October+29

toc =Part 1: Panel Discussion=

Today, we are holding a meeting with numerous teachers from IU’s 12, 13, and 15, in a meeting being hosted by Central York School District. We are beginning with a little panel discussion where we are able to, as “Year 1″ coaches, answer questions that the new coaches may have. This is a great idea, as there are many concerns that these new coaches have. Having gone through the beginnings of Classrooms for the Future, we know what some of the issues are that these new coaches will be encountering, and we feel that this will help alleviate some of the pressure that the “Year 2″ coaches are feeling. Many of the questions have been somewhat vendor specific (Apple or CDW-G), and being able to discuss some of the issues of surveys, equipment, training, and other things has been helpful. A lot of that info will come from the vendors as the equipment is ordered and delivered. When you are dealing with the surveys, there will be codes assigned to teachers and students for the pre-survey and post-survey. This will cause a problem with schools in block scheduling, as you are to use the same students for the surveys. Maybe in the future the surveys could be set up to account for block scheduling so that the surveys are available at the beginning and end of the semester. Unfortunately, the system for this year is that the students will take the pre-survey in the first semester, and then the post-survey at the end of the semester. The reason for doing it this way is due to when the windows are open for the survey. This is an issue that will be raised, but it has to go through all of the routes of communication. We have also discussed the subject area dates for our extra training that the “Year 1″ group of coaches has been organizing. **Our November 6th day has been moved to [|IU15] due to the size. Go [|here] for directions.** Jim Gates inquired if anyone was interested in obtaining additional RAM, and he is gathering emails to help everyone save some extra money. How many schools are re-imaging? Many are taking the image from the state and adjusting it to fit the needs of the individual school districts. Even though there are many things that we all use, we all have our own needs. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the “Year 1″ coaches, as well as the Coach Mentors. The Coach Mentors have a conference call once a week and share the hot topics with each other to try and get things adjusted as necessary. As our needs change, the program needs to change as well. When dealing with reimaging and dealing with software and licenses, you may need to contact your vendor as well as the license key from the originator of the software. This could lead to having to make a few phone calls, but you will need to talk to the vendors about it. Is there an easy way to work with the [|eMbedded Learning] courses as a facilitator? There are ways, but it all depends on how you would want to do it. If you are the facilitator, you are counted as having taken the course. Each school district has done different things when dealing with the teachers and facilitators. Some have done it as inservice, others did it on their own. Sometimes facilitators have been given stipends, others were given trade days. It is often a district-by-district situation, and in many places it becomes a labor issue where the local association may get involved. If it is done for graduate credits, you will follow what your district has set up. Many districts are saying, “If you want the equipment, you need to take the courses.” It has been an agreement with the district and the teachers, who often have signed up as volunteers. Laurie (West Shore) has created files ([|Course 1 Spreasheet], [|Course 2 Spreasheet]) that helps with facilitation of the course. One of the main ideas is to make sure to organize how you are going to run the course (deadlines, get together in groups, etc.). You can release everyone through to the end, but once they are released through all of the Sync Points, you can’t get them back. Laurie showed how to work with the eMbedded Learning courses as a facilitator. It’s nice to show it all, but when it comes down to it, if you are a facilitator, make sure you take your time to get comfortable with the lay out of the course and walk people through what they need to do. Also, remind people that they need to read the titles of the discussion topics, etc. A lot of the info is in the facilitator’s guide, but odds are that you aren’t going to read it (your time is more valuable than that), and much of what you need to know you can learn by going through the site yourself. Have the guide handy, as you may need to refer to it for specific questions. = = =Part 2: Post-Panel Discussion=

Our original plans were to do some work with blogs and RSS aggregators, but there were some more questions that “Year 2″ coaches had, so back to the panel: Who has gotten CFF Updates this year? The vast majority of us DO NOT get it. It is understood that the coaches were on the listserv to receive the updates, but we are seeing that this is not the case. If you are not on the update, send an email to Bethany c-brohler@state.pa.us with the message “//Can you add me to the CFF Update?//“ Will the computers be able to handle everything our teachers will want to do? Maybe, but it depends on what you want to do. You may need to upgrade your memory. Cameras came up, and many PC schools are realizing that they don’t have enough money budgeted to get cameras due to shipping charges that were not included in the CDW-G packages. Different schools have different plans on how they are incorporating cameras. If you have not been getting the CFF Updates, follow this [|link] and find “Weekly Updates Documents” in the right pane. The Year 1 coaches then shared their experiences as to how they dealt with integration of the program. Fred Griffiths expressed how a support group of your peers is necessary, and the Year 1 coaches in our area (Colette Cairns, Sue Sheffer, Laurie Vitale, Jim Gates, Jimbo Lamb, Jeff Rothenberger, Fred Griffiths, Sharon Gould, Chris Smith, and Marg Runkle) have found a bond that has helped us to get through our first year. We are willing to help everyone out, and we hope that we don’t separate ourselves as “Year 1″ and “Year 2,” but that we can become one group of coaches constantly working together. It is important to work as closely with the teachers as possible, but don’t impose. Remember that the teachers still own their lessons and their classroom, and you are there as another resource for them. You can co-teach, co-plan, model a lesson, etc. It is a bit more difficult for half-time coaches to be available for all of their teachers due to differing responsibilities, but do what you can. Sue mentioned sitting with each of your teachers to develop a plan for how they will implement the technology and how they will reflect on their lessons, with the goal being that they are working on improving their instruction. Jeff pointed out that the equipment was introduced partway through the year last year, and it was difficult for many teachers to re-plan their year. However, having seen how the teachers are now using the equipment when having a full summer to plan, it is amazing to see what they are doing. How are carts being shared? Some districts use an online sheet. Annville-Cleona is using [|AirSet] to reserve carts for non-CFF teachers. A-C is sharing 3 carts between 4 teachers, so it is fairly simple to figure out who needs them when, and it is easy to move them from room to room. There are high expectations in many districts, where some school administrators are expecting the technology to be used EVERY DAY in EVERY PERIOD, which is not what this program is all about. [|Karl Fisch] said this well when he said “//It [isn’t] about the laptops. You should use them when you think they are appropriate and can enhance and extend your students’ learning. And you should leave them shut away in their comfy carts when they don’t….Please, release the pressure - we are certainly not intending to place it upon you. Do what’s best for your students - every day.//“ One thing to keep in mind is that we are going to COACH our teachers. Jim Gates is sitting next to me writing down a quote: “//Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you get rid of him on weekends.//“ Relating this as a coach, if you give a project to a teacher, they’ll look at you to provide them more. But if you teach them how to create these projects and implement them and find them, etc., then the teachers will be able to do more and more of it on their own, only having to look to you for some more support. Don’t forget about the webinar this Friday on Policies 2.0. Remind your leadership committee about it. For our next Central PA CFF Coaches Meeting, we are looking at having contributions from both Year 1 and Year 2 coaches. We are looking at getting contributions from everyone, since we all have ideas to share. We were also looking for suggestions of things that the coaches would like to see. For the coaching log, remember that you should submit your time that is non-cff, so that the values are not skewed. For emails, put down how many times you check email and the time you use. There will be an email sent out about the change of location on the November 6th Math CFF day. It will go from 8:30 - 2:30.