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.

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!

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!

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.