TEP

Thursday, December 15, 2011

8:30a-11:30a

Amherst Regional Middle School

 

Petting Zoo was fun and informative.

Are districts interested in having events like the Petting Zoo at their districts?

--Teachers need more education on the tools available to them. Want to have more opportunities like the Zoo. 

--Important that the tools were not presented by experts. Involve tech directors and principals, announce at faculty meeting, encourage teachers from the school to present. Need approximately a 2 month window.

--Tuesday afternoons are bad because they are staff meeting days for Amherst. Wednesdays elementary schools get out at 1:30. Gives a good window for events.

--FCTS is interested in having an event on a PD day or late start day. Could we have an event at Greenfield? 

--Good to start an event during the school day (people can get release time in their buildings) that goes into the after hours.

--Invite students to demonstrate a tool they wish their teachers were using in the classroom. Creative ways of using tools that are already being used in the classroom. 

--Can invite other districts to participate to learn about tools that they may want to demo at their own Zoos.

--One Superintendent came to Zoo and returned to tech director with ideas for all the things that they need to do.

 

Update on conversation with Curriculum Directors PLC 

 

Resources:

--Georgia DOE Resource for lesson examples georgiastandards.org, bottom left see NETS performance tasks

--Achieve.org rubrics for evaluating Open Educational Resources www.achieve.org/files/AchieveOERRubrics.pdf

--Center for 21st Century Skills is coming out with a paper in January

 

Participation is slowly dwindling, perhaps due to the increased TEP meetings that have a similar audience.

 

Recommendations:

--It was recommended that we hold a meeting with the superintendents to increase buy-in. 

--Meetings should be targeted to specific audiences. Certain meetings marketed to specific audiences. Invite everyone to all. By publicizing an annual agenda (or a few months at a time). Clarify the focus of the meetings to establish the identity of the meetings. 

--Reach out directly to people who attended last year's meetings. Find out why they aren't participating this year.

--Include the reporting schedule in our planning.For small schools, the schedule can be challenging for tech people due to data reporting.

--For meetings, can use WebEx. For hands on, we should have a demo that brings people together.

--Differentiate the need for planning and strategic conversations vs. demonstrating practices that are happening at the districts. 

--Good to keep these meetings as we have them now (PLC first with TEP add on). TEP Meetings monthly are important. There are some events on the tech calendar that just can't wait and need the collaboration that happens during the TEP meetings. Also, the need for tech help is often fairly urgent. Could have PLC meetings every other month with the option to tack on a TEP specific component. 

--Use the PLC's as training.

--Need for having the PLC meetings: Common Core initiative and how tech can be infused into what's being done already. How can we ensure our voices are heard. Need of PLC is sharing practices and becoming more effective.

--Consider if increasing Zoo events at districts and PLC meetings become fully strategic planning for integrating technology in the classroom. 

 

Superintendents:

--TEP superintendent's luncheon should be heavily publicized and assign homework. Homework idea: Have each research 3 things their doing really well and one thing they wish they could improve on to report at the luncheon. Can use this to highlight the tech needs of their schools/districts. Can we provide a rubric or tool through which they could do this (i.e. LOTI Connection). Give TEP/PLC the chance to respond to these and have demonstrations at the luncheon.

--Could we leverage the involvement of supers who attended the Zoo to be super-leaders. CES could provide some sort of private tech support for supers to give a safer space to explore interests around technology. Discuss how tech improves effectiveness of the supers.

--Supers want the following from technology: improve student outcomes (test scores) and increase efficiency and effectiveness of administrators, financial savings.

--We are approaching this as Tech being the solution (see what tech can do for you). We need to be soliciting problems from the supers and show some tools that meet their needs in a way that is simple, thorough, and cost effective. We can't start with the technology. They need to see the impact of the technology tools and make the connection themselves.

Supers are being driven by what comes down from the MA DESE. DESE is not really pushing for technology as a priority. School committees evaluate supers based on DESE's standards.

 

App created for the new teacher evaluation developed by Wachusetts school district with grant money from Race to the Top (that's why subscription prices are reasonable).

 

Recent push from Secretary of Education higher ed to begin working with PARCC to start moving forward with assessment / common core / technology interation in MA through the Readiness Centers. This will be a bigger conversation in the coming months.

 

**Talk to Karen from FCTS about details for a Petting Zoo on a PD or late start day. 

**Announce the success of the recent Zoo that happened. Get principals to bring this event to their teachers. Include photos (if possible).

**Need to do for common core what we did for the NETP.

**Research why people are not coming to the TEP or Tech and Curriculum PLC meetings anymore.