Action Plan

My goals for implementation will be to start with the Google calendar for communication and then move to Google Documents for sharing of information.
Before school is out I plan to start training the teacher on the use of the Google calendar and use it throughout the summer to keep teachers informed of upcoming dates. For example we always meet sometime in July; we have Parent Orientation before school starts, and starting dates for school, etc. In August we will begin with Google documents. I want the teachers to create a document when they have grade level meetings and then share it with me. I can then make comments. I will use Google Docs when writing the 2011-2012 SIP and then share with all stakeholders and everything is documented.
I am still so new in this Google world I have many questions! The more I work with it I will find the answers to those questions and it will lead to more questions.
The technology coach at my school would be an integral part of implementing the vision for our school. She already does an excellent job in providing training to the teachers in a meaningful way and makes it relevant to the job. I have already shared with her the tools and where I see us going with it. There are also lead teachers who are a little more technology savvy and they will get excited about the technology and it will spread throughout their grade level. The Program Coordinator for our school is also in this class, so I have another person who can help build the enthusiasm we will need to make this happen.

My Personal Vision

My personal vision for using Google web-based tools is to make it just part of our daily routine. I know we are not near there, however with staff development and using the tools in a meaningful way we can get there. In my vision I see parents responding to blogs and the sharing of documents for grade level collaboration, school improvement planning, calendars keeping all of us informed.
The Google calendar will be the first tool implemented. We have a lot of activities that go on in our building and more than once we have a lab teacher not know that a certain grade level will be gone that day and that messes up her planning. We do have a hallway dedicated to each grade level having a calendar, so we can keep up with events. The Google calendar will be the next step up. Google documents will be the next tool implemented. This tool is a great tool for collaboration and sharing of information. I also will use Google forms to survey and get needed information from my teachers and community.
In our class the videos were great to see and reading the blogs and articles let us see people using these tools in a real way. I have learned it will take training and being persistent in having your faculty use these tools. I have always believed if you can make it meaningful and make a teacher’s job easier it will be hard for anyone to not buy into a strategy.
My vision of these tools becoming a routine part of our school day aligns with the “Visionary Leadership” standard. For it to become routine the faculty, staff, and myself will have to have a shared vision to maximize the use of digital-age resources to help our students meet and exceed learning goals. This process will also be on-going because of new technologies developed every day. We will never quit learning.