Module 4 - Laura Funk

1.    What are your thoughts about effective professional development strategies? Describe a professional development opportunity that led to your adoption of new teaching or leadership practices.  

I think professional development is essential to a well-oiled team of teachers in a school.  Professional development opportunities engage teachers in brainstorming outside of the classroom environment where we can be “re-inspired, re-energized, and generally revved up!”  I have been to several professional development opportunities, all of which have been offered during the summer for some type of compensation.  Usually a stipend, which gives a bit of extra motivation for some to attend during our “off-season.”  Anyway, these professional developments have been offered as a one-shot workshop to introduce the information and services available for us (the teachers) to utilize.  I like the idea of one-shot workshops because then teachers have the knowledge to take from it and adapt and integrate it into our classrooms as we see fit.  I think this type of workshop does wonders to help teachers mix things up and add some flavor to their curriculum.  However, I do like the idea of having follow up workshops for teachers to collaborate and bring back their integration methods of the said material to share with others.  OR possibly have a public blog forum to post their reflections after some time has passed from the workshop.  I think this type of sharing and reflection is essential for us as teachers to glean from it what we find most valuable and teachable for our students and our subject.  An example of this is when I attended a “Physical Activity Training” in the spring.  I learned how to add physical activity and movement into my classroom to improve students’ health and to encourage them to pursue healthy lifestyles.  I took the key strategies I found the most beneficial, and have slowly integrated them into my weekly routine.  My goal is to include movement in my classes twice a week.  I can’t use all of the presented strategies, but I’ve adapted what will work for me and feel confident in my path of encouraging students to be healthy and physically active.  I am trying to spread the movement in my school, so have signed my school up for the 100 mile club movement challenge online.  Our goal is to get to 100 miles by walking or running that distance during the school year within the school day.  I have asked the physical education teachers to join me and will encourage the rest of the staff gradually throughout the year.  We will see if we make the challenge by June 1^st 2016! 

       

2.    What made this professional development opportunity effective from your perspective?

In reference to the Physical Activity Training, I feel the most effective part of this professional development was that any teacher, regardless of subject could walk away from the day with something to take back to their school and classroom.  The workshop itself had hands-on methods demonstrated throughout.  I obviously could not utilize every strategy presented because of my lack of space and equipment.  BUT – I also plan to move locations throughout the year and utilize the outdoors, the cafeteria, or the commons if needed.  One must change the environment to suit the specific need.  The classes were structured to be guidelines and give us general strategies to use among a variety of methods and settings.  I found it to be the most effective professional development I have ever attended.  PLUS (BONUS***), the head of the workshop continues to send us emails with links to push ideas further in our classrooms and to give us additional resources to check out on our own.   It is a simple thing to send an email, but it serves as a way of reminding us of our commitment to movement and re-energizes us with new things to try.  This is his way of following up with us and checking in – so helpful and encouraging!

3.    What is the PD strategy or strategies you plan to use in your Technology Integration Initiative? How will this strategy or strategies help you achieve the outcomes for your TI Initiative.

I think a workshop method is effective for a professional development.  It could be organized into various youtube video clips to get information across if I wanted to go digital instead of face-to-face interactions.  I do think if it were a workshop strategy I would need a follow-up forum where participants can get assistance and ask specific questions.  Ideally pairing participants off with mentors to assist smaller group concerns would be ideal.  I haven’t figured it out entirely yet, but I would like more than just a one-shot experience.  I want it to be a developing experience where the group learns from each other and grows as a collective.  I think any collaborative strategy is effective and as long as the participants’ feel confident and supportive the work will show that hard work and enthusiasm.

4.    What will you need to do to provide leadership to successful professional development (here you might think back on the results and your analysis of your Leadership Assessment and/or the resources/challenges present in the context for delivering professional development)?

To provide leadership to successful professional development one needs to be organized and have a well thought out plan of attack.  The professional development needs to address specific needs of the participants and have clear-cut developmental outcomes.  I scored high on self-confidence, positive attitude and outlook, providing a compelling vision for the future and emotional intelligence.  I think I could successfully deal with the issues needed in professional development administration.  The ever-present challenges would be addressing each specific need of the participants and gaining a large enough team to be able to knowledgably mentor the participants as they attempt to integrate the new knowledge and methods into their own classrooms.  This equals out to be a large amount of time invested for all involved, so the team would need to be proactive and have can-do attitudes throughout.

5.    Please also share any literature or resources you are using to refine your focus and develop your plan.

I am looking at Edutopia’s “Technology Integration” resources.  For example, “The LAUSD iPad Initiative: 5 Critical Technology Integration Lessons” (Linked below).

Ipad Initiative

Digital Leadership:  Changing Paradigms for Changing Times (Chapters 7-8)

Chapter 7  Branding

6.    What is "Brand-ed" School Leadership?  

To me, “Brand-ed” school leadership is collectively deciding what you want to represent your school?  Like our school has adopted a brand we call “Keys to Success.”  These “keys” we live and breathe are 3 components of our all-encompassing attitude.  We want to promote respect, responsibility, and volunteerism.  We as a group all try to demonstrate these 3 “keys” regularly.  We also give students actual key rewards at the end of each week.  Teachers write on a slip of paper the student’s name and what key they demonstrated and a small summary of what the student did to demonstrate that key.  It works well as a system of recognition because it is something that motivates, encourages and inspires others through proof of action and results that come from specific behaviors.  We branded our school with this key mentality and everyone establishes their behavioral structure around these main principles.  I think it works and has proven to be a positive re-structuring of our school brand in the last 2 years.  Branding happens in different ways, but for now this is my primary example of my understanding of the term. 

Chapter 8 Professional Growth and Development

7.    After reading Chapter 8, what experience do you have with PLN – Personal Learning Networks?  Do you think using PLN would be an option in your workplace setting to promote professional growth and development?

I don’t think my county has much personalized learning networks.  We do have our professional development site page where teachers can log on and sign up for available professional development opportunities, but that is it as far as I know.  Most of our networks are set up to get information out to the public. 

This class and our blog is a personal learning network of sorts.  I know it has been established for a grade, but we do build on each other and help expand our understanding of our readings and experiences. 

Personally, I am working on expanding my worldly experience through travel, so I have been working on a travel blog with my husband to share our experiences with certain cruise companies or travel excursions so that others may learn and structure their vacations based on what we have shared.  I also trained for the Morgantown half marathon (completed it last month) and am beginning training for a full marathon, which could also be an avenue subject where I share my training schedule, gear, tips, etc.  It is all still in its infancy stages though, but I am personally working on a learning network of some kind, just not one in a professional capacity at the moment. 

Module 4: Things are heating up!

What are your thoughts about effective professional development strategies? Describe a professional development opportunity that led to your adoption of new teaching or    leadership practices.      

I think that professional development is effective when the presenters walk the teacher through what they the teacher would need to do or see the strategy in action. At the last WVSTA conference I saw someone from FSU do a workshop for the Solar Army and I saw it as an opportunity for my HSTA club students to do cutting edge research close to home. I did not only that, but also got involved with the program. I have been helping with some research, but doing mostly outreach to get their word out and having more people know about this wonderful program they are offering. solararmy.org for those that are interested.

   

What made this professional development opportunity effective from your perspective?

It made it effective because they brought in the equipment they use for the experiments and let us use them. They explained everything they do in a presentation, but also gave us some hands on opportunities. The friendliness of the presenters was also a large factor because they made me feel wanted in this project.

What is the PD strategy or strategies you plan to use in your Technology Integration Initiative?

I really do think that a workshop style and I think that if I was able to make an online workshop (sort of like a teleconference) it would be great. Since the technology component will more than likely an online entity I can include instructions to download the program and just guide the participants through it will a live streaming system.

How will this strategy or strategies help you achieve the outcomes for your TI Initiative

What will you need to do to provide leadership to successful professional development (here you might think back on the results and your analysis of your Leadership Assessment  and/or the  resources/challenges present in the context for delivering professional development)?

I’m not exactly sure what this question is asking, but here we go. In my leadership assessment I struggled in emotional intelligence and being a good role model. I am not sure if emotional intelligence comes into play that much with an online workshop, but I think that planning out what I need to say and how I say it will help me reach my audience better. Being a good role model will come out in the form of the online workshop because the live stream will be an example of me leading by example. This online workshop will help me reach teachers everywhere and show them how great the product or strategy is in real time.

Please also share any literature or resources you are using to refine your focus and develop your plan.

I guess the only resource I have found helpful is the FSU online library and I ask Dr. Deb Hemler a lot of questions lol.

Chapter 7  Branding

What is "Brand-ed" School Leadership?  (Post to blog)

From what I understand it sounds like a Brand-ed school leadership is equivalent to a salesman. The company hires professionals in the field to advocate for their product and probably provided a monetary reward for such services. I think of these as the people you see at conferences that were once school teachers, but now tour around to different conferences attempting to get educators into their company's product. It’s like working for the man, man!

Chapter 8 Professional Growth and Development

After reading Chapter 8, what experience do you have with PLN – Personal Learning Networks?  Do you think using PLN would be an option in your workplace setting to promote professional growth and development? (Post to blog)

Well I guess I just have experience with local PLN. I have the people I work with at FSU and the others in my classes. I have participated in some webinars that branch out from just the local group I typically work with. THat is about the extent of my experience, I think. I am 100% sure that a PLN would be great at FSU. At least one that is sort of like a website where other educators can post and share ideas to everyone else at the college. We do it a lot now through emails or showing them off during meetings. Emails are still important to communicating in the 21st century, but we need more 24 hour access options to materials and I think a dedicated PLN would be an amazing tool for the college.

Module 3

In the reading it talks about how school leaders can use the power of different social media sites and their ability to complement one another, such as Twitter and Facebook, in order to improve their overall effectiveness and efficiency. In this opening section it talks about how social media can be used to inform “stakeholders” to everything from athletic team updates, weather, and emergencies. The reading also has the four key principles that lay the foundation for communicating effectively with parents: transparency, honesty, accessibility, and flexibility.  Another thing that is discussed is eFACE (Electronic Family and Community Engagement). eFACE is just another method that leaders can use in order to improve the relationship between school leaders, educators, students, and parents, along with the whole community.

I am currently a student finishing up my undergrad degree in Music Education as well as starting on the road to obtain my master’s degree. I am also currently working as an instrument repair tech at a local music store while I am finishing up my degree. The closest thing to social media in relation to those things would be the blog postings that we do in the digital media program. In this format I have found that after some time it has become easier to communicate my thoughts, where I have always personally struggled in this regard.    

Setting Goals for Professional Learning

I tried something new this year in my school for professional learning goals. Instead of administering the "usual" professional learning survey, I decided to put the ownership of goal setting on the teachers' "plates".  My teachers set goals, and now I will help support, promote and document their achievements toward their goals. Part of being a leader/teacher is setting goals, getting feedback and figuring out how to continue growing professionally.  I'm anxious to see how this unfolds throughout the year.

I was recently asked by an administrator:  What do you think the differences are between an instructional coach and a leader?  Anyone want to guess my answer.... :)

In Response to Rafe's Visual: Building Student Relationships

A must watch...

https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion?language=en#t-6437

While reading Rafe's Module 3 post, it brought to mind this TedTalk by Rita Pierson. Ms. Pierson passed away in 2013.

I presented this TedTalk to a large group of teachers, some clapped, some cried, and many were speechless. Most of us sat in silent reflection.

Module 3: Leaders are Learners Too

This module asks for my thoughts on leadership. I'll start with WVPTS and ISTE because Standard #1 in both of these is the one that speaks the most to me: It may seem an odd choice to begin with because both standards deal with curriculum design and planning, but this is where leadership and pioneering new technology and learning strategies can and are modeled. My philosophy can be best explain using a standard 12 inch rule as a visual representation... to me the ruler looks like this...

 This is Not to imply that content knowledge is not important it is vitally important, but rather the idea that content knowledge is useless without the other two components. Leaders find ways to create learning opportunities that focus on student achievement by integrating technology and engaging lessons to me this speaks more to the qualities of leadership. The ISTE standard 3 speaks to modeling and I would agree that this was a very close second to the creativity and inspiration talked about in ISTE standard 1... because to me the ideas of inspiring students through well thought out and creative lessons and activities seek to engage the student beyond learning or mimicking to thinking and rethinking, even innovating something new. Piaget said, “The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done....” which speaks to the shift from learning how to learn... to learning how to think. The Five Core Principles were a little harder to find the leadership ideology that suits my way of thinking, in fact I am always a little disappointed whenever I read these core principles because the principles are what every teacher should be doing. Number 5 says, "teachers are members of learning communities" doesn't really speak to leadership unless you add... teachers are always helping teachers be better teachers... teachers are always learning from other teachers... teachers can learn from students... If that's what they mean then yes #5 speaks to me about leadership.

Pathways (Ironic maybe... However, I teach in the Option Pathway Program) and there are many (see the previous use of the TEAM acronym) for teachers to choose when thoughts of leadership come to mind. The traditional role of school administrator is probably the one most talked about, yet many of those were leader teachers before they became the leader of the school... team leader, department chair, class sponsor, club sponsor...etc. Some teachers are even cultivated by current leaders to become a future leader or dare I say... replacement. This lay the foundation to answer the question: What does my leadership development program entail... if its generic or one size fits all (like what the system currently models) then it is by pure luck (the leader was already in the person) to produce good leaders. I think the leadership development must target the position: example Principal... elementary, middle, or secondary? rural, suburban, or urban? cultural diversity demographics, ethnicity, ESL? private or public? affluent or low SES?  The answers to these questions would drive the types of experiences and curriculum for future administrators. I would offer a book study as the first assignment to assess potential candidates; Please Read, Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner "Teaching as a Subversive Activity"  (complete pdf) lively debate should ensue. Of course, other positions would fall under a similar type of candidate selection... should the department chairperson simply be the teacher with the most seniority? highest degree? most popular? It should be the person determined to help all students achieve. 

My technology needs exist around something I have very little control over... internet reliability. I'm very fortunate in my position, we have 1 to 1 26" desktops, 1 to 1 iPads, Elmo document camera, 2-Elmo remote projection tablets, USB microscope eye piece, Mac Airbook, HP laptop,  Elmo projector w/ dvd player, 2 - 65" TVs, 1 - 32" TV, external speakers, Xbox 360, Wii, and dvd/vhs player. I am trying to access more online tools and resources.

Many innovative administrators are utilizing social media sites and tools as a way to engage the changing community, with virtual classrooms and telecommuting meetings can be more accessible. Because many social media websites are offered free there seems to be few reasons not to be using them to engage the community, it also offers a way for the school system to model positive uses of the social media networks.

While the program I work in is housed at the Harrison County ALC (Alternative Learning Center) it is not technically part of the ALC, but we still participate in the school's mission and initiatives. The ALC has a link on the HARCOBOE website: ALC, which provides information about the staff and programs offered as well as Parent resources located in school. The school also uses "LiveGrades" as a tool to communicate with students and parents.

Module 3: Brianna Jones

 ◦Where do the ISTE, NBPTS, and WVPTS "speak" to or promote teacher leadership, particularly leadership for technology integration?

ISTE, NBPTS, and WVPTS all promote teacher leadership for technology integration by using standards that teachers should follow in their classrooms.

ISTE is geared toward providing teachers, administrators, coaches, and etc. standards to help them become better leaders in the 21^st century. Right on the front page it says that the standards are helping “transform education with the guidance of the global standards for learning, teaching, and leasing in the digital age.” The website provides resources for teacher that can help them become leaders in the digital age.

NBPTS is national board certification standards for teachers that are national board certified. Teachers are aware of their students learning patterns and have multiple ways of teaching the same concept. They are leaders by collaborating with their fellow teachers and working together with the community. Teachers are finding new and creative ways to teach students today and that goes along with using technology. They are able to reflect on their lessons and make changes when needed.

WVPTS gives teachers standards that are using when being evaluated by the administration. These standards are what teachers should go by when reflecting on their teaching and finding new ways to engage their students in the classroom.  There are five different standards that are in the WVPTS. Standard 4A is the best example of teachers being digital leaders. The standard states that” the teacher engages in professional learning to critically examine his/her professional practice and to engage in a continuous cycle of self-improvement focused on how to learn, teacher and work in a global, digital society.”

◦There are typically three pathways to teacher leadership for practicing teachers: a pathway for teachers who leave their classrooms to move into formal administrative positions as school leaders, a pathway for teachers who remain in their classrooms to develop and share a deeper knowledge base about teaching with their students and colleagues, and a pathway that bridges the two previously mentioned paths, that is for teachers who spend part of their time in a classroom and part of their time taking on additional administrative and professional development responsibilities. If you were designing a program or professional development intended to prepare teacher leaders to take advantage of these multiple pathways, what would it look like? What learning experiences would you include?

I would have a professional development session that included past and present administrators. They would be the guest speakers and would talk to the teachers about their jobs and what they should be aware of when they are going into that pathway. The administrators would be able to work independently with an educator and enlighten them on various topics that they cover throughout their day on the job. The educators would be able to ask them questions and get some helpful tips and information on becoming an administrator and what to expect in the responsibility department.  Administrators would also talk, in depth, about the responsibilities of decision-making and how there are a lot of decisions that need to be made on the run. The topics that would be covered would also serve as an understanding as to what administrators go through throughout the course of a day, week, and year and this will allow teachers to understand just how tedious the job could be. The difference between being a classroom teacher and administrator can prove to be extremely different and those in the teaching profession may want to understand that before making that move.

◦Share at least one strategy you will use/are using to assess the technology needs of your context (how will you document needs, what kind of data will you use, etc.).

I think that the best way to actually see the needs of technology in our school is to take a survey like Amanda said. In order to see what our school needs when it comes to accessing technology what better way than to ask those that need to use it?  By having teachers in my building take a survey to see what needs to improve and what our school needs in the technology department. I take responsibility in my school for helping get teachers and students more resources and that includes technology. We have been working on getting more iPads or Macs, but the board is yet to approve them.

 

Digital Leadership:  Changing Paradigms for Changing Times (Chapters 5-6)

Chapter 5 Communication

Describe how leaders can harness the power of free resources to improve communication and ultimately improve their overall effectiveness and efficiency.

There are so many resources available to us and a lot of them are free. Our county has made an app for apple and android cell phones. This app is for students, parents, teachers, and community members. Once you have installed the app on your phone you are able to choose which schools you need to view. You can also choose more than one, which is great for parents that have kids at different schools. Each school is responsible for updating their school page and making sure that everything is on there for parents and everyone to view for that week. It has helped a lot of people become more involved with our school and our students. Our school also has a webpage online, which is ran by our technology teacher.  Our school also has several Facebook pages for different sports and clubs that are active in our school. By utilizing all of these free resources our leaders have the power to enlighten our parents, students, and community members on what is happening at our school.  On our school webpage each teacher has their own page as well and they must keep it updated throughout the school year. We include office hours and a phone number where a parent can always reach us. Implementing all of these resources has really helped everyone that is involved with our school. It is also improving participation in our school when it comes to parent volunteers and needing help for sporting events or anything academic.

Chapter 6 Public Relations

Describe your current position (workplace, student, etc…) and how social media efforts are used to promote transparency and engage stakeholders.

I am the library media specialist for Robert C. Byrd High School. I not only keep our library updated and get students and classes to utilize our wonderful collection, but I also am responsible for two laptop carts, an iPad cart, and a computer lab that is located in the library.  At RCB we have a news channel and it’s called Byrd’s Eye View. On this new channel our students are the reporters and report different types of news and events for our school. At the beginning of the year, I wanted to promote our library for our students to be able to come down and utilize all of the resources that it has to offer. There was a newsletter sent to the parents about our Back to School Bash, which had a tour of the library for parents and students. I also went on Byrd’s Eye View to show our students what our library has to offer. When I need to make an announcement I can send an email that gets forwarded to all of the staff in our building or I can put it on the School App page that everyone can see. Eventually, I would really like to create a blog for students and parents to view and post different events and new happenings that are going on in the library. Since this is my first year in the media center I am trying to get use to my new surroundings and work on getting more students to use the library more than they have before. I talk to teachers and students on what they would like to see. I would also like to create an online book club that way students and parents could join. Students and parents are busy when it comes to working and extracurricular activities. I think that if the book club were online then more people would be interested in participating.