Tracy Pearson: Lawton-Bronson CSD

Tracy Pearson: Lawton-Bronson CSD

Personal value narrative: empty template (for any professional)

Name: / How participation is changing me as a professional (e.g., skills, attitude, identity, self-confidence, how you feel, etc.) / How participation is affecting my social connections (e.g., number, quality, frequency, emotions, etc.) / How participation is helping my professional practice (e.g., ideas, insights, material, procedures, etc.) / How participation is changing my ability to influence my world as a professional (voice, contribution, status, recognition, etc.)
Reasons for participation
(e.g., challenges, aspirations, professional development goals, meeting people, etc.)
+ / I am participating in this grant because I am always looking for new techniques and technologies to use in my classroom. I am also always trying to improve my teaching abilities and new ways to reach my students. / I met many interesting and knowledgeable people already over the first two days. I had no idea how many schools were already 1 to 1 schools. I was intrigued by the techniques many of the teachers are already implementing in their classrooms and am excited to try them in mine. / I took many notes on different web sites for great labs and activities to use and I have already been doing some investigating. I am recharged and that is pretty good way to feel toward the end of the year. / I was able to bring back to my school some exciting news of what is going on in the rest of the state and my associates were very interested. They were also excited for me and my new experience.
Activities, outputs, events, networking
(e.g., lesson material, discussion, visits, etc.)
+ / The physical science teachers decided to share labs and lab results. Our students will be able to see what other students are doing and compare our own results to theirs and generate questions. I am also trying to influence my superintendent to get more computers / Because I am new to this whole eCurriculum process I am thrilled to have access to so many who have used it and know how to implement it in the classroom. / Because we are sharing all these labs and results I believe I will be a stronger teacher and have access to many tools I didn’t have before. / Because I am participating in this program my superintendent is very interested in doing whatever he can to help it be successful. I will have much more access to computers and software that I probably would not have had.
Value to me
(e.g., being a better professional, handling difficult situations,
Improving organizational performance, etc.)
+ / This experience will help me to grow as a teacher. I will also have access to many professionals who are using the same curriculum and can assist me if I need it. / Getting to network with other professionals is always a positive thing. We can bounce ideas off each other and come up with new ways of doing things to serve our students better. / I believe I will be a better teacher and my students will benefit from that. I will also help the other science teachers to use the curriculum and improve their techniques. / I am proud to be a part of this grant and will enjoy sharing the program and results with associates and administration and school board. I think it will reflect positively on me.

Note: +/- Indicates that you can provide positive / negative experience

Value-creation story: empty template for any professional

Note that the story does not need to start at 1, or go all the way to 5.

Name
Typical cycles / Your story:
1. Activity:
Describe a meaningful activity you participated in and your experience of it (e.g., a conversation, a working session, a project, etc.) / I attended the workshop in Des Moines called Communities of Practice and Innovation. At first I was a bit nervous because it seemed like I was a little behind the times because my school is not a 1 to 1 school. But after talking to other teachers and hearing about their practices I believe I am on the right track. I am excited to get to share labs, results, and discussions between teachers and between students.
2. Output:
Describe a specific resource this activity produced for you (e.g., an idea or a document) and why you thought it might be useful. / I have access to many other teachers teaching the same subjects I am. I can ask them questions if I need it and bounce ideas off them. I can have access to their lab results and compare them to ours. If I have a technological problem I have many other teachers doing the exact same things I am to ask for help.
3. Application:
Tell how you used this resource in your practice and what it enabled that would not have happened otherwise. / I have not been able to apply this yet as we just got back to class. But I have never had access to this many peers and associates to collaborate with before. It is very exciting!
4. Outcome:
a. Personal: Explain how it affected your success (e.g., being a better professional, job satisfaction,)
b. Organizational: Has your participation contributed to the success of your organization (e.g., metrics they use) / a. This workshop really made me think about my practice. I really did a lot of reflecting over the past three days and I want to make some changes. I know I can reach my students better by using e Curriculum instead of other methods. Kids are so “plugged in” at home and we can’t expect them to totally unplug at school.
b. I hope that it will. I hope that other teachers will hear about what is going on in my class and want to get involved. I plan to share all this information with our other science teachers and see if I can get them to buy in as well.
5. New definition of success:
Sometimes, such a story changes your understanding of what success is. If it happened this time, then include this here. / As teachers we sit in a lot of professional development activities, but I felt that I really learned a lot at this one. I feel that I can use the e Curriculum and change some of my practices and reach my students on a deeper level. I am very excited to get this all started!