Project Proposal 2

Name: Angela Benedict

Project Title: Teaching Others How To Use Technology with Special Education Students
Project Focus: Focus 2 ~ Communicating Effective Technology Use

Project Description:
For this project I will create and carry out several teacher inservices over the next few months designed specifically for Special Education Teachers regarding of the integration of technology into their daily lessons. This schedule will be shared with other teachers on site (for example those who participate in team teaching classes, new teachers and open to anyone who would like to attend). As part of the requirement for purchasing advanced technology with school site funds it was noted that I would have to create and carry out (and be available for guidance) several technology related inservices to ensure our teachers are using the technology to the fullest extent possible. I chose this particular project because it meets the requirements of my administration as well as fulfills my desire to assist my fellow teachers in becoming more comfortable with technology. I also chose to do this because there is no comparable opportunities for teachers within my department to have access to quality trainings that relate specifically to the students we serve.
I am hoping this project will increase my comfort level in sharing how to effectively use technology for special needs students with my peers as well as the general student population. In addition, I am hoping that as more technology becomes available to our department (I have been told Smart Boards are on the way!) that these informal inservices can continue and become a real source of help and hope for the few teachers in my department who are still a little leary of technology.


Project Artifacts:

I will post to my blog the list of topics teachers in my department are most concerned about in regards to technology integration.
I will research currently available inservice opportunities that are open to members of district and thoroughly compare and contrast them with the plan I will have set forth in step one.
The detailed meeting plans will be posted on my blog for comments and suggestions from peers.
The success of my inservices will be displayed via the results of the response forms I will ask my teaching peers to fill out at the conclusion of each meeting.
I will write a concise summary of what went well, what needs to be changed, and how I can make these meetings more beneficial to all.


Project Timeline:
I hope to have this project completed by March 8th, 2009

1/31 Started project
2/2 Have rough draft of topics and ideas to be covered
2/5 Meet with teaching peers to hear what issues they have with technology integration and what they would like to see from these meetings. Post self created response forms to blog for peer critique
2/11 Have solid outline of inservices, topics, dates, and materials needed posted to blog. Also post to blog my comparison/contrast of available inservices to what I would like to offer.
2/17 Conduct first technology meeting, summarize the inservice as a whole, review comments and begin adjusting schedule for next meeting.
2/21 Post plan for next meeting and summary of first meeting
2/28 Create final plan for second meeting, post to blog
3/8 Post reflection summary and future plans for teacher inservices regarding the use of technology specifically for special needs students.
3/10 Final deadline (if for any reason I am unable to complete project by my deadline)