Week 2 of CED 565

This week was all about using the WINSS site to obtain data about schools and their performance. This was not the most intriguing topic for me. I did not really feel connected to the data and was somewhat uninterested with the process. I tend to do better with numbers when I collect the data and have a purpose to analyze the results.

I was however somewhat interested in how my school district performed. It will be interesting to reference this site in the futre as we begin the implementation of RTI. I am curious to see if we will be able to distinguish a noticeable difference before RTI and after a couple years of successful implementation.

It will also be interesting to examine trends with administration changes. We have had a lot of administration changes within the last five years. I would imagine that this would affect a districts ability to achieve any goals since the focus of the goals may change with the administration.

Overall, I examined my schools performance and was able to compare it to other districts. I did not notice any huge red flags from the data, but I am not entirely sure what I should be looking for either. I can see how this information could be useful for families when they are choosing a location to purchase a home in.

Week 1 of CEdO565 - Leadership and Planning

This was the first week of CED 565 leadership and planning. This week's blog is supposed to focus on how I currently lead in my school. My leadership within my school district has evolved quite a bit over the last 3 years. I am a member of the TILT (Technology Integration Leadership Team) and the RTI (Response To Intervention) team. Next year, I will be piloting a flipped chemistry class. I am also the Assistant Varsity Girls Basketball Coach.

The TILT team is managed by our technology coordinator. It consists of a collection of teachers that utilize technology within their classrooms. We discuss professional blogs and readings, share resources, pilot new tools, and provide assistance with technology implementation and problems. We meet for six half day sessions and several after school sessions.

The RTI team has a large impact on the day to day functions of our school. We make decisions about how our school is meeting the RTI requirement. We have initiated a resource time that has resulted in schedule changes and new teacher roles. We meet once a month to discuss the implementation of our program. I then lead my smaller RTI team group once a month to set goals and changes. I also attend the RTI CESA 1 sessions that focus on how to implement RTI.

The piloting of my flipped classroom has allowed me to demonstrate the skills that I have obtained from this cohort. The setup and preparation of this pilot has required a lot of research and collaboration with leaders within my school district. I am very excited to be one of two teachers that will be teaching online courses next year. I believe that this pilot is the best way for me to provide the best experience for all of my students.

I feel like coaching is a leadership position because of the large personal impact that it can have on students. This is my fourth year coaching and I feel like it has truly allowed me to connect to the students in our school and has also helped me become a stronger teacher.

Week 6 of CED 555

This is the final week of 555 and I think I just finished my portfolio. I am really glad that we had a class that provided us with support as we created our portfolios. I spent a lot of time on my portfolio's layout and I am really pleased with how it turned out. It was interesting going back through all of the courses that I have completed and reflecting on what I have accomplished. Feel free to check it out and leave a comment on my blog or within my portfolio.

Week 4 of CED 555

This week we discussed the concept of standards in class. It was an interesting discussion about how the concept of standards was developed, the use and implementation of standards, the measurement of meeting standards, and the roles that both local and national government play.

The history of standards was something that has never really crossed my mind. I never really thought about how corporate businesses are rated or evaluated using some form of standards and how this makes quality and service improve. This is a system that is designed to provide the best for the consumer so why not apply it to education so our students can have the best? I have always been aware of the Wisconsin standards and have understood their intentions. Standards are designed to improve the quality of the education that our students receive. The tricky part is who creates these standard and how do we evaluate them.

Our class discussion continued as we discussed the flaws with the concept that each individual state should create its own standards and utilize or adopt its own test to evaluate if students are meeting these standards. Standards were not unified because of the desire to have local control. This model resulted in an inaccurate way of measuring the success of our students across the nation. The rigor of the standards and tests varied for each state, therefore making the results rather meaningless. This issue resulted in the birth of the common core standards. The science department at my current school district is examining these standards and evaluating the gaps in our current curriculum. These common core standards at least allow us to have a consistency across all states. The next step is determining how students will be evaluated.

This led to an interesting discussion about testing and about how we will utilize the test results. We got into discussing adaptive testing. The MAPS testing is an example of this. The test will adapt based on the student responses. This allows us to identify what part(s) of the content the student specifically struggles with. Using a test to determine the student's weakness is great, but we need to focus on how to correct these gaps in their content knowledge. This brought us to the realization that quality common standards and adaptive testing should really be used to drive student instruction as opposed to measuring a school's or teacher's performance.

Overall, I thought that this was an interesting discussion. As I mentioned, my department at the school I am with is current looking at the common core standards. My portfolio project idea for this class is to actually use these standards as a part of the grading system. In the future, I hope to change my grading system to a standards based grading system using the common core standards. I would have the students demonstrate their proficiency by creating an electronic portfolio that contains the artifacts supporting their mastery. I feel as if this is an effective way to evaluate and demonstrate the depth of the content covered within the class.

CED 555 - Week 2

This week I needed to create a template of my Portfolio and I needed to create my Mission and Vision statement. These are the first steps towards the completion of my portfolio.

I chose to use Dr. Barbara Schroeder’s Technology Teaching Portfolio template to create my portfolio. I am modifying this template to meet the requirements of Cardinal Stritch. Utilizing this template will expedite the process of making each individual page and incorporating the navigation and site links. I hope to really personalize my portfolio as I plan to continue to utilize this as a way to showcase my experiences throughout my professional career.

At this point, I am not done with my Mission and Vision statement. The link is however connected to my google doc which will contain my completed mission and vision statement. You will also be able to view my completed mission and vision statement in my Portfolio.

CED 555 - Professional Portfolio Experience Week 1

This was our first week of CED 555 - Professional Portfolio Experience. This class will help us create our final Professional Portfolio that is required at the completion of our Graduate Program. This week we were required to research examples of other professional portfolios. We needed to create an annotated bibliography and a matrix that summarizes our results. Here is a link to the google doc that I created for this assignment.

This assignment was beneficial because it gave us a better understanding of what should be included in a professional portfolio and how it should be set up. I was really glad to discover Dr. Barbara Schroeder’s Technology Teaching Portfolio . Dr. Barbara Schroeder is a professor in the Department of Educational Technology at Boise State University. The website that she created is actually a technology teaching portfolio template. This template will be quite useful, especially since I plan on utilizing the same ISTE standards for my own portfolio. Natashia Sylvia’s Portfolio was also beneficial. She utilized Dr. Barbara Schroeder’s portfolio template to create her own portfolio.

I look forward to creating my portfolio which will demonstrate all of the hard work and accomplishments that I have had throughout this graduate program. It will be a great way to reflect on and share my thoughts and resources with others.

Week 6 of CED 550

This weeks module was about online courses and the shift towards 21st century skills, my school districts current online course involvement, and the Virtual Schools Legislation in Wisconsin.

During the module I was excited to watch the Learning to Change/Changing to Learn video and the Shift Happens video. Videos like these always provide me with the inspiration I need to continue moving forward with the changes that I am trying to make within my own classroom. My favorite part of the learning to change/changing to learn video was the quote at the end. "This is a very exciting time for learning. It's the death of education but it's the dawn of learning, and that makes me very happy". This is a reflection of how we need to change and how this change is positive for our students.

We needed to complete a Scavenger Hunt to determine our districts involvement in online learning. I felt like my district is positively working towards the changes that we need to shift towards 21st century learning. This is a very slow process but I am glad that I am actively involved with this change and I am excited to pilot a flipped classroom next year.

My flipped classroom model will provide my students with an opportunity to gain 21st century skills by fostering their ability to connect, create, and collaborate in an online environment. The students will be utilizing Moodle as their main Learning Management System. This online environment will be a place to watch/read lectures, take assessments, collaborate on discussion boards, complete lab simulations, and share information. I hope to utilize in class time for collaboration on labs and homework. The pacing of the course will be determined by the student. This is a more student centered approach that will hopefully benefit my students and help them develop the necessary skills to become life long learners.

The last assessment that I completed this week was a review of the Virtual Schools Legislation in Wisconsin. It was interesting to read the concerns about virtual charter schools. I have not previously considered the financial concerns that are connected with this trend. I now understand the Virtual Schools Legislation in Wisconsin and am concerned about the lack of focus on the benefits for students. It appears that most people are concerned with districts losing money to virtual schools instead of how a virtual school may benefit the student. Another concern is that outsiders may view virtual schools as a money making opportunity since they typically have lower costs of operation. My hope is that we get all of the political and financial aspects worked out so that we can focus on the most important issue, the students.