Rebecca “Becky” Templet
ETEC 660
Dr. Ennis
Academic Professional Development Plan
As a sixth grade English Language Arts teacher at St. Amant Middle School in Ascension
Parish and a student in Southeastern Louisiana University’s masters program for Educational
Technology Leadership, I have been able to thoroughly examine the needs of my school,
predominantly concerning technology implementation and use among teachers and students.
Blackboard is a classroom and communication tool provided by our district; however, many
teachers on our campus only have basic knowledge of this system and other necessary
technology skills. Our school recently became a one-to-one school (one device to every one
student); every sixth grade student last year had a personal iPad and this coming year all sixth
and seventh grade students will have their own devices. I believe that teachers on my campus
need significant training both on the iPad devices and BlackBoard tools in order to successfully
incorporate the devices into their classrooms.
Leadership Role
In order to become a more effective teacher leader, I wish to further develop my
leadership skills. I am currently taking courses at Southeastern Louisiana University to receive
my master’s degree in Educational Technology Leadership. The courses that I have taken, along
with my future courses, will make me a better leader by expanding my current leadership
knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Through these courses, I have completed activities geared
toward guiding, directing, and mentoring other teachers in the use of instructional technologies
in classroom teaching. I also plan to continue to seek out and attend professional development
opportunities that will also help me improve my leadership skills.
I intend to utilize these skills when I volunteer to take on a leadership role as a member of
my school’s leadership team during the upcoming school year. The leadership team is group of
teacher leaders who volunteer their time and expertise to make decisions for best practices on our
campus, initiate protocols, and work collaboratively to find solutions to problems that arise on
our campus. The leadership team works closely with administration and other faculty to
maintain a positive and professional working environment. The leadership team members pilot
district initiatives and then they work closely with the rest of the faculty for a smooth transition
into necessary shifts and changes for their classrooms.
I would also like to start reading leadership journals and share various educational
articles with my professional learning community (PLC) members and other colleagues in order
to have a greater impact on my school. I believe that we must keep informed of best practices
and keep abreast of changes being made in education or order make our students even more
successful. I believe that my leadership skills and my content knowledge will help me advance
as a teacher leader and have a great impact on student achievement at my school and eventually
my district.
School Description
St. Amant Middle School is located on a major highway in a rural area on the east side of
the Mississippi River in Ascension Parish. The school was originally built in the 1937 as part of
Roosevelt’s WPA (Works Progress Administration) and was among the first schools in the
parish. Now, St. Amant Middle School is among one of eight middle schools in our school
system. Recently, the school has been updated and undergone new construction, which was paid
for by a bond renewal passed by voters in 2009. The school currently serves approximately 550
sixth through eighth grade students. Our campus is directly adjacent to one of our “feeder”
primary schools, which we also share a cafeteria with. Our school’s campus consists of two
main buildings (which house most of the classrooms), an additional smaller building of
classrooms, two gymnasiums, band room, library, and an administration building. Each
classroom is equipped with at least one networked computer with a SmartBoard, Elmo, projector,
Internet access, and a network printer. Other educational resources are also available, such as
two stationary labs, four mobile labs, and local printers with scanners.
Student Needs
Based on the 2012-2013 data, almost half of the students at St. Amant Middle School
qualify for free or reduced lunch. Based on the low social economic status of many families at
our school, many students don’t have access to technology at home. This increases the demand
for professional development offered to teachers for them to become highly proficient with
technology in order to teach students the skills they will need to use the devices issued by the
district and in order for them to become successful, college and career ready students. The
following data was taken from St. Amant Middle School’s school improvement plan.
SUMMARY REPORT OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DATA
Total at
School
# of Grade 4
and above
Students
with
Disabilities
Gifted and
Talented
504
Option III
LEP
Homeless
Migrant
510
510
62
9
21
0
1
3
0
SUBGROUPS BY ETHNICITY
Native/Alaskan American
Asian/Pacific
Islander/Pacific
Islander
African
American
Hispanic
White
0
1
131
18
356
Economically Disadvantaged Profile
# of Free/Reduced Lunch Students: 250
Percent of Free/Reduced Lunch
Students: 49%
School Goal
The mission of the Ascension Parish School System is to provide each student the highquality education necessary to succeed in an ever-changing world. It is our vision is to increase
student achievement by partnering with students and their families, business and industry, and
the community to provide exemplary education with rigorous standards and to provide students
the technical and academic skills necessary to compete in a global economy. St. Amant Middle
School’s goal is for students to enrich their educational experience by using technology as a tool
for effective communication, personal productivity, and lifelong learning. In order to achieve
this goal, students (and their families) must be able to efficiently use BlackBoard tools and their
district issued personal iPad devices. While there is no protocol in place to determine the
number of parents and students utilizing BlackBoard, teacher surveys have shown limited use of
BlackBoard by students and their parents. The action steps for the school goal are as follows: (1)
strengthen leadership, (2) improve teacher training, and (3) encourage improved access and
technology usage.
School Ecology and School Climate
St. Amant Middle School students, faculty and administration follow a parish-wide set of
regulations concerning dress code, discipline and technology, which were developed by the
school board. Our school level policies are written and developed by the administration. Our
students purchase an agenda at the beginning of each year in which they are made aware of all
policies and regulations to be followed at school. A barrier to change would be that we can only
make suggestions regarding policy changes; we do not have the power to make final decisions.
However, as a member of the school’s leadership team, I would have a direct line of
communication with administration to resolve issues with current policies and regulations
especially regarding BlackBoard implementation and professional development needs of the
teachers. I would also use my role on the leadership team to continue to seek funding sources to
improve our current technology plan as well as maintain, replace, and upgrade technology when
necessary.
St. Amant Middle School climate consists of a very positive group of teachers that truly care
about the students, work well together, and support one another. The majority of our teachers
are very professional, hard-working people who make educating all students a top priority.
Some barriers to meeting the plan’s goal would be not enough time to meet in order to
collaborate professionally. This is an ongoing issue that we have dealt with, so I will need to
streamline the professional development meetings in order to make the most of the time I will
have with them. Teachers show resistance when they feel they are being forced to do more
work, so I will need to show them that using BlackBoard tools and iPads is not “more” work and
will actually be more beneficial to both teachers and students.
Paradigm Shift
In order to successfully implement this professional development plan (enrich students’
educational experience by using technology as a tool for effective communication, personal
productivity, and lifelong learning, specifically through BlackBoard tools and iPad devices),
certain shifts will have to occur at St. Amant Middle School. First, teachers must not force
technology into a lesson; they must find meaningful ways to incorporate technology into the
lessons so students are motivated to initiate learning on their own in order to become life-long
learners. Teachers must also move from controlling technology use within the classrooms to
facilitating learning through technology. In order to accomplish this, teachers need to be
properly trained on the iPad devices and BlackBoard tools. Teachers need to be made aware of
and given the opportunity to partake in professional development opportunities on the state,
regional, district, and even school levels. Teachers must also increase their awareness of the K12 National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for administrators, teachers, and students
by integrating the expectations into the CCSS and their lessons.
Risks
Some risks that I will have to take as I implement my ideas include risks taken by
students, teachers, and even my principal. Teacher resistance from a small minority of teachers
(and maybe even some students) on my campus is one of the major risks involved. Although it
is only a small number of teachers, they have the ability to “spoil” the plan with negativity and
resistance. However, I still feel that the rest of the faculty (including myself) will be able to
show them the benefits of the plan and how it will improve their classrooms without creating
“more work” for them. Another risk is not having the necessary time to fully implement the
plan. As teachers, we know the importance of every minute in a work/school day; therefore, we
value and need our planning time. As a result, I would like to implement my professional
development plan during our bi-monthly staff development early dismissal days. This will
allow teachers to keep their daily planning time, while utilizing early dismissal time to train them
on the iPad devices and necessary BlackBoard tools. There will also be some risks on the
students’ part. It has been my experience that some students will have a “better” way to do
things rather than using the tools in BlackBoard. While their methods usually work, they
sometimes violate policies or regulations outlined in their agendas given to them at the beginning
of the year. However, once students realize that they must follow district policies and
regulations regarding technology, I am sure they will be on board with the plan. As for my
principal, she is a member of my cohort program at Southeastern Louisiana University and
usually shares the same views on similar issues. One risk that she will have to take is assisting
me and ensuring that time during early-leave staff development days is allocated to professional
development outlined in this plan. In all, I don’t believe any of these risks outweigh the rewards
of this professional development plan.