Today, I decided on the 8 sessions to be taught over a four month period, created brief descriptions of each tool, and designed the flier that will be distributed to all teachers. On Monday, I will give Lisa the 1st draft so that she can provide any feedback neccessary. Since the sessions begin next month, I will need to make any changes necessary as soon as possible so that the flier can be distributed within the next week.
A draft of the flier is attached below.
Techno Tuesday Flier
Time logged
on 8/18: 1 hour
Total time logged: 15
hours
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
New Project
I was informed today that I have been designated as project manager for a technology initiative we are starting. The staff will be invited to join the technology committee in the computer lab one Tuesday each month to learn about new technology tools that can be used in the classroom. Techno Tuesday will meet in the morning at 8:30 until 8:55 when the students report to homeroom, and the staff will learn about two tools per session. I will be responsible for selecting the Web 2.0 tools to be discussed, designing a flyer to handout to the staff that will advertise the sessions, and informing the technology committee of our plan. Teachers will be told to bring their computers so that they can practice the tools as they are taught and can create any accounts if neccessary.
Tonight, I began brainstorming ideas for tools and started designing the flyer. I will speak with Lisa again tomorrow about our next steps. I'm excited about creating this project and seeing it through!
Time logged on 8/16: 1 hour
Total time logged: 14 hours
Tonight, I began brainstorming ideas for tools and started designing the flyer. I will speak with Lisa again tomorrow about our next steps. I'm excited about creating this project and seeing it through!
Time logged on 8/16: 1 hour
Total time logged: 14 hours
Monday, August 13, 2012
Gradebooks, Textbooks, and Pre-Tests
Today was a busy and long day for me as I spent all of my planning time and one hour after school helping Lisa with different things. I began by helping our 6th grade curriculum leaders set up their gradebooks. The purpose behind this training was to set grade weights so that teachers may begin to enter grades into our new gradebook. The curriculum leaders will then assist the grade level teachers to set up their gradebook. Although I am not a curriculum leader, I will be leading this training for the language arts department tomorrow (8/14) during our weekly meeting.
My next task was to fix unscannable barcodes on the textbooks. Students received their textbooks last week, so any textbooks that were unable to be scanned were left in a stack for me to fix. In order to fix these textbooks, I looked up the current barcode in the textbook database, scanned in the new barcode, and attached the new barcode. These books are now ready to be scanned out to students!
At the end of the day, I scanned in the 6th grade language arts pretests. This was a time consuming task, and I now understand how much time Lisa spends at a computer just to scan in and record tests for us! We use a program called Testgate to scan in answers sheets. After successful scans, scores are then recorded into Elements where teachers can analyze data to guide instruction.
Time logged on 8/13: 2.5 hours
Total time logged: 13 hours
My next task was to fix unscannable barcodes on the textbooks. Students received their textbooks last week, so any textbooks that were unable to be scanned were left in a stack for me to fix. In order to fix these textbooks, I looked up the current barcode in the textbook database, scanned in the new barcode, and attached the new barcode. These books are now ready to be scanned out to students!
At the end of the day, I scanned in the 6th grade language arts pretests. This was a time consuming task, and I now understand how much time Lisa spends at a computer just to scan in and record tests for us! We use a program called Testgate to scan in answers sheets. After successful scans, scores are then recorded into Elements where teachers can analyze data to guide instruction.
Time logged on 8/13: 2.5 hours
Total time logged: 13 hours
Saturday, August 11, 2012
First Week of School!
I spoke with Lisa on Thursday of this week to discuss upcoming tasks for my internship. She mentioned that we will need to generate reports from the data received during online registration. She also mentioned the possibility of me helping with scanning textbooks. For the time being, she wanted us to get through the first week of school and meet back again on Monday (8/13) at 10:50 during my planning.
Time logged on 8/9: 30 minutes
Total time logged: 10 .5 hours
Time logged on 8/9: 30 minutes
Total time logged: 10 .5 hours
Open House Update
Overall, Open House went well. Student schedules were distributed, and those that needed to finish registration in order to receive their schedule were sent to the appropriate location. Since I was busy meeting my students, I did not get to assist with those needing help with schedules. I did hear reports from Lisa and the others that were working at the help desk.
I am sure there are things that can be improved for next year; however, the successes can be attributed to the organization of this process. I also have a new appreciation for Open House registration! A lot more goes into this process than I originally thought!
I am sure there are things that can be improved for next year; however, the successes can be attributed to the organization of this process. I also have a new appreciation for Open House registration! A lot more goes into this process than I originally thought!
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Mr. Christensen
While working on the QR codes in the computer lab with Lisa, I had the chance to work with a new teacher in our school, Mr. Christensen. I was actually just to get him started with his classroom website while Lisa attended a meeting. She would help him when she returned. When Mr. Christensen came into the lab, I handed him a start up guide and send him the link to create his account. I soon found out that he was a novice when it came to technology. He stated a few times, "I'm just not use to this stuff" or "This is hard". After answering several questions, he asked if he could sit by me in case he had other questions. Of course, I said he could.
While setting up his webpage, we were talking about the pages that were required and the ones that were optional. After he requested me to proof-read his entries, he asked if the "About Me" section was required. I responded by saying, "No, but most of us write a little blurb about ourselves." His face lit up, and he started typing. When he finished, he asked if I would read it. As I read his webpage, I realized I had more in common with this new science teacher down the hall than I originally thought.
In short, he began his teaching career as a flight instructor. I can relate because my father is a pilot and enjoys flying. We spoke for several minutes about where he has flown and to whom he gave instruction. He later obtained his teaching certificate at the same university I received my Master's degree, Mercer University. I also learned that he enjoys running which is one of my hobbies, also.
As we finished up, his attitude had changed completely. He made the comment about how much easier creating a webpage was compared to what he thought. He was very appreciative for my help and thanked me several times before leaving the lab.
Lisa actually came back from her meeting while I was helping Mr. Christensen. She told me after he left that I was doing such a great job with him that she left us alone. Not only was I able to help out Lisa so she could do other things, I was able to make a lasting impression on a new face to our school and change his mindset about technology!
While setting up his webpage, we were talking about the pages that were required and the ones that were optional. After he requested me to proof-read his entries, he asked if the "About Me" section was required. I responded by saying, "No, but most of us write a little blurb about ourselves." His face lit up, and he started typing. When he finished, he asked if I would read it. As I read his webpage, I realized I had more in common with this new science teacher down the hall than I originally thought.
In short, he began his teaching career as a flight instructor. I can relate because my father is a pilot and enjoys flying. We spoke for several minutes about where he has flown and to whom he gave instruction. He later obtained his teaching certificate at the same university I received my Master's degree, Mercer University. I also learned that he enjoys running which is one of my hobbies, also.
As we finished up, his attitude had changed completely. He made the comment about how much easier creating a webpage was compared to what he thought. He was very appreciative for my help and thanked me several times before leaving the lab.
Lisa actually came back from her meeting while I was helping Mr. Christensen. She told me after he left that I was doing such a great job with him that she left us alone. Not only was I able to help out Lisa so she could do other things, I was able to make a lasting impression on a new face to our school and change his mindset about technology!
The Day Before Open House
Thursday was a long day for me as I attended a 3 hour meeting for ethics training and completed 8.5 internship hours. My first task was to create and print QR codes for each teacher's door prior to Open House. The QR codes would link the parents and students to the teacher's webpage. Since we are a technology-rich school, I thought this would be a wonderful idea to get everyone connected. After double checking that the QR codes were correctly linked, Lisa and I hung them outside each classroom. More updates on the codes in a little bit!
After posting the QR codes, Lisa and I started pulling and sorting the registration data. I have to admit, when working with data of this size (2,000 students) things get stressful! It amazed me how many parents don't know their child's student number or even which school the child attends. One parent registered their child on our site when the child actually attends another school not even in our cluster. This process took awhile as we had to look up the student to correct the wrong IDs. After the data was corrected, we had to sort the lists into those that were missing any of the following: immunization, registration card, or MyPaymentsPlus (lunch money and contributions). While sorting the data there were several times that we had to double check numbers to make sure no one was left out. It was crucial that students had to be either on the "completed" or "not completed" lists. If they were on the "not completed" list, we had to determine what was needed for completion. When it was all said and done, we had 399 students that had not completed all steps of the registration process. I was amazed! How can so many people not do something that is so easy??
So after the lists were made and printed, Lisa and I headed to the main office where we met up with the principal, 6th grade assistant principal, the curriculum and instruction assistant principal, and some of the front office staff to begin the sorting process. Our task was to sort each and every homeroom into two stacks: completed and not completed. The lists of the students that had completed registration included homeroom teachers, so they could proceed to Open House and receiving their schedule. If the student's name was not on the posted list, they head to the appropriate location to finish registration and then proceed to homeroom. Whew! What a process!
At the end of Thursday, I was not only overwhelmed by this process but also in awe of how efficiently all the data was sorted. While I'm not yet confident to execute this process myself, I gained much insight on all that goes on during registration.
Time logged on 8/2: 8.5 hours
Total time logged: 10 hours
After posting the QR codes, Lisa and I started pulling and sorting the registration data. I have to admit, when working with data of this size (2,000 students) things get stressful! It amazed me how many parents don't know their child's student number or even which school the child attends. One parent registered their child on our site when the child actually attends another school not even in our cluster. This process took awhile as we had to look up the student to correct the wrong IDs. After the data was corrected, we had to sort the lists into those that were missing any of the following: immunization, registration card, or MyPaymentsPlus (lunch money and contributions). While sorting the data there were several times that we had to double check numbers to make sure no one was left out. It was crucial that students had to be either on the "completed" or "not completed" lists. If they were on the "not completed" list, we had to determine what was needed for completion. When it was all said and done, we had 399 students that had not completed all steps of the registration process. I was amazed! How can so many people not do something that is so easy??
So after the lists were made and printed, Lisa and I headed to the main office where we met up with the principal, 6th grade assistant principal, the curriculum and instruction assistant principal, and some of the front office staff to begin the sorting process. Our task was to sort each and every homeroom into two stacks: completed and not completed. The lists of the students that had completed registration included homeroom teachers, so they could proceed to Open House and receiving their schedule. If the student's name was not on the posted list, they head to the appropriate location to finish registration and then proceed to homeroom. Whew! What a process!
At the end of Thursday, I was not only overwhelmed by this process but also in awe of how efficiently all the data was sorted. While I'm not yet confident to execute this process myself, I gained much insight on all that goes on during registration.
Time logged on 8/2: 8.5 hours
Total time logged: 10 hours
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