Technology+Facilitator+Standards+Reflections

​ = = = = = = = = =__ (TF-I) Educational Technology Facilitators demonstrate an in-depth understanding of technology operations and concepts __= Standard 1 refers to faciliators feeling confident in their knowledge of input and output devices, software, file management, hardware, etc. and their ability to assist teachers in becoming confident in their knowledge and skill levels. Facilitators reflecting this standard are continually learning about emerging technologies and seeking to use them and get proficient at them so they can transfer their knowledge over to the educators they work with.

As Williamson and Redish point out, "Skilled personnel and onging professional learning are two of the essential conditions necessary for achieving the NET*S." (2009, p. 25) Texas has required every educator in the public schools to become proficient in technology competencies through TEA's TTCC program (Texas Teacher Computer Competency). This is a valiant effort to ensure that Texas teachers have a broad comprehensive skill level, but this program alone cannot help teachers master basic competencies. Technology facilitators and leaders must work at the campus level to provide training and support for teachers and to hone their own competency skills as new technologies emerge.

During the Lamar Master's program, we have been required to produce a course blog, wiki, develop a digital storytelling piece using multimedia and uploading to Youtube, access course documents through a virtual library among other things. We have been required to work collaboratively with several fellow classmates to complete assignments and in the course of these collaborations we have used Google Docs, a Google site and have web conferenced together using Adobe Acrobat Pro and Tokbox.com requiring hardware such as webcams and computer mics. With the exception of the web conferencing, my knowledge of most of these devices and software applications was already in place, but I fine tuned what I knew as I worked through each course and with my teammates.

I continue to seek out new ways of conducting business and collaborating with my colleagues and will learn as I go along when other applications surface. I am currently co-conducting a professional learning community on my campus with a fellow colleague and we are helping the teachers participate in a wiki to facilitate this group.

= __(TF-II) Educational Technology Facilitators plan, design, and model effective learning environments and multiple experiences supported by technology.__ = = = In Standard 2, facilitators are called upon to help teachers integrate technology into the curriculum by helping them design learning experiences. Facilitators can model using technology in instruction when they deliver staff development. They can also teach alongside the educator as he or she tries to implement lessons. Facilitators can also plan out units and lessons with the teacher and be on-hand when teachers are trying deliver the lessons. Facilitators are also called upon to seek out current research "best practices" and share this knowledge in the form of articles, conversations and insights with teachers as they come across information.

During the Lamar Master's program as part of the Teaching With Technology course (EDLD 5364), we learned about the CAST website and UDL Lesson Builder. This was completely new knowledge for me and I was excited to learn how to make ebooks. I shared this with my ESL and Special Education teachers and the CAST website to support our diverse learners. We also were introduced to Nings (social network sites that are being used for education) as a way to give our students experience with social networking in a controlled setting. I was able to immediately work with our Spanish teacher in developing a Ning as they studied Latin American cultures. We worked side by side in developing it, teaching his students and maintaining the Ning.

I will continue to stay as current as possible on new technologies as they are developed by attending conferences, workshops, reading professional journals and networking with other technology facilitators so that I can constantly sharpen my skills and introduce and support these emerging technologies in our classrooms.

=__ (TF-III) Educational Technology Facilitators apply and implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for utilizing technology to maximize student learning. __= Standard III is focused on developing the curriculum to support teaching and learning with technology.It focuses on learner-centered strategies and technology facilitators must model these types of strategies during professional development and/or teaching students in the classroom. In EDLD 5364 Teaching with Technology, we learned about lesson design and ways to make the learning accessible for all.We also learned about the McREL Technology Initiative Report that focuses on what works in technology intervention for teachers. In my field-based activities I have been able to work with teachers and students in the following ways that support Standard III: Worked with 6th grade language arts teacher to integrate VoiceThreads with her students after a Holocaust unit.The VoiceThread enabled students to use computer mics to verbally respond to prompts by the teacher as they looked at online slides; I promoted the use of an online ebook subscription, TUMBLE READABLES, for the middle school level that provided ebooks read outloud with highlighting of the text as it went along, perfect for ESL and Special Education students; Developed and conducted staff development on the state-adopted online Technology Applications textbook, CONNECTED TECH, which is a great resource for teachers to use for lessons on integrating the technology application TEKS into their core curriculum; Worked with Language Art classes to produce digital storytelling projects after they had read a novel; and taught district librarians how to collaborate through Google Docs to keep accurate records on our digitized media library. I will continue to work closely with my campus principal to provide staff development and assistance to teachers as they design curriculum that integrates technology.Questions that come up will be addressed through the campus principal and the technology department in our district.

**(__TF-IV) Educational Technology facilitators apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective asessment and evaluation strategies__** In Standard 4, technology facilitators assist teachers and administration to effectively assess students and student needs with technology. It not only addresses the need for how we are assessing students with the use of computer-based testing to classroom response pads. It also addresses the requirement for all students to be technologically proficient by the end of 8th grade and also using tools to collect and analyze student testing data in order to make decisions on curriculum goals. In my field based activities I have been able to conduct staff development and work with teachers one-on-one to learn to use classroom response systems and ExamView software to assess students’ achievement and to analyze data.In EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability, we learned how to access our campus and district performance scores and analyzed the data for our most current AYP report.We then, narrowed down some goals and planned staff development specific to raising the scores of those areas that needed improvement.We also learned how the CIP is developed by a campus and how it should reflect the campus mission, vision and goals related to student achievement.

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