4J TILT Project 07/08

The problem we are seeing at Kennedy is that getting the staff excited about using technology is not a problem, but the actual technology available is a HUGE problem. Therefore, our team has met and is starting the process of creating a school improvement goal centered around technology. We have two members of the TILT team on the site counsel and they will be guiding the formation of the goal. Once the goal is in place, we hope to generate some interest by parents/community to raise mega funds for more technology in our school.

The approach I’ve been using has been to share my enthusiasm with my colleagues and then engage in conversation about how we can increase access to technology within our building. I don’t think our building is in a place right now where we could do a formal presentation about the technology we’ve been learning, unless sharing that information had a specific purpose. I could see it as a way to start the conversation about how to invest our technology funds. With the possibility of major staff cuts and program changes it’s hard to find the energy in the staff to work on something like this.

At Kennedy we have been hesitant to share much of what we have learned. This year, even without us sharing our new knowledge, there has been a huge jump in the use of technology in our school. It has become very difficult to get access to the hardware required to complete major projects. Computer labs are reserved weeks in advance.
Our staff has recognized the growth in use, and expressed an interest in increasing the number of computers on campus. Our TILT team meetings have focused around this interest and ways in which we can help guide a long-term vision of technology at KMS and increase access to technology.
We have two members on site counsel who will be involved in re-writing the school improvement plan this year. We will be surveying the staff (with clickers!) around how they use technology, how we can support them and what we should focus on in the future.

Hi and good morning!

I am a hermit in our school, my digs are in the “back 40″ so to speak– so I don’t get out of my room to share often. However, I do have a student teacher this semester. She and I have reviewed practically everything we’ve done in the TILT workshops. Outside of that, when I do venture out of my humble rear parking lot portable, I do share knowledge of technology with my friend the librarian, the tech. support fellow, and anyone else who will receive me into their room.

Olivia and I are teaching partners. We have increased the use of technology in our program and share ideas weekly, if not daily.

Technology is not just limited - we push COWs back and forth between classrooms, but having only 10 hours a week of tech support has made using technology in a consistent way very challenging. Yesterday there were only 24 laptops in a COW that was supposed to hold 30, because they were out being fixed. Not only that, there were 3 different interfaces on the set. About 6 of the computers needed administrative passwords to access the server. About 4 did not connect to the server and needed to be saved to a flash drive.

So, if an WHEN all the machines are up and running WITH the same interface, I’d be more than happy to share ideas about integration.

We have working on getting more technology into our school. It has been frustrating to have have these great tools but not to be able to access the equipment to implement it. I have been able to share some of the things we are doing through team teaching with two of my classes. Most of our COW’s and labs are signed out of testing. Our administrators did use a clickers for a presentation for all students. We are getting more clickers and presenting what we are doing to site council and working on getting technology in our improvement plan. All in it has been exciting having all these new strategies but frustrating not being able to use it.

I don’t think we are doing too badly. Most of the conversation is happening in the hallway or as we run into problems. I think we are doing a good job helping each other do what we are trying to do in class. The problem, as always is time. Not everyone on the LA team in on the grant, so they aren’t very interested in talking about the technology. We haven’t exactly been broadcasting the clickers because they are being used regularly between us.
We are interested in doing digital storytelling, but are trying to work out how to do it with our resources. The tech committee is trying to figure out where to put which computers, so right now the labs are in flux. Supposedly, by the end of the semester, the new versions of programs will be on the new computers, but we don’t know where those computers will be. Unfortunately by that time, we will be doing state testing and access to computers will be even more difficult.

I have been checking in with our language arts and social science teachers, both to share ideas generated by our workshops and to see what they are doing in their classrooms.

I find two major themes:
First, certain teachers do not use technology much if at all, and are not interested in changing what they do. Second, those teachers who are working to integrate more technology are finding it difficult to gain access to the tools they would like to have.

Access to both hardware and software at our school has improved to some extent, but the increase in access has also create an increase in problems. We do not have enough tech support, only 10 hours per week, and it is very challenging to maintain technology lessons without interfering with basic instruction.

Technology should receive much more support from higher up.

Our school, ATA, technology is a focus, but we haven’t been given time as a team to work with the staff. Probably our fault–haven’t been the squeaky wheel. Staff members have been talking about how to best use the technology we have.

In my own class I have integrated Keynote into some project-based learning and have been using Pages for student writing. They are writing first drafts and allowing the computer to help with spelling errors as they happen–real time!

Ellen and I collaborate on unit/lesson plans, meeting each week. We have increased our use of technology from Keynotes to iWeb. Currently, our students are working a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story that will be published online. (Six stories, thirteen to fifteen chapters in each story… very student driven… they must communicate effectively in order to plan).

I try to incorporate technology daily. I use the SmartBoard for DOL. I also love the notebook software - the screenshade is my favorite feature.

Currently, we are trying to get our machines up and running. Our tech rep is working so hard to image all of the machines. We continue to run into problems regarding basic use of the cows for word processing/research. Hopefully once these problems are worked out, I can try some of the cool activities/projects we’re learning here!

Olivia

Okay, I wasn’t finished with my first comment, I accidentally sent it in, so as you can see, I’d be a great go-to technology person in our building. I just wanted to say that I’ve been having a great time learning all the different ways to use the technology and I love sharing ideas with people who are interested. This is a new area for me and I love the potential I see. I’m frustrated by how difficult it is to coordinate the use of the computers. I find that to be my biggest obstacle. I’ll go to plan an project or activity and realize it’s unrealistic because I don’t have the access to technology that I need to support it.

Having greater access to projectors and computers has been a very positive thing in our school this year. I think that the projector issue has, perhaps, been the most helpful. I’m in the middle of wrapping up our 8th grade mentorships project which requires that students incorporate various visual aids into an evening performance. Kids were able to bring in Powerpoints, Keynotes, DVDs, or individual photographs (document camera). Having a number of projectors in the building really helps. In previous years we’ve had a hard time making this happen.

On the other hand, using the COWS is new to the SBMS staff. We’ve been able to help non-tech-savvy staff members problem solve, but we’re very short on machines and, due to limited tech support time, our machines are in various degrees of imaging and repair. This can be frustrating for staff.

The kids really like the new Macbooks, though. In the long term, I’m optimistic about the direction we’re going. We just need a little more budget and support.

Michael Roderick

Sometimes I think the small person-to-person interactions actually work better.

In response to Jen, the materials– equipment and lab space included– are limited. It is difficult to facilitate true sharing. On top of that, it is challenging to do “show and tell” amidst the raging torrent of the school year in full stream. Everyone is sooooo busy!

leebrick

I’ve shared my “newfound knowledge” in spurts… Several weeks ago, I went to the Social Studies department meeting and talked about the presentation at the TILT workshop with digital storytelling. A teacher at Roosevelt teaches a class called “The Sixties” and I talked about the high school project with capturing the stories about Vietnam… I also talked about integrating the novels such as My Brother Sam is Dead and using Geoearth… the team expressed interest in hearing and seeing more…. I also gave Honore, our school librarian the article on digital story telling because she is very interested in creating a new class on videography.
There is a “buzz” , but it’s low key because of so many other things on our plate….. School capping, etc…..

In general, so much of my professional energy has been devoted to Next Steps and the process of school visioning. Tech. is great and all but it doesn’t address reduced our present FTE concerns.

Richard,

I think making meaningful connections and having meaningful conversations with individuals is the most powerful thing anyway.

Roderick

To all,

I see a common theme. It looks like we need to convince Mr. Jobs to send us a bunch of free machines before the end of the 2007 tax year.

Roderick

Currently in my language arts class I have used a few interactive websites in both small group and whole class instruction to review parts of speech. The activities are fun and engaging. In social studies I have been downloading videos from united streaming. I have found this to be a great resource. In my digital photography class students have been creating digital alphabet books for the younger grades. This activity can be used across content areas using concepts and vocabulary.
The TILT team has presented to the staff a few activities like keynote presentations and clickers. We would like to present more in the future.