Executive Summary

SCHOOL BACKGROUND

Our curriculum instructional plan reflects the vision of our newly constructed small technology middle school---cross-curricular technology integration. Part of our school's mission is to realize the potential of computer technology as a tool for exploration, learning and communication, so that students have sufficient academic, technological and study skills for continued success in high school and future educational and career endeavors. Our staff are recruited not only for prowess in their content areas but for their technology skills and interest in incorporating technology in the school wide curricula. Our student population has been labeled as at risk with many scoring level ones and twos on the NY State ELA and math exams. A moderate section of our student population are also English Language Learners.

INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN FOCUS

Our curriculum instructional plan is intended for the eighth grade and will last for a school year. The subject area of focus is effective communication through computer technology and is applied across subject areas.

INSTRUCTIONAL VISION

The structure of the curriculum is based on two concepts: Understanding by Design by Wiggens, Grant & McTighe, Jay and Curriculum Webs by Cunningham, C.A., Billingsley, M. The structure that the staff follows in planning will by guided by the backward planning model's three stages: identifying desired results, determining acceptable evidence and planning learning experiences and instruction. For our instructional plan the desired results or enduring understandings are: how technology is used as a tool to communicate ideas from many perspectives and proficiency in technology skills so students can gain an understanding of how, where and why they are used. The acceptable evidence is the student digital portfolios in which each unit final project is placed. The planned learning experiences and instruction are detailed on the unit planning chart.

This planning is linked to the overarching idea that technology is a tool which can enrich our communication. The key idea is the linking point of the entire curriculum and how teachers of all learning areas contribute in ways that connect and overlap. Teaching is driven by planning which considers the concepts of the unit, the essential questions students and teachers need to consider, and assessments that demonstrate student understandings, reflection and feedback to each other.

The basis of technology as an integral part of the framework is spelled out clearly by Bruce and Levin (1997)

Today, interactive multimedia technology provides us with a new way to draw upon children's natural impulses. These new media hold an abundance of materials, including text, voice, music, graphics, photos, animation, and video. But they provide more than abundance. Bringing all these media together means that we can vastly expand the range of learning experiences, opening up the social and natural worlds. Students can explore the relations among ideas and thus experience a more connected form of learning. Perhaps most importantly, these new media are interactive and conducive to active, engaged learning. Students can choose what to see and do, and they have media to record and extend what they learn. Learning is thus driven by the individual needs and interests of the learner.

Our vision is to meet our goal of improving ELA and math performance by leveraging the availability of new media and technology.

GOAL FOR STUDENTS

Students will understand the key concepts of applying computer technology to authentic learning activities. Not only will students gain knowledge of how the technology works, they will gain an understanding of how these powerful tools help people communicate, collaborate, learn and influence. Students will demonstrate understanding of technology's capabilities by creating content area unit exit projects in power point, blogs, pod casts, video streaming and a website.

CONTENT BEING TAUGHT

See unit planning chart which is attached to summary.

STUDENT NEEDS

Along with the need to develop technical skills, many students need intensive ELA/reading remediation. Although computer technology can and will be used to build basic ELA skills, the understanding of technology our school envisions builds on existing skill. Since basic ELA skills are critical to most forms of communication, the school will address this issue in number of ways. We will incorporate AIS services as a Tier 2 (pull out) intervention. We will implement after school, lunch time, and/or early morning tutoring. In addition to content area teachers providing AIS services in their subjects, we will have a reading specialist and an ESL teacher providing AIS. Software and audio equipment that allow texts to be read to the students in English and their primary language will be available.

Open Source programs and student/staff email accounts will be used to facilitate group work and communication between students and staff and between cross content area teachers. An attempt will be made to secure funding for laptop computers to be loaned to individual students. However, if that is not successful, we will provide students with computer access while they are in the building as well as having after school computer lab hours.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & SUPPORT FOR IMPLEMENTATION

The teachers need moral, professional and material support.The administration needs to back the teachers and follow through with plans and promises. The teachers will need professional development as well as all the technological materials to successfully implement their unit plans.  Additionally, our school will need a fully equiped computer lab staffed by a computer specialist and technician.  This lab will have scheduled after school hours for students who do not have computers at home. Relationships with technology companies will also benefit the teachers and students.   

Professional development is a key component to any new curriculum implementation. For this plan, initial professional development will center around workshops that discuss what the goals are and how they will be achieved. Additionally, workshops would be required to acquaint staff with the ins and outs of the school's network and particular software such as Open Planner.  Teachers will require common content area planning time as well as a unit flow chart or timeline. Subsequent professional development will deal with specific issues as outlined on the attached chart.

One aspect of teacher support would be a system of mentors. Teachers that are more comfortable with the technology would be trained to implement the curriculum. They in turn would lead professional development workshops and afterwards act as mentors for other staff members. These second generation staff members would mentor a third generation of staff members. The idea is to have continuing training by members of the staff who are always on site. There will be at least one common planning period daily to facilitate collaboration between staff. Staff will also use Open Planner to collaborate during non common planning periods.

AVAILABLE RESOURCES

School wide resources include computers (laptop and/or desktop) for each student, a computer specialist, a computer technician, LCD projectors in each classroom, email accounts for students and staff, an ESL teacher and reading specialist, an AIS team and Moodle/LAMS program (for open source collaborative work between students and between staff). Individual unit plans include additional resources.

ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Students collect and organize their work in a digital portfolio. Informal assessment takes place daily via teacher interaction. At intervals during the week, the students post status reports and examples of what they have worked on. At regular intervals during the semester, students complete projects that are designed to enhance their learning while acting as an assessment tool. Projects vary according to what goals are sought. For example, some projects might assess student knowledge by asking for facts about historical events, and these facts would be presented using the technology theme of that unit. These tools will be building blocks for future assessments that ask students to take the next step toward understanding concepts. The form of the assessments would include whichever technological tool students are working with during the unit. For example, students would create a basic web site to compare civil wars throughout history. Since the assessments throughout the unit are often digital, collecting the work throughout the semester to be presented in a portfolio follows naturally.