Internship+Reflections


 * Week 1: May 24-28,2010**

I will be "celebrating" my fifth year as Gainesville ISD's Instructional Technology Coordinator in July. I had the illusion that this internship would be easier for me because my position already covers the majority of the ISTE Technology Leadership Standards on a daily basis; at least it feels that way. I was just wrong. I may cover the ISTE Standards, but to document me them is extremely difficult when you are working on fifty different things simultaneously.

I honestly gain knowledge every day at work. I know every teacher, not to mention instructional aides, secretaries, and of course, principals, and directors. That is imperative to my job. I feel like I know the personalities and "patterns" of each of our 197 teachers. So, when I requested to establish a district-wide Professional Learning Community (PLC) in collaboration with the Curriculum Department, I was not surprised when the Director asked me to make a list of people who I wanted to participate in the PLC. But, what I found puzzling (actually sad) was that I was the only person that seemed to know who our strongest teachers are in our schools (we only have seven campus!). That is incredibly disconcerting to me. Honestly, I know that my position is mid-level and that it is my job to be at every school, every day; but, if decision-makers do not make themselves available as a resource, as well, then I feel like their decisions are not as effective. And, I can attest that buy-in without evident leadership and a positive working relationship with the leader will not work. But, that is something that I am working on; I first got the buy-in of the Curriculum Director and Curriculum Coordinator. I have seen evidence that they are taking ownership of the PLC group, and hopefully the group will be more than just my Technology Team. So far, the meetings have been primarily to train them as trainers. But, an online book study is next on the PLC agenda. That makes me happy.

I worked on many other things this week as a technology leader for my district which included Webmaster daily responsibilities, created three online courses for teachers to receive CPE credit if they complete, created and posted my Summer Instructional Technology Face-to-face Workshops Calendar, had the Connections Grant 92-page Application dropped in my lap by the Superintendent (I mean "entrusted" to me to work on. I should be flattered, right? //not so much //), coordinated four Webinars at our 4th and 5th grade campus, finished setting up and introduced //SchoolMessenger // call-out application to administrators or a designee at each school, attended //Project Share // administrator workshop at ESC XI, and finally, school continues to be in session, so I fielded daily on-campus faculty/staff instructional technology support at every campus. I truly can say that I am never bored.


 * Week 2: May 31-June 4, 2010**

This week marks the last official school days for this year for students, faculty, and staff. Monday was Memorial Day, so I decided to celebrate by working on the Connections Grant Application. I have tried to collaborate with the Curriculum Director, but she still does not really see the "connection" to this "technology grant" to curriculum. So, I have focused the grant application's verbiage on 21st Century classroom based on the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) curricular framework. I showed both the Curriculum Director and Technology Director videos displaying the 21st Century learning concept in motion. I know to many it is a scary concept, and I am making a concerted effort to be sensitive to those feelings. However, if I do not do my small part to force a change in the idea of effective instruction, then my district will not meet the needs of our students. This grant is just another platform for me to use to continue shout that idea out.

I was excited to meet with our PLC for the first time on Tuesday. I try not to play favorites with teachers, but these are our BEST! I absolutely LOVE these people. I have such high hopes for this group, because these are the leaders that can make tangible shifts in their colleagues ideas. They have the relationship, the connection, and will have the know-how (if they do not already) to lead other teachers at their schools in best instructional practices both horizontally and vertically.

Last, since this was the last week of school, I fielded many calls for assistance from various campuses. I also met with each summer school teacher to help her get the various student accounts setup for //Study Island, A+, OdysseyWare, CPS, // etc. - whatever devices and software she wanted to use for those weeks.


 * Week 3: June 7-11, 2010**

The Connections Grant application is monopolizing my life. I guess I should have said, 'No," when the Superintendent asked me to "help" with it. Yeah, right. I continued writing rationales and getting quotes for the initiatives spelled out in the vision of this grant. A large component to this grant is also connecting with local organizations to make technology more accessible to the entire community. I met with the city librarian and the director of our local Boys and Girls Club to collaborate in this regard. I determined after my meetings with them that the grant initiatives did not align with what the librarian had in mind. However, the Boys and Girls Club is in the process of beginning the construction of a new facility, which just happens to be the former site of our middle school. It is a match made in Heaven, to say the least! While the old building has been recently demolished, we still have fiber pulled over to the location, and the district's Superintendent and Technology Director have talked to their director, as well about potentially partnering to establish community computer labs. They are even in discussion about the district using a portion of their facility during the day as our non-discipline Alternative Education Placement campus, so that the potential to use the fiber connection can be a real possibility. Not only will the district assist in maintaining and have access to their labs, I will be able to make sure that all of our instructional software is available there, too. It also has the potential to be another wireless "hot spot" in town. Even if the grant is not awarded to us, it has sparked collaboration that I have never seen in my five years working for this district. That just really makes me happy!

Monday through Wednesday, I also coordinated with the Curriculum Coordinator the English/Language Arts technology resources workshops led by textbook publisher representatives. This latest textbook adoption has been a productive platform in transitioning instructional concepts and methods in our schools. This implementation must be as smooth and successful, as possible. I hope that the process of this adoption will create a precedent to follow for each newly adopted content implementation in years to come. Hopefully, we will have other textbook adoptions in the future, although at the moment, it appears to be questionable. I was banking on the Science adoption to be the opportunity for textbook companies to roll-out content on devices like the iPad. It does not appear that it is going to happen, which makes it all the more imperative for districts to buy-in on the 1:1 initiative now, because I do not see the state helping us in that regard.


 * Week 4: June 14-18, 2010**

When summer hits, I feel like I am on an accelerated schedule. My district lets us work a four-day week, but I still have to manage to get as much done in one less day.

Summer is also when I facilitate instructional technology face-to-face and online workshops through June. On Monday, I helped facilitate an //eduphoria! //  workshop for administrators only. We covered administrative applications, //Formspace // and //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Workshop, // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> for various directors or their secretaries in some cases. It is always interesting to view the interaction of these participants. It really is a glaring insight into the differentiation of the Digital Native and Digital Immigrant.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Last, I attended the //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">eduphoria! // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">event in Allen announcing the new updates in the AWARE module. We will be depending upon this application to help us not only desegregate test data, but to create online tests and testing using student response systems, too. //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Eduphoria! // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> has made significant improvements in both components of their AWARE application. I am looking forward to sharing them with the PLC in our next meeting, so that they can share it with their teachers during in-service time in August.

With all of that said, however, this summer has been productive. This internship has been productive, as well. I am learning information that I believe is truly going to help me become a more effective leader. The textbook for the internship is amazing. Every week when I read it, I honestly just shake my head in agreement with almost everything that has been shared. The case studies are really very helpful in providing me with tangible ideas on how to solve real issues that I face almost daily.

As a technology leader in my district, dealing with budget issues, planning and facilitating workshops, installing new equipment, meeting new faculty members’ needs, among many, many other things, is a challenge. But, honestly, I feel like I have a better understanding of how to manage the broad scope of responsibilities of my position. I just wish I would have gone through this program before I had been hired as a technology leader five years ago.