Integrating Technology into Instruction (As an Administrator)

As an administrator, you set the tone for how things run in your school.  It is very important for administrators to encourage teachers to integrate technology into their daily instruction.  One thing that is very helpful in integrating technology into instruction is professional development.  As an administrator, it is very important to provide teachers with appropriate professional development that will allow teachers to effectively utilize technology in the classroom.  This does not mean that teachers are introduced to the technology one time, and then they are expected to use the technology in their classroom because this simply does not work.  Teachers must be provided with hands-on training with the technology, and then be provided with follow-up training sessions to make sure that they understand how to integrate the technology into the curriculum.  Another thing that is very helpful in integrating technology into instruction is for the administrators to be using technology as they interact with their staff.  If administrators do not embrace using technology, it is very unlikely that the majority of teachers will try very hard to learn how to integrate technology into instruction.  In today's technological society, schools must learn how to effectively integrate technology into instruction, and administrators play a vital role in setting the tone for having a technology-rich school.

The End of the JV Volleyball Season

Well, the season offically ended tonight for the New Hope High School JV Volleyball team.  We played in the Madison County Tournament and lost our first game to Madison County.  It was not a very successful season in terms of wins and losses (6 - 24), but hopefully the girls learned a little bit about how hard it is to play high school volleyball.  Three of my six players will continue playing with the varsity team for the next month, so technically coaching volleyball will continue for me for a little while longer this year.  However, I get to make the transition from head JV coach to varsity assistant coach.  I really enjoy the role of assistant coach much more than head coach.  As an assistant, you get to sit back and observe a little more.  You get to make suggestions and still coach, but all the pressure is not on you!  I'm really looking forward to the rest of the varsity season.  We get to host the area tournament and have a chance of making it pretty far in the playoffs this year!

How Technology Affects the Learning Process

I believe that technology has a very positive effect on the learning process.  Our students have grown up with technology, and most are much more knowledgable with technology than their teachers are.  When teachers embrace using technology, their students seem  to benefit.  Technology allows students to be hands-on with their learning.  Teaching in a computer lab allows me to see how much technology affects the learning process.  Students really enjoy being able to complete all of their assignments on the computer because that is something that comes easy to them.  Knowing that students are using technology all the time, teachers should try to integrate technology into their lesson plans as much as possible. 

Motivational Speaker Inspires Students

Last Thursday, Michael Peterson came to speak to the students at New Hope High School.  He is an award-winning country music artist and song writer and now spends most of his time as a motivational speaker.  He spoke to our students about thinking about their lives and trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives.  He talked a lot about "What's Your Story?" explaining to students that the future is like a blank sheet of paper that you get to decide what you want to write on that paper.  I thought that he related really well with our students and made the presentation very interactive.  It seemed like our students and even the teachers really enjoyed the presentation.  Check out his website at www.tagyoureitonline.com to learn more!

Sustaining Technology Innovations in Schools

Sustaining technology innovations in schools seems like something that is very difficult.  Financially, it is almost impossible to provide students with the latest technology that they should be learning about and learning with.  I teach in a computer lab each day, and the computers I have are 6 years old!  I am teaching students about Microsoft Office 2003, when I should really be teaching them about Office 2010.  I believe that it is very important to provide students with opportunities to learn about the latest technology because they are using that technology in their daily lives.  In a perfect world, computers would be updated every year so that students can learn about the latest and greatest technologies available. 

My Life as a Volleyball Coach

As this school week is coming to an end, you would think that I would be super excited that it is Friday.  However, as I mentioned earlier this week, during the fall I coach volleyball, and that means that almost every Saturday is spent at a volleyball tournament.  Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy coaching, but sometimes I just wish that I could spend a Saturday at home on the couch watching football!  Tomorrow I have the pleasure of spending a wonderful Saturday at Elkmont High School.  We play at 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 4:30 pm.  Then the championship game (if we are fortunate to play well enough to make it that far) is scheduled for 6:30 pm.  This means that my entire Saturday will be spent at Elkmont!  As far as this week went for the JV volleyball team, we lost all 5 games that we played.  Not the successful week that I was hoping for.  Hopefully we will play better this weekend and bring home a trophy!  And hopefully my Auburn Tigers will play better too!  War Eagle!!!

Technology Best Practices

As a business education teacher, I teach in a computer lab and am fortunate to be able to use technology daily.  My students really enjoy being able to use the computer everyday and learn how to properly use different software programs.  I teach my classes the basics of using Microsoft Office.  We spend time learning about Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Publisher.  I also try to integrate online technologies as much as possible.  One online tool that my students really enjoy using is Prezi.  At first they think that it is too complicated, but soon realize that they enjoy this presentation tool much more than PowerPoint.  I also use Moodle to manage my class.  This online tool allows students to take quizzes and tests online and instantly see their grade when they finish.  Also, students who are absent are able to see the assignments that they have missed from home and not get behind in the class.  There are several other online sites that I use in my class that I will tell you about later in my blog!

The Start of a Busy Week

Today is the beginning of another busy week!  Looking at my calendar, I was surprised to notice that I do not have class at all this week.  Since June, it seems like I have had class at least once or twice each week.  However, this week is class-free.  While you would think that would mean that I would have an easy and relaxing week that is not the case.  Volleyball season is now in full swing!  I am the JV Volleyball coach at New Hope High School, and we are reaching the point in the season where it seems like we are playing games everyday!  This week we have a game at home today and away games at Ardmore tomorrow and at Hazel Green on Thursday.  I wish I could say that we have had a successful season so far, but that is not the case! :(  Our record is currently 4 - 11.  This means that we have won only 4 games, and lost 11.  Not so good!  We only have 6 players on the JV team, which means that everyone has to play the whole game with no options for substitutions when players are not playing well.  Hopefully we will play well this week and improve our record. 

Why I Want to be an Administrator?

This past June I became a student once again.  I am currently pursing my Master's Degree in Instructional Leadership from Samford University.  This degree will allow me to one day become an administrator.  It seems like everyone I talk to thinks I'm crazy to want to be an administrator, but I have honestly dreamed of becoming an administrator since I began teaching at New Hope High School six years ago.  While I love being a classroom teacher, I feel like I have more to offer.  My goal in life is to influence others and hopefully make a positive difference in other people’s lives.  As an administrator, I feel like I will still have the opportunity to influence students, but I will also have the ability to influence the faculty and staff in my school as well as the people in the community where I work.  Having this influence on others is the main reason why I want to become an administrator. 

As of right now, I am having a hard time ever picturing myself as a principal.  However, I believe that I have the leadership and management skills necessary to serve as an assistant principal.  I can see myself over instruction and curriculum, making sure that teachers are effectively teaching their students.  I can also see myself teaching other teachers about technology.  As a business education teacher, I use and teach others about technology each and every day.  I believe that educating teachers about how to effectively utilize technology in their classrooms is very important.  Today’s students are greatly influenced by technology and teachers who use technology in their classrooms greatly help their students.

Throughout my life, I have been encouraged to follow my dreams.  When I decided to become a teacher, several of my friends questioned my decision, saying that I would never make any money and that they could not believe that I would pass up an opportunity to be a successful accountant or lawyer just to follow a dream.  I believe that God has called me to be a teacher, and following that calling is something much greater than money or fame or success.  Now, I believe that pursing this degree in Instructional Leadership will allow me to continue to follow my dreams.

My First Post

Tonight I have created my first blog.  Being a technology teacher, you would think that I would have a blog, but I don't!  I am taking this technology class, and we are required to have this blog.  I am not the most creative person, so this should be interesting! :) I am kind of excited to see how blogging works so that I might be able to have my students create their own blogs.