My Goals
I spent a lot of time thinking about this. When looking at the article that helps us assess our goals I had to reassess what I thought were realistic goals. The end result is the following list of achievable and relevant goals, for me, as a coach and teacher at Davis Elementary school and beyond.
1. Use planning meetings for next year to create a STEM resource class and Maker Space to enrich the school experience for teachers and students. We should have a room designated as the maker space and a STEM class scheduled for selected grade levels, as a resource along with music, library, and physical education. The technology teacher likes the idea and the administration will be willing to expand into providing a maker space once the logistics can be worked out. This space can be used by any teacher and the STEM class will be an extension of classroom content to support engineering projects. This will be confirmed (or denied) by May 2015
2. Use co-planning of units to integrate environmental theme to the science instruction at several grade levels to form environmentally conscious students. Environmentally conscious practices will be evident and major themes in current events will come to the forefront of unit themes. The move toward Next Generation Science Standards provides opportunities to revisit science content at multiple grade levels where opportunities for environmental themes exist. Awareness of climate change and pollution in the environment affect everyone and should be an important outcome for all schools. Small tasks such as a recycling program that teaches everyone to reduce, reuse, and recycle plus an awareness of one’s carbon footprint. are easily introduced but can have a larger impact on the surrounding community. The opportunity to do this right now at fourth, fifth, and sixth grades is immediate and a unit with some environmental science connection can be created for the following year by June of 2015.
3. Become fluent (to some extent) in a programming language to be able to explore the possibilities for math and science instruction. I will use the summer to look into a simple language, probably through code.org. I want to explore the possibilities of using this to help students understand complex mathematical procedures or even the idea of sequencing ideas for language arts. If I can understand the content then I am able to use it in a classroom and if it is successful then others may follow. By the end of the summer I will have spent enough time to feel competent at programming. (September 2015)
4. Improve communication and collaboration in the school by supporting teacher development in using digital technology. The numbers of teachers using technology consistently can be monitored and the types of tasks currently done manually can be done through the use of cloud computing (google suite). It is achievable but I am not sure as to the extent to which other schools have reached this level of technology use by staff. This is important because communication and collaboration are vital to the success of a school, but there is limited face to face time that can be built into a schedule, This move would enable teachers, parents and students to strengthen communication. This also allows more time for teachers to work together on a number of different school related tasks, leading to a greater buy-in among the staff. This can be accomplished with three months of consistent training and support through grade level meetings (December 2015)
5. Create a digital communication and collaboration platform through a school based google site for the purpose of curriculum development. The number of teachers creating and contributing to units will reach 90% of entire staff and the number of completed units viewable through a shared folder on the drive will provide evidence of the work. It is achievable through professional development in grade level meetings but also in collaboration as a math/science coach with teachers. Increased numbers of teachers collaborating in and across grade levels will develop coherence in content and pacing. By June 2017 teachers should have completed or revised units for most of the school year and the first half of the following year.
6. Study some area of science or engineering with an environmental focus. I would like to enroll in a degree program that matches my interests so that I can continue to grow personally and professionally. I’m not so sure about the possibilities but I know it has been done. I will begin by researching what math and science requirements are necessary, then enroll in some of those courses. Besides the curiosity and personal interest, I have to feel like I am continuing to grow and contribute to the school. Having this expertise will allow me to be a consultant for teachers and satisfy my own needs. This is something that will take years but I hope it can be accomplished within five. (June 2020)
1. Use planning meetings for next year to create a STEM resource class and Maker Space to enrich the school experience for teachers and students. We should have a room designated as the maker space and a STEM class scheduled for selected grade levels, as a resource along with music, library, and physical education. The technology teacher likes the idea and the administration will be willing to expand into providing a maker space once the logistics can be worked out. This space can be used by any teacher and the STEM class will be an extension of classroom content to support engineering projects. This will be confirmed (or denied) by May 2015
2. Use co-planning of units to integrate environmental theme to the science instruction at several grade levels to form environmentally conscious students. Environmentally conscious practices will be evident and major themes in current events will come to the forefront of unit themes. The move toward Next Generation Science Standards provides opportunities to revisit science content at multiple grade levels where opportunities for environmental themes exist. Awareness of climate change and pollution in the environment affect everyone and should be an important outcome for all schools. Small tasks such as a recycling program that teaches everyone to reduce, reuse, and recycle plus an awareness of one’s carbon footprint. are easily introduced but can have a larger impact on the surrounding community. The opportunity to do this right now at fourth, fifth, and sixth grades is immediate and a unit with some environmental science connection can be created for the following year by June of 2015.
3. Become fluent (to some extent) in a programming language to be able to explore the possibilities for math and science instruction. I will use the summer to look into a simple language, probably through code.org. I want to explore the possibilities of using this to help students understand complex mathematical procedures or even the idea of sequencing ideas for language arts. If I can understand the content then I am able to use it in a classroom and if it is successful then others may follow. By the end of the summer I will have spent enough time to feel competent at programming. (September 2015)
4. Improve communication and collaboration in the school by supporting teacher development in using digital technology. The numbers of teachers using technology consistently can be monitored and the types of tasks currently done manually can be done through the use of cloud computing (google suite). It is achievable but I am not sure as to the extent to which other schools have reached this level of technology use by staff. This is important because communication and collaboration are vital to the success of a school, but there is limited face to face time that can be built into a schedule, This move would enable teachers, parents and students to strengthen communication. This also allows more time for teachers to work together on a number of different school related tasks, leading to a greater buy-in among the staff. This can be accomplished with three months of consistent training and support through grade level meetings (December 2015)
5. Create a digital communication and collaboration platform through a school based google site for the purpose of curriculum development. The number of teachers creating and contributing to units will reach 90% of entire staff and the number of completed units viewable through a shared folder on the drive will provide evidence of the work. It is achievable through professional development in grade level meetings but also in collaboration as a math/science coach with teachers. Increased numbers of teachers collaborating in and across grade levels will develop coherence in content and pacing. By June 2017 teachers should have completed or revised units for most of the school year and the first half of the following year.
6. Study some area of science or engineering with an environmental focus. I would like to enroll in a degree program that matches my interests so that I can continue to grow personally and professionally. I’m not so sure about the possibilities but I know it has been done. I will begin by researching what math and science requirements are necessary, then enroll in some of those courses. Besides the curiosity and personal interest, I have to feel like I am continuing to grow and contribute to the school. Having this expertise will allow me to be a consultant for teachers and satisfy my own needs. This is something that will take years but I hope it can be accomplished within five. (June 2020)
