D’Vore Brittingham

Loretta Donovan

EDTC 630

October 6, 2020

Strategic planning for Classroom Technology Use

Description of the Classroom

At present, I am the 6th grade Lead Special Education and ELA teacher. I have 15 sixth

graders in my ELA class. Out of the 15 students 9 of them or 60% receive special education

services. I have an assistant teacher inside of the classroom to help support scholars. All students

are identified as economically disadvantaged and receive free or reduced lunch. Also, all

students in my sixth grade ELA class are performing at least one grade levels behind in reading.

Subsequently, because a majority of the school’s students enter below grade level in reading and

math, Washington Global also provides math and ELA labs, a dedicated Wednesday course for

students to receive research-based intervention. This is particularly important considering the

school’s special education population in 2018-2019 was approximately 28% and its at-risk

population was 59.3%.

Currently WGPCS is operating from a hybrid or distance learning platform. Technology is

currenting at a 2:1 ratio for students. Each student has two Chromebooks and hotspot. They have

a Chromebook for at home and at school usage so that each device is stationary. Teachers have

all been given new iPads and Dell Laptops for instruction. Inside of my classroom students are

using technology every day for learning. Students are also using Google Classroom and Nearpod

for interactive classroom lessons. School classrooms are all equipped with Swivl technology to
make hybrid and distance learning interactive. Classrooms all have SMART boards and

document cameras. Students have access to various internet software for learning. All students

are registered with i-Ready, Actively Learn, Epic!, IXL, and Khan Academy accounts which

they access every week inside of the classroom for targeted interventions.

Needs Statement

Based on fall 2020 NWEA Map diagnostic testing data every student in my 6th grade

English class is performing two years or more below grade level in reading overall. It can also be

noted that 60% of students are not proficient in basic phonics skills. All students also fell below

grade level in the category of vocabulary indicating that students are not able to make meaning

of unknown words in unfamiliar texts. With these results in phonics and vocabulary it is causing

students to have significant difficulties with overall comprehension of 6th grade text. In order to

remediate these skills teachers must use technology for targeted intervention in order to help

close the achievement gaps.

Fall i-Ready Reading Diagnostic Results

Vision Statement

Inside of my ideal English classroom students would be using a Chromebook daily to

access learning intervention platforms. Since I am a special education teacher and most of the

students I serve are below grade-level in reading there would be multiple reading interventions in

place to support learning. Students would use a blended learning model in order to receive daily

instruction. There will be station rotations for students to work independently on computer

programs, have live instruction with the teacher, and also collaborate and work with their peers

on assignments. Students would have an option of using a couple different platforms for their

learning needs. I would have students using software like Lexia Powerup, i-Ready, Actively

Learn, NewsELA, and Epic! for reading interventions. Students will be required to spend at least

30 minutes on each of these sites throughout the class week. Giving students their time limits for

each site allows them to have the option or choice in how they go about completing their

independent work time. This will help create student choice and student engagement in their

learning.
Goal and Objectives

Technology Goal: Using targeted online interactive software and reading intervention
platforms, 6th grade special education students will increase their overall reading by two grade
levels.

Objective #1: Using online interactive reading software students will learn to properly decode
unfamiliar words with 85% accuracy.

Objective #2: Using online interactive reading software students will increase their overall
reading by at least one-grade level by the end of the annual school year.

Objective #3: With daily practice of online tools students will learn to interact safely and
responsibly when online.

Evaluations

Students will complete daily exit ticket quizzes on online platforms to show mastery of skills.

Students will also complete interim adaptive tests like i-Ready and NWEA Map in order for
teachers to gauge progress quarterly.

By the end of the year students will demonstrate mastery on the city wide PARCC assessment.

Technology Usage

Currently inside of the classroom students have access to Chromebooks and iPads to

help facilitate their learning. When teachers use a blended learning classroom model they will be

able to utilize both of these hardware successfully for the growth of students. Student classroom

schedules should be established prior to the classes session in order to facilitate a smooth

transitions for learning. The teaching model should incorporate the basic three station rotations

of: live instruction, collaborative, and independent study. The teacher will always meet students

in the threshold as they enter the classroom to ensure they understand their class schedule for the

day. Since students will have predetermined rotation schedules they will transition quickly in
order to maximize instructional time. I would suggest grouping students in sets of five by their

abilities based on diagnostic testing and classroom observations.

Once the culture and routine of the classroom has been established it will create a learning

environment most beneficial for children. Students will meet with the teacher for a live

instruction lesson along with their Chromebooks for the lesson. Using interactive online

technology like Nearpod to engage students in live lessons. Students will be able to collaborate

with not just the teacher but also each other using Nearpod. Not only does this interactive

software serve as an engagement tool for classroom lessons, it will also provide in the moment

feedback to the teacher so that they can perform informal and formal assessments. Being able to

us this tool in the moment allows the teacher to make adjusts for students to meet their needs

versus the tradition of waiting for the end of class or a unit to assess if your students are

understanding material.

Students in peer-to-peer collaborations have essentially a think partner so that they are

able to ask and answer questions for each other to extend learning. Having the Nearpod lesson

timed will also allow the teacher to circle to the peer groups to address misconceptions or

quickly teach any concepts that students may be confused with. Students can use their classroom

iPads to challenge each other in Epic readings or iReady lesson quizzes. This creates a learning

culture where students are pushing each other to continuously work harder to perfect their skills.

Once students are grouped by ability or even by teacher selected peer groups, students will get

comfortable with learning and challenges.

While students work independently they will have their choice of what software they

would like to use for that day. Giving students a choice in their learning pushes the idea of

student engagement. Using the remediation software students are working on their deficets or
areas of improvement at their pace. They can choose if they’d like to complete the most

challenging assignments earlier in the week or later. Students will also be aware of their levels

and what they are trying to obtain in growth. Giving students ownership of their learning with

these platforms will allow for the classroom to operate as a well-oiled machine.

This process of blended learning take a lot of thought and planning especially when making

skill level groups. However, if they are implemented at the start of the school year students will

adjust very quickly. It also ensure that there is not a lot of student down time which helps with

classroom expectations and the teacher rarely having to redirect off task behaviors. Station

rotations also holds students attention. Every 20-25 minutes depending on how long the class is,

students are up and moving. It keeps the students engaged and they’re not bored with a

traditional 70-90 minute lecture style instruction.

Budget

Budget Plan
Tools Instructor School Hardware School Total
Software

District Allowed $47,700.00 $1,207,500.00 per $5,100.00 per $1,260,300.00

Funds professional teacher teacher
development per
teacher

Nearpod Certified $340.00 per $540.00

instructor- $200.00 year

Actively Learn Certified $1,100.00 per $1,180.00

instructor- $180.00 year

Dell Computers 20 staff devices- $6,400.00

$6,400.00

Lenovo Chrome 20 classroom $100,000.00

books (students) devices- $5000.00
per class
iPads 20 classroom $120,000.00
devices - 
$6000.00 per class

Google Suites Certified $300.00 per $420.00

instructor- $120.00 year

Zoom Pro Certified $400.00 per $600.00

instructor- $200.00 year

Swivl Certified 16 classroom $20,920.00

instructor- $120.00 devices -
$20,800.00

iReady Certified 150 $5,520.00

instructor- $120.00 subscriptions -
$5400.00

NWEA Map Certified 150 $2,520.00

instructor- $120.00 subscriptions -
$2400.00

Total $258,100.00
Expenditures

Professional Development

Workshop Description Duration Location

Day

1 Nearpod This training will cover the 1 hour Hybrid

Training features of Nearpod and using
Nearpod to lesson plan.

1 Diminishing Training covers the gap between 1.5 hours Face-to-

the Digital Gap students that have access to Face
modern information and
communications technology, and
those that don't or have restricted
access.
 1 NWEA Map The training will cover how to 45 mins Hybrid
Testing administer diagnostic testing and
review testing results.

2 Zoom Pro The training will cover how to 1 hour Online

Training use all the features in Zoom pro.

2 Swivl Training The training will cover using 30 mins Face-to-

Swivel software and hardware for Face
live instruction.

2 i-Ready The training will cover how to 30 mins Online

Training administer diagnostic testing and
online instruction.

3 Actively Learn The training will cover how to 2 hours Online

Training set-up, assign, and use actively
learn.

3 Virtual The training will cover how to 1 hour Face-to-

Classroom - set-up a Google Classroom, add Face
Google Suites activities, assignments, and using
add-ons.

4 Positive This training covers building a 1 hour Face-to-

Culture in a positive school culture in a new Face
Virtual World virtual world.

4 Guiding This training will cover how to 2 hours Face-to-

Principles for create high level engaging online Face
Online lessons for instruction.
Instruction

5 A Day in the Training will cover the daily 1.5 hours Face-to-
Life of a expectations of virtual Face
Virtual Teacher instruction.

Timeline

Summer 2021 Fall 2021 Winter 2021 Spring 2022 Summer 2022
 School will  Teachers  School will  School will  School staff
purchase and will be administer administer will review
install all adequately diagnostic state-wide previous data
new trained on testing for testing to from last year
 technology all school students to students to analyzing what
software and platforms, monitor show worked and
hardware. hardware, progress. mastery of what still needs
 School will and  Teachers will skills. work.
review
recruit software  School will
diagnostic
experts in included. research new
data results
new  Teachers for students. technologies or
platforms to will  Paid new
deliver staff implement instructional implementation
professional new policies support strategies of
development into their expert will current school
. classrooms come in to technology.
and for help the  School will
student school develop a
usage. navigate comprehensive
diagnostic
 Teachers plan for
results.
will issue technology
 Teachers will
pre-test of usage for
adjust
skills to all strategies and
teacher and
students. technologies students in the
if necessary. Fall.