Saturday, August 17, 2013

EDLD 5352 Week 5 Assignment 5.2


Reflections and Status Report

As I look back on my use of technology, I thought that I was very savvy within this field.  After reflecting with in this course I find myself wanting more information in regards to new emerging technology.  The collaboration that has taken place with in this class was amazing.  We worked on assignments to achieve an overall goal with many different parties.  Each student could work independently on this at their own leisure.  I feel that this is very critical because of the busy schedules that many students have.  Using tools much like this one with in our schools will help enhance learning.  A lot of teachers are apprehensive about new technology and different ideas.  I feel that these tools are here to facilitate and add to the already great instruction. 

Flipped Classrooms is a great instructional tool and a new way to learn.  I feel that having the students do the learning through videos and technology supplements then have them come to class with a basis of understanding will be powerful for education.  This instruction will allow the teachers to dive into the next level of the lessons, creating more in depth and engaged lessons.  Overall I was amazed at how teachers, students, and administrators can use technology for different instructional use rather than the old PowerPoint display.  I feel that learning is evolving along with technology and we must prepare and evolve our teaching as well. 

I have completed all required documentation required.  My action research findings has been finalized along with all logs.  I have just completed my ILD trainings and have passes the principal TEXES test!!! 

 

EDLD 5352 Week 5 Assignment 5.1


Web Conference Reflection

I have valued the use of the web conferences with this class.  I feel that the way that the web conferences are being used makes it very beneficial for all students to learn.  One of the greatest tools that this web conference make available is for one to access past presentations.  Many students have busy schedules and are unable to attend a web conference at a given time.  However, I feel that that allowing students to still be part of the dialogue allows for learning to take place.  With viewing the web conference in week 5 it has allowed me to learn of more uses of Edmodo.  Edmodo is an education version of Facebook.   I feel that if used in the proper manner this could be a very powerful tool for use with in education.  Edmodo allows for many of the features of its counter parts, but without the risk.  Many districts are using this as a way of connecting students and teachers on the internet.  I feel that technology is changing every day, and so should our teaching. 

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Draft Action Research

 

Creating an Effective In-School Suspension Program (ISS)

 

            At my current school we have notice, after looking at the failure report, that many of the names on the report were in (In-School Suspension) during the day.  In fact 43% of the students who were in In- School Suspension received a failing grade on their report card, with almost half with multiple failing grades.   After looking at these numbers, my mentor and I have concluded that we need to look at how to make these students more successful here on campus with in our ISS program.  To understand the issues with in our ISS program, I sent out electronic surveys to gather information from our staff on their professional experiences with in ISS.  I received mixed results in regards to teacher’s experience.  Many said that they thought that ISS was a “holding” place for students.  Others mentioned ISS as a place that students wanted to be because they did not have to do anything during the day.  Teachers feel like students are not being held accountable to finish their work in ISS.  The overwhelming result from this survey from teachers was that they felt like it was more work on them when a student went to ISS.  This created an uncomfortable atmosphere for all parties involved.  Once a student is placed in ISS, all of the student’s teachers must now deliver their work to the student which must be completed during the day.  The program at hand has created a damaging result that teachers, students, and administrators must deal with.  Administrators must now oversee if teachers have given work to students in ISS.  Teachers must now possibly “create” work for the student in ISS on the given day.  This makes teachers very apprehensive because of the now “more work” created with in their daily routine.  The action research of Creating an Effective ISS Program will help students, teachers, and administrators to provide the most successful learning environment for all parties.  After meeting with my administration team we have decided that students in ISS are falling further behind in the classroom because of disconnect between the classroom environments.  ISS is used as a discipline tool for administration but must be improved to provide maximum education.  Teachers are the best educators and resources that we have on campus that provide the best environment.  We have decided to devote one teacher per period to In-School Suspension every day.  The rational for this is that a single teacher from a core subject will be in ISS to help answer and provide feedback for their subject. These teachers will also be responsible for collecting all work from students in ISS and distributing them to the desired teachers.  Upon discussing this action research plan with collogues many have stated that their principal makes them go in ISS during their conference period to help out.  This is not the plan that we will be using here on my campus.  We have common planning periods along with conference periods.  The plan is for the department heads to organize their staff to be utilized effectively so that each teacher gets to work inside ISS once during the week during their planning period.  We feel this is the most effective time spent during these planning periods as now students will have resources available for them to be successful.  All core subjects will provide a single teacher during their planning periods.  All teachers will still have 45 minutes of conference time.  We have not concluded final results but anticipate a higher success rate because of accountability for teachers and students.  Students are provided work along with assistance from their own teachers throughout the day.  Teachers will be able to provide classroom like settings inside ISS to help students be successful.

 

“One major concern with in-school suspension programs is that students miss educational opportunities for learning because their environment is solitary and isolated. In most in-school suspension classrooms, students work independently on teacher-assigned work and are not allowed the opportunity to ask questions about content or receive remedial instruction when needing further assistance with school assignments (Short, 1988).”

 

We will communicate this vision during our staff meeting every month.  The surveys along with the data about student success rate will be brought to the attention to the faculty.  Once this information has been diagnosed, we will discuss the plan of action.  We will describe our strategy used in making this decision in order to gain support.  Student success is the most important component here on campus.  Right now our students are not successful in ISS.  The administration team along with the leadership team developed this strategy for our campus.  We will base the effectiveness of this plan on the percentage of failing grades while in ISS.  This action research plan will cover all needs of the education process.  There has also been designated a Special Education teacher that will help cover one period a day.  This will help our Special Education population so that any modifications may be met.  Once put into place this action research project will provide opportunities for students to be the most successful with in ISS on our campus. 

 

 

 

Short, P. M. (1988). Planning and developing in-school suspension programs. Monographs in Education, C. T. Holmes ed., No. 9. Athens, GA: College of Education.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Action Research Update 9-29


“Creating a Successful ISS” is the action research project that I have been in the process of working on.  Currently I am in the process of meeting with my assistant principal in reference to the master schedule for the spring semester.  After meeting with my site supervisor along with the leadership team, various options to improve the effectiveness of our ISS were looked at.  By looking at the master schedule we are studying having certain teachers available to teach students in ISS.  This will be a rotation style of teaching.  (Example:  1st period- Math teacher is designated to ISS.  This teacher will help all students with Math during this period.  2nd period- Science teacher will help all students with science.  ETC)  One major issue we are still looking at is to have the departments collaborate so that one single subject teacher has what that subject is currently working on.  I have researched and acquired discipline reports from our assistant principals along with attendance records.  The reason for these reports is to see if the majority of the ISS students are repeat offenders.  I have also looked at each assistants principals log as to how many days of ISS each student was given.  I want to evaluate to see if there was a major discrepancy in the amount of assigned days for each principal.  Some of my questions were:  Is different principals assigning different days to ISS for the same discipline?  Is one principal more lenient than another? 
The reason I had to focus on the above assistant principals was to see the effectiveness of the days assigned to ISS and the amount of students currently in ISS.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Action Research Plan- Successful ISS


OUTCOMES ACTIVITIES RESOURCES/ RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITIES TIME LINE Benchmarks/

ASSESSMENT
Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments
Determine all students who were placed in ISS last yearReview list of students generated by counselorsCounselor listsMs. TorresCompleted by September 1, 2012
Determine multiple offenders versus single offendersCollaborate with the Junior High administration team in determining multiple offendersJunior High counselorsMs. SmithCompleted by September 1, 2012
Identify discipline patterns for amount of days for students in ISSAnalyze student data (discipline reports)Discipline historyGrade Level PrincipalsCompleted by September 1, 2012
Gather students grade report/ attendance for entire yearGain insight on relevance in relation to time spent in ISS.Academic grade reports, Attendance reports Ms. Santos, Ms. KorenkCompleted by September 1, 2012
Communicate with leadership team in ways to effectively improve ISS on campusPromote a survey with possible solutions along with an open forumGrades, discipline files, attendance reports, and surveyLeadership TeamOngoing
Communicate with Administration team on ways to effectively improve ISS on campusPromote a survey with possible solutions along with an open forumGrades, discipline files, attendance reports, and surveyAdministration TeamOngoing
Effective communication among all stakeholdersCollaborate and communicate with teachers, and administration in regards to the success of the students.Relay information during weekly meetings in reference to ISSMr. Nava, Mr. PinedaOngoing
Action

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Reflective Week 2

I am drawn to the educational “teams” that are in our school.  Whether is collaborative teams, mentoring, data teams, or leadership teams the impact and role they play in our education system really sparked and interest in me.   This is a chance for a leader to get input as well as delegate responsibilities out to teachers.  This is also an area that one can get insurmountable leadership experience in a variety of these roles.  After giving much thought about the significance, you can really see the roles these “teams” play in the success of our students.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Blogs


Blogs are a great way to have a virtual conversation among a diverse group.  Using blogs allows everyone access to a conversation/"topic" and give their own personal opinion.  This is very relevant because educators can post assignments online with a blog attached.  Students, parents, and teachers all benefit because of the constant communication that is accessed.  If a user has a question for the teacher/educator, by reading through some of the previous post they may find their own answer.  By creating this dialogue others in the class may be able to help with any questions asked.  This can be a great tool to help learning from others.