Agenda_2010_7-13_SpecialMeeting

Location: Pflugerville ISD Admin Building
 * Special Meeting - July 13, 2010 (9:00 - 11:30)**

Attendees: - - The program will encourage all participants to employ their standing methods of communication with parents to convey information to the home, including translation of materials into families’ home languages. - For example, participants will be encouraged to build technology demonstrations into Back-to-School nights and similar parent activities. Demonstrating the interactive nature of these teaching methods during these events will be highly encouraged; for example, teachers could allow parents to participate in a sample lesson. The visual nature of the Promethean and ST Math technologies allows parents of all educational backgrounds and native languages to better understand their children’s school time activities. - Participants will remain cognizant that many of the families served may not have Internet access. Where possible, participants can mitigate this barrier to parent participation and support by providing after-hours access to school computers. They can also send home paper-based records of their children’s work, such as screen shots, PowerPoint presentations, or assessments of student achievement that are generated after a computer-assisted activity.
 * __Parents__**

(Note: TCEA2010 in February for teachers) - Each teacher selected will assess his or her teaching style prior to the implementation of the project using a teacher learning style inventory; they will again use this measure at the end of the first and second years of the project to measure growth. - All participants must complete a 90-minute online course with a focus on the Activstudio software before installation of the board begins. - After 90- minute online course, all participants (in small group setting) will receive a 3 hour Promethean training session conducted the week the boards are installed at each of designated campuses. - Participants will also receive a 3-hour Promethean training session conducted approximately 2 weeks following the initial installation, again in a small group setting. - The initial training will focus on getting the users started and on integrating the technologies into the instruction that is currently taking place in the classroom. - During the spring semester, participants will assemble into their cohorts for training. - Each cohort will include a curriculum coordinator, instructional technology specialist and a small number of participating teachers from across the collaborative. - These training cohorts will meet 6 times beginning in November and continuing through the spring semester. - Cohort training will be 2 hours in length and, if possible, will occur after the end of the regular school day. - This ongoing training will focus on connecting the tools directly to the curriculum with an expectation that each participant will create a minimum of one flipchart per curriculum section. These charts would be shared with the other participating teachers across the district and, as applicable, across the regional collaborative. - Following completion of basic training, upon installation of the ActivBoards, teachers would be required to complete a 3-hour face to face advanced skills course on operating the whiteboard, using the ActivStudio resources and Promethean Planet, modifying existing flipchart resources, and creating new flipcharts based on a teacher-selected curricula. This would be followed up with another 3-hour face to face training session approximately 2 weeks after installation to diagnose and address any operational issues and reinforce teachers’ integration of the technology with curriculum content. In the spring semester, the professional development would shift to regular meetings of the cohorts, in which participating teachers could present sample lessons, share tips, and troubleshoot as necessary. This “formal” professional development would be bolstered by ongoing informal professional development via the online community enabled by the wiki in RRISD and Promethean Planet. Each district/charter will have some flexibility in rolling out the training to its participating teachers and campuses, provided that the 18-hour requirement is met. - In year 2, teachers implementing the ST Math program would be required to complete 1 day of training at the onset of implementing the program and a two-hour follow-up training at the midpoint of the school year.
 * __Teachers__**

- Curriculum coordinators and instructional technology specialists will receive leveled training over the fall and spring semesters in order to prepare them to sustain high quality professional development for teachers through a train-the-trainer model. - Principals will be trained on the technology and how to lead and observe effective classroom integration. - Administrators in participating schools will agree to conduct classroom walkthroughs to collect data regarding the use of the technology tools and the congruence with the content and cognitive level required by the TEKS. - PD must address the participation of administrators at the school district and campus level for a total of 12 hours per administrator for each year of the grant.
 * __Administrators__**

Note: Book study on "what a technology integrated classroom looks like" using The Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano.