Seeing STaRs

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Mendez Elementary

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My opinion on Educator Preparation and Development

I chose to give my opinion about Educator Preparation and Development in the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020. Educator preparation and development, is just that, are the educators in front of students today prepared to utilize the most recent technology available and are they receiving development to keep up with the evolution of technology. The STaR Chart showed progress in this area through the state level. Though there has been smaller progress in the school district I am employed compared to the rest of the state. I think you have to envision how the areas of "educator preparedness" and "leadership support" work together. A problem that I see, is our leadership in schools are usually compromised of teachers who have taught a while and have limited knowledge of technology themselves. Our teacher coaches are in the same situation. It would seem difficult to really support a teacher who has a desire to integrate technology into their lessons if the very people designated to coach that teacher is not proficient in technology. For instance, three years ago I had an administrator who was technologically savvy. She really pushed integration of technology into everyday school life. We as teachers even started our own blog to communicate best practice withing our school. The year she left you see a significant drop in our leadership support number according to our STaR Chart. I do not think this is coincindental. If school leadership do not lead by example and not technology savvy, the school will have a hard time meeting these goals.

Pre-K TEKS

The pre-k TEK states that the child moves and double clicks the mouse to interact with software program. Obviously there are many programs for students to use that they can practice this skill. This skill is then spiraled and scaffolded into the 3rd grade TEK save and delete files, uses menu options and commands, and work with more than one software program application.

Long-Range Plan for Technology reflection

As an instructional leader I get a better sense of urgency of integrating technology and how all stakeholders must collaborate to make sure that each of these goals are making progress. I think all teachers need to feel this urgency, this is an issue that needs to be tackled. If I was an administrator I would make sure that these technology skills are being integrated at every grade level. Clear communication with the professional development to support the initiatives would be vital.

Reviewing the two assessments I took, I would not say that I don't agree with them, as much as I am just not there yet. I have basic technology skills and can use many applications on a cpu. I do not know all of the computer jargon and intricacies of the computer and the internet.

In regards to the SETDA, I am certainly looking forward to the day that teachers and students have access to the necessary technology to gain those skills.

This week I took the Technology Applications Inventory and the State Educational Technology Directors Association Teacher Survey (SETDA Teacher Survey).

Reviewing the Technology Applications Inventory, I realized that I have more strengths that I thought I would. For instance, under the foundations domain, I was proficient with 10 out of the 18 questions. Though it seems apparent to me that my strengths are basic in nature and come from merely using a computer and some of the programs provided. I use e-mail, Powerpoint, and Excel, but the more technical the questions the less I knew. While I am proficient at the keyboard, I have no idea the difference between primary and secondary memory. Within the Information Acquisition domain, I did poorly. I did not know the difference between a directory and a search engine or what a Boolean search strategy was. The domains "Solving Problems with Technology Tools" and "Communication" I was more familiar with, because these are skills I learned by actually having to do them as apart of my past job descriptions.

The SETDA Teacher Survey was a bit intimidating. The skills being measured seemed to be a great goal, but nowhere near where my skills or my district is currently located. For instance, I have no idea what multimedia editing or authoring tools my district has. Certainly none at my elementary campus. I would absolutely love to learn more about what campuses could do to bring in more technology into each curriculum because I have seen the increase in student engagement when technology is applied.