2007 School Year Gearing Up Here in Austin
Just finised reading JCalvert’s The Scratchpad, and he has inspired me to write about (and record for my future reference) our gearing up activities here in Austin, Texas.
School hasn’t started yet, teachers aren’t due to report for another week, yet, the well oiled machine of EISD (which has been running all summer) is starting to fire up it’s school year, a few engines at a time.
We are getting our welcome, get together, and inservice week plans via emails, list serves, and snail mail from principals, superintendents, and team leaders.
I have been by both schools and worked with new ctcs, new teachers, principals and secretaries, just to get as much done ahead of time as possible. Because I know the week that everybody “officially” returns will be very busy. Everybody loves their technology, they want to set it up and turn it on right away, and they want student accounts so they can start using their technology on the first day. These are fantastic things to expect, and expect them they should.
Some teachers are already in their rooms, untangling cords, plugging in machines, firing up doc cameras and projectors, going through materials and files, putting up bulletin boards. There’s an air of excitement and expectation and possibilities as a new year begins. Which is always so refreshing, because at the end of every year, we are all so exhausted. I don’t think anybody but an educator can appreciate or understand this “cycle”. Our spouses and significant others try, and are very supportive, but you have to live it year in and year out to know it.
So here are some “gearing up” things I am doing:
I am preparing a work session for our New Teacher Institute on our District Curriculum Resources and Technology Applications. I have included a lot of Read/Write web tools this year and an emphasis on what the 21st Century learner needs as well as an emphasis on higher order thinking skills.
I am rethinking keyboarding, as is JCalvert, because it is an important part of student skill developmnent. I’m going to talk to the tech committee and see about the idea of, in addition to flexible lab times for tech integration, if they want to schedule a 20 minute time every week for keyboarding only. By the time transitions are made, the students should have 15 minutes of keyboarding practice, which research is showing is enough. I plan to, initially, co teach the skills, then the teachers will begin to take over as they feel more comfortable with this. The challenge here is for teachers to find additional instructional time each week for this. Their days are pretty packed.
I am trying to un pack and set up my workspace, since I have all my stuff at one school now (WHEW, huge sigh of relief).
I have bounced around a few ideas with other ctcs about how to continue to support tech integration in a relevant way. One thing I will enjoy having time to do this year, is to get together with teams on a regular basis (maybe monthly) and informally to discuss upcoming units. I look forward to helping to integrate technology tools into these activities, through co teaching, modeling, setting up templates, etc.
See my New Technologies page for more about new equipment and resorces.
I’ll be getting new schoolyear information on our website.
I’ll be making sure all of our grade level and department email address lists are correct, as well as making sure all new folks have accounts set up.
I’ll be getting our online Assignment notebook (sample) calendars and templates ready for an hour work session with teachers as they get ready to use these every day with their students.
And of course responding to the troubleshooting emails and just-in-time requests that pop up all up and down the halls….
I’d love to hear about gearing up activities from other ctcs, instructional technology specialists, etc. out there.
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August 17th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Hi Margie,
I’m afraid that my gearing up will require a bit of grease this year. It seems that everything that I wanted installed wasn’t quite. We are also having some hardware issues – so I’ve got to shuffle some resources. The next two weeks will include a lot of running around. I still have to meet with two principals to explain new tech initiatives, and my district is hiring a new tech director which will require some transitioning. That said, there are also some exciting things afoot!
I’m really hoping that the get traction with the teachers. The goal is to encourage course pages and student pages in the older grades. Our district is finally getting fiber – that’s great – and we are going to be moving to web-based apps. I like your plan for typing, I think we are going to try something similar. The challenge is going to be carving out time in an already packed day.
The big task I am about to undertake is creating a newsletter to explain the new technologies that teachers will encounter this year. I will be running workshops during our opening superintendent days, but there is little chance that I will get to all three buildings. We’ll see if that actually get done…
It’s good to see a fellow elementary ed tech blogger! Good luck getting everything set.
September 13th, 2007 at 6:57 am
John,
It’s September 13, and I just found your comment! Needless to say, I need to become more familiar with how my blog works!
Thanks for sharing….I too came back to uninstalled program issues and hardware needs. Our IS department, as good as their intentions are, are swamped, so either we are waiting, or I am taking care of what I can.
Fortunately, my teachers are very patient and understanding, and are great at working with what they have.
3 buildings?!? I just managed 2 for the last 2 years and never thought I could really get much done with either. I am at 1 this year, which is making me feel more effective. But I can certainly understand your challenges.
I am enjoying keeping up with your blog, it gives me a connection to others doing the same thing in other places.
M:-)