Goal: Discover how to implement Student led conferences into the middle school setting to transfer responsibility of parent conferences to student and give the teacher a facilitator role rather than a director role. Encourage ownership of learning and discussion in students and increase buy-in rates for teachers and parents.
Timeline:
Start/End
Needed
Resources
Evaluation
1. Research information regarding Student Led Conferences.
Angela Bilyeu
July 2010 – August 30, 2010
Internet, articles, testimonials
Create an oral presentation introducing the concept to the staff.
2. Research implementation models of Student Led Conferences as well as buy-in techniques to encourage participation.
Angela Bilyeu
August 1, 2010 – August 30, 2010
Internet, research articles, testimonials
Create an oral presentation introducing the concept to the staff and get feedback from the staff on their first impression.
3. Meet with the department heads to outline their department’s responsibility for input on creating the prompt sheets for students.
Angela Bilyeu, departments heads and principals
Sept 1 – Sept. 10, 2010
Sample prompt sheets
Completion of prompt sheets from departments and grade levels if they vary.
4. Send out communications to encourage the students to collect their work to show at the conference. 2 good pieces, 1 needs improvement piece.
Angela Bilyeu, staff, and students.
August 30, 2010 – October 1, 2010
Folders to create students portfolios and a place to store them until we need them.
Student portfolios with prompt reflection sheets and student work samples.
5. Send out communication from school to parents to set up schedules for Parent Student Led Conferences.
Team leaders, parent contact person.
September 15, 2010 – October 1, 2010
Contact information, running spreadsheet on share drive to record scheduled conferences.
A full schedule spreadsheet with parents and students planning on attending.
6. Send out reminder communications in form of email for parent conferences.
Team leaders, parent contact person, and/or team can split this responsibilities.
September 30, 2010
Email contacts for attendees.
Check off on schedule spreadsheet that reminder has been sent.
7. Meet with parents.
Students, Parents, Teachers
October 4, 2010
Room where multiple conferences can be held at once, student portfolios.
Field notes on how conferences are going and observation notes.
8. Survey for parents to give opinion on how the session went and what they can suggest for improvements.
Parents, technology facilitator
October 4, 2010
Computer lab
Data analysis of feedback from parents.
9. Survey to teachers to get their opinions.
Angela Bilyeu, teachers
October 5, 2010 – October 12, 2010
SurveyMonkey, computers
Data analysis of surveys.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Action Research - Week 2
During this week of Action research I learned that it is just a way for us to be life long learners. Which is really what we signed up for when we decided to go into the field of education. It is a way for adminstrators to assist and better our schools, teachers, and community in order to always be willing to improve our students. Our main goal should always be student success, we should never try to recreate the wheel and we should always analyze our sources so that we see where the information is coming from and from what viewpoint. Research is our best tool when looking for solutions to our problems. We need to embrace it instead of shying away from reading articles or typing up google searches. There is great information out there you just need to know how to utilize it to maximize your optimal solution for your school.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
How can we use blogs as an adminstrator?
Blogs are wonderful tools that can maximize the learning of out school environment. We can meet without meeting. We can discuss important topics without having to set aside valuable time to meet in person, face to face. Blogs can be used to discuss book studies and also important issues that need to have a variety of opinions considered. Action items that need to be addressed in leadership team meetings can have opinions voiced without having to involve the entire school in a face to faced meeting.
Action Research, How we Can use it
Throughout reading the definition and examples of action research, I truly believe that this is the method to use. Traditional research has you following researchers that do not know what exactly is going on at your school. Their research is a general understanding of created situations. If you as an administrator will work through your own school, and inquire about the “wonders” that you need to address in the end your productivity will be greater and more beneficial. By using the action research we can personalize our work for our schools. We can create our own inquiries and then collect data that is pertinent to our schools. We can get results and answers that are specific to our situations and not gross generalizations. Every school is different and therefore needs to approach problem situations in a personalized matter. This method also helps with the process of reflection, you cannot learn anything until you make a mistake and then you must learn from that mistake, by looking back and reflecting on the actions that are being taken and think how can it be made better next time. By personalizing our research and utilizing reflections our solutions will be more beneficial and will have more buy-in which will in turn help the success of the program solution.
Friday, December 18, 2009
EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership Final Thoughts
As I began this course, I felt as though I was competent in technology and that I used technology quite well in my classroom. As I read the syllabus for this class I realized that I was not as tech-savvy as I had originally thought. I was envisioning this class to be a tool to discover new technology and to learn how to use it. My first mistake was thinking we would be working with Microsoft programs, some new gadgets, and maybe a some web researching tools. I can definitely say that not only was I introduced to technology in a whole new light, I also learned many new technology opportunities that I can immediately use in my classroom. I learned so much about the technology rules and regulations as well as a plethora of websites that can supply information for us to keep our students safe. During these past five weeks I have revised my thinking of technology in the classroom. The articles that we read brought to my attention that we allow the students to come to school and “tech down” when we could be utilizing those technology skills to engage the students more.
Everything that I learned in this course is relevant to the work that I do in my classroom. Just this week I checked out the mobile computer lab and brought it into class where the students used it to take a test. I realize that this is just basic technology use, but it was a great start. Classroom discipline was non-existent, students were engaged and working without distractions. I also plan on working with the Campus Improvement Team to create a sub-committee for technology so that we can create a parent information training on Web 2.0 and how to keep the students safe at home. I want to get out the information on the websites for control and how to ensure the student’s safety when online. I also want parents to be well informed on how to use the online textbooks that we register the students for. So many times, parents call and ask for help with the skills we are working on in the 8th grade math class, and I remind them that they have an Internet teacher with the online access for the text. I think that if we had this informaitional meeting set up we could show the parents examples of how to use these texts to their advantage and better aide their students with their homework.
With so little knowledge of what technology is out there, I really did not feel that there was an outcome that I did not achieve. I was learning continuously, whether it be how to blog, use a wiki or even learn the copyright laws for administrators. I was constantly learning and discovering new information, I felt that I got so much out of this course. Maybe the one thing that I could focus on for the did not achieve is actually using some more of the technology. We created our blog, but we did not create a wiki, or visit the websites that parents can use. Later when I am preparing for my parent information meeting I will go to these websites and do a brief synopsis of each. This will help me achieve what I did not find out in this course. The course was jam packed with technology items and ways to use them as well as helpful strategies, because of this there was not time to dig deeper into certain areas. We were only able to skim each objective. This is something that I can do on my own when preparing to be an administrator.
This course has been extremely successful for me. I have learned so much about technology and how to effectively integrate engaging activities into the everyday classroom. I have a completely new outlook on technology, that it is not the enemy or a competitor it should be used as an enhancement tool in our classrooms. After discussing much of my coursework with current students they are extremely interested in what can become of the technology integration in the math classroom. The knowledge that I have gained from reading the various articles has added to my new outlook and also enlightened me to technology that can be integrated, and how to keep my students safe. The only discouraging part of the course has been the amount of new information that I have acquired throughout this process. There are so many ideas that were new to me, that I have had to take a step back and really catergorize and rank what I want to concentrate on first.
I have learned that I do not use technology to its fullest potential. I have only skimmed the top of how it can be used and for what it can be used for. I have learned that I can engage not only my students through the use of technology, but also can implement technology in order to increase communication with my teaching department. As the instructional coach, I am responsible for disseminating informaiotn to the math department staff and getting feedback on important issues that exist in our school. I can utilize the technology to easily inform my staff of items and also get immediate feedback from them about important issues we have been charged to discuss. I create a newsletter each six weeks for the department to introduce new resources and manipulatives as well as disseminate information from the leadership team meetings. My intent after this course if to create a wiki to get feedback and allow the staff to edit and suggest new ideas that will enhance the learning and success of our students.
Blog are a fantastic method of discussing topics that we would normally set up a meeting for with teachers. It is always difficult to get teachers together since we are all so busy. With a blog I will be able to post the information without a meeting and it will allow for comments and concerns that the teachers forsee will come up. For students blogs can be used to enhance communication and participation on topics discussed in the classroom. Students can blog in order to participate in class discussions, when presented with the blog they can have more time to reflect and really come up with thought provoking conversation. I was impressed when I read the article on an Language Arts classroom using a blog to discuss a literature piece. The teacher was able to employ not only the students but also the parents to get involved in the book discussion. I also thought it was incredible that the author of the piece was able to answer the students’ questions about the book. I think this really engaged the students and allowed them to see how far the Internet really can get them and that we live in a global society versus just seeing a classroom of thirty students.
As we read the articles we found that as engaging as the Internet is, there are still concerns present for our students’ safety. Before starting a blog, the teacher needs to make the students aware of the safety features that need to be in place when posting on the global Internet. Students must understand that they are not protected on the Internet, they need to take measures to protect themselves and to utilize that Internet to their advantage. We also need to make sure that the students understand the rules and reguations of posting, what is appropriate and what will and will not be accepted. By doing this we are better preparing our students for the global workforce that they will soon enter. We are preparing them to be productive, law-upholding citizens of today’s society.
Blogging is an excellent tool to communicate with stakeholders. We can use it to keep them informed of what is occurring in our schools and classrooms. Students can use these blogs to keep up with their assignments and parents can use them to also know what is expected of the students. Parents in the community cannot help and support teachers without knowledge of what is happening. A blog can be the tool to prepare the parents for what the students will come home with, conversation starters over dinner, expectations and due dates can also be listed on the blog. Community members can see the blog and share their “real world” experiences of how they use the skills we are teaching in class. This will help the students answer the age-old questions, “Why are we doing this?” and “When will ever need this in real life?”.
Everything that I learned in this course is relevant to the work that I do in my classroom. Just this week I checked out the mobile computer lab and brought it into class where the students used it to take a test. I realize that this is just basic technology use, but it was a great start. Classroom discipline was non-existent, students were engaged and working without distractions. I also plan on working with the Campus Improvement Team to create a sub-committee for technology so that we can create a parent information training on Web 2.0 and how to keep the students safe at home. I want to get out the information on the websites for control and how to ensure the student’s safety when online. I also want parents to be well informed on how to use the online textbooks that we register the students for. So many times, parents call and ask for help with the skills we are working on in the 8th grade math class, and I remind them that they have an Internet teacher with the online access for the text. I think that if we had this informaitional meeting set up we could show the parents examples of how to use these texts to their advantage and better aide their students with their homework.
With so little knowledge of what technology is out there, I really did not feel that there was an outcome that I did not achieve. I was learning continuously, whether it be how to blog, use a wiki or even learn the copyright laws for administrators. I was constantly learning and discovering new information, I felt that I got so much out of this course. Maybe the one thing that I could focus on for the did not achieve is actually using some more of the technology. We created our blog, but we did not create a wiki, or visit the websites that parents can use. Later when I am preparing for my parent information meeting I will go to these websites and do a brief synopsis of each. This will help me achieve what I did not find out in this course. The course was jam packed with technology items and ways to use them as well as helpful strategies, because of this there was not time to dig deeper into certain areas. We were only able to skim each objective. This is something that I can do on my own when preparing to be an administrator.
This course has been extremely successful for me. I have learned so much about technology and how to effectively integrate engaging activities into the everyday classroom. I have a completely new outlook on technology, that it is not the enemy or a competitor it should be used as an enhancement tool in our classrooms. After discussing much of my coursework with current students they are extremely interested in what can become of the technology integration in the math classroom. The knowledge that I have gained from reading the various articles has added to my new outlook and also enlightened me to technology that can be integrated, and how to keep my students safe. The only discouraging part of the course has been the amount of new information that I have acquired throughout this process. There are so many ideas that were new to me, that I have had to take a step back and really catergorize and rank what I want to concentrate on first.
I have learned that I do not use technology to its fullest potential. I have only skimmed the top of how it can be used and for what it can be used for. I have learned that I can engage not only my students through the use of technology, but also can implement technology in order to increase communication with my teaching department. As the instructional coach, I am responsible for disseminating informaiotn to the math department staff and getting feedback on important issues that exist in our school. I can utilize the technology to easily inform my staff of items and also get immediate feedback from them about important issues we have been charged to discuss. I create a newsletter each six weeks for the department to introduce new resources and manipulatives as well as disseminate information from the leadership team meetings. My intent after this course if to create a wiki to get feedback and allow the staff to edit and suggest new ideas that will enhance the learning and success of our students.
Blog are a fantastic method of discussing topics that we would normally set up a meeting for with teachers. It is always difficult to get teachers together since we are all so busy. With a blog I will be able to post the information without a meeting and it will allow for comments and concerns that the teachers forsee will come up. For students blogs can be used to enhance communication and participation on topics discussed in the classroom. Students can blog in order to participate in class discussions, when presented with the blog they can have more time to reflect and really come up with thought provoking conversation. I was impressed when I read the article on an Language Arts classroom using a blog to discuss a literature piece. The teacher was able to employ not only the students but also the parents to get involved in the book discussion. I also thought it was incredible that the author of the piece was able to answer the students’ questions about the book. I think this really engaged the students and allowed them to see how far the Internet really can get them and that we live in a global society versus just seeing a classroom of thirty students.
As we read the articles we found that as engaging as the Internet is, there are still concerns present for our students’ safety. Before starting a blog, the teacher needs to make the students aware of the safety features that need to be in place when posting on the global Internet. Students must understand that they are not protected on the Internet, they need to take measures to protect themselves and to utilize that Internet to their advantage. We also need to make sure that the students understand the rules and reguations of posting, what is appropriate and what will and will not be accepted. By doing this we are better preparing our students for the global workforce that they will soon enter. We are preparing them to be productive, law-upholding citizens of today’s society.
Blogging is an excellent tool to communicate with stakeholders. We can use it to keep them informed of what is occurring in our schools and classrooms. Students can use these blogs to keep up with their assignments and parents can use them to also know what is expected of the students. Parents in the community cannot help and support teachers without knowledge of what is happening. A blog can be the tool to prepare the parents for what the students will come home with, conversation starters over dinner, expectations and due dates can also be listed on the blog. Community members can see the blog and share their “real world” experiences of how they use the skills we are teaching in class. This will help the students answer the age-old questions, “Why are we doing this?” and “When will ever need this in real life?”.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Texas STaR Opinion response
The Texas STaR chart can be used as a reflective tool for teachers and campuses to evaluate their progress with the Technology Application TEKS. The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2010 has set standards for instruction, educators, administrators, and infrastructure in regards to technology. One of the four specific areas of focus is Educator Preparation & Development; this section concentrates on better preparing educators with professional development experiences, models of professional development, increasing capabilities of educators in technology, increasing the level of understanding and patterns of use and to increase the use of on-line learning. Teachers need to be prepared with technological advances since our past learning has been absent of technology. Throughout the state you see a lack of progress for higher technology levels. The majority of the state is labeled as only Developing Tech, and the trend is moving towards staying this level in the focus area of Educator Preparation. On our campus the trend for Educator Preparation and Development is the lowest rating consistently from year to year. We are absent of progress for this focus area, we are not improving our teachers with technology. Suggestions to gain forward progress would be to implement more professional development courses into the work day. On district days, we should involve a professional development that exhibits instructional strategies in an actual classroom versus just introducing the technology to teachers. We also need to implement follow-up days and constant connection between the staff and the technology facilitator. This would encourage usage of the technology, and also given real world examples versus just program instructions.
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