Bridget Costello Week 12 step 9

1. How did the plan meet the existing needs in technology, funding, and management issues?


My plan met existing needs in technology because it is helping teachers to be more efficient in their technology using. They will not have to be waiting for technicians to come and fix simple solutions. They will become more knowledgeable in their computer usage by doing these simple trouble shooting tips. One of the goals of our professional development technology plan is for "Staff development sessions provide ample “hands-on” experience with technology (Huntsville Independent School District, 2010– 2013)." What better way to give "hands-on" experiences than by actually getting your hands in a computer!

As for funding, my goal of having more teachers to write grants will allow teachers to try and get the things they need  from a grant before going out and asking for the district to buy them or buying them, themselves. This will help alleviate a lack of funds in both the teachers pockets and the districts budget.

The management goal of asking teachers for suggestions for the upcoming years professional development will keep teachers involved in the training and also make it more beneficial to all that are involved.


2. How did the goals provide the measurable outcomes for future improvement?


The goals have provided measurable outcomes because more and more teachers are doing simple trouble shooting tips to help themselves be able to use technology more efficiently. We would like to say that we are trying to help out the technicians, but most people are just trying to be able to use their computers and technology more frequently. When teachers have to wait for technicians to come up to the school to work on their devices, it takes time away from using it for their lesson. If teachers can quickly fix their computers on their own, they do not have that lack in usage time.


As for the funding goal, more grants were written than any other year in the past 5 years. More people were aware of the ability to get funding for their resources, and more teachers were wanting to write grants because they know that funding is still being cut for the upcoming year. The representative from HEF, Sara Williams, also was on hand and offered help to anyone who wrote a grant. I wrote a grant and Williams helped me to edit it and make it look better. She said, "Anyone can write a grant that wants to improve their classroom (Williams, 2012)."


As for management, the measurable outcomes will be the results of the surveys from teachers at the end of the year. Administration will then go through these surveys and check to see what teachers want and work those into our professional development plan. They will be able to get teachers the training that they want and be able to reach more teacher's goals.

3. How did the strategies defined to meet the proposed objectives?
Our technology plan does not have a strict timeline for when these strategies need to be implemented. It has suggestions of goals, but not defined objectives. Taking the proposed goals and making more specific objectives may help for the technology plan to become more effective.


Bibliography:

Huntsville Independent School District. (2010– 2013, July). Retrieved April 16, 2012, from       Technology Plan: http://www.huntsville-isd.org/pdf_files/TechnologyPlan2010-2013.pdf

Williams, S. (2012, April 14). HEF Representative from Stewart Elementary. (B. Costello, Interviewer)