Professional Development Plan

Colleen Larson

Professional Development Plan for Technology

Goal/Objective

To consistently continue education in terms of technology to be able to use the knowledge obtained as part of my daily classroom instruction. 

Classroom Application:

Currently I implement webquests and activities on the interactive whiteboards as a result of recent courses I have taken in the past two years.   I have also used the advice of an instructor on finding free online resources when you are in a district that is unable to fund many programs.   An example of this is my implementation of Book Adventure by Sylvan – it is a free online program where students can read the books on the list provided and then take a comprehension quiz online when completed.  It has been a great supplement to monthly book projects for my class.

Timeline:

At this point, I think the timeline for technology can’t have an end date.   Technology advances daily in our society.  As a teacher it is an area that I will always have to incorporate into my classroom, therefore I will need to always stay current and make sure I am routinely taking courses such as this one.

Evidence of Collaboration:

Technology has been a focus from the administration in my building for the last couple of years.   I find that working at inservices with other teachers is a very useful tool to bring back to the classroom.

Assessment of Growth:

A great way to assess growth in terms of technology is to use a rubric.   While using a rubric, students know in advance what is expected of them.  

Also, many sites such as Book Adventure, keep a running total of student’s performance every time they use the site.   This is a good resource for teachers to use to print the reports to measure growth as well as students to view their own performance as well.

Websites I found helpful in researching technology as part of a professional development plan:

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/teacher.htm

www.nbpts.org/

http://www.neirtec.org/products/techbriefs/index_html.asp

Education World: Great Chicago Fire Web Site Rich in Language Arts

Education World: Great Chicago Fire Web Site Rich in Language Arts

Week 4 - Multimedia

After reading Chapter 5 & 6 and reflecting on what I use in my classroom in relation to the information in the chapter, I realized I learned more ways to improve implementing technology in my classroom than ways that I currently use technology.  For example, on the third grade level I have use graphic organizers on the  board and on paper to use as an organizing tool of information before they begin writing.    The text helped to see that using outlining tools and concept mapping software is much more advanced and is something I am going to try to incorporate for next school year.   

Electronic dictionaries are going to go on my class supply list as highly recommended for all students.    I do believe in teaching kids how to use a dictionary as a reference, at the same time a small electronic dictionary would be helpful.    In third grade, the level of writing increases greatly from second.    I often have students asking me how to spell words and the electronic dictionary at their own desks would be a great reference to make sure they are correct and to instill the skill of always checking your spelling if you are unsure of yourself.

Electronic gradebook is a tool that I implemented into my own classroom this year.    It has been one of the greatest things I could have ever done for myself and for the parents as well.    The program I use also allows for parents to have access to their childs grade as well.    There are features that will allow email updates to be sent as well.    For example, Tuesday when we return to school after the holiday my students are on a field trip.   This program allows me to send a quick reminder to bring a lunch and what to wear and is done in less than five minutes.

For me, I have to say my favorite part of the readings was the information on how using interactive storybooks can truly enhance a young child or struggling reader's development.     I found it helpful with my oldest sons and now my four year old.   A parent or teacher does not always have the time to read the book aloud.   Another bonus of using the interactive storybooks is some children may benefit more from that style of learning in comparison to a teacher or parent reading.

Reference

Week 3

Week 3 of EDUG 522: Curriculum Integration of Educational Technology presents the importance of incorporating technology into our classrooms.   I will be one of the first people to admit that I often find myself difficult finding ways to bring more technology activities into lessons since I moved from teaching junior high students to currently teaching third grade.   I am very thankful for taking courses like this and some similar ones because they truly motivate me to find time to locate activities and incorporate as part of some of my classroom's learning unit.  

I found the videos on http://www.edutopia.org/ that were part of this weeks assignment a true testiment to how many children learn effectively.    

The first video, “Digital Youth Portrait: Sam”, to truly relate to many kids today.   To be honest when the video first started off and went into how many hours in a day that she spent on video games such as World of Warcraft, I was so surprised that her teachers and parents continued to go onto give such wonderful examples about what a great academic student she was in class.   I also found it interesting that someone that spends that amount of time consumed in technology to have so many other interests, such as her love for music and playing the instrument at school.    The fact that she went in and helped students at a university was another truly amazing quality.   This video is a good example of how students often learn from each other just as well as an instructor.   It is also a good model to show that today's students are eager and wanting technology incorporated into their day.  The downside that I see to this is when she talked about not reading books because of being bored and at the sametime some of the basics we all rely on need to continue in the curriculum as well.

The second video, “Schools Use of Games for Learning and Assessment”, was great because it relates to the fact that many children learn from hands on experiences just as well as adults.   When they turned to the instructor/teacher writing on the board you seen how many students had lost focus.   Some are able to put a picture in their head as being told but many things can't be taught without being hands-on.    The visuals that were shown as examples in this video were a perfect example of some learning experiences are best taught by seeing and doing compared to direct instruction.

As for this weeks reading from the text, I agree that we need to engage and motivate our students during instruction.   My own students work so well and are so excited and motivated to learn when they know we are able to use the room with the SmartBoard or work on a webquest.    I find many students with attention issues respond very well to activities that incorporate activity.

I enjoyed this week's video and reading and find them to show a true relation of how important it is to incorporate technology not just as an extra but part of when units are being taught.

Resources

http://www.edutopia.org/computer-simulations-games-virtual-learning-video
http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-profile-sam-video

Roblyer, M.D. and Doering, A.H. (2010). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. 5th Edition. Allen and Bacon, Boston: Pearson Education.

Chapter 2

As teachers, we all have different views when it comes to the topic of integrating technology into our classrooms.   This school year, all K-8 teachers in my school have been required to submit technology lesson plans separate from weekly lesson plans.   This has become a great reminder for me on how important it is to make sure I am finding ways to differentiate instruction in my classroom.

Third grades still need direct instruction and at the same time they need a level of independent learning as well.   I have found that many of my students know much more that I thought when it comes to navigating on a computer and I have been able to go pretty far with them this year.   We have recently had Smart Boards installed in our school as well and they work so hard when they know we are going to get an opportunity to use the room that has the Smart Board.

Chapter  2 explains the importance of the TPACK and TIP model.   TPACK allows teachers to have the knowledge to incorporate technology as pedagogy.   Teachers have a difficult time finding the “extra” time for technology along with all the other lessons they need to get in but the TPACK is a great help for teachers to see that they can use a technology lesson (ex:webquest) as a form of instruction.

I enjoy the TIP model for the fact that it gives teachers an opportunity to see how to integrate a technology plan into their classroom.   The many tasks that classroom teachers have are very overwhelming and often times confusing and frustrating.  This model allows teachers to better understand how to incorporate a technology plan using a six step program.

The part that struck me the most in Chapter 2 would be what to do with limited resources.   We are slowly working towards getting up to date in terms of technology at my school, but at the same time we are lacking far behind.   I find it best to work with what I have.   Yes, it would be nice to have a Smart Board in my classroom, as well as working computers.   Whenever the computer lab is available – not often – we have one lab for a K-8 school, but at the same time something is better than nothing.   Where some students are now working all day from a computer at their desk, my students enjoy any chance we get to work on activities in the computer lab.

Teaching Interests

One of my favorite interests with teaching is finding a great, new book to introduce to my students and seeing them share the same excitement.   

I would love to be able to create WebQuests for my students to follow along with tasks that they use weekly for literature assignments as well as major book activity reports that they complete quarterly.