A Research Wondering

I have been reading chapter 3, "The Road Map" in Dana (2009) book, and I having been focusing on a action research top. I have been pondering the technology issues in my own computer lab, campus and district.  Last year my school district issued HP Netbooks to 8th graders, and this year we have expanded the program to issue the netbooks to all Junior High students in grades 6th, 7th, and 8th grade.  This my school district's starting to work its way toward the goal of 1:1 technology ratio for all student K-12. So this is my thought.

In what ways does a 1:1 Technology Ratio with the issuing HP Netbooks to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students, meet the needs of students to be technology proficient upon entering High School.

Data Collection Strategies:

• Literature Review
• Interview with Teachers at Junior High
• Survey of Students in Junior High
• Survey of Teachers at the Junior High Schools
• Observation of students use of netbooks
• Have teachers journalize how students are using the netbooks in their classroom with the aide of a Blog.
• Have teachers share their lesson plans, and look for how often technology use is lesson plans, how many methods of use, and any discernible patterns that emerge.

Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge. (C. C. Collin, & J. Haenel, Eds.) Thousand Oaks, California, USA: Corwin.

Week 2 Reflection

At the conclusion to this weeks exercises, I now know that I will receive little, if any all mentoring from my site mentor. There are several reason behind that fact, and some are beyond my control.  So I may be graciously asking some else in a leadeship position within my school assume the mentor role.  Now, on to the good for me this week.  I have settled on two general areas or passions that Dana spoke about in her book and those being Curriculum Development and Individual Student(s).(Dana, 2009, pp. 29-69) Its now to focusing and rewording my wonderings.

In what ways can the addition of innovative hands on living history component in social studies curriculum enhance student learning as opposed to the current textbook-based only curriculum in Texas? 

Compile a list of best practices to share with instructors, to help implement IEP Modification with Assistive Technology

How could help the  with District Technology Committee & Networking personnel, to help refine and update district Acceptable Use Policy and Internet Safety in compliance with CIPA.

Work with District Technology Committee in creation of New Bond initiative plan for new technology to fund the requirements to meet the one-to-one ratio of technology to student, access set forth in the Texas 2020 Plan.

Reference:

Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge. (C. C. Collin, & J. Haenel, Eds.) Thousand Oaks, California, USA: Corwin.

A few Ways Educationa Leaders can use Blogs

Blogs provide great opportunities to improve the art of your profession.  The benefits of blogging for the student listed in Will Richardson book, “Blog, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classroom” are the same of that for educational leaders.  “Blogs archive the learning that teachers and students do, facilitating all sorts of reflection and metacognitive analysis that was previously much more cumbersome. …. The use of Weblogs can enhance the development of expertise in a particular subject.” (Richardson, 2010, pp. 26-27)

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcast, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (3rd ed.). (H. Perigo, J. McNail, A. Scott, E. Garner, & N. Conger, Eds.) Thousand Oaks, California, USA: Corwin.