Megan Harrold LTMS 698 Internship Reflection Selecting, implementing and adapting technology to teaching methodologies As I was planning

for the various sessions that I was teaching during Tech Camp, I considered many factors. Who were my participants? What grade(s) subject(s) did they teach? What is their comfort with this technology? How can I make this technology relevant to them and their work environment? What resources would be best for this type of participant? How can I deliver the instruction in a logical manner? Were only a few of the questions that I asked myself as I planned for the sessions. For example, I wanted the participants to feel that they were a part of a positive learning environment, so I included icebreakers at the beginning of the sessions. I find this makes the teachers feel more comfortable with me and each other. Also, I created agendas so that the participants were aware of the objectives for the session. The agenda also gave them an outline to reference for our activities. I created screen casts to demonstrate certain skills so that the teachers could refer back to these as needed. During the sessions I was questioning: How can you use this with your students? How do you see this benefiting your instruction, and/or your students? After demonstrating the skills, and completing a guided practice, I would circulate and assist participants as they were creating with the new technology. At the end we shared a few of the work examples that the participants had created and reviewed ways to use the tool in the classroom. Planning, preparation and delivery of technology related in-service programs My Tech Camp experience was extremely applicable to this competency. My planning for the Tech Camp went beyond the teaching aspect to include the development, implementation, and management of the entire Tech Camp. It is a task that I would be more than willing to take on again, especially with the retrospective knowledge that I now have.

Now that I am aware of the common pitfalls (act 48 sessions, paperwork organization, participant templates, etc.) I would be better prepared to take on the responsibility of leading the Tech Camp again. Developing leadership techniques for working with all levels of the educational community My Tech Camp experience enabled me to work with individuals from various levels within the educational community. For example, one of the participants who was enrolled in the two credit program was trying to determine what she could create for her multi-media project (which is a requirement for the credits). She is a secondary math teacher who teaches a few different courses. She wanted a resource for her students where they could find tutorials and homework help. I suggested that she create a wiki. I helped her develop the wiki and gave her some basic tips on how on manage the navigation, create pages, and embed content. For the PLP and eChalk projects, I was a team leader for the PLP, which lead into me taking a leadership role as we continued through the process of developing our plans for the first day events AFTER the PLP culminating event was over. For some of the contacts, I defected to the principal who was on the committee because of the hierarchy in our district it was more appropriate that he make certain types of contacts and correspondence through emails. However, I was responsible for discussing a majority of the content for the first day in a meeting with the district superintendent and the principal on our team. Collaborating with school colleagues This competency became the overarching principle during my internship. Collaboration and team management was a tremendous aspect of the internship. I collaborated with many individuals for the Tech Camp, my PLP and eChalk project work, and with those in the

Technology Department during the infrastructure portion of my internship. Tech Camp collaboration began with a meeting with Dr. Sue Kanigsberg, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and Angie McWilliams, Instructional Technology Coordinator. We discussed the courses that were previously offered to determine which courses were still relevant and also discussed classes that could be created to address staff needs. I continued to work closely with these two individuals throughout the planning process. Once the Tech Camp was in session, I collaborated with many individuals either in a formal manner, as I was instructing a course, or an informal manner as I was troubleshooting technology issues or corresponding through emails to assist participants. This was my favorite aspect of my internship. I love to work with others to solve a problem. Troubleshooting technology is something that I really enjoy. There are so many means to the end, and I like the process of finding that path to the end result. For the PLP and eChalk projects, I collaborated with a variety of individuals across many levels of the district. The PLP project began in September, but will not come to fruition until August 23rd. Our group has continued to meet over the summer to ensure that the activities that we have planned for the first day for staff will run as smoothly as possible. The very nature of this project requires collaboration and coordination with individuals such as: the superintendent, the business manager, the director of curriculum and instruction, all principals, audio visual coordinator, transportation coordinator, nurses, technology department, and so on. I have been in contact with many of these individuals to plan the events. It is a very time consuming project and has many logistically dilemmas, but I am confident that it will be organized. Lastly, I collaborated with all members of the technology department during the infrastructure portion of my internship. On a daily basis, I mainly worked with the computer technicians to support the changes in the district desktops and laptops. However, I also communicated with the Network Specialist and the Technology Coordinator to

discuss infrastructure and domains servers. I am very glad that I had the opportunity to work with the technology department in this capacity. Viewing the district through the technology department lens was helpful to understand how all of their hard work is what makes our days run more smoothly. Email, phone, Internet, software, hardware, etc., the technology department is pervasive throughout the school environment.