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Teachers, Technology, and Training

Refresh Plan 2018-19

If you were to interview a group of teachers within our District, on any given campus, regarding technology usage and integration, you would discover a wide disparity among the comfort, fluency, and integration levels from classroom-to-classroom. A few might tell you they have trouble sending emails. Others might say they know their way around a computer but fear the uncertainty of trying to direct twenty-five small pairs of hands through a new technology application. And finally, you have a small handful of experts who are on a lonely, paperless island, and their practices are unnoticed, unrewarded, and at times, challenged by those who are married to the-old-dusty-textbook-and-worksheet instructional methods. How can so many educators within an organization be facilitating teaching and learning so differently? How can we help to get everyone on the same page? What do we need to do moving forward to ensure the equality of digital learning among all the students we serve? I believe the answer may be found in the plan I have created below.

Our current technology training is generic, lacks content specificity, provides little differentiation, is mostly a sit-and-get model, and implementation support is not evident on our campuses. The plan I am proposing is based on a "Go and Show" model and will provide content and grade-level specific training for all teachers in our District. In addition to providing training that is tailored to each teaching situation, the District will provide ongoing classroom support to those teachers who are trying to integrate technologies in their lessons. This may sound like a wild and crazy goal, but through the research I have completed over the last few weeks, I realized that other Districts are doing it. If they can do it, we can do it, too! After all we are THE Boerne ISD!! Before you continue reading, I would love for you to view the videos below to get a feel for the inspiration that fueled the creation of this amazing professional learning opportunity for BISD.

                 Empowering the Teacher Technophobe                                                Innovation That Sticks Case Study 

 

While compiling the information for my plan over the last few weeks, I completed readings, crafted a proposal, created a three-column table using Fink's model (2013), drafted an implementation outline, and finally prepared a slide deck to help train our TI Specialists . Now that my research is complete, I am ready to elaborate on the details of the way I want my plan to take shape. Keep in mind this strategy is a broad one that can be used for all content areas, age of students, and with any technology application. The overall goal of my implementation plan is to immerse Boerne ISD in technology learning using Gulamhussein's 5 Principles of Effective Professional Development (2013):

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  1. The duration of professional learning must be significant and ongoing to allow time for teachers to learn a new strategy and grapple with the implementation problem. Ongoing support.

  2. There must be support for a teacher during the implementation stage that addresses the specific challenges of changing classroom practice.

  3. Teachers’ initial exposure to a concept should not be passive, but rather should engage teachers through varied approaches so they can participate actively in making sense of a new practice.

  4. Modelling has been found to be highly effective in helping teachers understand a new practice.

  5. The content presented to teachers shouldn’t be generic, but instead specific to the discipline (for middle school and high school teachers) or grade-level (for elementary school teachers).

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Please continue reading to glean information regarding the exciting changes I am proposing. 

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The visual I created below provides a brief overview of how the plan will be facilitated:

Step #1: January- June 2018 Enhance Staffing Levels

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  • ​In order to provide ongoing support to our teachers as they push to provide an innovative learning environment, we will need to hire a dedicated, Technology Integration Specialist at each of our campuses. This will require the creation of six new positions. 

  • Budgetary planning for these new positions should begin in January as we are preparing for the upcoming school year.

  • The new positions should be posted in early March to ensure that we will attract and hire quality individuals before the contract renewal process begins. Positions should be filled no later than June 1st. 

  • New and existing TI Specialists will attend summer PD over"Go and Show" staff development to gain an understanding of what the new expectations of professional learning will be. 

  • Upon the completion of training, each TI Specialist will identify an initial content area or grade-level team to introduce the "Go and Show" method to. Those groups will have scheduled time included in our August staff development calendar.

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Step #2: August 2018-Train the Initial Teacher Group

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  • TI Specialists will design a "Show and Go" presentation that is specific to the identified initial group. 

  • TI Specialists will identify a group of mentor teachers within the group to help with the training session. For example, mentors may include department chairs, master teachers, or those who are particularly tech savvy.

  • TI Specialists will meet with the mentor group to design a series of lessons. 

  • During staff development week, each TI Specialist will train their initial target group on the "Go and Show" PL procedures. 

  • "Go and Show" training will be conducted in the form of small group rotations lasting 15-20 minutes with new topics at each checkpoint. 

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Step #3: Ongoing-TI Roles and Responsibilities

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  • TI Specialists will be required to attend PLC meetings each week and sign in as a participant to gain an understanding of what TEKS/strategies are being targeted within the given department. 

  • During the meeting, specialists will schedule time with each teachers on the team. This is required. 

  • On the day of each scheduled meeting, the specialist is required to be in the classroom at all times to support the teacher. 

  • The specialist will take a lunch break during the same time as the classroom teacher.  

  • The specialist may take a conference period at the same time as the teacher they are working with.

  • The specialist will stay on campus through the end of the instructional day. 

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Step #4: Ongoing-Classroom Procedures

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  • TI Specialists will report to scheduled classrooms in a timely manner. 

  • In the event that a TI Specialist is unable to make the scheduled meeting, he/she must notify the classroom teacher ahead of time. 

  • TI Specialists will model the lesson with first group of students to show the teacher how to facilitate the instruction. 

  • As the next group of kids comes in, the regular teacher will take over the instruction of the students while the TI Specialists closely monitors. 

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Step #5: Ongoing-Procedures

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  • Post conferences between TI specialist and teacher will be held after the lesson  and results will be documented.

  • Exemplar lessons will be identified and added to a shared knowledge base on the Core.

  • Mentor teachers will be identified and receive a small stipend to assistant with technology support within their department. 

  • Select students will be trained to help fellow students within their classes. 

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References

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Atchison, J. (2017, October 5). Show & go pl [New vs. old professional learning].

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CdnEducAssn. (2016, May 19). Innovation that sticks case study - OCSB: Collaborative professional development. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUusuw-xdr4&feature=youtu.be

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Daniels, K. (2013, November 06). Empowering the teacher technophobe: Kristin Daniels at TEDxBurnsvilleED. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/puiNcIFJTCU

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Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. John Wiley & Sons.

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Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Staffingstudents/Teaching-the-Teachers-Effective-Professional-Development-in-an-Era-of-High-Stakes-Accountability/Teaching-the-Teachers-Full-Report.pdf

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