January 2-4
Click on images to enlarge

Technical support staff resolve problems with grade management

Students begin a new semester in E-Commerce and Web Page Design

Information Management students take a pre-test to determine skill level

Support staff aide, Holly Yazdani, seeks basic skills training

Technology Infusion Efforts
We begin a new semester this week.  As is the case, teachers worked to establish rolls, books, supplies, and desks to begin a new grading period.  Except with specific business classes, technology integration took a back seat to more pressing classroom management issues.

As technology coach, however, I assisted in three business classes to help students take pre-tests for speed and accuracy keyboarding skill levels, work with E-Commerce and Internet history concepts, and helped students understand the Office 2000 suite of software.  Assisting in Leanne Kimberlin's Business and Information Science technology was a pleasure.  It also gave me an opportunity to recruit students for higher level technology based courses since registration for next school year is around the corner. 

Teacher Coaching Progress Indicators, Attitudinal Shifts, and Celebrations of Accomplishment
Teachers greeted each other with reflections of a good holiday vacation and appeared ready to get back to the order of business.  Several teachers indicated they were able to spend some time with technology over their vacation and turned back in laptops which were checked out during the holidays.  A few teachers made me aware they were ready to post their web page they developed and were anxious to do so. 

Teachers who are scheduled for the next training group were reminded of days they should call in for substitutes.  Those registered for the Marco Polo training on Saturday, January 12th, were reminded of their commitment to attend.  Teachers who had planned implementations next week were sent e-mail reminders of their time and date.

Management Challenges
The biggest challenge this week was by far dealing with no Internet service.  Our service provider went out of business and dropped us without warning.  Our Technology Department is working diligently to restore service with another provider and transfer all IP address information as well as get our school sites back up and functioning.  

Another challenge this week was closing out the previous semester and reconciling some problems with our E-grades program.  Our Technology Department was called to help resolve weighted value problems for student averages.  Grades were entered manually due to an exporting problem with the program.  Verification sheets were run and approved.  Report cards were issued on Friday for the Fall, 2001 term.  We hope to have learned from some of the problems to prevent the same pitfalls in May.

Our selection committee met briefly on the teacher workday this week to begin our process of selecting our schools' Best Practices for technology integration.  The committee has five members:  Pat Climer, Supervisior of Instruction (English, ..); David Harrison, Supervisor of Instruction (Science, Math, ..); Judy Monroe, MJHS Principal; Cathy Toombs, Assistant Principal and Curriculum Specialist; and Diane Bennett, TLCF Technology Coach.  We established our definition of Best Practice (as noted in our proposal) and approved the rubric we would use as the critera for selection.  However, due to network difficulties we were not able to review the electronic files teachers created to use in their lessons.  We, therefore, decided to meet again next Tuesday to begin the review process.

January 14-18

Click on images to enlarge

Training Group 4 meets for Day 1 & 2 of training

Dr. Toombs discusses evaluation rubrics

Teachers have quality time to pursue lesson invention

Teachers enjoy collaboration during lunch out

Victoria Anderson's Psychology class researches 

Ms. Sheets' class records data from student discussions

Mrs. Wright uses S-Video cord with laptop

Mr. Miller repairs broken laptop

TLCF Faculty Meeting updates are important to communication

Victoria Anderson used technology in her Psychology class to research Alzheimer patients' characteristics and to plan strategies to work with patients at Providence Place, a home for patients in our community.

Grace deMajewski introduced her Latin classes to her web site she created this year enforcing resources students may use both in and out of class. VRoma is her way of bringing the real world of Latin to her students via the Internet.

Lori Sheets used Word and Excel with her Government classes to show students how to chart class voting as they discussed whether or not they would vote with or without the majority during a mock constitutional convention.  

Theresa Wright used a laptop and S-video cord in her Earth Science classes to demonstrate rock formations by use of the CD accompanying her textbook.  Students have access to also use the CDs.

Lynne Ritter used Word in her Consumer Economics classes for students to choose a business and write letters of complaint on issues concerning recent purchases.

Infusion efforts continue to make a difference in classes.  We are incorporating effective use of technology to enhance learning.  I have begun, however, to encourage teachers to return to focusing on planning lessons with the purpose of integration.  Some teachers who were excited about use during the first semester have not reserved the lab since their planned implementation. They probably realize how tight scheduling is when we continue to have training groups scheduling implementations.  I do post the wireless lab schedule on the Internet so they can see at all times its use.   Some may be using the desktop lab however.  Our assistant principal, B. J. Meeks, is responsible for scheduling that lab.  She has indicated increased use this year.

Teacher Coaching Progress Indicators, Attitudinal Shifts, and Celebrations of Accomplishment
Training Group #4 met for their first two days of training.  In introducing teachers of this group to what our program will specifically cover, one teacher particularly told me the thing that hit her the hardest was the information we had collected as we have involved our Student Technology Committee.  She said she felt from their comments she had not been challenging them enough with technology and that bothered her. She has the more advanced math students.  She realized we need to meet their learning needs more; and if we don't, we shortchange their education.  I felt that was an important discovery that can cause educational revolution.  Later in the week, I talked with her about her ideas to involve her advanced math students in creating and utilizing 3D programs to simulate mathematical concepts.  Students were excited about working with her on that lesson.

As teachers begin to feel the impact our grant has had on their teaching, one of our Best Practice teachers said it best.  Lori Sheets commented, "I feel that my skills utilizing technology have dramatically increased but more importantly, I honestly believe it has given me the chance to feel reconnected to my profession by allowing me the chance to be challenged."

It has become evident to me that as each group trains for two days, returns to the classroom, and comes back for another two, it makes a huge impact on our ability to reflect and reinvent.  Many teachers tell me what they had thought about in lesson design actually changes several times before they come back and work on the last two days of training.  This reflection and construction occurring at the same time is evidence the format for this staff development program is causing change.  The change which seems to occur is because of thought-provoking lesson plan invention seeded to foster more in-depth lesson design.  With collaboration of other departmental teachers, it is causing a powerful final product.  This is evident in our Best Practice selections.  Not all teachers, however, seem to go that deep, but the fact coworkers are getting there is an inspiration to all.

Another coaching progress indicator was talking with our geometry teacher about purchasing software her students could use with the laptops which would greatly enhance their ability to learn.  We ordered a 30-day trial version and discussed the possibility of buying a network version for all teachers to use.

Management Challenges
There were several management challenges this week.  First of all, I worked very hard on our Formative Assessment and Benchmarks due January 30th.  I want it to be a true reflection process that can positively impact our program for the rest of the year as well as address sustainability.  I am working on reading Larry Cuban's book Oversold and Underused (2001, Harvard University Press) to determine a response to it in connection with the Appalachian Technology in Education Consortium.  My formative assessment will lay down the thoughts to agree or disagree with findings Mr. Cuban announces about using technology in public schools.  January has been a challenge to meet deadlines.

We continued to work out problems with our grade management program this week  Teachers have become quite frustrated with not being able to use it when they need it.  We are issued a file and then another.  It is an issue of our Technology Department working out problems of matching the use of the software to our grading structure and reporting needs.  Our teachers need to have faith in our support staff.  County-wide that has been a problem this year with our grading software.  It is our first year to use it for grade reporting.  Most teachers in the past have used their own software or done them by hand.  The effort to go county-wide to implement this program has been very challenging.

We also had a laptop stolen from a classroom this week.  Dealing with that has hit hard at the efforts we all have put into this program.  We have insurance and have been going through the proper authorities in reporting and investigating.  I need to rethink security issues while the carts and laptops are in classes.  It hurt the teacher who had the laptops at the time.  I hope it doesn't squelch her desire to use them again.

We also had to have a laptop repaired this week from a broken pin.  This is caused because of the charging and recharging need.  This is the first time this year we have had a repair issue related to that.  We had one other repair issue earlier because of a problem with display.

January 21-25
Click on images to enlarge

Andy Rohrs' Ecology classes study Biomes

Brenda Knowles Art I class works with Paint

Jerry Underwood teaches PowerPoint Basics

12 Teachers Create Multimedia Presentations

Teachers hard at work during workshop

Training Group 4 Meets Day 3

TG 3 Works on Improvement Plan

Teachers and Student Tech Committee at Work

Winter Tech Coaches Meeting

Lynne Ritter and Diane Bennett bring ideas back for use in training

Jerry Bates, Our Coaches' Mentor

Andy Rohrs designed and implemented a lesson for his Ecology class on understanding biomes, their characteristics, and being able to recognize them in their natural settings.  He created a Web Quest which gave students resources to develop their understanding of the types of biomes and their geographical location.  He then guided students to various Internet wildlife painting examples where student  compared and contrasted five sources of biomes and discussed various aspects of recognizable features within the pictures using Word and graphics.

Brenda Knowles Art I class used Paint to develop their ability to complete contour drawings of objects.  They learned to utilize line width, pencil tools, and the eraser to create images.  

Judy Eastman developed a PowerPoint jeopardy for her chapter review in Environmental Science class.  Students enjoy this learning tool and respond well to it.

There is also evidence a great deal of technology integration is occurring between dialog of students and teachers.  The encourages ideas which stimulate interest not only in more real-world learning, but how technology can be applied to achieve it.

Teacher Coaching Progress Indicators, Attitudinal Shifts, and Celebrations of Accomplishment
Jerry Underwood returned to our school (part-time at Wilson Central) to teach an afternoon workshop dealing with PowerPoint Basics.  There were 12 teachers in attendance.  Teachers studied the screen basics, worked with tools, and created a simple presentation relative to an area they will teach in the near future.  The workshop was very well received, and now teachers are much more comfortable with the software.  Books purchased with grant funds on "PowerPoint 2000 for Teachers" were distributed and made available on a checkout basis for those who desired more in-depth study.  Teachers were also reminded of their ability to check out laptops for work at home.

Training Group 4 met on Wednesday for their third day of training.  This day focused on analyzing their own basic skill levels and creating a plan for improvement in four to five of the 15 identifiable areas.  Specifically, teachers used plan sheets to pencil in learning goals or project ideas they wish to pursue to achieve the next level of understanding.  Some teachers commented they could already see improvement from last year in basic skills due to our need to understand networking, E-grades, and attending workshops.  This was cause for celebration.

Teachers also were introduced to Web Quests and the possibilities they offer for engaged learning.  We looked at lessons other teachers in our school have created for their wireless implementation.  Teachers in this training group spent a great deal of time researching lesson plan sites (including Marco Polo) and constructing ideas for new lessons.  I was particularly impressed to see some teachers seeking to design lessons using ideas they have longed to implement.  They are using the time this opportunity offers to collaborate with other teachers to bounce around those ideas often developing a deeper understanding of concepts which will foster a more engaged learning approach.

I am encouraged as each training group meets that some teachers are truly concerned about how the design of their lessons promote Blooms Taxonomy.  They are thinking strategies to foster higher-order thinking, sometimes surprising themselves.  By sharing the ideas freely with other teachers, there is a degree of excitement in the development process.  Teachers themselves begin to see, even in their own work of designing lessons, that technology is merely a tool and not the central focus of our purpose for training.  Ironically, teachers are discovering in their training program how students feel in their classrooms WHEN technology is used as a TOOL for learning and not the focus itself.

Teachers of previous training groups (mentors and others) stop by during their planning periods to offer encouragement and support.  They often stay around to get involved in helping teachers as they design lessons.  David Haines, a Best Practice teacher, Judy Eastman, Lori Scott and others are examples of that this week.

Another point of celebration is that teacher David Haines and his son (a student at MJHS) have begun a joint project using Adobe Photoshop (purchased with grant funding) which David will use for another of his integration lessons.  He and his son indicate this will be another candidate for best practice.  We now have carried training into a family affair.

On the other hand, there seems to be some teachers who are worried about their lesson and feel they cannot live up to the quality other teachers have prepared.  I can see I need to pay special attention to these teachers and encourage them to start small to build on success rather than tackling too much at one time and getting discouraged.  This will be my focus to not lose them.

It was rewarding to see other Technology Coaches at our Winter Workshop this week held at Rucker-Stewart Elementary in Gallatin.  My thanks goes to Betsy Canter and her school's staff for the wonderful hospitality.  Lynne Ritter, Departmental Mentor, and I enjoyed the workshops Dr. Lowther from the University of Memphis conducted, meeting with other coaches, and the wonderful food.  We also gathered many ideas from the handouts other coaches provided.

Management Challenges
Our stolen laptop was returned to our main office this week (by a former student) almost one week after it was stolen.  It was in good shape.  Since our authorities encouraged this within a time limit with a "no questions asked" agreement before they launched an investigation, we were delighted someone returned it without our having to do that.  The teacher whose class it was stolen from had taken a "book work" approach in class which several students detested.  We don't know what sparked the return but are glad it came back, even if anonymously. 

We are still having major problems with our software locking up on our laptops sometimes killing motivation.  Our efforts to try loading Office XP did not work.  I am in touch with the Technology Department to continue the pursuit for a solution.

Another management task involved having to cancel Day 4 of Training Group 4's on-site training due to flooding conditions in our area.  I made the mistake of thinking teachers in that group would not want to makeup the day.  I was very wrong.  Teachers clearly indicated the training was necessary, and they urged me to reschedule it which I did for next week.  This showed me the training is giving them the necessary time and support they want to meet our grant requirements.  It is very important to them .