ews and Events For Connection Grant Posted Here

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MAJOR GOALS: OCTOBER to DECEMBER; JANUARY to FEBRUARY; MARCH to MAY JUNE to SEPT Year 2 Fall 2011 Spring 2012 Major Resources Survey and Information Other Grants Grant Funding Available in Each Classroom REFLECTION MENTORING to Outside DISTRICTS

Professional Development Offered during Grant

About the Grant:

Student-Created Videos about the 1:1 Initative 6th-12th grades

Major Goals:

-- Atomic Learning

-- InfoSource

-- Hybrid Universitey Courses (Your choice for your field)

--TxVSN Online Instructor Courses (Learn how to become a TxVSN certified instructor for teaching online courses in Texas)

-- and Connection Grant Mentors and SWAT Team for One-on-One, face-to-face instruction (Get all the help you need, side-by-side with a mentor anytime you need it)

- As each Grade Level Committee Recommends (November - February) This will require a Laptop Rollout Evening Event with parents and students paying the $35 fee, signing contracts, and participating in Internet Safety Workshop. It will also require 1 full day of grade level English classes being used to instruct students on proper laptop & software use.

--Teacher Laptop Deployment: Nov 9th

--Arp SWAT Team Deployment: Nov 16th

--Introduction of Laptop to 8th graders in all 8th grade English classes: November 29th

-- 8th Grade Laptop Deployment & Parent Internet Safety Workshops: November 30th (4PM & 6PM)

--students & teachers 6th-12th grades take the 8th grade TA exam

--Teacher Professional Learning Calendar Rubric: Nov 9th

---Creation of Coaching contract, training material, and documentation

---Agreement for stipend (up to $500 a semester)

---Creation of online resources: http://www.arpisd.org/vision2020.htm#Tools

---Creation of SWAT Team contract, training material, and documentation

---Creation of online resources: http://www.arpisd.org/vision2020.htm#Students

---Agreement for stipend (up to $100 per semester) Professional Learning Calendar: http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/joy/weblog/c1ba1/Professional_Learning_Calendar.html

Initial Grade Level Laptop Rollout --- OPENING THE WORLD to RURAL STUDENTS

December:

http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/joy/weblog/b2900/Blog_101.html AND http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/joy/weblog/99a80/Blog_201.html

Day 1

Day 2

• Instructional Blogs - TigerTube and multimedia presentations using:
  • Doc Cam Video
  • Video Editing
  • Mimio Recording

Day 3

• Digital Picture Editing
• Free Tools 101
• Review – Putting it all together

Fall 2011:

--Stakeholder meetings for Grant Progress and Adjustments

--Dr Rousseau visited Bonham ISD and trained teachers and mentors on Blogging and 21st Century Skills

--LoTI (Levels of Technology Integration) Training for all faculty and administrators

--Teachers complete new Professional Learning Calendar for Fall semester: http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/joy/weblog/c1ba1/Professional_Learning_Calendar.html

-- Level 3 Teachers use of Project Share (online courseware) for blended classrooms

--Laptops Distributed to all students through 2-Day Student Workshops in all English Classes (Sept 2011)

--Laptop Insurance secured for all laptops: WorthAveGroup.com

--All Faculty updated on Year 2 Agenda including STAR CHARTS and TA Test for Teachers, SimpleK12 Tutorials and Atomic Learning

--Mentors selected for Year 2

--Dr Martha Peet visited and observed Arp HS campus and Teacher Workshop

--7th Grade Parent Workshop and Contracts Signed for Year 2

--Updated District Policies to include BYOT option

OCTOBER:

---Updates on Edmodo, Epsilen, and Blogs for Arp Teachers

---Began LoTI Walkthroughs

---ITV Session with Bi-District Grant Committee

------------Agenda:

(1) Introductions

(2) Recommendations for adjusting grant goals

1. Hybrid Instruction 24/7

2. All students Access

3. Professional Development for 21st Century Skills

(3) Survey questions about the progress of the grant

1. Major Issues or Concerns

2. Milestones or Accomplishments

(4) Suggestions for improved implementation

(5) Budget item concerns or amendments

1. Funding that needs to be moved and approved

2. Additional needs

The outcome of this meeting was unanimous. There is still a great deal of need for PD in areas of productivity tools and LoTI.

November:

--Completed Year 2 Surveys for Teachers and emailed out results for Formative Evaluation & Discussion

Click to download Survey Results and Discussion Points.

--Completed Year 2 Surveys for Stduents

--ITV with Little Elm School District on 1:1 Initiatives

Leon Elsbecker - Director of Instructional Technology

Jill Sokoll - Director of Maintenance

Cortney Clover - Director of SPED

Melisa Hankins- Director of Instructional Technology

Little Elm ISD Support Center

Questions we discussed:

• Can you tell us more about the 1:1 initiatives that you have in the district? What platforms are you using?
• What other platforms did you consider and why did you choose this one?
• Can you briefly explain the LoTI (Levels of Technology Integration)? How have the teachers progressed through the various levels? Is there a long-term or revolving staff development plan?
• How are you teaming up with Bonham ISD if at all?
• What percentage of your students have internet access at home? Is any assistance in place to assist those families that don’t have any access?
• How much is your district matching the funds you received from the Grants?TEA TARGET Grant and a Connections Grant beginning in 2000 and/or how does your district plan to maintain the grant initiatives
• Are you still experimenting with Bring your own device and how is it going?
• Are you using Project Share for your online courses? Teachers/Students? and how is it going?
• How many Instructional facilitators do you have in ARP?
• What are some ways your meeting the training needs of the changing technology?
• Are there any new initiatives you are implementing this year independent of the grants?
• We would love to hear anything you are doing with iPads and IOS devices too!

Mentoring Mcdade ISD on Getting Started

I applaud you for taking this step and for starting this journey. It IS a journey and takes commitment and focus.

Getting Started:

I would recommend that you start them out with a fun tool like Edmodo. You can ask for a district account and it is FREE. Then move to a more robust tool. I am not sure which tool you will be using to generate Websites. Have you looked at Epsilen (Project Share)? I think this requires a longer learning curve with newbies. You can choose of course, glogster, etc...or even blogspot.com, for an easy Web Presence. I have suggestions:

--Establish a Posting Policy through your board of trustees http://www.arp.sprnet.org/admin/Posting_Policies.htm

- Establish a format for an instructional blog: http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/joy/?tag=blogging+rules

--Train Teachers on Copyright Laws.

--Show teachers exemplary Blogs as models for what you would like them to strive to achieve. EX: http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/jarvie/ (SCIENCE) or http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/ellis/ (ENGLISH) or http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/jones/ (SCIENCE) or http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/amandas/ (MATH) or http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/georgeg/ (SS) or http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/jenniferan/

--Create a "How to video" and hardcopy "QuickStart" for the Web Service you want them to use. Ex: http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/lsi/weblog/6cb8f/Creating_a_TigerTube_Blog.html

When they are comfortable placing text and documents on their Blogs....help them become a multimedia teachers by using Audacity to record audio lectures, audio tests for special needs students, and then, powerpoints, videos using doc cams, smartboards, or interactive tablets....I have QuickStarts for all those on my Blog: http://podcast.arpisd.org.users/joy OR http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/lsi/

Check out: http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/joy/weblog/40140/AUGUST_TECH_AGENDAS.html All the handouts and Quickstarts are attached.

SPRING 2012 ACTIVITIES

Sharing with Harmony ISD:

Conversation with school representative on 1:1 initiative.

Surveyed Teachers on PD Needs at this point in the grant:

• Established needs and apportioned PD to Mentors according to new needs assessment.
• Scheduled update PD for LOTI on June 1st and June 9th

Bi-District Meeting (Bonham and Arp ISD):

• Phone conversation with TEA on Grant Progress
• Bi-District Mentor Meeting
• Bi-District Grant Committee Meeting with proposed Budget Amendments
• Videotaping Bonham ISD classrooms

FEBRUARY--TCEA MENTOR TRIP:

• Arp ISD Mentors attend TCEA for workshops and networking
• Mentors will deliver a variety of Integration Workshops for faculty members in the Fall 2012
• Secured Partnership with Sublime Technologies
• Secured Math Grant for Jr H & HS Math teachers from contact at TCEA
• Secured 1/2 price for implementation of Qwizdom QVR software, hardware, and PD for classroom teachers
• Enrolled in Certification of Teachers through Atomic Learning Modules

FEBRUARY--TCEA MENTOR TRAINING:

• Arp ISD Mentors complete TXVSN WICCII training through TAMU
• Review of LoTI and HEAT lessons plan with Mentors

FEBRUARY--TEACHER TRAINING:

• Review of LoTI and HEAT Lesson plans with Teachers
• Began Certification process in Atomic Learning

FEBRUARY--MENTORING DISTRICTS:

• Shared 1:1 logistical issues with Fairfield ISD

MARCH--EVALUATOR WALKTHOUGH in Arp ISD:

• Dr Martha Peet, grant evaluator -- walkthrough classrooms on both JR H & HS campuses

MARCH-- MENTOR & ADMINISTRATOR LOTI TRAINING:

• Arp ISD Mentors & Administrators will gain further exposure to LOTI through their online Mentor Workshop

JUNE-- ONSITE LOTI TRAINING for JR H & HS faculty members:

• Arp ISD faculty & administrators will gain further exposure to LOTI through ONSITE LOTI training on June 1 and June 14th

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AVAILABLE in EACH CLASSROOM:

--Tables with 4-6 Surge Protector strips for laptops to charge and for laptop bags to be stored

--Extra Laptops for students who forget or don't have laptops for some reason

Other tools for students are also available: scanners, cameras, document cameras, calculators, Aver Pens, Wireless Tablets, etc.
FREE SOFTWARE & SIMULATIONS:

• Free Software
• http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/energy-skate-park-basics Simulations
• QuickStarts
• TEACHER RESOURCES:

• NETS STANDARDS for Teachers TEACHER ORIENTATION TO 1:1 (PPT) TEACHER ORIENTATION TO 1:1 (HTML) Reflective Notes 1 (HTML) Reflective Notes 1 (doc) LAPTOP CENTRAL - Using the Laptop ONLINE TEXTBOOK CENTRAL TEACHER SURVEY

• 
  
  

TEACHERS NEED TO CONSIDER:

--Allow time for students to download assignments, lessons, videos before the bell rings

--Time for students at end of class to put away their laptops before leaving your classroom

REFLECTING ON 1:1 INITIATIVE

Arp ISD has spent the last 4 years working towards planning, implementing, and evaluating a 1:1 implementation on 2 campuses (6-12th grades). Our journey is documented in our Connections Grant Blog (above) which describes our activities over the past 2 years: http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/tigertube/ Although our district did not qualify for the grant, we were able to participate as Mentors to the qualifying district, Bonham ISD because we had been 8 years in the planning and implementation of digital content and hybrid courses and 2 years in piloting 1:1 in a single grade level (8th grade). The grant did not fully fund our 1:1 initiative 6th through 12th grades and so there needed to be a district buy-in. Our board of trustees fully supported this buy-in.

WHAT WE DID PRE-GRANT

Arp ISD Technology Department spent 2 years updating our infrastructure (including wireless access), policies, procedures, and partnerships. A small group of stakeholders visited campuses with 1:1 initiatives already in place and debriefed about what we saw and what some of the issues would be. We studied the literature and consulted vendors and peers on current products.

SURVEYS: We surveyed every kind of stakeholder we had in the district. We build support for our vision and build an anticipation for the initiative.

EXPERTISE: We allowed SWAT (Students Working to Advance Technology) Team members to gain access to the netbooks first and build a cadre of experts to assist in the classrooms. We use professional development time to help teachers become better digital content providers. We delivered hundreds of hours of workshops on Audacity, Epsilen, Edmodo, Video production using interactive tools (Smartboards, wireless tables, document cameras, Mimios, etc), Google Doc, Dropbox, Free Online Simulations and Tools (IetherPad, Wordle, and 100s more).

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: We began LoTi PD with HEAT workshops and continued them throughout the grant. We allowed teachers to take the TxVSN online teacher certification through TAMU. We offered “Just in Time” PD through Atomic Learning, SimpleK12, and Once a Week with a Geek QuickStart training on my Instructional Technology Blog. We offered Mentors for face-to-face nurturing and assistance, after school and summer workshops on digital competency skills. We offered workshops to all the students in their English classes on how to handle, maintain, and utilize their laptops. We gave workshops to parents at each grade level (6-12) on Internet Safety and how to manage the device in the home. These workshops were attended by 68% of our parents. We offered PD to all administrators, staff, and faculty members constantly throughout the course of 3 years.

PLANNING: Physical & Logistical Issues --We planned for every contingency we could think of. All students were furnished with a protective bag and surge protector (for the home). All classrooms were equipped with tables and surge protector strips as recharging stations. A color handbook was given to each student that described each aspect of their device and other important information was placed on a Laptop Central Website: http://www.arpisd.org/VISION2020/LAPTOP_CENTRAL.htm

A Resource Website was created for all Stakeholders: http://www.arpisd.org/Vision2020.htm

An Introduction to our District Goals was also placed on our Website: http://www.arpisd.org/Connections.htm

Students were asked not to place netbooks in their backpacks, lockers, or take them to athletics, lunch or band but instead leave them charging in a teachers classroom they will visit after these class periods. No laptop bag was to be placed on the floor. If I found a laptop on the floor I took it up and the student owed me $1. If a laptop was left in an inappropriate place, the custodians or bus driver brought it to me and I charged $1 to get it back. I make a point of telling students that I am preparing them to become good parents and go through an emotional plea for students to not leave their “children” in the mall.

Students are given training on how to charge their device at home and leave it up and running at night to receive updates and to scan for viruses while they sleep. This is done automatically if they keep it charging over night.

INSURANCE or NOT: The first year of the grant we did not charge insurance, but did charge $35 per student for laptop deployment. We waivered that fee for some of our free lunch students. This waiver had to be approved by the campus principal. We had about $5000 worth of damages the first year. The second year we charged $39 per student and secured insurance through Worth Ave. Group (Laptop Insurance_) which I paid up front and then tried to collect the rest of the school year. I paid over $22,000 and had about $2000 worth of damage for which the insurance company paid me about $800 and claim the rest was wear and tear. I will NOT use insurance again next year…but will go back to the $35 deployment fee.

Things to consider: We purchase parts and repair our own equipment. We did not find the warrantee for our particular netbook to be of any value at all. We purchased parts much cheaper than if we sent it back to the company for repair. This would all depend on your device. If you do not do your own repairs, then you might do better purchasing a longer warrantee and insurance.

Once students get use to carrying and caring for the device, we have seen the incidents of repairs fall dramatically.

DEPLOYMENT: We decided to inservice students for 2 days at each grade level in their English classes before deploying their device. The two-day training was followed by an evening with the parents for Internet Safety Workshop and contract signing with fee. It takes about 3 weeks to get all this done at the beginning of the year, but it is well worth it. We introduce students to their device, the software, and all the cloud services we have purchased for them. We make sure they can login to all the services and know how to use those services (School Web Lockers – cloud storage, TigerTube—their blogs & teacher blogs, Textbook Central - http://www.arpisd.org/VISION2020/TEXTBOOK_CENTRAL.htm, Edmodo, Epsilen, Gizmos, Study Island, etc. )

FOCUS after TWO YEARS: Our focus will change next year. Since all of our services are in the cloud or Web-based, we don’t see the need of all students lugging a device around if they already have access at home. We have students who have turned in their netbooks so that we can deploy them in the classrooms. Each teacher this year needed about 6 to 8 computers for students who did not need to carry them from school to home. We have islands of laptops in each classroom now so that students can do their work, save it in the cloud and go home and finish working on it. We will continue this “hybrid” model next year. Those who NEED the netbook (who don’t have Internet access at home-- which is a large percentage of our students) will download digital content while at school and carry the device home to work on assignments. Those who do have access at home, don’t feel the need to lug around a device. I completely understand this process. I have spent 14 years teaching in Russia at the University of St Petersburg. I don’t carry a laptop to Russia. I store my resources on the Web and use any device there to present my content.

FUTURE PLANS: We are redesigning our network this summer with the help of ERATE to accommodate BYOB. We are making an effort to filter these devices. This is neither cheap nor easy if done with much thought. And will be implemented gradually through the grade levels. However, we are aware that most of our student population will still need our district to provide them with an adequately provisioned device.

MENTORING TO DISTRICTS:

--Arp ISD has shared their procedures and practices with the following districts:

• Bonham ISD - shared PD, grand guidelines, policies, and procedures
• Little Elm ISD - shared "getting started" information
• Frankston ISD - onsite visit
• Overton ISD - onsite visit
• McDade ISD - shared "getting started" information
• Harmony ISD - shared grant goals and objectives
• Nacagdoches ISD - shared wireless access information and planning onsite visit
• SUPERNET Consortium (27 school districts in East Texas) - cloud management and Connection Grant goals and objectives
• Canyon ISD - LoTI Template & Board Updates
• TecSig - Board Updates, Policies & Procedures.

PD OFFERED DURING GRANT:

CONTRACTED PD:

Content Area emphasis (Math & Science)

• Vernier Science Probes,
• TI Calculator Advanced Training (Navigator - wireless)
• TXU Solar Academy - Alternate Energy Handson Labs in collaboration with online Solar Power Station
• CAMT Conference for Math Mentors
• TCEA Conference for TA Mentors
• ISTE Conference for Grant Project Directors
• Study Island Onsite Workshop
• Aruba Wireless Access Onsite Workshop
• Softouch Onsite Training

INHOUSE PD:

• Blogging 101 & 201
• Audacity Intro & Advanced
• Video Production Intro & Advanced
• Edmodo
• Epsilen Intro & Advanced
• Mentor Workshops 101, 201, 301, and Updates
• LoTi Workshops Intro and HEAT
• Laptop Initiatives, Policies, & Internet Safety
• Laptop Maintenance (by grade level) 2 days each grade level

ONLINE PD:

• Atomic Learning Certifications
• Simple K12
• Connection Grant Blog: http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/tigertube/weblog/4e6db/Welcome_to_Arp_ISD_Connection_Grant.html
• Connection Grant Resource Website: http://www.arpisd.org/Vision2020.htm
• Quickstarts Blog (hybrid course tools and Quickstarts): http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/joy/
  • Fun with Cell Phones AND More Fun with Cell Phones
  • Using Atomic Learning
  • Edmodo --Digital Content & Building Quizes
  • Text to Speech Tools
  • VideoPad -- Easy Video Production
  • Free Studio & YouTube QuickStart
  • Audio Lectures with Audacity & iPods AND Audio & Audacity
  • Mobile Learning Resources
  • LoTi Integration
  • Converting PDF to Word & vice versa
  • Sharing Folders in Dropbox
  • Instructional Blog Content
  • Epsilen 101
  • Mentoring Adults
  • Blogging 101 & 201 & 301
  • Copyright Materials and Blogs
  • Document Cameras & Recording Video
  • Free Web 2.0 Tools
  • MUCH MORE.....

MENTORING PD:

• At least 30 minutes a week with Mentees with email and blog support

Resources:

Laptop Central: http://www.arpisd.org/VISION2020/LAPTOP_CENTRAL.htm

Connection Grant Website: http://www.arpisd.org/vision2020.htm

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