English+Language+Arts

How are we supporting technology integration in our content area? - How are you embedding technology into your professional development? Cody and kasey are doing a wonderful job of helping us integrate technology into our professional development. They take our units of study and develop specific lessons/tools to share with teachers that will help them teach the skills in the unit.

Kasey has spent a lot of time exploring our new online resources (that came with textbook adoption) to share w/ teachers. Cody has used a lot of read/write/ think, IMovie, etc.

- How is it embedded and aligned to your curriculum? In MS we have tech lessons embedded into genre studies. We have skill-focused tech lessons embedded into each unit of study.

In HS, we teach a multimedia TEK connected to skills instruction. For example, students may use PhotoStory to create a persuasive ad or to illustrate literary elements.

- Is it aligned with a Unit? six weeks? All technology is embedded into units.

Brainstorm what systems are currently in place. How did it develop? We designed phase 1 and phase 2 lessons in MS. (Phase 1: web credibility/ vocab table; Phase 2: Word skills attached to genre studies.

In HS, we connected the multimedia TEKS to specific tools and units that they could fit in. There is still some flexibility for teachers in which unit to connect to.

What are our roadblocks? Teacher skill, teacher comfort level, reframing classroom organization structures to allow for students to do different things at different times (whole group v. small group -- use of the classroom computers) How are we measuring the success of implementation? How are we measuring the outcome?