Measures and Action Plans
Strategic Objective #1: To provide teachers with structured opportunities for collaboration with peers.
Action Plan:
It is so true that children, in many situations, learn the same concept quicker when their peer explains it to them. This also rings true with adults or educators in our case. My action plan will include teachers being able to meet prior to the beginning of each six weeks as vertical teams. The meetings will occur after school for a duration of two hours. I am suggesting vertical teams that include Pk-1st reading teachers, Pk-1st math teachers, 2nd-5th reading teachers, 2nd-5th math and 2nd-5 science teachers. The teachers that are self-contained would decide which subject they would like to collaborate on. Then, as the teachers are collaborating about the variations and alignments of the TEKS for the upcoming six weeks, they will have a recording sheet that will include what TEKS were discussed, suggested activities, areas of integration of technology, intervention, station ideas and possible assessments. Campus Instructional Coaches will also be in attendance for the vertical teams to provide more depth to the collaborations through relevant updated curriculum and test data analysis. The principal will rotate to each session to aggressively monitor the vertical teams by asking probing questions to get a "feel" of where the conversations are going. After each of these vertical team meetings, the teachers will be required to complete a survey to provide feedback about the vertical team meeting. When they come together again, they (vertical team members) will discuss successes and "works in progress" from the previous six weeks to start the session.
Strategic Objective #2: To provide educators with professional development for successful implementation of technology into the classroom.
Action Plan:
Technophobia is a real issue for some. To combat this, I am suggesting that each month that someone from the district's technology department come to the campus for a one and a half to two hours for staff development training for the implementation of technology into the classroom every two months. I chose every two months to give the teachers enough time to implement the new knowledge in their classrooms. During this time teachers will be provided with hands-on instruction. This will greatly assist those teachers who learn best through experience. Teachers will also be encouraged to seek opportunities for technology professional development outside of their campus. After each meeting, the teachers will take the knowledge and technology piece back to the classroom and implement it. Then the teacher will track the success or failure of the technology implementation by providing what worked and what didn't. They will also provide their own suggestion(s) as to how it could work better on their classroom during the next meeting.
Strategic Objective #3: To provide continued administrative support in technology implementation.
Action Plan:
What do we need ? Support! When do we need it? Consistently! As educators, our classrooms flow more smoothly when we know the administration has our backs. In this case, it's with technology. The administration will continue to provide technology updates and suggestions through weekly newsletters. This should be in addition to providing teachers with additional support through instructional coaches having a weekly schedule to work with struggling teachers, once or twice a week, with implementation of the technology. I believe this will discourage those teachers that would fall back into their same-o same-o way of doing things without the additional support. The teachers will complete a survey to provide feedback about the quality of support they are receiving from administration. Adjustments will be made, as necessary, according to the results of the surveys.