Friday, February 11, 2011

Unlimited Staff Development With Limited Staff

Notes from a TCEA 2011 Concurrent Session

Jana Wenzel, Instructional Technology Specialist, jwenzel@bryanisd.org
Sharon Ogden, District Technology Training Coordinator, sharono@bryanisd.org
Troy Kuhn, Instructional Technology Specialist, tkuhn@bryanisd.org
Bryan ISD

Online Questions: http://todaysmeet.com/unlimited

Presentation Website: https://sites.google.com/a/bryanisd.org/digital-learning/staff-development

Our staff development plan is not online but you can request it via email to sharono@bryanisd.org.

Wanted to move from going to campuses to train teachers to a systematic way that teachers could chart their own growth and move from level A to B, etc... Developing this system took a year and a half before it was ready to roll out. Technology staff and district technology committee worked together on developing this. Having teachers involved in developing the plan helped with teacher buy-in. Some principals also make this a part of their campus professional development plan.

Aligned what they were asking teachers to do with SBEC, TEKS, ISTE Standards, STaR Chart.

Level 1: Basic Teacher Productivity (Supports the learning experience)
Level 2: Proficient Instructional Use and Student Productivity (Enhances the learning experience) - After training, begin to integrate technology into teaching on a regular basis
Level 3: Student-Centered Learning Classroom (Transforms the learning experience)

Part of moving teachers to the highest level is getting teachers interested in using technology in their personal lives.

Accountability
  • K-8 Principals present plan to staff and hold staff accountable based on expectations. High School campuses have an on-campus instructional specialist in charge of facilitating the tech PD plan
  • Staff expectation is individually based on Level of Progression. This will invlovle combination of leveled training, intgegrated classroom activities, and documentsed self reflection.
  • All training is recorded in employee's Eduphoria Portfolio and principals have access to Eduphoria reports.
  • Teachers are required to turn in an integrated project rfeflection form to principal or instructional specialist. They can get PD credit for this as well as for attending training.
Training Options
  • Training Menu - Sessions scheduled at technology. Teachers register through Eduphoria Workshop for Instructional Technology sessions organized by tech department.
  • Call Ticket - individual or group requests for training put in through Eduphoria HelpDesk. This helps track the trainings and the need for the trainings. Sharon receives all requests, gets clarification, and assigns the training to staff who are specialists in those areas. Also put in call tickets for trainings that were not scheduled through Eduphoria.
  • Atomic Learning - this is available to teachers and parents. Each school has a parent account. Teachers can log online hours toward reaching the three levels. Can be classroom focused, but can also learn skills for personal use to build up thier 21st Century Skills. Each IT specialist and campus administrator has access to look at reports in Atomic Learning. Teachers were very excited about this option. Credit is given in Eduphoria by administrator or IT specialist.
  • High School Options - Each campus has a dedicated specialist, so they are able to offer: Monthly period by period trainings, teaming planning (IT specialist attends team meetings to help them plan), before and after school support, on-campus daily support, one-on-one support, model teaching
Connecting with Teachers with Limited Staff
  • First Class Conferencing
  • Techy Blog - All instructional specialists post to this blog weekly. Post tools, ideas, and example lessons to the blog
  • Techy Rewards - Tracked using a Google Spreadsheet. If a teacher participates on the techy blog, gets caught using technology, attends staff development, does atomic learning, etc. Monthly drawing for technology integration hardware like a flip cam. IT staff makes a big deal out of the winner, interrupting class and giving the award to the teacher. No limit to how many times they can be added to the monthly reward document. At the end of the year all of the names from each of the monthly drawings will be entered in a drawing for the iPad. Monthly winners are publicized via email to all teachers.
  • Technology Walk-Throughs - IT staff fills out forms when they catch teachers using technology. They give feedback and share with campus admin. These teachers are entered in the monthly drawings as well. Email Sharon for copies. Teachers are usually happy to see the IT staff and welcome the walk throughs.
Resources:

Dr. Judy Harris - William & Mary - Articles in ISTE 2008-2009
Dr. Kimberly Ketterer
Activity Types
Technology Integrated into Teaching and Learning


Wow! This was an awesome presentation! Bryan has done a tremendous job organizing technology staff development for their teachers. I will definitely be sharing these ideas back in my district!