February+2011

No activity
 * Week 1: 2/1/2011 - 2/5/2011**

Finally the week I had been waiting for all year. This year we rounded up many of our CTC's and two of our district techs and drove two separate school issued suburbans up to Austin, TX. The drive itself is a very lengthy one since we are coming all the way down from the Rio Grande Valley. Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel and registered for the conference at the Austin Convention Center. In day one of the conference, I sat in on many of the mini-workshops provided by exhibitors like Dell, HP, Texas Instruments, Tuning Point, Brainchild and Smart Technologies to name a few. Through these mini-workshops I was able to gain exposure to new innovative products and services geared towards the K-12 market. I also spoke and networked with many company representatives and got invited to many of the evening socials being held in the famous 6th street area. You can't go to TCEA without grabbing your share of interesting freebies. I grabbed so many, I had two large tote bags full of pens and other freebies. While I was at conference, I learned about various assessment tools, computer hardware for classrooms, interactive tools, web based services and curriculum, publishing companies, instructional software, telecommunication tools and so much more. I saw so much technology that I became overwhelmed. These representatives present their products in a very fashionable manner that it is difficult to remember the previous product or service I had seen once I had seen a new one. At the end of the day and the trip, I was exhausted and ready to share the new knowledge and freebies with my co-workers and students. I believe that his activity was related to and helped me master the following standards/indicators: TF-V.A.1. / TF-VII.B.1. The conference most closely resembles the task of identifying resources and participated in professional development activities and professional technology organizations to support my ongoing professional growth related to technology.
 * Week 2: 2/6/2011 - 2/12/2011: TCEA Austin**

Sources: Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene,OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

This week I focused on my mentoree Mr. Ector Lopez for two reasons: sharing about TCEA products and services as well as a new program that will be rolled out for summer school. Mr. Lopez was happy to receive his share of literature, pens, trial software, tools, and other goodies I brought for him from my Austin trip last week. More importantly, I wanted to be specific with him on the history of how curriculum and programs have evolved into sophisticated full learning management systems. I provided examples of how schools used skill and drill programs in computer lab for RTI or other remedial purposes. Today, technology has allowed for schools to purchase comprehensive learning management systems that are customizable to each and every single learner. E-learning has taken K-12 sector by storm and I made him understand that these technologies are widely available and our district will implement a program this summer for our summer school students. The program, e2020, is a very easy to use standards-based and rigrorous suite that provides key instructional elements. These elements are taught by highly qualified teachers, and all learning objectives are presented via engaging, prerecorded online video. The students are then followed up with an assessment which that provides immediate reports for the administrator or teacher. To help illustrate my point of how students have lost interest in traditional instructional pedagogies, I provided Mr. Lopez with some articles from EDLD 5306 including //Listen To The Natives// and //Turning On The Lights,//both by Mark Prensky. I believe that his activity was related to and helped me master the following standards/indicators: TF-VIII.B.1. / TF-I.A.1. Again the activity was very casual however I was able to effectively assist Mr. Lopez understand and learn about the history of technology use in schools. Subsequently, I assisted with acquisition of knowledge, skills and understanding of technology systems as well as provide resources and services to meet his individual learning needs for technology in the classroom.
 * Week 3: 2/13/2011 - 2/19/2011: History of Technology in Schools**

Sources: Prensky, M. (2005/2006). Listen to the natives. //Educational Leadership, 63(4)//, 8-13.

Prensky, M. (2008). Turning on the lights. //Educational Leadership, 65(6)//, 40-45.

Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene,OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

As we enter the month of March, our school has tons of testing dates on the horizon. In addition, we have spring break coming up and it is important that our parents and students be aware of these dates. First, I updated the webpage calendar with all the important dates provided to me by my campus principal and dean of instruction. I also changed the headlines and news portion to reflect the importance of resting during spring break. The break is necessary as students will embark in a rigorous teaching and testing schedule in an effort to prepare for TAKS. Coaches and administrators also provided me with updated forms that needed to be updated for our constituents. I admit, I haven't updated many of the picture in our picture roll and this week I updated it with some classroom learning, sports, and parental pictures that present our school in a positive manner. I always try to differentiate our webpage for the other campuses and I have already been told that we have the most innovative page. One way I have done this is by using web 2.0 tool and photo sharing website called Photobucket. Our built in photo vault is very difficult to use and parents complain frequently because they are not able to download their child's photo. I started using Photobucket because it is easy to use, organize and embed on our campus web page. Best of all, it has tons of free online storage for photos and parents can simply click on the picture they want and download a high resolution copy of the photo they desire. I believe that this activity was related and helped me master the following standard/indicators: TF-V.D.4. Simply put, I am in constantly in charge of designing, developing and maintaining the campus web page/site to help communicate valuable data between our school organization and the community.
 * Week 4: 2/20/2011 - 2/26/2011:** **CTC Duties**

Sources: Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene,OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

No activity
 * Week 5: 2/27/2011 - 2/28/2011**