Field-based Activities January 2011

This month was the fullest in terms of activities for my internship. I finally finished a volunteer treasurer job that required me to file ethics reports that were quite detailed and time consuming. Wow, what a burden lifted off my back. Now, I feel I have time to plan the fun stuff of the internship.

In the beginning of the month I spent some time reorganizing my internship plan. This has been a tedious job and I finally finished it. At least this is, before I decide I need to change it again!

I also met with the CIT for the high school, Laurien, who gave me some good ideas of what I could do. There are some future meetings I can attend and professional development. She also showed me two new websites – Tagxedo and WordSift. She also told me I could contribute Facebook tips for a blog that the technology department maintains for teachers.
A professional development day for technology was planned for our “livestock show” holiday and I attended. The first half of the day we learned to use the website www.universalstreaming.com. During the second half of the day we learned about a new available service – Google Apps. This is provided on the school website and is monitored by the technology department. It allows for student use of wikis, email, chat, and documents all in one spot.

I met with a sixth grade science teacher, Tina, who I will work with to get some instructional technology hours toward my internship. So far, we have planned a day for me to come in and teach about the use and misuse of Facebook. Also, I will help develop a science lesson on creating a spaceship, which ought to be fun.

Lastly, I attended the TASA Midwinter Conference in Austin, Texas. During this time, I attended several sessions on school technology and leadership. First, I heard Dr. Susan from Grand Prairie ISD talk about her improvement plan for that district and the success they have had. Her program was modeled after Coach Lombardi’s 5 running plays. Her five plays were vertical/horizontal alignment; 5E model from NASA – engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate; data driven decisions; relational capacity; and intentional leadership. I heard other speakers talk on topics such as: the legal framework of Texas Public Schools, TASB plan for school finance, RTI Implementation, Cloud teaching and the Texas Accountability in terms of finances by Lynn Moak. The final speaker of the day was Chip Heath, the author of the book Switch. Heath spoke about change and the need to look for the “bright spots” in any difficult situation to guide us in our actions looking for what works.
Hours Earned for January 2011 -- 18.
Total Hours to Date -- 53