Well, it is time to talk about funding. What we all want to avoid... There just isn't enough is there? My school that I sub at has a fabulous PTO that funds a lot of our technololgy. I am not certain as to how much the county funds. We were able to provide the school with 5 bundles of Activboards for grade levels 2-5. Grade 4 has one that is temporarily mounted but should be mounted by next fall. We have a fabulous PTO that funds these expenditures. We do fund raising for the school in order for our children to have the best. We still have a computer lab that the students visit regularly with about 30 computers in it. It is very nice. I am certain that there are businesses that work with our school to help support it and that is wonderful. I do not know which businesses help out. I do know that ther is cable in the classrooms which can be very helpful to the teacher if he/she is teaching current events. "Cable in the classroom fulfills schools' needs for supplementary classroom materials and the cable industry's need to develop positive community relations" (LeBaron & Collier, 2001, p. 129). This is a great quote from the text that helps us understand the partnerships between schools and businesses that I never really thought about.
Regarding the SOLs. Now is the time teachers are reviewing. The teacher I am doing a long-term sub for in 4th grade is reviewing on her Activboard that is in her classroom. It is a fabulous tool. The students get really excited when we teach with it. Sad to say that most of the curriculum for SOLs is now probably a bit of wrote memorization. With snow days and such it is very hard to stay on track.
Richards, J. (2001). Strategies for Creating Successful Corporate Partnerships. In J.F. LeBaron
& C. Collier (Eds.), Technology in it's place: Successful technology infusion in schools (pp.
113-124). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Chapter 5
Chapter 5 begins by talking about empowering students and teachers and this is a very difficult task to do if you do not have the time, money, or energy to incorporate technology.
I just spent two weeks at a local high school doing a practicum and I was very much UNimpressed with their technology. The teacher I was working with still used overheads everyday. When I approached her about the idea of incorporating technology that is more efficient and newer, she laughed and said she "hated" technology because it always breaks. Later in the practicum, I was doing my part of teaching and I tried to incorporate a united streaming video. This should have been simple but we had every "techie" in that classroom trying to get the sound to come through the television as putting the video on the computer and shown on the screen would have been a nightmare of issues. The teachers are so mad about technology in the schools. The educators want them to use it but they are not getting the funding for the products and they are certainly not getting the professional develpment that this chapter calls for. The teachers are too busy. So I guess another year goes down in the absence of technology... Maybe next year, huh?
The chapter states that the administration needs to be strong and support the change of technology but it is not happening in this high school I was visiting. The chapter was very interesting but I dont' see where these teachers are receiving the development they need. It is simply not happening!
Collier, C. (2001). Staff Development for Technology Integration in the Classroom. In J.F.
LeBaron & C. Collier (Eds.), Technology in it's place: Successful technology infusion in
schools (pp. 61-72). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
I just spent two weeks at a local high school doing a practicum and I was very much UNimpressed with their technology. The teacher I was working with still used overheads everyday. When I approached her about the idea of incorporating technology that is more efficient and newer, she laughed and said she "hated" technology because it always breaks. Later in the practicum, I was doing my part of teaching and I tried to incorporate a united streaming video. This should have been simple but we had every "techie" in that classroom trying to get the sound to come through the television as putting the video on the computer and shown on the screen would have been a nightmare of issues. The teachers are so mad about technology in the schools. The educators want them to use it but they are not getting the funding for the products and they are certainly not getting the professional develpment that this chapter calls for. The teachers are too busy. So I guess another year goes down in the absence of technology... Maybe next year, huh?
The chapter states that the administration needs to be strong and support the change of technology but it is not happening in this high school I was visiting. The chapter was very interesting but I dont' see where these teachers are receiving the development they need. It is simply not happening!
Collier, C. (2001). Staff Development for Technology Integration in the Classroom. In J.F.
LeBaron & C. Collier (Eds.), Technology in it's place: Successful technology infusion in
schools (pp. 61-72). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Chapter 3
The text states that one of the main problems with urban schools is that they are usually older than some of the smaller more rural schools and therefore the wiring is old. With old wiring in a school it makes it that much harder to install all the necessary equipment in the school for the teachers and students to use. Another problem mentioned in Chapter 3 is that there are so many schools in urban areas that it takes too long for electricians to add the lines in the school. Also the problems monetarily in urban areas are huge (Gallager, 2001).
There are less problems in rural areas. What I found interesting is that Gallager (2001) did not mention whether she was referring to "smaller town" rural or "farm land" rural. There is a difference. I do not consider Stafford to an extremely large town however we are 'rural' when comparing it to D.C. We are not all farmers also. So what is she talking about when she refers to "rural?"
The school I work in does not really have the same challenges as an urban school. We are within a city but our school is fairly new so the wiring is fine and funds are available to the schools. The schools may not receive all the funds they want for technology but we at least have a lab with up and running computers and COWs (computers on wheels or carts). So we do not face as many challenges in our school. Stafford County is a large district and we do have some older schools however I believe that the administration for most of the schools would fight for equality of computer technology.
Gallager, E. M., (2001). Technology for urban schools: Gaps and Challenges. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
There are less problems in rural areas. What I found interesting is that Gallager (2001) did not mention whether she was referring to "smaller town" rural or "farm land" rural. There is a difference. I do not consider Stafford to an extremely large town however we are 'rural' when comparing it to D.C. We are not all farmers also. So what is she talking about when she refers to "rural?"
The school I work in does not really have the same challenges as an urban school. We are within a city but our school is fairly new so the wiring is fine and funds are available to the schools. The schools may not receive all the funds they want for technology but we at least have a lab with up and running computers and COWs (computers on wheels or carts). So we do not face as many challenges in our school. Stafford County is a large district and we do have some older schools however I believe that the administration for most of the schools would fight for equality of computer technology.
Gallager, E. M., (2001). Technology for urban schools: Gaps and Challenges. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Chapter 2 and 4
I like how LeBaron has broken planning into two groups in the Chapter.
1. The strategic plan-lets everyone know why they are doing what they are doing
2. The operational plan-lets everyone know what they are doing and when they need to do it by.
Great Stuff. We need to implement various routes of planning within a school in order for it (technology) to be successful. What I am finding at the school I work for is that only a few teachers are planning with technology. It is a difficult concept as we have said all along for people to grasp the idea of using technology in the curriculum. I know that in ten years we will wonder why the frustration of adding technology into the curriculum was ever a hassle. Like the book says..."it is hard to believe that there was ever a time when we did not have computers." LeBaron, 2001.
I guess that I never realize that so much went in to planning. Strategies that keep the planning on track, assessing the needs of the curriculum, goals, key inputs, etc. It is all there and I realize that teachers have to plan but I never really realized that this much information is taken and thought about before a plan is implemented. Nice. Hard to do, but nice!
In Chapter 4 the main concept that I got out of it was that there is simply too much data "out there" that one can't memorize it all. It is impossible. How do we use the data to improve achievement? Well, that is tricky as everyone is pulling different data off the internet. What is reliable and what is not? I can identify with the comment in the conclusion of the Chapter..."The skills of independent searching, elaborating, managing, and extending knowledge will be critically important..." Jarvela, 2001.
How do we assess and evaluate the data in classrooms is up to which way we decide whether we all use the same data and test on it or whether each student uses different data. What is important is that the student learns the content. Not how he/she learns the content. So, I guess assessment can be done in various ways. I would like to incorporate powerpoint presentations, tests, teaching others, and other ways to assess whether the students are learning the curricula.
LeBaron, J. F. & Collier, C. (2001). Technology in it's place: Successful technology infusion in schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
1. The strategic plan-lets everyone know why they are doing what they are doing
2. The operational plan-lets everyone know what they are doing and when they need to do it by.
Great Stuff. We need to implement various routes of planning within a school in order for it (technology) to be successful. What I am finding at the school I work for is that only a few teachers are planning with technology. It is a difficult concept as we have said all along for people to grasp the idea of using technology in the curriculum. I know that in ten years we will wonder why the frustration of adding technology into the curriculum was ever a hassle. Like the book says..."it is hard to believe that there was ever a time when we did not have computers." LeBaron, 2001.
I guess that I never realize that so much went in to planning. Strategies that keep the planning on track, assessing the needs of the curriculum, goals, key inputs, etc. It is all there and I realize that teachers have to plan but I never really realized that this much information is taken and thought about before a plan is implemented. Nice. Hard to do, but nice!
In Chapter 4 the main concept that I got out of it was that there is simply too much data "out there" that one can't memorize it all. It is impossible. How do we use the data to improve achievement? Well, that is tricky as everyone is pulling different data off the internet. What is reliable and what is not? I can identify with the comment in the conclusion of the Chapter..."The skills of independent searching, elaborating, managing, and extending knowledge will be critically important..." Jarvela, 2001.
How do we assess and evaluate the data in classrooms is up to which way we decide whether we all use the same data and test on it or whether each student uses different data. What is important is that the student learns the content. Not how he/she learns the content. So, I guess assessment can be done in various ways. I would like to incorporate powerpoint presentations, tests, teaching others, and other ways to assess whether the students are learning the curricula.
LeBaron, J. F. & Collier, C. (2001). Technology in it's place: Successful technology infusion in schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)