Texas STaR Chart

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Texas Star Chart

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Texas STaR Chart

The STaR Chart area of focus is that of teaching and learning. Within this area teachers are expected to seamlessly implement technology within the classroom curriculum. It is also the aspiration to serve as a facilitator, mentor, and co learner when allowing students to use technology within the classroom. It is the aspiration of this key area to meet all technology applications TEKS. The trends within my school district showed that progress was made during 2007-08 school year, but then regressed the following school year. During the 06-07 school year the trend displayed us as developing then next year we jumped to advanced in the 08-09 school year the district dropped down to developing once again. The trend statewide demonstrates that the rest of the state is also in a developing level at the key area of teaching and learning. This is consistent with the national trend. There is an obvious need at the local, state, and national level to improve in the area of teaching and learning. School districts need to align themselves with the Texas long range plan in order to improve the technological education that we are providing our students with. Part of this alignment requires a new vision by our local leaders. They must include technology in the campus vision and gain the support of local leaders, educators, students and parents. By modifying our vision to encompass technology in the classrooms we will be forced to provide teachers with more adequate training in these areas. As teachers gain training they will feel comfortable in using technology in more developed means. This will ultimately lead to the benefit of our students.

TA TEKS

According the Prekindergarten guidelines regular access to technology can enhance the student’s ability to acquire information, solve problems and communicate with others. Children should be provided with an age appropriate instructional programs that provide them with these opportunities. At this age children should gain confidence in using the technology. Students should be able to have basic use of software programs, use a variety of input devices, uses basic technical terminology, follows basic cues, and enjoys information text. The technology TEKS are spiraled through the rest of the academic years. Students are meant to master the skills according to their developmental level. For example, as their vocabulary expands so should their mastery of technical terminology. In another instance of spiraling students are expected to demonstrate an increase in keyboarding proficiency in both the grades 3-5 and 6-8 TEKS. In all grade levels students are expected to gather information of greater difficulty per grade level. The programs that students are expected to master also increase in difficulty; however, they are expected to interact with programs at every grade level. There remains consistency in the technology TEKS. The mastery of these abilities is spiraled by grade levels.

Texas Long-Range Plan

My analysis of the long range plan has led me to the conclusion that as Texas educators we need to be active proponents of technology. We need to make sure to equip our students with the necessary skills to be thriving in the changing economy. Our society is taking a shift from an industrial to an information based society. In order for our students to be successful in this type of society they must learn to be responsible users of this technology. They must learn the ethics of using online sources. They must make connection in a global economy through the communication sources now made available to them. As educators we must make our curriculum meaningful and seamlessly incorporate technological aspects. This signifies that educators will revert back to learners. We must learn to facilitate the use of technology for our students. This means that there needs to be a shift in our vision.
This new learning has made me realize the importance of teaching our students the proper use of technology. I have realized that we need this new learning in order to better help our student thrive in our society. It would be irresponsible of us to not teach our students the skills necessary to be successful in an information based society. With this new purpose in mind I will feel more passionate about implementing a more effective use of technology within our district. It also helps to know that this is a plan that has been set for all Texas educators.

Three Technolgy Assessments

As a technology leader in my campus my knowledge is limited. I need further development in these areas. I have a basic knowledge of the use of technology; however, I would like to further my knowledge on how to efficiently implement the technology in my curriculum. I use technology daily within my classroom to enhance the student learning. In the most part this use is teacher led. It would be far more beneficial to allow my students to be active learners and use the technology. In the technology application inventory I came out weak on items forty and forty one. I do not competently integrate the core subjects into my digital tools. I also do not participate in an online community. I feel that this would help me learn how to use the technology within my classroom. The SETDA- teacher survey showed me that showed me that I have an intermediate use of software. I need to learn how to use the software to the fullest potential within my classroom. I also learned that I am unaware of many of the uses of technology within my campus. I am unclear as to the initiatives that my campus is taking to help the 21st century learner obtain the skills necessary to compete in an information based society. The rubric for administrative technology use highlighted the need in the communication and public relations sections. I can see how I can further the communication within the district by actively participating in the different methods of communication made available to us. I also see how our district can benefit from increased from level two to level three in the Online Research and Professional Development section. Overall, I agree with the assessments. I see that there is a need for growth in the areas that were indicated. I feel that my colleagues and students would benefit from addressing these areas of need.