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Time: 4:00-6:00pm Location: Kucera Schools Represented: Bemis, Casey, Dollahan, Fitzgerald, Garcia, Hughbanks, Kelley, Morgan, Morris, Myers, Preston, Trapp, Werner - eSTELLAR Mid-Year Data Review: Data from the midyear teacher survey was discussed. Leads were provided site level data. Some significant points:
- Objective 1a - student technology literacy: measured by average of teacher-reported student use. Need to increase student use of Inspiration, PowerPoint, and Probeware. Internet use is high.
- Objective 1b - student achievement: waiting for data from science benchmark. May have to re-administer benchmark at end of the year to capture growth. Benchmark is being revised based on feedback at January meeting. It will also be divided into 3 sections next year and administered after each section on the timeline (Physical, Earth, Life).
- Objective 2a - teacher technology literacy: only 27 of the 61 teachers say they use 10-14 of the targeted skills. We need to increase this to at least 49 teachers by the end of year. We also may need to clarify the skills - Noelle will provide a list of examples for each.
- Objective 2b - teacher integration of technology: This is measured by teacher-reported student use of three or more targeted technologies. Only 59% of teachers have met this goal.
- Objective 3a - student-to-computer ratio: We have met this goal. To maintain our status, schools need to be sure classroom computers are less than 4 years old in eSTELLAR classrooms.
- Objective 3b - teachers with student resources on a class webpage: Only 57% indicated they have a class webpage. Only 49% say they have resources for students on the page.
- Objective 3c - students using reference databases: 59% of students say they have not used any of the reference databases.
- Objective 4a - teachers using a class webpage to communicate with students and parents: Only 26 teachers said they have posted information for parents on their class page.
- Additional Information:
- eSTELLAR teachers were approved for 50 hours of professional development time. The average participation has been 14 hours.
- Round 7 has not received any equipment yet. Their progress is limited to available resources. Equipment is beginning to arrive and will be distributed in the next month.
- Plan of Action:
- Lead teachers will meet with eSTELLAR teachers and help them set up a class page, post links for students and parent letter.
- In the resources section of the class page, choose to Add a webpage. Then copy-paste the parent letter into the webpage. This will allow eChalk to translate it.
- Leads will renew efforts to conduct collaboration meetings at their school sites to achieve goals of the grant. Signin sheets, agendas, resulting work products must be sent to Noelle.
- Leads are encouraged to develop simple lessons integrating the use of Inspiration and PowerPoint in the upcoming Life Science unit for each grade level. Probeware will be presented again at the April inservice.
- Leads are asked to verify that each teacher conducts at least one lesson using each of the 4 targeted technologies (Inspiration, Internet, PowerPoint, Probeware). Note: Round 7 will use probeware next year.
- Mary Bruno and Brenda Leatherwood will conduct model in-class lessons prior to CST. 4th Grade will be Rocks and 5th Grade will be Periodic Table.
- Noelle will submit a proposal offering compensation for completion of online training using the professional development system. This will allow teachers to use some of their eSTELLAR time to develop personal proficiency on their own time.
- Leads recommended conducting TLC sessions after testing.
- Noelle will prepare a document listing the teacher technology skills and examples for each. Leads can use this to discuss areas of growth with participating teachers. << This is done - download the "Grant Goals Overview" below!
- Reminders:
- Lead teachers need to update their logs on iGoogle.
- Site administrators need to conduct monthly classroom observations of lessons integrating teacher and student use of technology.
- There are only 3 months left to achieve benchmarks! Failure to achieve benchmarks means we will not receive 3rd year follow-up grant to keep professional development going!
- Next meeting: April 9th at Preston
Time: 4:00-6:30pm Location: Preston, Room P2 Schools Represented: Dunn, Fitzgerald, Garcia, Hughbanks, Morgan, Morris, Myers, Preston, Trapp, Werner eSTELLAR Mid-Year Preliminary Data Review: Looking at the student survey responses, the following observations and recommendations were identified. - 60% of students said they have NOT used the school library catalog. All participating teachers need to provide direct instruction in the use of the catalog to located books on a research topic.
- 52% said they do not have a public library card. All lead teachers acknowledged that they have not taken advantage of the library's offer to present to their class. Noelle will arrange these visits. The presenter will show students how to access the reference databases and point out the live online homework help available after school.
- Only 19% of students have used Grolier. All teachers need to present a lesson integrating the use of this reference database funded by the district. Noelle will provide a suggested lesson for 4th and 5th.
- 29% of students said they use computers every day at school for things other than AR! Hurray! Another 23% said they use them "usually every week." We still need to make progress with the remaining 49% who reported they use it once a month or less. This is nearly half of our target audience that is not using technology as often as we are aiming for. (Some of this is due to the fact that Round 7 schools still don't have equipment!)
- 79% of students said they have a computer in their home and 71% said they have Internet access at home. Let's continue to take advantage of this by using eChalk to provide links to online resources, showing them how to use the resources on the school site including the library catalog, Grolier, and NetSmartz.
Science Performance Assessment Scoring: We conducted a calibration activity to address the scoring of the 4th and 5th grade science performance assessments that were administered in the first trimester. - 4th Grade: Electromagnet Experiment
- The team made minor changes to improve the rubric. (Check back next week for a copy.)
- An important disclaimer was added to the rubric: if the students' experiment provided data that did NOT show a positive relationship between the number of wraps and the amount of power, they may not draw this conclusion in their summary. They should still receive credit if they draw an incorrect conclusion, that it is backed up with data from their experiment. (This is what scientists do!)
- 5th Grade: Physical and Chemical Changes
- There was lengthy discussion about how much elaboration is required to receive a 3 on the rubric. A student's command of the English language should NOT impact their science content score, only their writing score.
- The provided rubric does not sufficiently guide a teacher in evaluating how well a student grasps the science content - it is focused on science writing skills. Mary Bruno will revise the rubric to be similar to the 4th grade one that does do this. (Check back next week for a copy.)
- A couple of anchor papers were identified. Patti Fitzsimmons will provide these. (Check back next week for a copy.)
- Lead Teachers were charged with the task of facilitating this same callibration activity at their site. Here's the procedure:
- In a grade level meeting, have teachers read students' assessments and group them into high, medium, and low piles. Share, discuss, reclassify as needed so you have 3 piles combining all classes' work into these levels.
- Score the high pile using the revised rubric. Discuss common characteristics. What did most of these students do that helped them score well? What could they have done to score a 4? (Remember, a 4 is above grade level.)
- Score the medium and low piles using the rubric. Identify common characteristics and what students in each group need to do to move to the next level on the rubric. (ie: Most students scoring a 2 could have scored better if they had...)
- Discuss how your school will use the findings to revise instruction.
The March 5th meeting will be at Kucera in the gymnasium at 3:15.
Location: Preston, Room P2
Schools Represented: Bemis, Boyd, Casey, Fitzgerald, Henry, Morgan, Morris, Myers, Preston, Simpson, Trapp, Werner
Inventory & Professional Development Participation: - Noelle provided a site printout of the current/missing inventory #'s. Please send missing RUSD/Serial numbers to Noelle asap.
- Site printout also indicated the number of hours teachers have participated in eSTELLAR activities so far. Please contact those teachers who have little/no participation and remind them of training dates.
Preparing for Mid-Year Data Collection in January: a mid year report is due in February which requires us to indicate our progress toward all benchmarks. Please do the following to prepare your site for this. - Please verify your participating teachers have a class page with resources for parents, such as the beginning of the year parent letter, links to websites, etc.
- Be sure all students in the target group know how to access Grolier. (The target group is all eSTELLAR classes at Round 6 schools and only lead teacher's classes at Round 7 schools.)
- Laptop Cart Checkout Log: use it! Download from Lead Teacher folder on the eSTELLAR group page.
Other: - Please post lessons! Leads and participating teachers can get eSTELLAR pay if they share a lesson in the eChalk lesson planner that integrates teacher or student use of technology in science. (Round 7 schools may not have Lesson Planner yet - email lessons to Noelle.)
- Leads can claim eSTELLAR time for providing parent training at your school site on the use of online resources. Parents from eSTELLAR classes must be included; science must be addressed.
- Please encourage participating teachers to implement the use of science notebooks. This is where they collect the information from their online research, record reflections about their technology-based learning, etc.
- The Public Library is willing to visit your class to show how to use their online reference databases. See Noelle for contact info.
- Funding for Round 7 has still not arrived. Due to state budget issues, the district cannot spend this money before it is received.
- We reviewed how to access the online math textbook. Directions are posted on the Elementary Math page in eChalk.
- All students in the target group should have eChalk accounts to store their work, turn it in electronically, and participate in class discussion boards. The student handout is available on the eSTELLAR page and tutorials are available for teachers in the Professional Development System.
WIFTS: (What I Forgot To Say) - Administrators at Round 6 schools should be doing one classroom observation per month in each eSTELLAR classroom. Teachers are encouraged to invite administrators to their class when they are doing a lesson integrating teacher or student use of technology in science.
- Don't forget to update your iGoogle lead teacher log!
Location: Preston, Room P2
Schools Represented: Boyd, Dunn, Fitzgerald, Henry, Kelley, Morgan, Morris, Preston, Trapp, Werner
Year 1 Data Review: (see attachment below)
The end of year one results for Round 6 schools were shared and suggestions for addressing issues were discussed. - All benchmarks for year 1 were met.
- Data collection issues were discussed. To improve accuracy and completeness, the following solutions were proposed:
- Teachers will complete the district survey and EdTechProfile survey during training session.
- Students will log in to their eChalk accounts to take the survey. This will allow us to run accurate reports indicating non-takers by name.
- The district science benchmark may be re-administered at the end of the year.
- To improve monitoring of implementation, the following suggestions were proposed:
- laptop cart checkout log indicating use by teacher and technology focus
- teachers complete a quick survey at the beginning of the monthly training session indicating what they and their students did with technology in science in the last month.
Focus for Improvement: - Over 38% of the year 2 teachers at Round 6 schools (15 of 41) are new to the grant this year. This is a challenge for them to meet the higher benchmarks of year 2 without the benefit of year 1 in the grant. Lead teachers are asked to be sure to provide extra support as needed to these teachers.
- Students need varied and frequent use of the four technologies. ALL Round 6 teachers' students are in the target group this year.
- Technology should be used by teachers/students at least twice a week in science; at least once a week by students.
- All teachers will be asked to put their parent letter on their class page.
- Teachers will post student resources on their class pages during training.
Other: - The public library will offer class visitations to show students how to access their online resources. Noelle will send out contact info.
- Some teachers and/or their students still need to complete the baseline surveys. Noelle will send out list.
- Participants reviewed how to access their iGoogle Lead Teacher logs.
Location: Preston, Room P2
Schools Represented: Bemis, Dunn, Fitzgerald, Garcia, Morgan, Morris, Myers, Werner
Site Successes & Challenges: (Lead Teachers) - All schools indicated eSTELLAR activities have been initiated at their sites. Students and teachers are using the technology in science at various levels across the schools.
- Many Round 6 schools have teachers new to the eSTELLAR grant this year. Of the 41 teachers in Round 6, 14 (34%) are new in this second year of the grant. This presents a challenge for showing growth over last year's progress.
- Some schools continue to experience technical issues with the laptops, particularly the wireless printer. Noelle reminded everyone to submit blues so these occurences can be tracked. Noelle will also send an email to IT Dept. asking for troubleshooting suggestions.
- Some expressed concerns about moving the cart from room to room and ensuring care of the equipment. Various ideas were shared including: leave the cart in the lead teacher's room and swap rooms with the other teacher, establish protocols for use and train other teachers in these processes, do model lesson in other classrooms to introduce the laptops and train students in proper use.
Lesson Sharing: (Noelle) - eChalk's Lesson Planner allows us to share lessons across the district to all eSTELLAR teachers. This serves as the main repository for lessons developed integrating technology in science and provides required evidence for the grant evaluation.
- When a lead teacher records lesson development on his/her log, the lesson must be shared in eChalk.
- Leads are encouraged to use the lesson planner when collaboratively developing lessons with teachers at their sites.
- Shared lessons should include any related attachments, such as: templates, handouts, sample of student work, presentation, etc.
- Use the comment feature to provide feedback to a teacher when you use his/her lesson.
- Attendees practiced accessing the shared lesson plans in eChalk, including viewing all lessons and searching by keyword/topic.
- Noelle reminded attendees that all teachers at the eSTELLAR schools have access to the lesson planner, not just the eSTELLAR teachers. (Round 7 schools should have access by the end of September, after the budget is released.)
Lead Teacher Logs: (Noelle) - All lead teachers will maintain their log using the individualized iGoogle spreadsheet and entry form Noelle created. Attendees created an iGoogle account and learned how to access their spreadsheet and entry form (see directions).
- The benefits of this online log include:
- Online data entry - you can record your activities anytime, anywhere using an Internet-connected computer
- Instant viewing - both the lead teacher and program coordinator (Noelle) can see the activity log at anytime. Principals may also be invited to view their lead teacher's log.
- Easy tracking - the eSTELLAR program coordinator (Noelle) can easily oversee all 18 lead teacher's activities on an ongoing basis instead of requesting the electronic file via email intermittently.
Other: - Noelle showed how an eChalk group page can be used to schedule use of the laptop carts. If you want to use this strategy, email Noelle for assistance.
- At Round 6 schools, every participating teacher should be integrating student use of technology in science at least once a week on average.
- The laptops can be used for other content areas in the eSTELLAR classrooms, but science needs to take priority and occur at least once a week on average.
- All eSTELLAR equipment should be used exclusively in eSTELLAR classrooms during the instructional day. However, it can be used after school for parent trainings, staff development, or after-school programs. Principals and lead teacher should work together to ensure proper use during these activities.
To Do's for September: - Make sure all eSTELLAR teachers and students have completed the surveys. (Round 6 schools should be done; Round 7 schools will be starting this next week.)
- Remind all eSTELLAR teachers of upcoming trainings:
- All Round 7 teachers and Round 6 make-ups: eSTELLAR Kick-off Day: Saturday, Sept 20th, 8:30-3:00pm at the District Registration Center (repeat of Sat, Aug 23rd)
- 4th Grade: Sept 23rd - Electricity & Magnets, magnetic field probe
- 5th Grade: Sept. 24th - Periodic Table, Inspiration
- Enter lead teacher activities in your new online form.
Round 6 Schools Only: - Share your great lessons in eChalk's Lesson Planner.
- Make sure all eSTELLAR Teachers are integrating student use of technology in SCIENCE at least once a week.
- Establish a site protocol for scheduling use of the laptop carts, ensuring appropriate use in the classroom, etc.
- Facilitate one or more site level collaborations among eSTELLAR teachers to develop a lesson, practice technology presented at grade level session, etc.
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