EDLD 5363 Video Conference

The conference on December 15, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. was very short.  The class and project are coming to a close.  The conference spoke about posting the assignments (revised week 3 assignment, collaboration document, and final video) to TK20.    I posted mine last night and it did not originally take, but I finally got it to post.  We need to make sure that things are closed out in the class by tomorrow night - the day the class ends.  If students are still having issues there will be an additional conference call on Sunday to answer any further questions.


Another point made during the call was to review that our WIKI and TK20 are needed not only for our place to store items created in our class, but are also need for our certification.  We must upload on both sites.  The WIKI is for our benefit so that we can easily access and others can view what we have produce throughout the masters program.

EDLD 5363 Video Conference

The conference on November 30, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. was beneficial on getting ideas on how to work smarter and not harder on the three week Public Service Announcement (PSA) project.  As a group we were already using Google Docs to document our conversation; however, being able to have all of us edit the assignment and turning in the same information ensures that this is a team effort.

EDLD 5363 Video Conference

The conference on November 14, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. was very informative about the video that we are to create.   I wish that I had more time to devote to doing the project.  I am looking forward to working with Photo Story 3.  I have been looking for a electronic storybook software that is easy to use.

I would like to work on it on my own, but after having the conference I see the importance of working with another team member.  I think that this will be a fun assignment, but with everything going on it will be a challenge to find the time to do the job to my satisfaction. I enjoy seeing the collaboration/help provided by the other students in the class - all sections working together. I am worried that I will not find a partner by Thursday. I have never worked on a project that I didn't work face-to-face with the person.  I look forward to being able to try google docs to track our collaboration.

CIP Meeting

On November 7, 2012, the principal had called a meeting to review the 2011-2012 CIP documents.  The principal first notified everyone on the committee that there would be a meeting with an attachment of the document in case a person wanted to review the document before the meeting.  After school, people on the committee did a come and go meeting.  One could walk to tables that had the document printed and read through all the components.  After the person read the document, the person just had to sign-off stating that it was reviewed.

As a principal, I am sure this is the easiest way as to not have a debate on any of the issues since the whole group was not there at the same time.  Not saying that I had any issues with the document, but to me it was a document put together by the principal and everyone just signed off on - no real collaboration went into the document.

Board Meeting 10/24/2011

In the board meeting, previous meeting notes were approved and the financial report was approved.  The superintendent verified that all teachers in the district were "highly qualified".  The tax for the comptroller was approved.  Policy FB and DI local was approved (district policy).  The consession plan for UIL had already been put in place.  Authority for imminent domain was discussed.  It was originally mentioned to be discussed at a later time; however, the board had no problem going ahead and approving the forms without further discussion.  The superintendent gave his report reminding board members of classes that were coming up.  He noted that currently there were no reasons to do a RIF.  He discussed a tax on goods form that is currently no use to the school; however, action would need to be taken if business contained warehouses - "Goods in Transit".  The schools will be celebrating Veteran's Day with activities.  A discussion of possible "bonuses" to retain teachers.  He discussed "Equity Litigation" and how it would affect the schools.

In the board meetings, there are issues that at the level of a teacher that are not known.  I will have to research what the FB and DI local are as they are terms that I have never heard of.  I learned about Equity Litigation and how it could affect the school budget.  It amazes me how fast the topics are discussed and approved.

ARD Meeting Thoughts

On Friday October 7, 2011, I attended an ARD on one of my students.  It was an annual ARD on a student that has been diagnosed with Autism.  The principal, SPED Director, classroom teacher, SPED coordinator, and the parent were in attendance.  The SPED teacher that normally works with the student was not present.  An issue that occurred before the meeting even took place involved the coordination of the meeting.  The ARD committee members were not all notified in a timely fashion which caused a conflict for the SPED teacher to not be able to attend.  Throughout the meeting, each aspect of the IEP was discussed.  Somethings I think would have better been explained during the meeting with the SPED teachers being able to explain.  Fortunately, the parent, classroom teacher, and SPED teacher collaborated well during the year, that issues or confusion were minimal.

After speaking to the SPED coordinator that stood in for the meeting, I was informed there were questions that were asked by the SPED Director to the teacher that were unjustified.  For example, modification and accommodations in the classroom should not have been asked when a list of modifications and accommodations were provided to the SPED Director during the meeting.  During the meeting, the classroom teacher informed the committee that math grades would be given through the SPED teacher, but grades would be coordinated with the classroom teacher.  The teacher was informed that this information was not necessary by the SPED Director.  Speaking with the SPED teacher the following school day, the SPED teacher informed the teacher that this information is important to be relayed during the ARD.

As a teacher, the information that should and should not be relayed are confusing.  Further investigation from the principal will be done to clarify what is a teachers responsibility in an ARD?  What is the SPED Director allowed to ask?

FISD School Board Meeting and Thoughts

I attended my first school board meeting (9/26/11, 6:50-7:20).  They began with by going over the FIRST (Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas) report card for 2009-2010 school year.  The school was rated superior.  The meeting went on to briefly note the finance report and changing the December meeting dates.  Mr. Adams spoke about getting a waiver for 1st and 2nd grade having too many students per teacher.  The board approved based on district hardship.  The next item was discussing School Board Member elections.  They approved a 4-3-4 year term.  If state declines they will keep current terms.  They will have elections in May 2013 if proposal is approved.  The Superintendent provided his report on EOC stating they are waiting for state direction.  He then discussed some board training opportunities, then mentioned the SRO report.  The final topic was an article about schools releasing custodians and have teachers clean their rooms which board members mentioned paying for sports, paying for school transportation, etc.  Meeting was adjourned.

The meeting was very fast.  Most topics were just mentioned and the public never was informed about the details.  It was interesting to see the superintendents job dealing with the city and the county - working with elections and county boards.

Web Conference Week 5

This week on the conference call we reviewed what was to go into the Internship Document and the Principal Skills Document that are due on Friday, August 12, 2011.  We need to go in a complete the first embedded assignment sometime next week. We went over what to expect in the upcoming courses and what needs to be done during the internship portion of the program.

EDLD5306 Course Reflection

      In the EDLD5306 class, I did not really know what to expect, but the class gave me much to think about using surveys, internet safety and ethics, and how to use Web 2.0 tools. This class opened my eyes on realizing how much technology affects students today – the 21st Century student. I really enjoyed learning more about copyrights, intellectual property, and laws that I did not know existed. I enjoyed seeing issues that concern the principal and parents when technology becomes a factor in the classroom. I liked the use of the discussion boards because I can see how other school districts use technology, and I have and understanding if other teacher’s views align with what I am thinking. Some of the members of the class have giving me some different perspectives at looking at some of the issue dealing with technology.

Web Conference Week 4

During the conference call this week we discussed what was to be expected in completing week 4 assignments.  Wordle was a new concept to me this week, and I cannot wait to use it in my class this year.  We covered thing that are to be completed by next Friday - Internship Plan and the Principal's Competencies.  Next week we will go over what to expect during the next course.

E-Rate and FISD District Technololgy Plan Overview

More PowerPoint presentations from angeliamoses

National Educational Technology Plan Summary & Reflection

The main goals set forth in the National Education Technology Plan (NETP) states that the students graduating with either a 2-year or 4-year degree need to increase from 41% to 60% by 2020.  It also states that we need to close the gap that currently exists from those students leaving high school and entering college or the workforce.  The plan states that learners need an environment where they need to be able to learn 24/7.  Testing needs to be done though technology.  By having these assessments done through technology data will be gathered so that we, the teachers, can learn about how our student’s best learn.  By providing learning through technology, students can become self-learners with real world experience.  In the Executive Summary portion of the document it stated that“…widespread agreement exists that teachers by and large are not well prepared to use technology in their practice…” (Kay 2006). Pre-service teachers need to acquire the technology in order to incorporate it in the classroom while in-service teachers need to continue in their education to keep up on the most recent technologies available. Teachers become separated from knowing what is taking place in the real world and need to build  partnerships with the work community so their students can begin to make connections. Teachers need to have available 24/7 access to data and analytical tools to aid their students in learning.  Teachers need to also be facilitators and collaborators in their students self-learning.

District Technology Plan Reflection

The District’s Technology Plan has four goals listed as follows:  the district will provide learners to all relevant technologies for individual instruction; the district will provide meaningful staff development to train faculty to implement technology in instruction;  the district will provide the resources to ensure proper uses of technology by faculty, staff, students, parent, and the community; and the district will provide a technology infrastructure that will facilitate communication and collaboration between faculty, students, the local community, international experts, and global databases. Some of the strategies include ensuring eLearning software is available, teacher support for web pages that help student foster online learning, staff development on project-based learning, and students creating technology products. Professional development opportunities are available in district periodically. They normally are during summer months or during the spring, and are presented by our IT Director.  These classes normally do not have any fees that go with them.  They are offered during the teachers off time (after school or during summer break). Only teachers interested in technology attend. Teachers are also encouraged to attend Regional Support Center training in technology. The equipment normally has the current or recent version of software. Within the past couple of years fiber optics was ran to the elementary schools to increase the bandwidth of the schools. The software is updated by our tech support staff.  If there are ever issues, we can notify the support person and they remedy the issue promptly. We have a program that the school uses to assist in teaching technology.  Speaking with our IT Director and personal knowledge of how teachers do things on the campus, the programs are not being utilized. With budgets being cut, there is never enough money to acquire new equipment.  This year our technology money went to the Middle and High School to acquire new technology (IPAD2s).  The campus that I am on WIFI is very spotty, and not much technology is being used toward student self-learning.  The technology committee meets once a semester to evaluate and make any adjustments to the vision of the technology plan.  Each person that is responsible for each strategy is held accountable to ensure the strategy is being performed.   

Resource: Farmersville ISD 2010-2013 District Technology Plan

The Pros and Cons of Technology Assessment

Accessing both teacher and student knowledge and skills on their levels can be a benefit. First of all, teachers and students should be able to see where their strengths and weaknesses are in technology. It would give each an area in which they know where they need to study to increase their technology knowledge. Next, in a classroom that is lead through technology, the teacher does not become the leader anymore but a facilitator. The teacher may know many things about technology but have weaknesses in some technology areas. The teacher may have a student in their classroom that may be more knowledgeable and should rely on that student’s knowledge to be able to lead. A couple of years ago, my daughter was in 4th grade. They were required to put a Power Point together on various animals. The teacher didn’t know much about Power Point and could not answer many of the students’ questions. My daughter was able to go around and assist other students on their presentations. Another positive is that a teacher will know how to group students on technology projects. If the teacher placed a lower tech savvy student with a higher tech savvy student, the higher leveled students should be able to provide the support the lower student may need.


Draw backs to using technology assessment to test knowledge and skills could be that the person is a great test taker and therefore scores higher than what they truly know. In cases like this, the student may become discouraged because they try to do more than they really know how. The teacher may put them in situations that would lower that student’s self-confidence.

Web Conference Week 2

Today’s call was very beneficial.  I know that my equipment now works.  It took me a few minutes to understand how to operate the software.  I am glad I can now participate and not just listen.  Reviewing things for the Masters Program was great.  I am glad that I was able to get a big picture of what will be required of me to complete the program.  I do feel extremely overwhelmed at the amount of work.  I am concerned about when school starts back and the amount of my teach time and college time will mesh.  I know that I cannot get behind, and that I must take one day at a time. I really enjoyed getting ideas on how to tackle some of the assignments from other students.  Sometimes I look at the assignments and don’t know where to start.  The conference time is quite a benefit that I know will help me make it through the program.  I look forward to next week’s call about going over the handbook.

1st Web Conference

The first video conference was very valuable.  I was not able to get connected with my camera or headset, but I was able to see how the video conferencing software worked.  Since then, I have changed to a different computer that should run the required devices with the program used to complete the next web conference correctly. It also allowed me to know something about the others that are in the classes with me.