August/September
So after hearing an initially promising connection through the district after which there was nothing, I have made a contact with our site "tech guy" - for lack of a better title. He suggested to use Google apps for Educators and emailed me on Friday that he has something promising through that service - so we will see. In the meantime, I have been storing everything that the Geometry PLC has done since summer into the district's OneDrive through Outlook. I don't know the power of this program - still working out the kinks but with the extremely professional and wonderful PLC that I am leading this year, I think that it is going well. I need need make contact with our Common Core team because (I didn't know this) they are trying to do a similar task as I am, so maybe we can work together.
So I met with Nate, our tech guy, and we are working through which is best for our purposes Office 365 vs Google. There seem to be compatibility problems with Google (most everything the Math Department currently does is Office based) while Office 365 seems to be a bit cumbersome and it also seems that we don't have access to its full functionality. My next steps are to continue to meet with Nate and to contact Dana Baron - who is putting up Common Core type lessons on our school website.
I was able to join our technology committee, which is responsible for sharing information about applications, software and hardware to the entire site. Hopefully by working with this team I will be able to figure out a way to accomplish the goals of my Capstone Project. There are many tools that we can use but it seems as though not one of them does everything.
So on September 30 I was able to meet with our technology coordinator and he found a "work around" for our computability issues. He also found a service that is traditionally used for grading and commenting on student work but could be used for the purposes of the Capstone Project.
I would like to have something ready to use by my PLC by the end of semester. I would like the ultimate goal of this project for something to be available and used by all departments at my site. The challenges include finding the time and resources to do what I want to do during the school year - I so wish I was more proactive about this during my summer. Other challenges include finding an existing program of software that will do all that I would like to do. However I find myself learning about educational technology and speaking with teachers that I would never talk to if I had not joined the technology committee. I am finding it difficult to "put myself out there" but I so want this to work. Having one place where teachers can go to I believe would be extraordinarily powerful, instead of teachers being all over the place using different tools. This project would connect to the following practices of teacher leadership: Model the Way (1,16, 6), Inspire a Shared Vision (7, 12, 22) and Challenge the Process (3, 8, 28), Enable Others to Act (4, 14). The standards would be Fostering a Collaborative Culture (1.1, 12, 1.4), and Promoting Professional Learning (3.1, 3.3, 3.4)
October
October is going to be called "road-block" month. I have have no time to work on anything to do with the Capstone project. Personal and professional items just made it almost impossible to find time to continue research. To top the list of my frustrations, the district seems to be rolling out a district "portal" for teacher collaboration. I am weirdly excited about this prospect but a little dismayed by it too. If it set up and rolled out in the right way, it could be a fantastic resource, just what I wanted to do. I would still have to get the Math department in the habit of using it by modeling the way and showing the department that despite missteps along the way, that by collaborating with each other, we could create lessons and cover our content in a way that really brings out the best in us and more importantly our students (collaborative culture, professional learning and shared vision). If it designed poorly or rolled out in the wrong way - no one will use it and it will be yet another failed tool that the district has provided (I am finding that I do not have a very high opinion of how things are done by our IT department especially when it comes to teacher resources) .
The main point of the website is to create a PLC/department that works well together, shares openly and is willing to risk and try new things. I am finding that to some members of my team - this is an impossible thing to ask. I am also finding it difficult to be the diplomat in this manner. Sometimes I feel that I lack the "soft touch" that a member of my team needs to feel. I am beginning to sense that the idea of the website and its use will ultimately fail (I can't even get one member of my team to use email and I just got the last of them on Dropbox - our sharing site until the website is up). If I can get the Geometry PLC through the year without totally imploding - I am prepared to call this year and project a success. I cannot stress the importance of this to me. Our department is wonderful, full of passionate professionals who truly have the best interests of students at heart, but we lack a shared vision of what that ultimately looks like to all of us.
November
My feelings of frustration about the final product of this project is growing. I just cannot find the time to work on the actual website. However I am finding the time to talk the members of my PLC. I think that we are working well together and we do have a very collaborative culture and have played to our strengths very well in the past month. The technology people are putting together the final while the teachers who are good at planning are putting together an outline for 2nd semester. However I am getting the impression from my self and others that we are just floating along and that all of this year's work (and there has been a lot of good work done) will ultimately be for nothing as we transition to Integrated Math 2 and our beloved Geometry class, will be gone. We have tasked with a mighty problem - transition to Common Core Standards and all that it implies and also transition to a new organization of Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 with a new textbook that is so different from what we are used to that it is a completely different universe.
Personally, I'm doing some of the most innovative teaching that I have ever done. I have never taught Geometry in this way before and I find myself truly excited to be teaching - even though I have had a lot of hiccups and it is way more work and time than I am used to putting into a class that I have taught for years. It is really like having a brand new class, with a brand new textbook. The feeling of "Are we really getting the information across? Are we truly teaching the standards?" pervades and makes it really difficult to see how this is impacting student learning.
It has also been commented that our PLC does not have a "driver." We do not have a person a grand design of our curriculum and of what the "route" and "destination" might be. I am taking these comments to heart - I feel that I am not providing the leadership that some members of the PLC feel that they need. But here's the thing - I don't want to be the one who drives all the time with the others along for the ride. Everyone in the group needs to know how to drive, to be truly collaborative and get the best from each other, we must take turns driving when our skill set is the best for the road that we are on.
I am thinking of asking my PLC to evaluate me. To ask them if they are truly getting what they need from our time together and use this information to better myself as a leader. As for the website, maybe over winter break when all the grading is done, I can get to work on it.
December
So I did ask my PLC to evaluate me and they said I was doing great - not exactly the detailed feedback I was looking for so I asked two members who probably know me best what they thought and both said that except for the one "critical conversation" that went horribly in October, they were pretty happy with the way things were going. As a group we are still struggling with "throw-away" nature of this year - going Common Core but also going Integrated Math next year. There is a feeling of wanting to be innovative and try new strategies but the thought looms that all of the work that we are doing this year is fruitless. I don't believe that it is - I keep trying to model the idea that as long as what we do is quality, it will be used in the future - maybe not by Integrated Math 2 but it will help our students and fellow teachers. I remain "ever hopeful" - this has become my catch phrase, to the point when I reach a low point, my colleagues have taken to reminding me of it.
On the website front, I have decided to try out MyCNUSD. I found out that it went live and got a site created just this morning. It looking fairly promising and a bonus is that it supports Word and PDF and doesn't cost anything. I am going to play with it and hopefully be ready to show my PLC at our next meeting. At first glance it seems to be able to do what we need. I think my project has become an exercise in getting people to change their habits. District resources have not been utilized very much at my site in my opinion because they seem to be very top down. This seems to allow for teacher created teams and uploads which to my knowledge has not been offered before. Maybe because of this we will actually use it. Also it seems that I can "invite" just the team as opposed to everyone - hopefully I can get people to play.
My goal for January is to finish putting together and polishing the website and getting the geometry PLC to start building their library and discussion board.
January
So the site is up and Is being filled with our current work. However time has not been kind this month. We came back from winter break running and every PLC meeting has stacked with agenda items and the website keeps getting pushed back. Hopefully at our first PLC in February, I will be able to put the website at the front of the agenda. A success was that one of our PLC members who teaches Special Education was looking at the site and wants to set something similar up for her Special Education teachers. That would help reach the ultimate goal of getting teachers at my site to use an online tool for sharing and collaboration rather than email. On a negative note, the pacing and cohesion of the main geometry PLC seems to falling apart. The team has 5 members who really teach geometry regular (non-honors). Three of us are working well together, are paced together and sharing and discussing lesson plans and ideas, two are not. One seems to be behind and taking all of the materials and lessons that are being created by others, the other is just doing their own thing. This is a person I have had a bit of conflict with before and I do not know how to go about finding out what their doing without making them feel "pressured."
February
The site is up and running and has more items placed into online documents. In fact we have all of our documents organized for the rest of the year (we have a lot to add). We as a group were able to do this because the district allowed us to move our planning today. At that planning day, we found a way to discuss and divide the work for the rest of the year. However, there are two issues that I am seeing. One is the discussion board is not being utilized. However this is not a habit. I am hopeful that it will be an established habit as a goal for next year. The second is the competition from other sites such as Dropbox. We have a teacher who while seemingly is very technological and up to date on the latest "thing" - she does not want to change what she does which is Dropbox and while seeming to be positive about things she at the same time, she can be very negative and not want to try a new thing to store and communicate.
We also did our first "official" common formative assessment. After the mis-steps of our first attempt, we as a group did much better as a group. Everyone gave the assessment and most everyone came to our meeting with data. However we are running in to some issues. There is a discussion about multiple choice tests versus free response. Since we are collecting data multiple choice would be the easiest (using a supporting software to collect data) the first common assessment was not multiple choice because of the time and lack of training in the supporting software. This is a continued conversation among our group.
Another item that occurred this month was a completion of a unit design for our course Integrated Math 2. it is still in a draft stage but I hope that it is a design that will guide us for next year. This is the course that will replace Geometry next year. This is why the website is so important to me - a place that we as a group can collaborate and save and refine what we have done. My hope is that the same team comes together for Integrated 2 and continues to grow and learn from each other.
March
It has been slow-going. The website use is very low. I believe that I am the only using it at this time. Most of the discussion taking place is in PLC meetings, email, prep period meetings (which only three of us can attend), and in-the-hallway meetings. The website as a fully functional tool might start next year and while I am disappointed that it did not work out for this year, I am ever hopeful for the upcoming school year. As of right now it is a library of everything sent out via email but there is no discussion going on.
I am coming to believe that my project is not just about a website, although that was its physical outcome. It became about getting a group of teachers that I have a very deep respect for (before this year) to work together in a cohesive manner that led to our best work. While everything did not work out, we did have our share of shining moments that everyone pretty much agreed that the lesson or test or unit performed as it was intended - we could not have done that by ourselves on our island that we call classrooms. It is only by working together that we managed these successes and brought out the best in each other as teachers and maybe gained a couple of friendships along the way.
I have learned a great deal this year and while this year has been a struggle both personally and professionally (this has not been my best year in the classroom - probably because almost everything done has been an experiment) - I feel that this year I have grown as a professional and as a leader (dare I say it) and maybe, just maybe earned the respect of some my peers. I do not think of this year as a waste, although one of our colleagues referred to as just that, I feel that this year has been the foundation work. Hopefully we as a team are ready to face the work of next year, together and not as individuals. As a team we can bring out the best in each other and play to our strengths, help each other outside of our comfort zone because next year will truly be a grand adventure and we will need to lean on one another.
So after hearing an initially promising connection through the district after which there was nothing, I have made a contact with our site "tech guy" - for lack of a better title. He suggested to use Google apps for Educators and emailed me on Friday that he has something promising through that service - so we will see. In the meantime, I have been storing everything that the Geometry PLC has done since summer into the district's OneDrive through Outlook. I don't know the power of this program - still working out the kinks but with the extremely professional and wonderful PLC that I am leading this year, I think that it is going well. I need need make contact with our Common Core team because (I didn't know this) they are trying to do a similar task as I am, so maybe we can work together.
So I met with Nate, our tech guy, and we are working through which is best for our purposes Office 365 vs Google. There seem to be compatibility problems with Google (most everything the Math Department currently does is Office based) while Office 365 seems to be a bit cumbersome and it also seems that we don't have access to its full functionality. My next steps are to continue to meet with Nate and to contact Dana Baron - who is putting up Common Core type lessons on our school website.
I was able to join our technology committee, which is responsible for sharing information about applications, software and hardware to the entire site. Hopefully by working with this team I will be able to figure out a way to accomplish the goals of my Capstone Project. There are many tools that we can use but it seems as though not one of them does everything.
So on September 30 I was able to meet with our technology coordinator and he found a "work around" for our computability issues. He also found a service that is traditionally used for grading and commenting on student work but could be used for the purposes of the Capstone Project.
I would like to have something ready to use by my PLC by the end of semester. I would like the ultimate goal of this project for something to be available and used by all departments at my site. The challenges include finding the time and resources to do what I want to do during the school year - I so wish I was more proactive about this during my summer. Other challenges include finding an existing program of software that will do all that I would like to do. However I find myself learning about educational technology and speaking with teachers that I would never talk to if I had not joined the technology committee. I am finding it difficult to "put myself out there" but I so want this to work. Having one place where teachers can go to I believe would be extraordinarily powerful, instead of teachers being all over the place using different tools. This project would connect to the following practices of teacher leadership: Model the Way (1,16, 6), Inspire a Shared Vision (7, 12, 22) and Challenge the Process (3, 8, 28), Enable Others to Act (4, 14). The standards would be Fostering a Collaborative Culture (1.1, 12, 1.4), and Promoting Professional Learning (3.1, 3.3, 3.4)
October
October is going to be called "road-block" month. I have have no time to work on anything to do with the Capstone project. Personal and professional items just made it almost impossible to find time to continue research. To top the list of my frustrations, the district seems to be rolling out a district "portal" for teacher collaboration. I am weirdly excited about this prospect but a little dismayed by it too. If it set up and rolled out in the right way, it could be a fantastic resource, just what I wanted to do. I would still have to get the Math department in the habit of using it by modeling the way and showing the department that despite missteps along the way, that by collaborating with each other, we could create lessons and cover our content in a way that really brings out the best in us and more importantly our students (collaborative culture, professional learning and shared vision). If it designed poorly or rolled out in the wrong way - no one will use it and it will be yet another failed tool that the district has provided (I am finding that I do not have a very high opinion of how things are done by our IT department especially when it comes to teacher resources) .
The main point of the website is to create a PLC/department that works well together, shares openly and is willing to risk and try new things. I am finding that to some members of my team - this is an impossible thing to ask. I am also finding it difficult to be the diplomat in this manner. Sometimes I feel that I lack the "soft touch" that a member of my team needs to feel. I am beginning to sense that the idea of the website and its use will ultimately fail (I can't even get one member of my team to use email and I just got the last of them on Dropbox - our sharing site until the website is up). If I can get the Geometry PLC through the year without totally imploding - I am prepared to call this year and project a success. I cannot stress the importance of this to me. Our department is wonderful, full of passionate professionals who truly have the best interests of students at heart, but we lack a shared vision of what that ultimately looks like to all of us.
November
My feelings of frustration about the final product of this project is growing. I just cannot find the time to work on the actual website. However I am finding the time to talk the members of my PLC. I think that we are working well together and we do have a very collaborative culture and have played to our strengths very well in the past month. The technology people are putting together the final while the teachers who are good at planning are putting together an outline for 2nd semester. However I am getting the impression from my self and others that we are just floating along and that all of this year's work (and there has been a lot of good work done) will ultimately be for nothing as we transition to Integrated Math 2 and our beloved Geometry class, will be gone. We have tasked with a mighty problem - transition to Common Core Standards and all that it implies and also transition to a new organization of Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 with a new textbook that is so different from what we are used to that it is a completely different universe.
Personally, I'm doing some of the most innovative teaching that I have ever done. I have never taught Geometry in this way before and I find myself truly excited to be teaching - even though I have had a lot of hiccups and it is way more work and time than I am used to putting into a class that I have taught for years. It is really like having a brand new class, with a brand new textbook. The feeling of "Are we really getting the information across? Are we truly teaching the standards?" pervades and makes it really difficult to see how this is impacting student learning.
It has also been commented that our PLC does not have a "driver." We do not have a person a grand design of our curriculum and of what the "route" and "destination" might be. I am taking these comments to heart - I feel that I am not providing the leadership that some members of the PLC feel that they need. But here's the thing - I don't want to be the one who drives all the time with the others along for the ride. Everyone in the group needs to know how to drive, to be truly collaborative and get the best from each other, we must take turns driving when our skill set is the best for the road that we are on.
I am thinking of asking my PLC to evaluate me. To ask them if they are truly getting what they need from our time together and use this information to better myself as a leader. As for the website, maybe over winter break when all the grading is done, I can get to work on it.
December
So I did ask my PLC to evaluate me and they said I was doing great - not exactly the detailed feedback I was looking for so I asked two members who probably know me best what they thought and both said that except for the one "critical conversation" that went horribly in October, they were pretty happy with the way things were going. As a group we are still struggling with "throw-away" nature of this year - going Common Core but also going Integrated Math next year. There is a feeling of wanting to be innovative and try new strategies but the thought looms that all of the work that we are doing this year is fruitless. I don't believe that it is - I keep trying to model the idea that as long as what we do is quality, it will be used in the future - maybe not by Integrated Math 2 but it will help our students and fellow teachers. I remain "ever hopeful" - this has become my catch phrase, to the point when I reach a low point, my colleagues have taken to reminding me of it.
On the website front, I have decided to try out MyCNUSD. I found out that it went live and got a site created just this morning. It looking fairly promising and a bonus is that it supports Word and PDF and doesn't cost anything. I am going to play with it and hopefully be ready to show my PLC at our next meeting. At first glance it seems to be able to do what we need. I think my project has become an exercise in getting people to change their habits. District resources have not been utilized very much at my site in my opinion because they seem to be very top down. This seems to allow for teacher created teams and uploads which to my knowledge has not been offered before. Maybe because of this we will actually use it. Also it seems that I can "invite" just the team as opposed to everyone - hopefully I can get people to play.
My goal for January is to finish putting together and polishing the website and getting the geometry PLC to start building their library and discussion board.
January
So the site is up and Is being filled with our current work. However time has not been kind this month. We came back from winter break running and every PLC meeting has stacked with agenda items and the website keeps getting pushed back. Hopefully at our first PLC in February, I will be able to put the website at the front of the agenda. A success was that one of our PLC members who teaches Special Education was looking at the site and wants to set something similar up for her Special Education teachers. That would help reach the ultimate goal of getting teachers at my site to use an online tool for sharing and collaboration rather than email. On a negative note, the pacing and cohesion of the main geometry PLC seems to falling apart. The team has 5 members who really teach geometry regular (non-honors). Three of us are working well together, are paced together and sharing and discussing lesson plans and ideas, two are not. One seems to be behind and taking all of the materials and lessons that are being created by others, the other is just doing their own thing. This is a person I have had a bit of conflict with before and I do not know how to go about finding out what their doing without making them feel "pressured."
February
The site is up and running and has more items placed into online documents. In fact we have all of our documents organized for the rest of the year (we have a lot to add). We as a group were able to do this because the district allowed us to move our planning today. At that planning day, we found a way to discuss and divide the work for the rest of the year. However, there are two issues that I am seeing. One is the discussion board is not being utilized. However this is not a habit. I am hopeful that it will be an established habit as a goal for next year. The second is the competition from other sites such as Dropbox. We have a teacher who while seemingly is very technological and up to date on the latest "thing" - she does not want to change what she does which is Dropbox and while seeming to be positive about things she at the same time, she can be very negative and not want to try a new thing to store and communicate.
We also did our first "official" common formative assessment. After the mis-steps of our first attempt, we as a group did much better as a group. Everyone gave the assessment and most everyone came to our meeting with data. However we are running in to some issues. There is a discussion about multiple choice tests versus free response. Since we are collecting data multiple choice would be the easiest (using a supporting software to collect data) the first common assessment was not multiple choice because of the time and lack of training in the supporting software. This is a continued conversation among our group.
Another item that occurred this month was a completion of a unit design for our course Integrated Math 2. it is still in a draft stage but I hope that it is a design that will guide us for next year. This is the course that will replace Geometry next year. This is why the website is so important to me - a place that we as a group can collaborate and save and refine what we have done. My hope is that the same team comes together for Integrated 2 and continues to grow and learn from each other.
March
It has been slow-going. The website use is very low. I believe that I am the only using it at this time. Most of the discussion taking place is in PLC meetings, email, prep period meetings (which only three of us can attend), and in-the-hallway meetings. The website as a fully functional tool might start next year and while I am disappointed that it did not work out for this year, I am ever hopeful for the upcoming school year. As of right now it is a library of everything sent out via email but there is no discussion going on.
I am coming to believe that my project is not just about a website, although that was its physical outcome. It became about getting a group of teachers that I have a very deep respect for (before this year) to work together in a cohesive manner that led to our best work. While everything did not work out, we did have our share of shining moments that everyone pretty much agreed that the lesson or test or unit performed as it was intended - we could not have done that by ourselves on our island that we call classrooms. It is only by working together that we managed these successes and brought out the best in each other as teachers and maybe gained a couple of friendships along the way.
I have learned a great deal this year and while this year has been a struggle both personally and professionally (this has not been my best year in the classroom - probably because almost everything done has been an experiment) - I feel that this year I have grown as a professional and as a leader (dare I say it) and maybe, just maybe earned the respect of some my peers. I do not think of this year as a waste, although one of our colleagues referred to as just that, I feel that this year has been the foundation work. Hopefully we as a team are ready to face the work of next year, together and not as individuals. As a team we can bring out the best in each other and play to our strengths, help each other outside of our comfort zone because next year will truly be a grand adventure and we will need to lean on one another.