EDLD5370+Comprehensive+Examination


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Comprehensive Final Tech Leadership Tammy D. Foreman Lamar University

**Introduction ** This document will serve as a reflection of a very important period of not only my professional learning experience but the changes that this experience has made on me as a person as well. Having focused on raising two children and taking care of a husband and household for over twenty years I believe that I had forgotten about my passion and was truly beginning to lose myself. I was born a teacher and take every opportunity in life to turn experiences into teachable moments. “Technology can move you from a good teacher to an great teacher and give you the positive influence on student learning you have always hope for” (Pitler, Hubbell, Huhn, Malenoski, 2007 p. 14). I needed to make some changes and was in desperate need of guidance to take me in the right direction. **Position Goal ** I was finding myself frustrated and lacking the motivation to improve upon what I was doing in the classroom and in my life until I decided to focus on myself and enroll in this program in order to earn my master’s degree. I am very much committed to both technology and helping students become successful. Therefore, this program was a perfect opportunity to learn how to accomplish both of these goals. I am already serving as my campus technology coordinator so moving into a district position would be my next step. “In order for schools to prepare students for the future, leaders must help teachers make the transition to using new technologies and new methods” (Solomon & Schrum, 2007 p. 118). By also earning a principal certification I would also be qualified to go into administration but that would only appeal to me if I was able to continue to work with developing technology integration with the teachers and students on my campus. Ultimately, I would like to be able to work in a college setting so that I can work with college students who are interested in becoming classroom teachers so that I could use all the experience in which I have gained in helping them go into the profession well prepared and eager to work with the students of tomorrow.

**Leadership Goal ** Initially, my goal in obtaining this degree was to serve my district, or another closely located district, as a Campus Instructional Technologist. This position would allow me to work with teachers to help them take their curriculum and enhance it with technology so that the students would be more engaged and successful. Most teachers are experts in their subject area but lack the knowledge of how to transfer that knowledge to their students. As a technologist, I would be able to guide the teachers to technology resources that today’s students are accustomed to using when they are not in school. The students of today were not even born when I entered the teaching profession which means the education I received in order to become a classroom teacher is not current. “One mistake that teachers often make when updating lesson plans to incorporate 21st-centruy skills is to simply automate traditional activities” (Brooks-Young, 2010 p.11). Teachers are only required to take a few hours of continuing education each year and that doesn’t give them a great deal of time to explore options for technology integrated lessons. Teachers have so many resources available but so little time to explore and prepare for these lessons. One of my main goals as a leader would be to promote the love of learning for each and everyone and give them time to research and plan ways to use technology in their classrooms to engage their students and help them succeed instead of simply satisfying their technology lesson requirement. The technology we have available to us next year will very likely be totally different from what we are working with today. Therefore, it is essential for our society to learn how to be good learners so that they will be able to adapt to rapid changes that new technology introduces to our society. **Vision ** As a current technology teacher looking to move into a district position, I am very much interested in planning for the future so that I am better educated on what lies ahead. The NMC Horizon Report is exactly the resource that I needed to read as this committee of forty leaders in technology education have published their findings and listed the top six “emerging technologies or practices that are likely to enter mainstream use in the educational community within three adoption horizons over the next one to five years” (Johnson, Adams, and Haywood, 2011, p.3). This report states that the use of cloud computing and mobiles are at the forefront of changes that will take place in education. Following in the next two to three years will be the use of game-based learning and open content. Four or five years away from adoption is learning analytics and personal learning environments. As a district technology leader, I would love to be given an opportunity to transform my district into a technology rich district. However, with the current state of budget cuts budgeting will no doubt be a major hurdle. Therefore, I would want to explore the use of cloud computing since its “a way to trim the costs of running district data centers, such as data storage, backups, and infrastructure maintenance” (Johnson, Adams, and Haywood, 2011, p.6). Perhaps the money my district would save on these expenses could be put towards the purchase of mobiles which is the next technology listed in the report. “Mobiles, especially smartphones and tablets, enable ubiquitous access to information, social networks, tools for learning and productivity, and hundreds of thousands of custom applications” (Johnson, Adams, and Haywood, 2011, p.6). While on this educational journey I have decided to take, I have learned a great deal about myself. First of all, I learned that I had forgotten what it felt like to be a student. I take almost every situation I am in as though I am a teacher. I always like to refer to it as taking time to make “teachable moments” but my family often tells me I am just talking “teacher talk”. So it was difficult for me to switch roles and go back into a student role. However, I honestly believe that by doing so I have become a better teacher. I also learned that although I have never been busier in my life, I have very much enjoyed taking time to work on what is important to me and that is leading others to use technology to help them achieve success with their students and their curriculum. The fact that I work in a school district that is heavily burdened with Robin Hood payments and experiencing a difficult budget crisis, I was beginning to fear that we would be forced to move backwards in terms of technology integration. But instead, this program has shown me so many great resources that can be accessed for free if you simply take the time to educate yourself. Which is exactly what I intend to do. When I started this program over a year ago I recall one of the professors mentioning that, as students in this technology leadership program, we are at the front of the packs leading the charge to take technology into education and I was very excited to hear that. However, after reading the incredible amount of material that has been put into these courses I couldn’t help but notice that many of them are dated closer to the year 2000 than our current school year of 2012. This worries me that districts such as mine are still behind compared based on the information published in the earlier publications which puts us even further behind districts that are current with their technologies. As a potential technology leader this information makes me eager to start making changes sooner rather than later. “Education is a service profession” (Martin, Wright, Danzig, Flanary & Brown, 2005, p. 69). Services professions are only successful if they perform their services in such a manner that their customers are satisfied and want to continue to do business with them. I feel as though I have failed to perform exemplary service for my students that is not something I am pleased with. The question I have been asking myself lately is, “Why have I waited this long to educate myself about technology leadership?” Although I can state several valid excuses, in the end it comes down to the fact that I simply backed out of the way and let others take charge. This is something that I can no longer sit back and watch. I see something before me that needs to be done and I intend to find a way to get it done. I am no longer willing to simply be told that there is no budget money for something; I will take the time to find a free or similar resource if possible. My husband has a saying that I must give him credit for, although I am sure he borrowed it from someone else, “No doesn’t mean no, it just doesn’t means I won’t be dealing with you.” I will find a way to bring technology into our classrooms to improve student engagement and help teachers better prepare our students for their futures. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Top Six Lamar Courses ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I think it is fair to say that I have learned something from each and every course that I have taken while enrolled in this program. However, I did have several courses in which I either enjoyed more or felt as though they went above and beyond to help me along my journey to become a technology leader. The six courses in the order in which they were taken were Concepts of Educational Technology, Multimedia and Video Technology, School Law, Digital Graphics, Animation, and Desktop Publishing, Teaching with Technology, and Leadership for Accountability. The two internships, Supervision and Educational Technology, were crucial to my educational experience but for purpose of fulfilling this portion of the assignment I will focus on the six standard courses identified above. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Concepts of Educational Technology began my journey and really opened my eyes to the vast amount of information that has been published in regards to technology integration in the public school setting. I enjoyed the reading assignments and even though I could have accessed those articles without being enrolled in that class I probably would not have. “Even for those who are formally trained, the dynamic nature of the field amplifies the need to keep pace with emerging technological knowledge” (Williamson & Redish, 2009, p. 2). Now I am familiar with the articles and authors and plan to stay up to date by continuing to read publications such as the ones assigned in this course. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">While completing the Multimedia and Video Technology course, I felt just like a student sitting in a classroom that had no idea what was going to be expected of him or her. I was nervous about potential complications that have accompanied video projects in my past and I was not looking forward to having those and more issues complicate the assignments. However, my group was able to work well on this project and use each of our talents in such a way that we all feel like we contributed equally to the final product. This course made me put into practice what I teach to my students. “Project-based learning allows for alternative approaches that address students’ individual differences, variations in learning styles, intelligences, and abilities and disabilities” (Solomon & Schrum, 2007, p. 39). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">“The time has come to discard zero tolerance and address contemporary issues through ethical, educational, and legally defensible models that focus on student safety, empowerment, and education” (Shariff, 2004, p. 232). This quote identifies why the School Law course was helpful to me as a public educator. It seems like every time you turn around you hear about a school district getting sued for one thing or another. This course allowed me to investigate what some schools are doing that might make them vulnerable to being sued. As a future administrator, I plan to educate myself regarding the law as much as possible to avoid bringing any type of litigation to the district in which I am chosen to serve. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Digital Graphics, Animation, and Desktop Publishing taught me how to create a personal brand and I am so proud of my image. I have used it many times since creating it during this class. I also learned how to “read” posters and graphics to show what the artist was implying. I feel better prepared to teach these concepts to my students now that I have taken this course. “Technology is impacting all of our lives, and especially the lives of students, in new and expanding ways” (Johnson, Smith, Levine, & Haywood, 2010 p. 4). I also enjoyed this class as it had a variety of smaller assignments so even though it was a five week course, it seemed like we covered a great deal of material for such a short time period. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">“Students learn more in less time when they receive computer-based instruction” (Schacter, 1999, p.4). With all the additional demands teachers have for their class time the course, Teaching with Technology, was very important for me and provided me with updated information regarding what other schools are doing in this area. If I can show my district that others are capable of finding ways to increase technology use in their classrooms and still satisfy state testing standards they would be hard pressed to find a reason not to support the idea. I also enjoyed working in a group during this course because my only teaching experience has been in the area’s of secondary mathematics and technology so this course allowed me to work with teachers of other subjects and grade levels. Teaching with Technology is also basically what I do on a daily basis so this class was right on target with giving me ideas that I can implement in my classroom. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">When I started this program, I really had a hard time trying to decide if I wanted to go into the leadership or technology program. “With all of the never-ending demands on a principal from a large and diverse number of constituencies, coupled with the numerous emergencies that surface on an almost daily basis, it is easy for principals to lose sight of why they aspired to be principals in the first place-leading and inspiring the teaching and learning that occur within their schoolhouse, a task that has become increasingly more complex in recent years (Dana, 2009, pp. 1-2.). Then, at some point in this process, Lamar gave some of us the option to include the leadership as part of the technology grogram so I jumped at the chance. Leadership for Accountability was the first course that I felt was truly dedicated to preparing me for a principal ship. Having been a public school teacher for over twenty years now, the thought of changing roles brings with it an excitement that seemed to be heightened while completing the assignments for this course. This course seemed almost like it was written just for me to teach me many things including how to become a great leader. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I am filled with excitement on this final week of the program. Obviously, because I will no longer be stressing over getting the readings, video lectures, web conferences, web postings, and assignments done but I am also excited about how I am entering my classroom this year with an entirely new outlook. There were so many new and exciting teaching techniques and resources presented during this program but I really didn’t feel like I had the time to dedicate myself to introduce them in my classrooms. Now, I will finally have the time and I certainly have the desire. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Lamar Academic Partnership program was exactly what I needed. I can’t say that it came at the best time of my life or that it was an easy task but it was certainly the only program that I had felt would help me pursue my advancement in education while learning more about my passion of technology. With the economy in the state in which it is currently in teachers are just as vulnerable to job cuts due to budget demands as any other profession. Often times, the first jobs cut would be those of the teachers who do not teach a core subject, which is exactly my position. However, by increasing my education, I am hoping to increase my employability whether it is in a public school setting or in a college setting. I cannot see myself leaving my passion of teaching and I just can’t help but think that with the many years of experience in which I have accumulated, that I could be of great benefit to future teachers. My love of technology will hopefully continue to grow as fast as the demands for technology and thus I will remain a lifetime learner in order to stay current with the advancements of technology. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In closing, I do want to personally thank Dr. Abernathy. It was about two years ago that I sat across the table from her at a conference and mentioned wanting to pursue my master’s degree. Little did I know that she was one of the professors at Lamar teaching the very courses that I would soon end up taking classes from. As I mentioned before, this was probably not the best time in my life to pursue something like this and I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family. During the past two years, my husband changed jobs to one that requires him to travel at least two weeks a month, my daughter would enroll in three different colleges for her first three semesters of college, my son would get hurt playing baseball and not be allowed to play for two seasons, and that I would take on more tasks than any sane person would ever agree to. You see, not only do I have a full time job as a teacher, department chair and technology coordinator at my school but I also teach community education courses, manage two concession stands for the local and select baseball leagues year round, sell items monthly on eBay, keep scorebooks for the high school boys and girls basketball season, and try to maintain a functioning household that includes three dogs. So at the end of the school year last year, when the athletic director asked me if I would be willing to coach the girls volleyball and basketball my husband actually told me he would seriously think about committing me if I said yes to another obligation. Therefore, my final thought to end this journey is that if I can find the time to earn this degree, any one can! **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Professional Development Plan ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In my first year of professional growth I learned a great deal by taking classes in pursuit of obtaining my master’s degree. Each class that I have completed has taught me not only new strategies that have helped me as the student but also a great number of teaching concepts that I have been able to take directly into my middle school classroom. It has been a delight to see that these resources are available through free resources such as YouTube, Teacher Tube, Google Docs, and a variety of learning publications. There is no longer a need to pay a huge amount of money in fees to join various professional organizations in order to receive valuable information. I will certainly make use of these free online resources by researching these sites regularly. Using what I learned about RSS feeds this practice will be a quick and easy way to stay up to date with the latest news regarding technology education. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Upon completion of my degree, I am planning to pursue job openings that will allow me to lead others in the integration of technology into the public education setting. I am currently serving as the Campus Technology Coordinator and obtaining this degree I will prove to my district that I am capable of leading my campus towards fully integrating technology into each and every classroom. I will continue to not only take technology development courses that are offered by my district and region, but teach as many as I can as well. In the past, many of these classes have focused on simply how to use the programs we have available so as a leader in the district, I will push to transition more classes in which allow our teachers to explore ways to integrate technology into their own curriculum area. “Students today have very definite views about what constitutes effective use of technology or best strategies for finding and evaluating information” (Brooks-Young, 2010, p. 10-11). There are so many benefits to taking the technology most students already possess and know how to use without additional costs to the district and learn how to use them in for educational purposes. By reading and implementing ideas such as this from proven leaders in technology education I am hoping to bring positive changes to any school I am privileged to work in. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Lastly, by the third year of this professional growth plan, I would like to have gained enough leadership experience that I would be confident and qualified enough to either be hired as an educational technology director in the public school setting or as a teacher at the collegiate level. In order to obtain either of these positions it will be vital that I stay up to date with any and all things related to technology which is a difficult thing to do given the rate in which technology changes. Many schools are ahead of mine and it would benefit me to learn from their successes and failures. Schools in public education are all basically in the same business so I would definitely research schools similar to mine and gather information from those schools in order to learn from their mistakes and get ideas on what may and may not work on my own campus.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">References ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Brooks-Young, S. (2010). //Teaching with the tools kids really use.// Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Dana, Nancy Fichtman (2009). //Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action Researcher.// Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Johnson, L., Smith, R., Levine, A., and Haywood, K., (2010). //2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition.// Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Haywood, K., (2011). //The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition//. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Martin, Gary E., Wright, William F., Danzig, Arnold B., Flanary, Richard A., & Brown, Fred. //School leadership internship: Developing, monitoring, and evaluating you leadership experience//. Larchmont, New York: Eye on Education. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). //Using technology with classroom instruction that works.// Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Schacter, J. (1999). //The impact of education technology on student achievement: What the most current research has to say.// Santa Monica, CA: Milken Exchange on Education Technology. Retrieved from []. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Shariff, S. (2004). //Keeping schools out of court: Legally defensible models of leadership//. The Education Forum, 6//8//(3), 222-233. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). //Web 2.0: New tools, new schools.// Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). //Technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

Tammy D. Allen Foreman 136 Danube PassBoerne, Texas 78006210.286.1622 Cell 830.357.3163 Work tammy.foreman@boerne-isd.net Email Academic Background Texas Teaching Certifications
 * Master of Educational Technology and Leadership, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas. December 2011.
 * Bachelor of Business Administration. Major: Administrative Systems. Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas Graduated Alpha Chi December 1991.
 * Provisional Secondary Grades 6-12 Secretarial Business
 * Provisional Secondary Grades 6-12 Mathematics

Teaching Experience Leadership Experience Related Experience Volunteer Work
 * Boerne Independent School District, Boerne Middle School North Grades 7-9, Boerne, Texas 2001-present. Taught 7th and 8th grade Computer Technology and 9th grade Business Communication Information Systems, 9th grade Algebra I.
 * Mineral Wells Independent School District, Mineral Wells High School Grades 9-12, Mineral Wells, Texas 1991-2001. Taught Algebra I and Algebra II.
 * Campus Technology Coordinator
 * Department Chair, Technology Department
 * Secretary of Campus Site Based Decision Making Committee
 * Member of Healthy and Wise Campus Committee
 * Taught over 50 hours of technology staff development
 * Created and implemented technology integrations courses
 * Teacher of the Year, 2007
 * Department Chair, Mathematics Department
 * Created “Target the TAKS” tutorial program
 * Created and implemented emergency phone tree
 * Created and implemented duty rosters
 * Manager, Boerne Youth Athletic Association Concession Stand
 * Created and implemented community service projects
 * Train students to work concession stands
 * PTO
 * Youth church events
 * Girls basketball coach for YMCA and CYO
 * District high school basketball scorebook keeper
 * Boys baseball scorebook keeper
 * Earth Day Volunteer

References Vicki Layer, Principal 1998- Spring 2010, Boerne Middle School North, 240 W Johns Road, Boerne, Texas. 830-357-3100. vlayer@satx.rr.com Tommy Hungate, Principal Fall 2010, Boerne Middle School North, 240 W Johns Road, Boerne, Texas. 830-357-3100. tommy.hungate@boerne-isd.net Julie Turner, District Technology Coordinator, Boerne Independent School District, Boerne, Texas. 830-357-2000. julie.turner@boerne-isd.net