Professional Development
project reflection
I used this project to build off of the Strategic Change project. One of the favorite components of my job is planning professional development. I like interacting with colleagues, introducing them to new ideas, and viewing how they use what they learn in their instruction.
I am pleased with the way this project turned out. My personal experiences helped me develop this plan. The details and images are of my real life colleagues and professional development I have planned in the past.
educational technology leadership COMMUNITY
goals
The goal of the EdTech Leadership Community is to build capacity for the Digital Transformation initiative (Strategic Plan goal 1.3). Specifically, these groups support: increased confidence among all constituents that students are prepared for the future; more efficient and effective feedback and communication with students and families; more effective technology use by teachers and students; consistent use of best practices when using digital tools for learning; greater teacher collaboration; increased implementation of learning experiences that are complex, purposeful, innovative, student-centered, engaging, and relevant; evidence of student mastery of standards, experiences, skills, and goals; growth in digital citizenship awareness and practices among students, employees, and parents; and more effective relationships between students and teachers.
location
The trainings will be held at the Central Office in the Computer Lab for Sessions 1, 3, and 4. The second session will be held at The Tuscaloosa Gateway Innovation and Discovery Center.
learners
Each school will send two participants to the four trainings. There will be a total of 25 elementary school participants and 18 secondary school participants.
trainers
The trainers will be the instructional technology coaches who serve all 21 schools in the system (elementary, middle, and high schools). There are two elementary coaches, three middle school coaches, and two high school coaches.
Key Outcomes
THE PLAN
The district will run two Educational Technology Leadership Communities, one for elementary teachers and one for secondary teachers. This training will bring two teachers from every school for four day-long meetings during the school year. Participants engage in learning to grow their skills and implement turnaround training for their faculties. These communities are organized and facilitated by the Instructional Technology Team. Participants are expected to plan, lead, and report on organized turnaround training with their colleagues at least once a semester.
The focus of the trainings will be on four ISTE Standards for Educators that instructional technology coaches believe need to be introduced to teachers in depth. The four standards are: Designer, Collaborator, Facilitator, and Analyst.
Session 1: Designer
The training will be held at the Central Office computer lab. The objective is educators design authentic, learner-driven activities and environments that recognize and accommodate learner variability. The teachers will be introduced to The ISTE Standards and the districts road map for the year, the why behind designing meaningful, self-paced activities, and HyperDocs by the instructional technology coaches. After lunch, teachers will have have sandbox time in which they will create a HyperDoc for their students before leaving the training.
Session 2: Collaborator
Teachers will meet at The Tuscaloosa Gateway Innovation and Discovery Center where their focus of the session will be Collaborator, which is educators dedicate time to collaborate with both colleagues and students to improve practice, discover and share resources and ideas, and solve problems. Teachers will participate in a video call with a professor from the University of Alabama headed by one of the coaches. Teachers will use live notes via Google Docs during the call which the professor will also have access to. Teachers will share what they have learned and been doing since the last session and plan a 3-part collaboration activity for their students during sandbox time after lunch.
Session 3: Facilitator
Teachers will be back at the Central Office focusing on Facilitator: Educators facilitate learning with technology to support student achievement of the ISTE Standards for Students. They will begin the training by sharing evidence of their turnaround training. Then, coaches will lead sessions on creating a culture of student ownership and fostering creativity in their instruction. After lunch, teachers will learn about design thinking lead by a coach. During their allotted sandbox time, teachers will plan for student creativity in an upcoming lesson.
Session 4: Analyst
Teachers will focus on Analyst: educators understand and use data to drive their instruction and support students in achieving their learning goals at the Central Office. The coaches will lead sessions on formative assessments, feedback, reflection, and goal setting. Each mini session will be followed by an activity. After lunch, teachers will reflect on the trainings (#EdTechLC) and revisit the key outcomes.
FOLLOW UP
Each participant will have support from their instructional technology coach throughout the school year. The coach will also offer assistance with turnaround training that the teachers are expected to organize and lead at least once a semester.
OBSTACLES
ATTENDANCE
Substitutes are scarce and oftentimes untrustworthy. Teachers who have signed up for the training may not attend because their class does not have a substitute. If a teacher misses the first two trainings with no follow up as to why, they are replaced with another teacher from the building or there is only one teacher from that school participating in the trainings. In order to render this obstacle, the instructional coach will send email reminders to teachers and principals about the upcoming trainings, as well as face to face reminders.
PARTICIPATION
Administrators are asked to choose two teachers from their faculty who exhibit leadership skills and/or who exhibit rigorous technology integration. In most cases, administrators do not respond to emails in a timely manner or at all, which leaves the school's instructional technology coach to take on the task. In this case, the instructional technology coach for each school will follow up with principals to suggest a teacher from their building to participate.
TECHNOLOGICAL LEVELS
With lack of participation and/or attendence, a teacher who does not consider themselves to be technologically savvy or a leader is chosen as a participant. That oftentimes makes those teachers feel inadequate or as though they should not have been considered. As an instructional technology coach, teacher support is one of the main priorities of the position. With technological and instructional support, teachers confidence and sustainability will progress throughout the year making them an asset to the program and the students they teach.