I just stumbled upon the “MS 2 Year Tech Plan” for 2012-2014 that I wrote two years ago. Apparently I internalized what I wrote down, because without looking at this for awhile, we’re making quite a bit of progress!
Major Goals:
1. Using the curriculum design, think through/evaluate new initiatives around programming & computational thinking and online/blended classroom environments – evaluating specifically amount of time expected for students, where resources are.
- SimCity is well established in the 7th grade science curriculum
- Minecraft is installed on all computers and kids have been using it in 6th humanities to sketch out their India buildings
- Participation in Computer Science Education Week: I taught at least 45 minutes of coding to every single student and have carried on several lessons into 6th tech
- Several teachers using flipped classroom models – mostly (to be honest) without any direct support from me
2. Parent partnership
- Very well attended session on Instagram
- Parent speed-geeking session that was well received
- Upcoming session with a social media professional and another one on gaming
3. Personal
- I’m continuing to blog and share – I was excited at how well my ICC Reflection was received by the committee
- I’ve elaborated on the topics on my “Engaging Beyond” page
- I updated my resume and wrote my personal statement
- I’ve presented at two conferences and joined the executive committee for the ISTE Special Interest Group for Independent Schools
- Supported teachers in fostering their own professional development, whether through encouraging presenting or developing their online presence through a portfolio or social media account
- I took two MOOCs this fall, one on comic books and graphic novels and the other on video games and learning. I learned A LOT, shared a lot of the resources, and it fueled my energy for learning.
What we haven’t done:
- Assessing what we already do through the lens of pre-production, production, post-production, publication
- We still don’t have a curriculum design for technology pK-teachers
- Students publishing online
Resolutions: What would I like to get done this spring?
- Articulate the pK-teacher technology curriculum
- More opportunities for teachers to see the value of Minecraft and integrate it into their curriculum
- Curriculum opportunities for programming
- Proposal for 8th grade rotation class in video game design, app design, social media, and 3D modeling
Julie Kallio, PhD 