Week 5, Assignment Two

For the past two years I have been a source of a lot of the technology focused professional development in the three local elementary schools. As the assignment describes I have been faced with the question of "why change?" on a regular basis. Many of the teachers who have 20+ years experience toss that look (that is usually followed by a smack) when I tell them they are going to learn [insert technology]. I have learned over the years that slow, gradual steps work best when applying something new and to use those who are most intuitive as assistants. The response for reasoning that never works is because what the audience is doing is 1)outdated 2)not as good as me or 3) because I said so.

  When I made this powerpoint I kept these answers in mind. You'll see that I am leading the audience to form the answers themselves about what is missing in our current data culture.To tell them straight on would imply blame or fault, which is never good for morale at an inservice. It would be unrealistic for me to make a powerpoint that included Power School; instead I guide the faculty to using Google Docs which is affordable for our current situation. Also, once the staff becomes literate in Google Docs and Spreadsheets they can transfer that knowledge to creating docs for other resources.

 The powerpoint focuses on a many of the goals that Bernhardt(2007) touches upon through out chapters nine and ten. The teachers are responsible for creating a vision and have a clear understanding of the role of the leadership with making those goals come to fruition. The question of how data is used during the beginning of the year is raised with the intention of more target dates being established as comfort levels grow and benefits are realized. Professional development that will reinforce and guide the goals of the culture is also established.

  I should also note that a week before our class started I 'went Mac'. I liked this assignment because it forced me to learn Keynote, explore Garage Band and converting files into Quicktime. The links that are included in the document are:

Google Doc for shared grade level goals.

Template for teachers


Resources:
Bernhardt, V. L. (2007). Translating data into information to improve teaching and learning (pp. 103-150). Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education.