Action Plan...

The following will be an evaluation of technology initiatives that were outlined in either the District Improvement Plan (DIP) or the Campus Improvement Plan (CIP).

One goal of our DIP was to implement a science, technology, and math (STEM) after-school program (p. 15). The District Instructional Technology Specialist along with the Campus Principals are required to evaluate this program. While I am not at the campus implementing this initiative, I would imagine that the principals would delegate the gist of this program to either their assistant principal in charge of math/science or the curriculum instructional coordinator (CIC). The success of this program will be determined through data gathered on each benchmark (p. 15) as well as walk-through data gathered by principals and the CIC. I believe that the success of this program should not hinge just on walk-through data and benchmark assessments. I think the the teachers responsible for implementation should be probed to see if there are better ways to assess the success.

To help with our infrastructure, both the DIP and CIP plans proposed installing In-Focus Projectors within core subject classrooms (“District Improvement Plan” p. 15 & “Campus Improvement Plan” p. 7). . The District Instructional Technology Specialist is ultimately responsible for this implementation, but they must work closely with the maintenance department since they will be the department that will install the projectors. At our campus, our 12^th grade assistant principal is responsible for ensuring this initiative is followed. Our 12^th grade assistant principal is responsible for all classroom work orders and maintenance. Since it would be extremely hard for this principal cannot to ensure each core subject area classroom has one, the teachers should shoulder some of this burden by reporting their classroom if it is missing a projector. By having these projectors, the teachers will have the capabilities to utilize other technology initiatives that the district has purchased (Clickers, TaskStream, Video Streaming, etc.). Walk-through data will help determine whether teachers are utilizing these projectors. Also, a periodic check to ensure each projector is working will be done by the 12^th grade assistant principal.

Another district and campus technology improvement was to increase the use of Clickers (“District Improvement Plan” p. 15 & “Campus Improvement Plan” p. 7). As a district, the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum as well as the District Technology Integration Specialist are responsible for this initiative. At our campus, the CICs and Technology Integration Specialist are responsible for reporting to the Assistant Superintendent and District Technology Integration Specialist. Our campus will evaluate this by viewing lesson plans and analyzing walk-through data. Since Clickers are new to the campus, a professional development (mentioned in previous section) will be provided that will familiarize teachers with Clickers as well as writing assessments that involve the use of Clickers. Teachers will be asked to provide positive or negative experiences with Clickers through learning community meetings that occur every other day.

The biggest technology initiative that was included in our CIP was the Project-Based Learning (PBL) initiative (p. 3, 7). Since Project-Based Learning will be a campus-wide curriculum change, the principal is responsible for evaluating this initiative. To help with this change there were four professional developments that were provided before the school year (2) and during the school year (2). These professional developments were done by a group that specializes in PBL. This group has also provided continued support for the next three years. The campus has also designated an hour a week to meet with pre-arranged learning communities that will develop PBL assessments. Once a six weeks, all groups come together to share their results and findings. As teachers, we have been encouraged to use a PBL-type assessment once a semester and to share our findings with our learning communities. Since PBL relies heavily on 21^st Century skills, teachers will be encouraged to design projects that utilize open-source software. Professional development outlined in the previous section will be provided and the IT specialists as well as the Technology Integration Specialist will provided continued support. Once again walk-through data will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of this initiative.

References

Copperas Cove High School Campus Improvement Plan. (2009-2010). Retrieved from http://www.ccisd.com/98920621163230253/site/default.asp

Copperas Cove District Improvement Plan. (2009-2010). Retrieved from http://www.ccisd.com/98710121514422517/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=58246

Varsity and JV Results...

400 m results:
JV #1 - 54.47 (PR) 3rd
JV #2 - 54.68 (PR) 4th
JV #3 - 52.92 (PR)******1st

V#1 - 51.6 3rd
V#2 - 52.2 (PR) 4th
V#3 - 53.9

JV 4x4 - 54.8, 55.9, 54.8, 53.4 - 3:39.01 (Season Best) 1st Place
V 4x4 - 53.9, 51.9, 51.6, 51.6 - 3:29.2

All times...FAT

Overall...I was extremely disappointed with the weather conditions. We had great weather all week and saturday, mother nature decides to have 20 mph winds from the south. this resulted in the wind being in the face of the guys AGAIN!!!! While all should be decreasing their time, our results aren't that bad given the wind. All my JV guys PRed with my 3rd guy improving his best time by 2.3 seconds!!! this is prolly because it is his 3rd week running it and is becoming familiar with the race and has started working with me (more conditioning compared to his 100/200 workouts)...he has the most untapped potential of ALL my runners. My varsity #2 improved which is expected since it's his 3rd week out from basketball. In the JV 4x4, we had to race the clock and if it weren't for the anchor we wouldn't have won it. The anchor isn't a 400 guy, but won the JV 200 and ran the opening leg for the JV 4x2 that won. I just wanted to get a look at him since I knew he ran a 54.6 last year. Hopefully, i can keep him...that would put my JV 4x4 around 3:36 with a chance to go below 3:35. On the varsity 4x4, i'm still looking for that 4th leg. I got 3 solid 51's...i just need one more to step up (could be the JV#3 from above if he keeps improving). A bad handoff from 2-3 cost us a chance at a medal...

Freshmen meet results...

400 m -
1st - 53.9
3rd - 55.8
4th - 58.2

4x400 m
57.6
55.7
55.3
54.4
3:43 low total

Had to replace my 2nd best time from last week, but i lucked out and got to use our stud 300 m hurdler who just came back from injury.

overall...we ran 1.5 sec faster than last week, but we had 2 TERRIBLE handoffs and my 3rd leg ran the whole race in the 2nd lane. Sub 3:40 is definitely possible...

By day in a nutshell...

So while everybody else is counting down the days to spring break...I can't look past today.

Here's my agenda for today:
1) My 45 min evaluation by the principal is today (in my most talkative class...)
2) Meet with an administrator and SBDM to get information for this week's assignment
3) Have to design a 45 min Waves lesson that ALL science teachers will have to do for our TAKS attack session in april.
4) Physics Storeroom inventory (there's a lot of crap in there too)
5) Varsity Track practice this afternoon
6) Freshmen track meet tonight at Killeen

Oh well...after today, it's easy sailing to this much needed spring break...

Another 40 day journey through Lent...

So i've been thinking a while about what to give up for these next 40 days...i've given up fried foods (on 2 different occasions), sweet tea (suffered withdrawals), video games (while i was in college), sodas (in college), among others.

this Lent I wanted to do something different, something that is truly a bad habit of mine...so for this Lent, I believe I'm going to give up impulse bad food decisions (ordering pizza/fast food when i don't have any prepared food, grabbing some donuts when i wake up late, unnecessary sweets, etc.) as well as hitting the SNOOZE button (on an average morning, i will go through 3 alarms and 4 snoozes). the 4 snoozes will save me 20 minutes every morning, which hopefully i can put to good use (grad school work, reading a book of choice, learning a foreign language, workout, etc.).

Let's do this....

on a side note, this is around day 7-9 of contributing to a blog, approximately 1/3 of the way to making it a habit (that will be my 3rd habit i've developed this year...)

350 m emphasizing the last 200...

So today was the first day that I tried targeting the last 200 we should run in our 400 through a 350. My thought was to make the athletes run as long as they would in a quarter, but only stress the last 200. This would allow me to get more reps and give the kids a better idea of what I was looking for.

So for my varsity guys...i told them to run the first 150 in 24 seconds, and that their finish time would be right on what they run their fastest quarter in. it worked like a CHARM!!!! my top two guys came right in at 50 and 51 (their best times this year have been 50.9 and 51.9). they also hit the 150 mark in 24 too.
My jv guys were told to hit the 150 at 25 and finish around 52-55.
My freshmen hit the 150 mark at 27 and finished in the 54-59 range.

We did 4 of these (see workouts below) with 6 mins rest in between each. Towards the last couple, they were having trouble hitting the times, but I was fine with that since they were going slower on the first 150 and hitting the 200 in the time they should be.

Overall...i think it's a great workout for our mid-season timeline, but whether it works or not remains to be seen

400 m Workouts for this week...

After a good showing in poor conditions this weekend, I've assessed the needs of my quarter milers and have come up with this workout...which will hopefully address our weaknesses and build on our foundation.

Monday -
4 x 350 - First 150 @ 25, 2nd 200 @ 26-30 (work on final 200), Rest 5 mins
8 x 100 Hill Sprints, Walk back
Tuesday -
7 x 200 @ 25-28, Rest 3 mins
Wednesday -
1 x 450 - @ 67-73, Walk a lap (60 sec 400, Knee Drive on last 50 m)
1 x 400 - @ 56-61, Walk a lap (14 sec/100 m)
1 x 300 - @ 39-43 (13 sec/100m)
Thursday -
4 x 200 - 30 secs/rest 30 secs
4 x 150 - Finishes (stride 25, kick at 125)
4 x 100 - Starts (Hard 8 sec, stride through 100 m)

One big change from last week is Monday's workout. Many of my runners are having a hard time finishing their last 200. This could be do to the headwinds they all ran into this past week...but i'm gonna guess otherwise and try to concentrate on it. On monday, I've tried to simulate the 400 as best I can without running a 400. I've set up the 350's to take as much time as it takes to run their best 400, and what i'm looking at is how they finish their last 200...By emphasizing this last 200, i'm hoping to build some muscle memory and some strength so they can finish with confidence.

My first web conference...

Just logged into my first web conference. It's a bit jumpy and a bit crowded right now. Dr. Abernathy just started talking...

A lot of clarification about who is supposed to be here, why it's held on sundays, how you can get credit for attending, and how to contact Dr. Abernathy. Now, she is answering questions as she receives them. Seems like many people had the same questions I had (summarizing a 152 page report into 250 words, is there a required book reading, etc.). Lucky for me, I didn't procrastinate so many of my questions were answered by my IA in advance. Seems like many of the people within this discussion are in the same part of their graduate degree (10th-11th course).

Reflection: Overall, this web conference isn't all that useful. It could be that there were a ton of people and that Dr. Abernathy was flooded with too many questions. I feel like emailing my IA will produce the same results as this web conference.

Long-Range Plan Progress Report...

The first Long-Range Plan for Technolgy was adopted in 1988 and set goals for technology through 2000. Due to the rapid advancement of technology, a new plan was created and adopted in 2006. This plan set goals for 2020 with the ultimate goal of producing students who are successful using technology with the ability to interact in the ever-advancing 21st Century.

The Progress Report also includes interim reports on the Technology Immersion Pilot (TIP) and the Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN). In the TIP, each student and teacher is given a wireless mobile device, along with internet access aimed at targeting middle school students. The most promising results were from the campuses who had the highest immersion in technology. The TxVSN is a virtual network of alternative learning that offers many classes for students by trained educators with course content that aligns with the TEKS.

The next few sections of the Progress Report address areas from the LRPT including: Teaching and Learning, Educator Preparation and Development Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support, Infrastructure for Technology, and progress by Education Service Centers. Each of these section offers data on the progress made and future goals.

Reflection: I enjoyed the portion of the report about TxVSN. I believe that online courses can be extremely beneficial. In fact, the deciding factor for my choice of graduate school was whether it was entirely online or not. One thing I think we should be careful of is not recreating the classroom setting, but broadcasting it online. If we're having to find new methods of engaging students due to technology, then offering a teacher lecturing but accessed online will not cut it. I thoroughly believe that one of the best ways to increase technology within classrooms is through Project-Based Learning. By developing projects that incorporate the TEKS required for one unit through an advanced project requiring students to exhaust their technology resources will produce reliable and independent researchers.

Retrieved from: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/comm/leg_reports/2008/08pr_to_lrpt.pdf

STaR Chart presentation...

S ta r chart presentation

View more presentations from jmrobbins1217.

STaR Chart presentation...

S ta r chart presentation

View more presentations from jmrobbins1217.

Saturday...

Saturday I will be at our 3rd track meet of the year. All I have asked for each week is favorable running conditions for the 400 m dash (which only consists of little to no wind). This week, I have the pleasure of a northern blowing in as I type that will give my athletes a 25 mph wind to deal with. Oh well...Run Fast, Turn Left anyways.

On a side note, this will be my 5th consecutive day to post on my blog....takes 21 times to create a habit, so only 16 more to go :)

Texas Long Range Plan - Infrastructure

infrastructure….
If all the areas of the Texas long range plan were body parts, the infrastructure would serve as the heart. Without the heart the body cannot survive; without an adequate infrastructure our technology plans will waste away and fall by the wayside. To continue the body part simile, just like we must continually exercise to keep the heart healthy, we must continually update our infrastructure. Technological advances today happen almost overnight and if we plan to implement our long range plan we must stay on pace with these advances.

According to the STaR chart data collected by Texas Education Agency (TEA), the Infrastructure component had more schools at the Advanced level (61%) than any of the other four areas (p. 102). To help fight our battle, there are various programs and numerous grants for which a district can apply that target expanding our infrastructure . For example, the National Broadband Plan and the Connected Texas Initiative are national and local programs (respectively) that aim to increase broadband capabilities across the state (TEA p. 102).

While the state shows promising results for infrastructure, my campus' numbers worry me. Over the past two years, our STaR chart scores for infrastructure include us in the Advanced Tech level, but they have dropped each year (2007-17, 2008-15, 2009-14). This worries me because we might have targeted improving our other three areas while putting this one on the back burner. Soon, we could find ourselves in a predicament of neglecting infrastructure so much that we will not have the money to purchase the necessary upgrades with the upcoming budget cuts.

Texas Education Agency (2010). 2010 Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020. Retrieved from http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=5082&menu_id=2147483665

Gotta love that 400 m DASH...

Had a freshman track meet today...my guys took 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 400 today at Harker Heights. All three ran personal bests...we followed that up with a thrashing of the 5 other schools in the mile relay, running a time 9 secs below last week's mark.

found two new 400 m runners in this class...both came out of basketball, so i'm pretty optimistic that they can run faster. with all this competition, kids are starting to think that running the 400 is FUN...which is awesome for me. it definitely takes some extreme effort to run this damn race, but the mile relay is the most exciting race in sports.

also worth noting...that each of my runners have PRed each week. this is good since it is my first year implementing my 400 m training regimen. hopefully they can continue to drop time as we approach the district meet

National Educational Technology Plan summary...

Learning - Education must engage and empower the learner using state-of-the-art technology and flexible enough to suit the needs of any child regardless of background. Goals include to utilize technology to help develop 21st century skills, utilize learning resources that emphasize the flexibility of technology, and develop new technology-based methods for the engineering field.

Assessment - Assessments must become more efficient, involve multiple stakeholders, and become technology-based. Goals include to develop assessments that utilize rapid feedback systems to help improve achievement and utilize video games and research-based simulations to engage students.

Teaching - Technology will help develop our educators by allowing them to collaborate and gain access to data on multiple levels thereby creating teams of educators who can make data-driven decisions. Goals include to develop professional learning communities that extend outside the school district by utilizing internet-based resources and to close the technology gap between students and educators through professional development.

Infrastructure - The infrastructure includes a multitude of components and should have the ability to get the resources to all stakeholders as needed. Goals include to ensure that stakeholders have access to broadband internet in and out of the school as well as utilizing open source educational software to engage all learners.

Productivity - Due to tight economic times, productivity will rely on spending the budget efficiently and technology will help determine how efficient each dollar is spent. Goals include to improve policy involving budgeting by using technology as well as breaking down the confines of our education system and embracing a new technology-based classroom.

Reflection...I think that this paper basically states what a lot of us educators already know. For example, we all know that we need to be smart with the money we spend (this applies at all levels, home, school, and GOVERNMENT). It makes sense that we use technology to help us pinpoint when and where we spend our money since technology can calculate with the power of 10+ people. I do like what they say about using open source educational resources. This will help support the productivity section since open source programs usually are free. I am also a firm believer of using video games and simulations to help engage our students. As a physics teacher, I found a simulation site developed by the University of Colorado that I have found very useful and very engaging.

Original document can be found at http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/NETP-2010-final-report.pdf

TAKS Testing...

Thanks to our super awesome testing coordinator, I had the luxury of being relief duty. This allowed me to read all seven of our selected readings for this week's course. Overall, i found the readings very informative and eye-opening!!!

The one that most stood out was the paper about using open source programs. All you hear about in the local news are the budget cuts that are happening across each school district. In one paragraph, the author outlined three open source programs that could replace the likes of Microsoft XP, Microsoft Office, and the other I can't remember right now. On average, the buyer could save $140 per computer. If that school has 20,000 computers (think larger urban school districts), that district could have saved $2.8 million!!!! This would have made budget cuts a lot more feasible...plus, imagine all the other resources we could be using that $2.8 million to fund

Trying to make blogging a habit...

I've heard it takes 21 times to make something a habit, so I'm going to try to post 21 days in a row since I am a firm believer in blogging and the powers it holds for educators...

welcome all who read, hopefully i'll post something that's worth following...