Graduation within REACH!

I can't believe it is finally here.  Graduation is finally within REACH!  I am sitting down today to complete the final assignments for my graduate program from Lamar University.  WOW!  It is a great feeling knowing I accomplished this task at such a busy time in my life.  Graduate work often took my sleeping hours away as I juggles both my children being in multiple sports and activities, building a lakehouse, being a curriculum writing for MISD, and my husband and I still managed to have date nights on occasion.  I definitely learned how to juggle a busy schedule, which is needed in the world of leadership.
I am proud of myself for this accomplishment, but I also know the journey is just beginning.  One of my goals in the next five years is to go back to school for a doctorate degree.  In education, we must always continue to grow and learn if we expect the ones we are leading to do the same.
I am the very first person in my extended family to have a master's degree.  I hope my children see this accomplishment and follow in my footsteps.  Education is one of those things that can never be taken away!  I earned this degree, worked hard for this degree, and I will own this degree for the rest of my life!  Go LAMAR!

Web Conference Notes

I tried to attend web conference tonight at 7:30, however, I logged in and waited, and waited, and waited. No one ever came on as a host to get the conference going. I have attended web conferences before, and I have not had trouble with it. So, did I miss something or was the session cancelled?

Either way, I have reviewed all web conference scripts previously held. From these scripts, I have gathered valuable information, such as ILD courses offered on-line through various regions, our last course is a chance to complete our action research project as well as confirm that all our assignments are posted correctly, and the location of review videos for the LCE. The only thing that was irritating about reading through these scripts was the fact that too many people got off task/off graduate school issues and began talking about shopping and such. I know it is important for us to form bonds with students in our classes, but I also know that time is of the essence, and I want to get as much out of the conference as possible.

Technology Action Research Chart and Role/Responsibility Chart

The following two charts represent my Technology Action Research Plan and the Roles and Responsibilities for Technology personnel on our campus.  These charts are part of our Week 4's Assignment for EDLD 5352 section 1267.

Action Research Plan Technology Integration for CMS By Darla Jackson
Goal:  Provide data supporting the need for professional development in the area of technology integration in our classrooms.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Analyze data from the STaR Chart	Site Supervisor/ Principal	February 21, 2012	STaR Chart information on campus, district, and state	Reflect on the areas of strengths and weaknesses: Educator Preparation and Development
Set goals for the campus using STaR Chart data	Leadership Team	February 28, 2012	Copies of STaR results per team member, copies of Texas Long Term Plan, and our MISD Technology Plan	Choose 2 areas of weakness to improve upon for the remainder of the year
Create a professional development plan based on the areas of need	Leadership Team	February 28, 2012	Brainstorm Web 2.0 Tools to incorporate into classrooms to help in areas of weakness	Create a list of the three professional development sessions to help accomplish improvement
Show staff the results from the STaR Chart, discuss 2 areas of weakness, and professional development offered to remedy the weaknesses	Whole staff	March 7, 2012	Powerpoint showing the results, the areas of need, and the goals set forth by the leadership team	Survey teachers on results of meeting (find out how many teachers didn’t even know what the STaR Chart was designed to show vs. those familiar with the process) Also, include suggestions on integration tools and teacher know-how (who is an “Expert” on our campus in the area of technology integration?)
Provide professional development that meets the needs of ALL staff members (differentiation) Staff members will attend the session they need the most (These same sessions will be available again for additional training at a later date)	Whole staff	March 21, 2012	Experts to teach in the areas of need: -       SmartBoard Smarts -       Wikis at Work -       Go for Glogsters -       Building a Blog -       Edmodo Education	Formal and informal evaluations from PDAS evaluators making sure these tools are being integrated Survey to students to see if they are experiencing more technology than before Next STaR Chart evaluation
Evaluate STaR Chart when the updated data is released…begin the whole process again	Principal and Leadership Team	TBD Upon receipt of new data	STaR Chart update	Evaluate data to see if there was a positive trend in our areas of weakness

Roles and Responsibilities for Technology Chart

Title	Name	Job Description	Monitoring
Chief Informational Officer of Technology	Allen McDaniels	Creates the MISD Technology Plan, manages and budgets systems software for the district, manages and budgets hardware for the district, aligns district expectations to the state technology plan	Reports to Dr. Kennedy about keeping track with the Technology Plan
Director of Information Systems	Carlo Terlizzi	Approves and purchases software systems for the district (under Allen McDaniels)	Upgrading software systems and reporting to Dr. Kennedy
Help Desk		Assists employees when needed to solve software and hardware issues, Resets passwords, and puts in help request orders	Directly reports to Allen McDaniels and is monitored by survey of assistance by district employees
Principal	Melinda DeFelice	Principal, budget and planning for technology, makes sure her campus supports and implements district technology expectations	STaR Chart results, formal and informal evaluations, and provides funding for and planning of technology professional development
CTS (Campus Technology Specialist)	Jenny Keiser	Assists staff members on her campus per help desk requests, installs software as needed, services two campuses	Sends work completed forms to district level employees, monitored and assessed by employee feedback and availability
LMS (Library Media Specialist)	Jennifer McClelland	Assists in providing training on our campus, provides latest and greatest in Web 2.0 Tools to the staff	Reports to our principal about the needs on our campus
Teachers	All staff	Provide instruction that keeps up with the district and state technology plans, integrate technology in daily lessons, provides students opportunity to explore and problem solve using technology as the norm, not the exception	STaR Chart, survey of students, student products based on project based learning
Students	All students	Engage in integrated lessons, share knowledge of technology with peers and teachers, use technology within the AUP guidelines	STaR Chart, process and product from project based learning
Parents	All parents with access to technology at home or work	Utilize tools provided by the district and campus to access student grades, teacher information, and share knowledge and concerns with staff members	Survey and parents level of communication with school

S ta r presentationView more presentations from pdpgjackson.

Are we on the right track?

The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology has some grand goals in sight for education.  Yet, many of the barriers blocking us from reaching these goals are out of educators' hands.  So as I looked closely at the four areas of our long range plan in Texas, I decided to choose the one area I am pursuing professionally, Leadership, Administration, & Instructional Support.
As future leaders, it is important to see how administrators shape and influence the use of technology on a campus.  Similar to how we model expectations for our students, leaders need to model the use of technology with their staff.  I have such an awesome administrator, and I never had stopped to reflect on how often technology is or isn't used in our staff meetings and professional development sessions.  However, now that I have gone through the data presented in the STaR Chart and have given some thought on administrative support in the area of technology, I realize this is not a strength on our campus.  Having said that, our administrators give us support and empower us in many other ways.  I do not want this blog to give the impression that I am critiquing my leaders...I am simply reflecting on the data I have discovered.
When it comes to technology, the Administration & Instructional Support area encompasses vision, planning, instructional support, communication, budgeting, and online learning.  State-wide, in 2009-2010, 55% of educators felt their campuses were performing at the Advanced Technology level.  This was an increase from the previous two years which shows our administrators are backing technology more and more each year.  2010-2011's results were not posted on-line, so I have no way of following the trend to see if my estimation is correct.  In this same year, McKinney ISD also rated themselves Advanced Technology.  On our campus, in 2009-2010, Administration & Instructional Support was at its highest with a rating of 18.  This is also the year that our administrators gave multiple opportunities for technology training.  Unfortunately, the next year proved to have a decline in this area.
In 2010-2011, our campus rated Advanced Technology again, however, we dropped 3 points to a 15, one point from being Developing Tech.  Planning, Budgeting, and Online Learning are the areas we dropped.  According to the rubric found on the STaR website, our campus lacked confidence in our technology goals and objectives and felt we were not using money in a way that showed a technology focus.  That year, our focus turned to critical and authentic reading and writing in all content areas.  That is a great focus to have, however, we should not have abandoned digital tools. It should not be a "one or the other" philosophy.  The question becomes, "How can we get students to think critically and read and write in all subject areas while integrating technology tools?"  It's about working and planning smarter, not harder.  Technology is not going anywhere...we must find a way to integrate these tools into everyday teaching.  In order for us to improve in this area, we need to shift our thinking.  In the article, "Real Projects in a Digital World," Boss and Krauss share a statement about an administrator.  "To help them succeed, Tipton (the principal) ensures that her teachers have adequate time for planning, collaboration, and critical review of one another's project plans" (Ross 24).  I'm curious what this school's rating would be in the area of Administration & Instructional Support.  My guess...Target Tech.
I know technology is a weakness of mine, so I need to attend professional development in order to improve and begin feeling more comfortable using digital tools.  As a future leader on a campus, I must make this a priority, so my staff knows the expectation is to integrate technology in our daily lessons.  My staff will know this is my expectation because I model integrated technology.

Does Interdisciplinary Instruction Impact Student Success?

Does Interdisciplinary Instruction Impact Student Success?

Needs Assessment:           

When teaching at the elementary level, instruction is not departmentalized like it is at the secondary level.  Rigor for secondary students continues to increase through the expectation of critical thinking, however, the manner in which information is given to students is not changing.  When students are in history class, they have tunnel vision for only historical dates, important people, and significant locations for events in our past.  When students are in science, they only see scientific information through the eyes of a scientist.  When in reading, literature seems yet another subject on its own island.  Students are not connecting and interacting with these subjects simultaneously, therefore, they do not transfer information from one subject to another.  Educators need to look at ways to help students find connections that will increase learning, increase motivation, promote critical thinking, develop strategies for transferring knowledge across curriculum subjects, and construct meaning in an authentic manner.  If interdisciplinary instruction is used consistently, students should begin thinking holistically and gain a global perspective instead of viewing information with tunnel vision.  

I began looking into interdisciplinary instruction after a class discussion in my Language Arts/Reading class one day last spring.  We were frontloading information about Mark Twain.  Students were required to research information about Twain’s background, his literary works, and his main contribution to literature.  Basically, they were tasked with answering the question, “Why do we still read and analyze Mark Twain’s literary work over one hundred years after his death?”  The results were dismal.  Students could tell me facts about his life, but no one was able to connect why his satirical writing made such an impact on life during this time in our history.  The fact that our country was experiencing one of its darkest eras during the time his writing was released did not phase my students.  The Civil War was the driving force for many of his pieces, and he wanted to remind adults what life was really like when they were kids, when life was simplier and the world was one big adventure.  It took much probing for my students to make any connection from their history class, which just studied the Civil War, to the literature I was frontloading. At that moment, I realized what a disservice we do to our students by having each subject departmentalized with no cross-over for them to grasp hold of to make vital connections. 

This discovery made me reflect on what we really want our students accomplishing when they are absorbing the information we provide. Is it more important to have our students memorize all the facts and dates of various historical events and/or author’s work from a given time period, or it is more important to have our students be able to apply the knowledge they learn in those subjects, make connections across the curriculum, and then think critically as to how they fit together like a puzzle?  Once this connection is made, students can then begin to problem solve holistically and begin to actively construct meaning of concepts and themes in an authentic manner.  At this point, the rigor is truly being increased and our students are thinking and making connections.  Now it was time to put data and research behind the concept of interdisciplinary instruction.

While disseminating MAP data in the spring last year, I began looking for patterns in student weaknesses.  Our English as a Second Language (ESL) students in particular seem to struggle with academic vocabulary, words such as evaluate, significant, and perserverance.  These are terms used in all areas of academics, and students should know these words and how to apply them to critical thinking.  I decided to survey my students using an academic word list, words used in all subjects (Appendix A).  The survey simply required students to sort words into any 4 categories and label them accordingly.  Sixty percent of my ESL students placed the words into subject categories.   Words like “evaluate” were placed into the science category, and words like “predict” were placed in the reading category.  I had other students do the same thing, but my ESL students gave me the results I had expected based on the MAP data.  After sorting these words, I pulled my ESL students into my small group and asked how these words apply to other subjects.  Only one out of ten students was able to tell me how the word “predict” applies to science and the word is known as “hypothesis” in that subject.  Nine of my ten subject students still struggled to make the connection.  “Interdisciplinary/cross-curricular teaching is often seen as a way to address some of the recurring problems in education, such as fragmentation and isolated skill instruction. It is seen as a way to support goals such as transfer of learning, teaching students to think and reason, and providing a curriculum more relevant to students” (Marzano, 1991; Perkins, 1991).  When students can see the relevance, instruction becomes focused and students improve performance by thinking holistic rather than in bits and pieces.

Objectives and Vision of the Action Research Project

            Based on the results from my needs assessment, an action research project was born.  My vision was to show how interdisciplinary instruction positively impacts student improvement.  “Interdisciplinary/cross-curricular teaching involves a conscious effort to apply knowledge, principles, and/or values to more than one academic discipline simultaneously. The disciplines may be related through a central theme, issue, problem, process, topic, or experience” (Jacobs, 1989).  In my case, the use of common vocabulary was a reasonable starting point.  I disseminated MAP vocabulary data to serve as a baseline for my results.  Of my ten ESL students, the average score from MAP was 192.  The norm for an eighth grader is 220.  That is a 28 point achievement gap.  My objective is to close that gap by 50% in a nine week period by having our four core subjects plan together using common vocabulary and common concepts.  At the end of the nine weeks, the goal average will be 206.  

Review of the Literature and Action Research Strategy

            If educators do not change instruction to accommodate the expected rigor for college readiness, our students will lack the critical thinking skills needed in the 21^st Century.  “According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, while students are learning the basic information in core subject areas, they are not learning to apply their knowledge effectively in thinking and reasoning” (Applebee, Langer, & Mullis, 1989).  Standardized testing has only increased this issue.  Students are trained to choose the correct answer, but they are unable to critically explain their thinking behind why they chose that answer.  In the technology driven world we live in, there is little value in memorization.  The focus has shifted and the importance is now on finding relevant information to help support thinking and applying that knowledge to help problem solve and construct deeper meaning.  “Interdisciplinary/cross-curricular teaching can increase students' motivation for learning and their level of engagement. In contrast to learning skills in isolation, when students participate in interdisciplinary experiences they see the value of what they are learning and become more actively engaged” (Resnick, 1989).  Best practice is all about engagement.  If students are not engaged and they do not see the relevance of the lesson, retention of knowledge will decrease drastically.  This is where intervention practices often fail.  My ESL students are usually the ones pulled from class to receive additional tutoring/interventions.  During the intervention session, the teacher often gives test taking strategies and students practice these strategies on standardized test practice passages.  No critical thinking, no discussions, no authentic learning.  MaryEllen Vogt stated it best when she said,

“In the past, students who struggled to learn were frequently excluded from participating in activities that led to exploration, discovery, and critical thinking. With thematic instruction, however, these students can be fully included. For example, prior to introducing a piece of literature or informational text, it is beneficial to provide additional support for students who lack background knowledge, or who have difficulty understanding selection vocabulary and concepts. Teachers or specialists may provide this background information and preteach potentially troublesome words or concepts. Other class members who possess a good deal of background information about the theme may join the group and share information. This "support in advance" enables the students who struggle to fully participate in class discussions, writing, sharing, and reading. Instead of being excluded, they are now class members who have a chance to succeed.”

The research further confirmed my enthusiasm for choosing this topic for my action research project.  Based on the data collected and the information found in the research, my ten ESL students were monitored using formative assessments, benchmark assessments, and the end of the year MAP testing to measure growth.  My Focus Group was made up of one teacher per core subject in eighth grade.  Together, we shared and collaborated to create common vocabulary to spiral through our instruction for the final nine weeks of the 2010-2011 school year. Since the results were favorable, the entire eighth grade team decided to put interdisciplinary instruction into place for the 2011-2012 school year, again with the focus being on common vocabulary and common concepts, such as cause and effect relationships. 

Articulate the Vision

            After data was collected, the first step was to take this information to my principal, so we could make the decision on whether to proceed with our plan to open interdisciplinary instruction up to our grade level.  The results were not as favorable as we had hoped, however, each student did show growth of some sort.  The average growth over the nine week period was 200, instead of the desired 206.  Therefore, she still agreed to let us proceed.  The next step was to communicate my action research findings to my other grade level team members. Educators need to see the steps the researcher took to get results, otherwise, the researcher is not going to seem like a reliable source. I shared the actual research findings and quotes I mentioned above.  Highly esteemed authors like Marzano express support for interdisciplinary instruction because it helps create the map of knowledge for students instead of segregating concepts and themes, making it difficult for students to learn how to solve problems globally.  This information was in the powerpoint.  I then showed student data from last year when I first started my research plan.  My research started with only ESL students in my Read180 class.  But my focus group of teachers planned according to areas of weakness, primarily vocabulary.  Out of the initial group of chosen students, 10 were monitored and data was collected.  I created growth charts to present on the powerpoint to display the growth of student improvement.  Since we are taking a new approach to my action research this year, I also included desired results for the first nine weeks of the 2011-2012 school year.

Manage the Organization

            Once we opened the action research up to the grade level, new responsibilities were established.  Team leads agreed to meet once a week for a brief reflection session.  The whole grade level agreed to put the common vocabulary and common concepts in their daily lesson plans.  Each subject connected the words and/or concepts to at least one other subject while discussing it within their own discipline.  We also aligned literature to reflect the historical events being studied in our history classes.  At the end of the nine weeks, we came together and shared data.  While sharing data, we protected the rights of our students by only using data and information pertaining to the results of this action plan.  Confidentiality and professionalism remained at the highest of our priorities.  During this meeting, we reflected and evaluated our current plan, made adjustments as needed, and decided to proceed to the next nine weeks with a specific focus for common vocabulary and concepts.  

Manage Operations

            In the beginning, the main strategy was to keep the focus small and data manageable.  However, because four subject areas were having to meet often and collect data, the action research became very overwhelming for everyone involved.  Members of my Focus Group (four core teachers) became frustrated with the process within the first three weeks of the process.  At that time, it was decided that I would handle all the data collecting and the MAP scores would be the final determining factor on whether interdisciplinary instruction, especially dealing with vocabulary, truly impacts student performance in a positive way.  Once each subject area started seeing improvement, they agreed to continue with our plan to the end of the year.  Even though our results were not quite as favorable as we had hoped, they still showed growth considering the short amount of time we were able to work with our students.  Because of these results, our Focus Group decided to move forward and implement interdisciplinary instruction across our grade level for the current year.  Our first priority was developing common academic vocabulary (Appendix B).  Then, as a grade level, we shared our nine week plans per subject and looked for common threads to pull throughout the grade level.  We created a concept map in order to see what each subject is teaching so we can maximize instruction and encourage critical thinking (Appendix C).  The only conflict has been keeping all teachers on the same page.  We have maybe three out of the sixteen teachers on our grade level resistanting compliance of our agreed upon concept map.  I met individually with these teachers to help support them in our efforts to make this a grade level initiative.  I plan to conduct informal walkthroughs to help hold everyone accountable for this instruction.      

Respond to Community Interest and Needs

            Interdisciplinary instruction will serve all students because it is a change in the delivery of instruction.  It is a way to help students retain information and actively construct meaning in a critical manner.  There are no additional accommodations or modifications needed for special needs students.  All students will benefit from hearing, exploring, evaluating, and critiquing vocabulary and concepts throughout the grade level on an on-going basis.  Being able to think critically from one subject to the next and apply that knowledge to draw conclusions and think holistically benefits all students, and therefore, benefits all stakeholders.  In order to achieve college readiness, all students must be able to apply and transfer knowledge in order to problem solve from a 21^st Century global perspective.

Dropped the Ball

Ok, so I have completely dropped the ball on my blog site.  I thought we only had to blog during our research course.  Therefore, it has been awhile since I have blogged:(
Lots has happened since my last blog regarding my action research.  The end of the year results were interesting but did not show the growth we had hoped for.  My principal's first stipulation was that if we did not see positive results by the end of the school year, my research would be called off.  When we first reviewed the data, she was still inclined to stick to her guns.  However, the more we spoke about the positive impact that cross curricular instruction can have on students, we decided to move forward.  I did have to make some substantial changes because my colleagues were overwhelmed by the amount of extra work they were having to put into my research.  Therefore, we revamped the plan.  It was decided that I could run the grade level meetings and set up a vision for common vocabulary, both academic and conceptual, and common themes for each of the nine weeks.  So during Academy Week (teacher inservice before school begins), my grade level came together to collaborate and create a common lesson map.  This map includes topics being taught by other subjects, so everyone is aware of who is teaching what.  This allows other subjects to "piggy-back" concepts and vocabulary into their own subject areas.  For example, History is teaching the Revolutionary War.  ELAR is now incorporating poetry and short stories from this era.  We are focusing on words like liberty, pursuit, and discrimination.  Students are benefitting from this new strategy in instruction.  They are traveling from class to class, seeing the same words and how they fit into various situations, and they are recognizing and transferring this knowledge. This is authentic learning in action!  This change in my action research plan has not only relieved my colleagues, but it has also lightened the pressure on me to try and make others participate in something that was overwhelming.  Our new approach has staff members excited about the collaboration we are creating across our grade level.