning of second quarter. We are going to go around to each department so that we can more easily answer questions in smaller groups. I found this great video that teachers can use in their classrooms about website credibility. I am going to start with my team in November. Check it out...
This teacher and I are going to work together to present the basics of this to the staff at the beginning of second quarter. We are going to go around to each department so that we can more easily answer questions in smaller groups. I found this great video that teachers can use in their classrooms about website credibility. I am going to start with my team in November. Check it out...
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Dropbox
After school today, I led a professional development session on Dropbox for interested staff members. Dropbox has saved my life this past year, and I wanted to share its capabilities with everyone else. I sent an email about the session last week to let people know in advance so they could make plans. When I sent the email and coordinated plans for the media center (still no wireless in my room...bummer!), I did not remember that the night before was Back to School Night. There are only so many days that all of this can be coordinated, so I stuck with the day and time. Consequently, I only had four people show up today. My principal stopped by to check on things, and he was excited because this is what he has wanted from the beginning. Most of the people who came today came to the first session for the staff; my principal wanted a small group of staff members who were excited about technology, and who wanted to utilize it with their students.
I was really excited because two of the women work collaboratively as a team and team-teach every day, so they can share files and folders through Dropbox. Most of the people who came today have also lost documents and/or everything on their computer due to a virus or some other issue. Everyone was really excited!
Earlier in the day, I had a one-on-one session with the principal's administrative assistant, and I helped her set up her Dropbox and get all of her documents together. Now, my principal and her can share anything they need. He lost everything on his computer over the summer, and it did not go well. I'm hoping that Dropbox will help them both!
Although the session was small, it went really well, and it was nice to be able to walk around and help everyone. I had a moment of panic the other night and I was not sure if I knew how to run the program on the Mac side of the computers, so I played with that yesterday to make sure I was ready. I was glad that I did because it is a bit different from the Windows side of our laptops, and one person was using Mac! Everyone who came was very appreciative.
I am offering two more sessions to my entire staff, and I may provide some incentive for the next one. I won a wireless mouse for our laptops at a technology conference over the summer. I do not need it because I LOVE my track pad, but I think I am going to give that away to someone who attends the next session.
I know that it is ambitious to complete all of my internship before the holidays, but I know that I can do it. This also does not mean that I will stop leading PD for technology or continue to be a technology leader in the building. My principal already has other ideas for continuing this, especially with our new CMS, ASPEN.
Overall, today went really well even though it was a small group. I am excited about the collaboration going on already even with just PlanbookEDU and Dropbox. Next up...Study Stack!
I was really excited because two of the women work collaboratively as a team and team-teach every day, so they can share files and folders through Dropbox. Most of the people who came today have also lost documents and/or everything on their computer due to a virus or some other issue. Everyone was really excited!
Earlier in the day, I had a one-on-one session with the principal's administrative assistant, and I helped her set up her Dropbox and get all of her documents together. Now, my principal and her can share anything they need. He lost everything on his computer over the summer, and it did not go well. I'm hoping that Dropbox will help them both!
Although the session was small, it went really well, and it was nice to be able to walk around and help everyone. I had a moment of panic the other night and I was not sure if I knew how to run the program on the Mac side of the computers, so I played with that yesterday to make sure I was ready. I was glad that I did because it is a bit different from the Windows side of our laptops, and one person was using Mac! Everyone who came was very appreciative.
I am offering two more sessions to my entire staff, and I may provide some incentive for the next one. I won a wireless mouse for our laptops at a technology conference over the summer. I do not need it because I LOVE my track pad, but I think I am going to give that away to someone who attends the next session.
I know that it is ambitious to complete all of my internship before the holidays, but I know that I can do it. This also does not mean that I will stop leading PD for technology or continue to be a technology leader in the building. My principal already has other ideas for continuing this, especially with our new CMS, ASPEN.
Overall, today went really well even though it was a small group. I am excited about the collaboration going on already even with just PlanbookEDU and Dropbox. Next up...Study Stack!
Monday, September 12, 2011
ASPEN...take 2
I led the second session for ASPEN today with the World Language department. I felt like it went better than the first session, but working with certain people in my department can be a challenge. This part of the internship is definitely testing my patience! I realize that people are upset with this program, but this is what we have been given and we need to run with it. Until the county tells us that we are able to use something else, we are stuck with ASPEN.
This program is not user-friendly in the least bit, and that is why the staff is so frustrated. Today, I walked my department through setting up the categories for their grades and setting up all of their gradebook preferences. Yet again, there are varying ability levels within the department. They asked questions that I thought were very basic, but I tried to be patient and walk each person through getting their gradebook ready to go now that we are two weeks into the school year. What my team leader and I thought would take 25-30 minutes, took almost an hour! We had the time, so it was not a big deal, but the varying ability levels kept us from moving at a reasonable pace.
I was pleased with the session today, but a bit disheartened that we could not get as far as I had hoped. I was only able to show them how to set up one assignment instead of the multiple samples that I had planned. Hopefully, this will change the next time when we talk about interim grades and report cards in October!
I am making myself available during planning and before/after school every Monday so that department members who need help can drop by if they need to. The reference sheets with which Howard County provided us are fairly clear, and most teachers have been using those to guide them and figure out what they need to do. Some people learn better with hands-on help, however, and I understand that! Before you know it we will be moving on to interims and report cards!
I would love to show screen shots of what we have been doing, but the county has made it very clear (with a warning message at the top of the page EVERY time you log on) that this information is to be kept private. I will respect their wishes!
This program is not user-friendly in the least bit, and that is why the staff is so frustrated. Today, I walked my department through setting up the categories for their grades and setting up all of their gradebook preferences. Yet again, there are varying ability levels within the department. They asked questions that I thought were very basic, but I tried to be patient and walk each person through getting their gradebook ready to go now that we are two weeks into the school year. What my team leader and I thought would take 25-30 minutes, took almost an hour! We had the time, so it was not a big deal, but the varying ability levels kept us from moving at a reasonable pace.
I was pleased with the session today, but a bit disheartened that we could not get as far as I had hoped. I was only able to show them how to set up one assignment instead of the multiple samples that I had planned. Hopefully, this will change the next time when we talk about interim grades and report cards in October!
I am making myself available during planning and before/after school every Monday so that department members who need help can drop by if they need to. The reference sheets with which Howard County provided us are fairly clear, and most teachers have been using those to guide them and figure out what they need to do. Some people learn better with hands-on help, however, and I understand that! Before you know it we will be moving on to interims and report cards!
I would love to show screen shots of what we have been doing, but the county has made it very clear (with a warning message at the top of the page EVERY time you log on) that this information is to be kept private. I will respect their wishes!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Follow-ups: PlanbookEDU
Not too many people requested follow-up sessions for PlanbookEDU, but this week I had the opportunity to meet one-on-one with two people who wanted some extra help. It was interesting because the two one-on-one sessions were so different. S.D. just needed confirmation that everything she had done already was correct and that she was on the right track. V.M. had to have her account reset because she forgot her password, and then, had trouble sharing her homework/assignments planbook with her students because she had the book restricted instead of open.
While both sessions were brief, it was nice to "have the answers" as both women told me, and to feel like I could help them. I am trying to be patient as other teachers email me questions. I guess it's difficult to have patience when someone emails you a question and expects you to have an immediate answer when you can't see what they are seeing on their screen. I've responded to every email as soon as I get it, and I attempt to provide step by step instructions if I get the email in the evening or during a time when I cannot go to their classroom to help.
In the midst of all of this, I am just grateful that my principal has been supportive, and that he was willing to fund this application. All of the others are free, so I feel like I do not have to stress about that aspect of it.
I am getting nervous about adding a class into all of this, and I feel like I am barely treading water right now. I teach only upper level language classes (2-3 hours of grading daily!), National Honor Society eats up all of my extra time at this time of year, and I have been able to be really on top of my internship. I do not know if I am going to be able to do all of that and take an intense class. I really wish this had been a course for August so that we could focus just on that and preparing for the internship and back to school. We are also under renovation still at MTH, and are still dealing with the problems that come with new technology mixing with old technology, and the ever-changing educational initiatives.
I think I am a bit down this week! I'm looking forward to next week when I lead another training for ASPEN with my department and a session on my favorite application ever...Dropbox!
While both sessions were brief, it was nice to "have the answers" as both women told me, and to feel like I could help them. I am trying to be patient as other teachers email me questions. I guess it's difficult to have patience when someone emails you a question and expects you to have an immediate answer when you can't see what they are seeing on their screen. I've responded to every email as soon as I get it, and I attempt to provide step by step instructions if I get the email in the evening or during a time when I cannot go to their classroom to help.
In the midst of all of this, I am just grateful that my principal has been supportive, and that he was willing to fund this application. All of the others are free, so I feel like I do not have to stress about that aspect of it.
I am getting nervous about adding a class into all of this, and I feel like I am barely treading water right now. I teach only upper level language classes (2-3 hours of grading daily!), National Honor Society eats up all of my extra time at this time of year, and I have been able to be really on top of my internship. I do not know if I am going to be able to do all of that and take an intense class. I really wish this had been a course for August so that we could focus just on that and preparing for the internship and back to school. We are also under renovation still at MTH, and are still dealing with the problems that come with new technology mixing with old technology, and the ever-changing educational initiatives.
I think I am a bit down this week! I'm looking forward to next week when I lead another training for ASPEN with my department and a session on my favorite application ever...Dropbox!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Moodle!
I had originally planned to present a number of Web 2.0 applications to my World Language department including Wikis. Wikis seem to be a thing of the past now that Howard County is moving towards using ASPEN exclusively. My school is piloting use of the Moodle for High Schools. We were given four accounts for our four upper level Spanish teachers (including me!) to test out with the students. We were finally approved for these accounts about a month before school began.
In order to better help my team, I spent the last three or four weeks prior to school starting working on the Moodle. I set up both of my courses for the year. I have taken all of the literature/poetry analysis' that my students complete and put half of all of them on the Moodle so that they will grade themselves. I am excited for my students to participate in a hybrid class where they have assignments, discussions, group work, and a place to upload assignments all in one location! I have also provided numerous extra practice and resources for struggling students.
All of that being said, the four of us met today to set up the classes within our preps. I was unsure of how to create groups (classes) within each of our preps, but we figured it out as a group and how we can let the students register themselves by giving them an enrollment key. It took quite a while to figure that out and play with some of the quiz features. I think we spent about an hour and a half exploring all of this!
Take a look at part of my Moodle courses:
I cannot wait for the students to register for all of our classes and to participate in the first online discussion! I cannot wait to continue our monthly sessions on the fourth Monday of the month when we are given opportunities to engage in personal professional development.
In order to better help my team, I spent the last three or four weeks prior to school starting working on the Moodle. I set up both of my courses for the year. I have taken all of the literature/poetry analysis' that my students complete and put half of all of them on the Moodle so that they will grade themselves. I am excited for my students to participate in a hybrid class where they have assignments, discussions, group work, and a place to upload assignments all in one location! I have also provided numerous extra practice and resources for struggling students.
All of that being said, the four of us met today to set up the classes within our preps. I was unsure of how to create groups (classes) within each of our preps, but we figured it out as a group and how we can let the students register themselves by giving them an enrollment key. It took quite a while to figure that out and play with some of the quiz features. I think we spent about an hour and a half exploring all of this!
Take a look at part of my Moodle courses:
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Aspen...take 1
I led the first session with my World Language Department today. We are attempting to understand and utilize ASPEN, our new course management system, and all that it has to offer. It has been down most of the week, and we are not even sure if it will be working when school starts next week. This is our new gradebook and attendance manager, student/parent communication portal, class information connection, schedule designer, and parent/student information database.
My staff has been SO unbelievably frustrated with ASPEN, which is now being called the Parent Portal or the official gradebook. Apparently, parents will not know what we mean if we call it ASPEN! The county is not rolling out all of the options for this program, so we will only have access this year to enter grades, take attendance, check student information, email parents, and make course recommendations for the following school year.
We were supposed to hold this session in our newly renovated and relocated language office, however, the wireless Internet is not functioning in the entire building yet. We relocated our meeting to an older classroom that had the wireless installed last year.
For this session, I walked my department through how to access ASPEN at home since the link and log-on are different. I helped them add it as a bookmark to their laptops as well. Then, we set up the general ASPEN preferences again since they reset themselves each year. After setting the preferences, we discussed the student view options as well as the new attendance views. We only used this CMS last year for attendance, so many of the features are new to us. I could have created a presentation for this session and future ASPEN sessions, but I did not feel that this would be helpful because I would need to switch back and forth between ASPEN and a presentation. Instead, I connected my laptop to the LCD and walked the department through each step of today's session.
Before everyone left, I showed them the various reports that can be viewed and printed for student data, schedules, grades, and attendance. While many will forget these options, I plan to remind them about them as we go through the other sessions.
The mixed ability levels during these sessions blows me away! I am doing my best to remain calm and answer all questions, no matter how crazy they may be! After the session, I emailed my department the internship blog with resources and question answers as well as the survey for today's session. Here's to a great first week of school!
My staff has been SO unbelievably frustrated with ASPEN, which is now being called the Parent Portal or the official gradebook. Apparently, parents will not know what we mean if we call it ASPEN! The county is not rolling out all of the options for this program, so we will only have access this year to enter grades, take attendance, check student information, email parents, and make course recommendations for the following school year.
We were supposed to hold this session in our newly renovated and relocated language office, however, the wireless Internet is not functioning in the entire building yet. We relocated our meeting to an older classroom that had the wireless installed last year.
For this session, I walked my department through how to access ASPEN at home since the link and log-on are different. I helped them add it as a bookmark to their laptops as well. Then, we set up the general ASPEN preferences again since they reset themselves each year. After setting the preferences, we discussed the student view options as well as the new attendance views. We only used this CMS last year for attendance, so many of the features are new to us. I could have created a presentation for this session and future ASPEN sessions, but I did not feel that this would be helpful because I would need to switch back and forth between ASPEN and a presentation. Instead, I connected my laptop to the LCD and walked the department through each step of today's session.
Before everyone left, I showed them the various reports that can be viewed and printed for student data, schedules, grades, and attendance. While many will forget these options, I plan to remind them about them as we go through the other sessions.
The mixed ability levels during these sessions blows me away! I am doing my best to remain calm and answer all questions, no matter how crazy they may be! After the session, I emailed my department the internship blog with resources and question answers as well as the survey for today's session. Here's to a great first week of school!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
First Session!
I am so tired! It was the third day back for teachers today, and we had meetings ALL morning. Then, after a quick lunch, I presented my first professional development session on PlanbookEdu. I wanted to open all of my sessions to all staff members, but this Web 2.0 application is not free. My principal was willing to pay for up to twenty participants. I had 10 participants today, and they were all so excited about the presentation.
It was interesting (and a bit frustrating!) that many chose to explore the program on their own while I was presenting, and they did not follow along with me. Then, they had questions later because they had not been paying attention. There were some good questions at the end, and some things that I just sent the company an email about. A man from the company (Matt) replied within the hour and answered all of my questions. Now, I just have to submit the names and email addresses to my principal, and the man from the company will set up all of the accounts.
There were varying ability levels within the group, and that made it difficult to manage all of the people in the group. For example, some teachers were off and running setting up the application preferences, while others were having trouble just creating an account. I can now see the benefits of having multiple teachers lead one session. I need to consider how I will handle that for the next staff presentation. Only one person requires some follow-up, and I will easily be able to help her because I work with her one-on-one as my National Honor Society co-sponsor.
Although I was nervous, I thought that today went really well! Quite a few people have already taken the follow-up survey too! Now, I will spend my evening preparing for leading the first session with my department tomorrow with ASPEN training. It is technically the second session, since I began before school ended last year, but I am not going to include that in my internship. Here's to finishing the week strong!
It was interesting (and a bit frustrating!) that many chose to explore the program on their own while I was presenting, and they did not follow along with me. Then, they had questions later because they had not been paying attention. There were some good questions at the end, and some things that I just sent the company an email about. A man from the company (Matt) replied within the hour and answered all of my questions. Now, I just have to submit the names and email addresses to my principal, and the man from the company will set up all of the accounts.
There were varying ability levels within the group, and that made it difficult to manage all of the people in the group. For example, some teachers were off and running setting up the application preferences, while others were having trouble just creating an account. I can now see the benefits of having multiple teachers lead one session. I need to consider how I will handle that for the next staff presentation. Only one person requires some follow-up, and I will easily be able to help her because I work with her one-on-one as my National Honor Society co-sponsor.
Although I was nervous, I thought that today went really well! Quite a few people have already taken the follow-up survey too! Now, I will spend my evening preparing for leading the first session with my department tomorrow with ASPEN training. It is technically the second session, since I began before school ended last year, but I am not going to include that in my internship. Here's to finishing the week strong!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Prepping
Now that I am finished with my pre-internship portfolio, I have been working a lot on making preparations for my professional development sessions. I have created some PowerPoints for three or four of the sessions, sign-in sheets, agendas, and some other odds & ends that I will need when I lead a session.
The more I talk to my department this summer, the more I realize that our need is ASPEN and not Web 2.0 applications. While I am still going to lead on those for a small group of non-department staffers, I think that I may have to change what I am doing with my department. The good news is that I do not have to reinvent the wheel. There are already resources created by the county for these. While there are no formal presentations, there are hand-outs and online tutorial videos. It will be easier to teach on ASPEN by showing what I am doing on my computer while it also appears on the LCD.
The first week back for staff, I will be leading two sessions. The first session will be on PlanbookEdu for my staff and the second will be on setting up the ASPEN gradebook for my language department. I am excited about helping my staff with technology but a bit nervous about presenting in front of my colleagues. I do so much better in public when I'm with my students!
The more I talk to my department this summer, the more I realize that our need is ASPEN and not Web 2.0 applications. While I am still going to lead on those for a small group of non-department staffers, I think that I may have to change what I am doing with my department. The good news is that I do not have to reinvent the wheel. There are already resources created by the county for these. While there are no formal presentations, there are hand-outs and online tutorial videos. It will be easier to teach on ASPEN by showing what I am doing on my computer while it also appears on the LCD.
The first week back for staff, I will be leading two sessions. The first session will be on PlanbookEdu for my staff and the second will be on setting up the ASPEN gradebook for my language department. I am excited about helping my staff with technology but a bit nervous about presenting in front of my colleagues. I do so much better in public when I'm with my students!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Finished!
I finished my portfolio tonight! Tomorrow, I am going to sit down and seriously edit it, also making sure that all of my links work!
I want to spend the next three weeks (before we go back to work) creating as much as I can for my internship. I still have a few things to talk to my principal about, but everything looks really positive so far. On another note, I really cannot wait to get into my new classroom so that I can set everything up!
I will be honest that I am dreading the last class of the program but only because I do not need to graduate this program in order to get a pay increase. Selfishly and pridefully, I want that extra piece of paper on the wall in my office! The books that we are going to read look fairly interesting though.
Here's to three more productive weeks! Stay tuned for internship updates!
I want to spend the next three weeks (before we go back to work) creating as much as I can for my internship. I still have a few things to talk to my principal about, but everything looks really positive so far. On another note, I really cannot wait to get into my new classroom so that I can set everything up!
I will be honest that I am dreading the last class of the program but only because I do not need to graduate this program in order to get a pay increase. Selfishly and pridefully, I want that extra piece of paper on the wall in my office! The books that we are going to read look fairly interesting though.
Here's to three more productive weeks! Stay tuned for internship updates!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Going Slowly
I feel like I am slowing down recently. Taking a class mid-summer has caused my work to go on a bit of a hiatus because the class is an intensive two-week course. I am working on the third section of my pre-internship portfolio, but it is slow going.
I still have not heard back from my supervisor about my internship proposal. I'm hoping that everything is okay, but I am afraid to ask. I emailed my principal about presenting on the online planbook the first week of teacher training, and I am sure he will be elated about it. Since we are not using a gradebook program that he will have to pay for, he will most likely be willing to pay for the planbook for those who wish to use it.
I am excited to finish this class so that I have a month to focus on finishing the portfolio, developing various resources for the internship, and reflecting prior to a new school year. I know that the year will be extremely busy, so I am looking forward to a month off to prepare myself. Here's to finishing the portfolio in the next two weeks!
I still have not heard back from my supervisor about my internship proposal. I'm hoping that everything is okay, but I am afraid to ask. I emailed my principal about presenting on the online planbook the first week of teacher training, and I am sure he will be elated about it. Since we are not using a gradebook program that he will have to pay for, he will most likely be willing to pay for the planbook for those who wish to use it.
I am excited to finish this class so that I have a month to focus on finishing the portfolio, developing various resources for the internship, and reflecting prior to a new school year. I know that the year will be extremely busy, so I am looking forward to a month off to prepare myself. Here's to finishing the portfolio in the next two weeks!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
ASPEN
On Monday I began part of my internship. My internship is going to be added to/changed a bit because of the new county course management system that is being rolled out next year. I went to a training two weeks ago for ASPEN, and I will be leading some professional development for my department next year. I may also be leading and/or helping with some training for the school as well.
During my planning periods and before/after school, I sat down with each of my department members one on one in order to demonstrate how to set up their gradebooks online and all of their personal settings. We cannot set up the gradebook with classes and assignments until the following school year because all categories, classes, and assignments either have to be imported from year to year or set up again. Most of the teachers in my department did not have too many issues, but as many comments and questions as there were from positive outlooks, there were just as many negatives. Some teachers are set in their ways and not ready for change.
Next year will bring even more comments and questions, but I know that I will be available for comments and extra help. My department knows that they can count on me, and that's what is important. I look forward to learning more about this new SMS and what it has to offer.
During my planning periods and before/after school, I sat down with each of my department members one on one in order to demonstrate how to set up their gradebooks online and all of their personal settings. We cannot set up the gradebook with classes and assignments until the following school year because all categories, classes, and assignments either have to be imported from year to year or set up again. Most of the teachers in my department did not have too many issues, but as many comments and questions as there were from positive outlooks, there were just as many negatives. Some teachers are set in their ways and not ready for change.
Next year will bring even more comments and questions, but I know that I will be available for comments and extra help. My department knows that they can count on me, and that's what is important. I look forward to learning more about this new SMS and what it has to offer.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Interest Survey
I sent out an interest survey to my staff today about my internship Web 2.0 professional development. I got a lot of great feedback!; I even received some personal emails about people who are really excited about the ideas. I know that it is simply interest, and I wanted to make it clear that people did not have to commit to participate now, but it was still more positive feedback than I expected.
Some people are also interested in getting help with our new course management system, which my principal also wants me to help with. I am excited to get the ball rolling and to start some planning over the summer; I am also very ready to finish my pre-internship portfolio and to move on to the professional development piece.
I really wish that we had done the pre-internship portfolio in pieces along the way. It is just too much work to do while we are taking a bunch of classes, teaching, and trying to design professional development for the fall. Just a thought!
Some people are also interested in getting help with our new course management system, which my principal also wants me to help with. I am excited to get the ball rolling and to start some planning over the summer; I am also very ready to finish my pre-internship portfolio and to move on to the professional development piece.
I really wish that we had done the pre-internship portfolio in pieces along the way. It is just too much work to do while we are taking a bunch of classes, teaching, and trying to design professional development for the fall. Just a thought!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Changes Are Coming!
I have received approval from my principal at Mt. Hebron for my internship, and the paperwork is in the mail to Loyola! I am nervous for two reasons: first, I am not sure if David will approve my internship even though my principal was really excited about it, and second, everything could change now that Howard County is moving forward with the new ASPEN program.
ASPEN will eventually be a full-fledged course management system. Next year, it will be more than our attendance and report card program; now it will be our online gradebook, parent communication tool, student/parent information system, report generator, and transcript access. Towards the end of the year it will be a schedule designer and hopefully, student communication tool.
I attended a training session yesterday, and it was extremely beneficial. I am concerned for all of the schools because a representative will be coming out to each school for this training session in hopes that the people who attended the session will be the leaders in their school for training the staff as a whole. When school begins again in the fall, the county will not be sending out any more representatives for training. I am torn between the plan that I had for my internship and being the leader that my school will most likely need for ASPEN. I am already leading a training session next week for my department, and three or four more in the fall. It was suggested that I also be in charge of a small group of new teachers, teachers who are currently on maternity leave, and transfers from other counties who will also need this new training as well as everything we've been using this year.
My internship could change drastically in the next few weeks, and I am not sure what to do. I know that my principal will support me no matter what, but I may have to decide between what may be best for my school and what I want to do. Stay tuned for more details...for now, it's time to finish up some posts on my pre-internship portfolio! Eight more days of school!
ASPEN will eventually be a full-fledged course management system. Next year, it will be more than our attendance and report card program; now it will be our online gradebook, parent communication tool, student/parent information system, report generator, and transcript access. Towards the end of the year it will be a schedule designer and hopefully, student communication tool.
I attended a training session yesterday, and it was extremely beneficial. I am concerned for all of the schools because a representative will be coming out to each school for this training session in hopes that the people who attended the session will be the leaders in their school for training the staff as a whole. When school begins again in the fall, the county will not be sending out any more representatives for training. I am torn between the plan that I had for my internship and being the leader that my school will most likely need for ASPEN. I am already leading a training session next week for my department, and three or four more in the fall. It was suggested that I also be in charge of a small group of new teachers, teachers who are currently on maternity leave, and transfers from other counties who will also need this new training as well as everything we've been using this year.
My internship could change drastically in the next few weeks, and I am not sure what to do. I know that my principal will support me no matter what, but I may have to decide between what may be best for my school and what I want to do. Stay tuned for more details...for now, it's time to finish up some posts on my pre-internship portfolio! Eight more days of school!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Internship Proposal
I just finished my internship proposal, and I am going to give it to my principal on Monday. We have heard so many rumors lately about Race to the Top and the new county-wide gradebook and course management system that I am hoping that I can still obtain the goals that my principal and I would like to achieve. In the meantime, I am going to create the interest survey for my staff for the end of this school year, as well as continue to work on my pre-internship proposal. I am also going to take some time to finish up this first summer class and enjoy a bit of a break for myself as well.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
First Internship Meeting
I met with David on Thursday before class to discuss my internship. I was really nervous because I did not want all of my planning and ideas to go to waste. As usual, I have planned too much and I think my ideas are just a bit too large if I am going to provide professional development and follow-up on the PD as well. The meeting was actually really helpful, and I am going to spend some time this weekend finishing up my internship proposal so that I can have both my principal and David sign off on it before the end of the school year.
I really want to get an interest survey out to the entire staff prior to leaving for the summer, but I do not know if that will still be possible or not. There is a TON to do before the end of the school year, and our department is packing up to move AGAIN this summer (yuck)!
The pre-internship portfolio is coming along, but I have felt myself get farther behind in my own deadlines now that we are in another class. I really like the new class, however, and I am excited that we are actually going to learn something new and useful. Here's to the last 17 days of school!
I really want to get an interest survey out to the entire staff prior to leaving for the summer, but I do not know if that will still be possible or not. There is a TON to do before the end of the school year, and our department is packing up to move AGAIN this summer (yuck)!
The pre-internship portfolio is coming along, but I have felt myself get farther behind in my own deadlines now that we are in another class. I really like the new class, however, and I am excited that we are actually going to learn something new and useful. Here's to the last 17 days of school!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Proposal Draft #1
I wrote the first draft of my proposal this weekend. I am a bit nervous because I feel like maybe I should wait until after my meeting with David (my supervisor) in order to write it, but I wanted to be prepared to talk about my ideas for my internship. My principal is really on board with what I would like to do, so I am hoping that David likes it as well. Here's hoping for a positive meeting on Thursday!
It took me awhile to write the proposal, but I wanted to map it out on paper the best that I could so that I will (hopefully) only have some minor changes to make. I want to jump on board with this internship and get the staff involved; I would like to send out an interest survey prior to the end of the school year so that I can spend my summer preparing for the fall/winter.
On another note, I have been working on my pre-internship portfolio a bit. I have set up the website, collected most of my artifacts, and began writing my reflections. If you would like to see how it's going, click here. Twenty-one more days of the school year!
It took me awhile to write the proposal, but I wanted to map it out on paper the best that I could so that I will (hopefully) only have some minor changes to make. I want to jump on board with this internship and get the staff involved; I would like to send out an interest survey prior to the end of the school year so that I can spend my summer preparing for the fall/winter.
On another note, I have been working on my pre-internship portfolio a bit. I have set up the website, collected most of my artifacts, and began writing my reflections. If you would like to see how it's going, click here. Twenty-one more days of the school year!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
1st Meeting
I met with my principal regarding my internship. I know how supportive he is, but I wanted to ensure that he would permit me to complete my internship at the school. That was not even an issue! The meeting was definitely more informal than I had thought it would be!
I had originally thought that I would like to complete a professional development series on Web 2.0 activities to increase fluency in language students. My principal would like me to offer a PD series to the entire staff. He realizes the great divide of those who are technologically savvy and those who have no idea what to do with their computer other than check their email! I will have to modify my original ideas, but I realize that this is probably the first of many modifications to come in the future! I still would like to present at some of the world language PD days, but I think that I should offer the skills that I have to our entire staff. You never know who might become more comfortable with technology in the future or who will become a technology leader within their department after receiving some help.
I am excited after my meeting, and I am going to start typing up some more ideas and a possible timeline to become part of my proposal. From here, I need to finalize some ideas with the head of my program and get started on my pre-internship portfolio!
I had originally thought that I would like to complete a professional development series on Web 2.0 activities to increase fluency in language students. My principal would like me to offer a PD series to the entire staff. He realizes the great divide of those who are technologically savvy and those who have no idea what to do with their computer other than check their email! I will have to modify my original ideas, but I realize that this is probably the first of many modifications to come in the future! I still would like to present at some of the world language PD days, but I think that I should offer the skills that I have to our entire staff. You never know who might become more comfortable with technology in the future or who will become a technology leader within their department after receiving some help.
I am excited after my meeting, and I am going to start typing up some more ideas and a possible timeline to become part of my proposal. From here, I need to finalize some ideas with the head of my program and get started on my pre-internship portfolio!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Welcome!
My name is Leslie Ammann, and I am getting ready to begin the internship portion of my degree for Educational Technology at Loyola University. In this blog, I hope to document the internship process, my thoughts and reactions, and the outcomes of the internship. Please join me on this journey through technology and staff development. Stay tuned!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)