Lisa+Halpern's+Project+Proposal

=Lisa Halpern = =Cyber Camp 2009 = =__Technology Team__ =

=Personal Experience: = I had the opportunity this year to open up one of the new elementary schools. In doing this, we as a staff, embarked on a whole new journey facing new curriculum, new technology, and a brand new school where traditions and procedures needed to be created. It is by no means over but has been a rewarding journey up to this point. The technology opened a whole new world to students and to me as a teacher, in that I was given the chance to teach in a different way, a way that catered to a wide array of learning styles. I jumped right in to using the software, learning it, and creating lessons that guided students toward standards while presenting the information in an engaging way. Students became more active participants and I had the chance to assess students throughout the lessons and better adjust my teaching to make sure they were meeting the target of the lesson.

I am not going to say it was easy to create these lessons because the truth is it took hours and hours to figure out the software and create the flipcharts. Thankfully, I got addicted early! Some may say this was a problem, but I really saw the benefit of using flipcharts to teach, and I ran with it. At the same time it was so exciting for me as a teacher to think about the possibilities and to share with my colleagues about the successes I was seeing. My team and I were on the same page and worked through problems together and continued to improve at creating lessons. I had conversations with my principal about the success and where I thought staff development could be used. We started doing biweekly technology professional development within our building where we split into two groups (a more advanced and a more beginner). Bud taught the more advanced and I worked with the more beginner group. I found that I really enjoyed helping colleagues learn the software and they were so thankful for someone just showing them step by step. Doing this an offering help to anyone that needed it seemed to help other staff members get a good start and begin to get excited about the possibilities.

Throughout the rest of the year, I had the opportunity to do a few Promethean trainings and provide some additional staff development within my building. Our last Promethean training was a "Train the Trainer" course where we were given the tools and resources necessary to develop our own classes to teach to colleagues throughout the district. Speaking with Bud at this last training and leading up to Cyber Camp we discussed the possibility of creating a Technology Leadership Team, similar to the different curriculum teams being developed in the district. This became the seed for my project thinking about what this team would look like, what our responsibilities would be and how we would function as a group.

=Team Goals: =  The team is not meeting until July. So my project outlines questions I have come up with that could serve as guiding questions to be brought to the group. These questions came about from my own thinking about what I have seen work, what needs to be adapted as more and more teachers create and become involved, and how is our instruction going to look and be structured.

1. Teaching Classes
 * Creating training flipcharts - Is this something the team could divvy up responsibility for? Should there be different flipcharts for those experienced in Studio and Primary versus those that are new to it all?
 * Structure for classes - How do we want to structure the classes? Do we want to do them by modules? We should rename the modules so that people signing up for classes will know what they are getting into and so that there will be different titles to get credit for. Will we offer specific modules as an option or do a series? What would credit look like for that? Should all classes share in the same space (maybe the shared folders) but have a specific title to keep accountability for flipcharts turned in for specific course? How do we decide who is teaching what? Should there be one or two instructors for each course? How many sections or courses should be offered and will that look different in years to come? Where will they be taught?
 * //My thoughts: classes that are just meant to teach how to use the technology don't necessary need to be grade level or subject specific. This may change as the focus of these classes switch to creating flipcharts that are most beneficial for student learning.//

2. Sharing Flipcharts that are Created
 * Virtual Campus has been wonderful this year, BUT as more and more teachers begin creating resources at all different grade levels and subject areas, it would be nice to have a more organized space to store and share these files. Shared folders could be a great place to do this.
 * Under shared folders, curriculum resources, Promethean flipcharts, and then by grade level subject area. I have created a template for this for elementary but need assistance from middle and high school teachers. For elementary at each grade levels, folders for: Math, Misc., Rigby, Science, Social Studies, Word Study, and Writing. I am open to other ideas or the group can add if anything is missing. How do we do PR for these to get people sharing and using them?
 * How do we want discussions to look in Virtual Campus? Do we want a general discussion board that anyone could join? A module specific discussion forum? A place where people can share technology successes/woes? Who will create these?

3. How often should we meet as a team? What will our work focus on when we do meet? Is this a large enough focus for the 1st year? ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: WISHES FROM FELLOW CYBER CAMPERS
 * For schools not equipped like the new schools how could flipcharts be used in the lab?
 * Integrate the team with haves and have notes
 * Tech Team should have different focuses besides Promethean

We should have a plan for #'s one and two by the time school starts in the fall.

=My Thoughts from Here: = When beginning to think about this project and the goals of a district technology team, my ideas first went to all the digital tools out there right now, that teachers in the district are using to benefit students or could be using to benefit students. On that note, the team that we have formed is experienced with Promethean. This is one tool that I think we have a need for as more and more schools get this technology. It can be invaluable. Is a focus on Promethean enough for this year? After this first year should we be talking about other ways technology can be beneifting students and ways we/the distrcit can help support teachers in using a wider array of digital tools to enhance learning.

=Resources: = Bud and Michelle, our Information Technologists Promethean Planet Other members on the technology team Promethean users in our district and around world LuAnne Bumgardner, our Train the Trainer Instructor