Educational Leaders and Blogs

A blog is a publication of personal thoughts and opinions created by an individual and posted on the web for others to read and comment.  Blogs can be an empowering learning tool.  Teachers can create assignments that incorporate the use of blogs in the classroom which can increase the interaction between peers.  In an age where students are more computer savvy than ever before, allowing students to use Web 2.0 tools, such as blogs can help motivate and engage a student in their academics.  Aside from teachers posting lessons and resources on a blog for student and parent access, teachers can use blogs for students to collaborate on projects and get feedback on their work and share schoolwork with others. There are endless ways to incorporate blogs into a classroom, however the teacher decides to embed it, it will benefit all those participating. 

ACTION RESEARCH

Utilizing Action Research in Education

According to Nancy Fichtman Dana, in her book “Leading with Passion and Knowledge,” action research is a research tradition referred to as “practitioner inquiry” which “focuses on the concerns of practitioners (not outside researchers) and engages practitioners in the design, data collection, and interpretation of data around their question.” (2009, p.5)

Currently I sit on the Intervention Committee.  This committee was created to fix our current academic intervention program, which is embedded into our bell schedule.  To hone in on those students that need the extra help and attention, but do not take the time to ask for help after school, the district mandated that every school incorporate an intervention period into the bell schedule to reach every single student possible.  The bell schedule we currently have has a period of intervention that has not worked in the last 2 years.  It started as a pilot program, but at this point teachers and students are frustrated and want change.  

Using reflection and action, I think we can come up with a plan that will suit everyone.  As we speak, we are gathering data from the last 2 years, asking teachers what they think, creating lists of what has worked and not worked, and looking into other schools’ bell schedule with similar demographic schools that are using the same approach on intervention.  We have come up with a few solutions, but are still working on more.   As soon as we decide on some solutions, we are bringing it back to the teachers as a whole and gathering more data from their thoughts.  As the process roles, we will eventually implement the new schedule and evaluate the effectiveness as the year goes on and if changes need to be made, so be it, the action research will continue until we meet our schools need. 

Dana, Nancy Fichtman (2009).  Leading with Passion and Knowledge.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Corwin 

Course Reflection (EDLD 5306)

By the end of the course I envisioned myself knowing more about the use of technology in the classroom.  I expected to learn more about innovative ways to engage my students in their learning with the use of technology tools.  What I learned was a lot of what I expected, and more.  Not only did I gain the knowledge on the use of Web 2.0 tools (i.e. wikis, blogs, rss feeds), I also had the chance to put them to good practice in this course.  Aside from that I also learned about technology ethics, online safety, the future of technology in education, the purpose of the e-Rate program at schools, about myself and my learning style and my personality, sand I also had the chance to evaluate my schools technology plan.  I was able to gather an abundance of knowledge that pertains to technology in education as it relates to today’s digital native. 

The learning outcomes I achieved are very relevant to the work I do in school as a teacher.  As education moves towards technology in the classrooms, I am becoming more knowledgeable about the technology tools that are available to us, its uses, and its proper implementation.  Learning the safety and healthy ways of using technology allows me to model what I have learned to my students when I begin to use technology tools in the classroom.  I can, not only educate my students but also my departmental colleagues.  Having this type of knowledge will also help me in achieving what I’ve wanted to achieve, which is creating technology embedded lessons.  Given the opportunity to learn the background of what it takes to implement technology was very helpful.   Hopefully as I end the program, I will be resource person for my colleagues when it comes to technology implementation. 

The only outcome that I wish I would have achieved, was finding ways to implement technology tools into my math classes.  I find it difficult at times to incorporate technology tools effectively into a lesson, especially in math.  What prevented me from achieving this outcome was the time it takes to do the research on finding appropriate tools and activities that allow the use of technology.  With testing just around the corner we barely have time to cover all the standards the standards.  I’ve always envisioned using technology in my classroom, but have found it difficult to embed in my lessons.  I would have liked for one of our learning outcomes to incorporate the research and implementation of course specific technology.   I know by the end of the program, I will sooner or later achieve this outcome.   

Starting a new program was very overwhelming.  When I first read the Week 1 overview, I thought I was not going to be able to complete all the tasks.  As I went through each learning task, I learned to manage my time and get things done as expected.  After a while each week was a routine, read two articles, post a quote, comment on other postings, watch videos, post assignments on wiki, etc.  Yes, sometimes I felt I was not going to finish on time, but I got it done on a timely manner.   All though it seemed as if I had a long road ahead of me with each week’s assignment, I managed to get it done.  As a teacher we all know that our job doesn’t end at 3pm, so I would try to have my lesson plans complete first before doing my assignments just to get them out of the way, the rest of the nights and weekend were set aside for my weekly assignments.

After taking this course, I learned that although I thought I knew a few things about technology, I was wrong.  I knew almost nothing about technology.  I would consider myself a digital immigrant, although I know the basics of technology use, I still need a lot to learn.  In the first week’s assignment, I took the LoTi Survey and I was surprise at my findings.  Most of my scores were low meaning that my use of technology in the classroom was at an exploration level or not even present.  Using power point to deliver a lesson is not an effective way of using technology.  I have to thing outside of the box, I have to think as a digital native, what types of stimulation do today’s students need to engage them in their learning experience.  I have a lot to learn before I become a leader in technology, but by the end of the program I know I will be more comfortable showcasing my new skills.