1

Carey- Professional Learning Facilitator Plan

Ricky Carey

ISTC 702 Educational Leadership and Technology

Dr. Robert Caples

October 16, 2023

Executive Summary
 2

The technology Professional Learning Facilitator Plan that will be presented today is one

that is meant to be simple and effective. Its goal is to create a staff and student body that is

eager to share innovative ideas about technology that will improve lessons in the classroom. A

major factor that is hurting the current plan is the lack of an Instructional Resource Teacher. The

idea for this long-range plan is to create leadership opportunities internally and externally in a

way that allows teachers to feel comfortable to collaborate and facilitate their strategies and

resources. Years ago, before Covid, teachers often shared ideas about Universal Design for

Learning or Conscious Discipline strategies. The time is now to put technology in the spotlight,

to engage the students and help teachers manage classrooms better not with behavior

strategies but with fun and engaging activities that the students enjoy and are a part of the

creation of.

Introduction/Background

Chesapeake Public Charter School (CPCS) is a small public charter school in the

southern end of Southern Maryland. At first glance, many people see it as a privately run charter

school, but it is a school that is run with an overseeing board, and parameters set by the St.

Mary’s County school district. The charter school, as it is locally known, is a K-8 school with

about 525 students. There are about fifty staff members that include, but are not limited to,

elementary classroom teachers, middle school classroom teachers, specialists, special

education professionals and para educators. There are a total of four administrators, three of

which are allocated for day-to-day operation (Educational director and two academic deans) and

one that oversees the charter that governs the school.

The building itself is a converted racquetball court. The halls are narrow, and the

classrooms are small. Each side of the building has been renovated to look like a school over

the years. The building itself is old, it has only been operating as a school building since 2007.

The population of the community is mixed among all factors. Because of the Naval Air Station
 3

Patuxent River, the population of the community is diverse, ranging from people who have been

here all their lives to people who transfer regions every three years. The school's

Socioeconomic Status is a mixture between the two ends of the spectrum. About 11% of the

students are considered economically disadvantaged with 13.5% of the population receiving

free and reduced lunch.

Academically the school is successful. Historically the school has consistently scored

above the county level in both Math and ELA. According to the MSDE, CPCS scored a 12/20 in

academic achievement compared to the rest of St. Mary’s County scored in the 9-10 range. In

their MCAP testing the students at CPCS scored 46% proficient in ELA and 36% proficient in

Math. The students at CPCS have 1 to 1 device usage in and out of the school building. They

have access to technology through a multitude of different programs, learning management

systems and engagement activities. Teachers have a varying comfortability with technology.

Some staff are eager to try modern technology out, others are not as willing. The administration

does a decent job of putting staff in a position to learn new technology, but there is not too much

professional development geared towards new technology implementation. Much of the

technology learning is shared through ambitious staff members that share the technology with

grade level teams. The importance of the success of this plan is creating a team that is willing to

share and having people with expertise or ideas at the top that can further the technology use in

the school.

Learning Needs

Our learning needs are going to focus on four ISTE standards. Those standards are

learner, collaborator, facilitator, and leader. These four standards will help teachers and

students create learning plans based on technology. There is a heavy emphasis on

collaboration for good reasons. Before Covid it was a priority to share strategies within the

technology field that were engaging. Throughout the years the amount of learning and
 4

facilitation for staff has been limited to random occurrences, lacking direction, and meaning.

Using these four standards will allow strategies, resources, and recommendations to help

students and teachers interact more effectively with technology. In doing so, there will be a

sense of community of learners that are willing to help each other to be the best possible

educators that they can be.

Literature Support

One major factor of this plan is how professional development will be utilized. One

aspect that is important in this process is that professional development is like the technologies

that are being employed, engaging and helpful. Joey Lehrman (2023) states when talking about

creating professional development, “instead, we should help educators (and students) learn how

to set goals, make mistakes, and learn from these experiences. I believe we can attempt to

reflect that kind of fluid learning in the way we design a course. Instead of requiring a predefined

sequential process, we can allow educators to build that path themselves.” This is how

professional development must occur to be successful in this plan. If teachers are not creating

their own pathways, it will not be something that they find valuable in the classroom. If they are

having trouble learning it, they will not be eager to set it up with a classroom full of students.

This type of plan that allows for multiple sources of technology professional development is

helpful to students and teachers alike. According to a multilevel study of teacher

and student impacts (Walker, et al.) “results showed that teachers in both TTPD designs.

benefited, with large self-reported gains in the five knowledge constructs measured. These

results support the literature arguing that professional development can have positive.

influences on teacher’s knowledge and skills (Borko 2004). Moreover, teachers’ technological

knowledge as well as integrated forms of pedagogical content knowledge and technological-

pedagogical content knowledge also showed gains.”

 5

ISTE-C Leadership Reflection

In creating this professional learning plan, the ideas consistently reflected the ISTE

Standards: For Coaches. The plan looks at the concepts of change agency to create equitable

and ongoing access to meaningful learning, how to be a professional learning facilitator and

how to be a digital citizen advocate. This plan reflects the ideas that all students are engaged in

in an equitable (1:1) classroom setting. In the plan, students have a chance to be engaged and

create opportunities in their own learning. With the facilitation of learning between staff

members the plan hopes to create high level learning opportunities that they may not have been

getting in the last few years.

The main component in this plan is having the entire school community involved in

making technology accessible and engaging for all students. Creating an environment where

teachers can share and be leaders within the school community is pivotal in making sure this

plan is a success. High level discussions and resource sharing throughout different means are

important to making sure students and staff are supported in this planning process. The goal is

to create a place where teachers are learning and leading with technology at the forefront of

their education.

While not a major factor on the surface, creating digital citizens is also a part of this plan.

Utilizing technology and learning how to use it are key areas that will be discussed throughout

the plan. Students will have more access to technology in a way that they can make change.

They are learning and teaching diverse types of ways to use technology in a way that gives

them opportunities outside of the classroom as well.

 6

Standard 1: Learner

Educators continually improve their practice by learning from and with others and
exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve student
learning

Performance Indicator:

Set professional learning goals to explore and apply pedagogical approaches made
possible by technology and reflect on their effectiveness.

Action Steps & Person(s) Technologies Benefit(s) Assessment

Timeline Responsible Employed Method(s)

Create monthly Administration Google Suite Learning of Each meeting

Professional engaging starts with
Development Classroom Learning management activities feedback
sessions that focus Teachers systems (surveys) of
on technology Easier way effective
resources, Special Educators Online programs to manage learning from
strategies, and (Kahoot, Gimkit, assignments previous
Support Teachers BrainPOP) .
lessons. meetings.

Participation in Nearpod, Canva, Slides New ways to Crowdsource

monthly cohort share information of
Learning Through material.
meetings Games (Prodigy, how teachers
Minecraft, ICIVICS) More Fun! are teaching
with tech in the
And more… classroom

Standard 2: Leader
 7

Educators seek out opportunities for leadership to support student empowerment and
success and to improve teaching and learning.

Performance Indicator:

Shape, advance and accelerate a shared vision for empowered learning with
technology by engaging with education stakeholders.

Action Steps & Person(s) Technologies Benefit(s) Assessment

Timeline Responsible Employed Method(s)

Hire and train an Administration Looks at all Assist staff with Weekly meetings
instructional areas of technological with
resource teacher IRT technology, improvements administration to
(IRT) internal and in lessons. gauge the
Classroom external, to receptiveness of
IRT begins to meet teachers assist staff. Understanding staff.
with staff of multiple
individually/ push Attends regular areas of Use information
into classrooms to meetings technology to guide further
assist with through the learning in
technology county to learn Assists with meetings
integration. about trends technology
and management
Create learning improvements in
cohorts within staff technology
to facilitate (What are other
information. institutions
doing)
IRT helps lead
professional
development and
learning cohorts.

Give teachers
leadership
opportunities in
professional
development by
starting learning
cohorts that share
information with a
small group about
technology
 8

Standard 3: Collaborator

Educators dedicate time to collaborate with both colleagues and students to improve
practice, discover and share resources and ideas, and solve problems.

Performance Indicator:

Collaborate and co-learn with students to discover and use new digital resources and
diagnose and troubleshoot technology issues.

Action Steps & Person(s) Technologies Benefit(s) Assessment

Timeline Responsible Employed Method(s)

Monthly (depending Learning cohort New Student Students are

on the amount being leaders technologies ownership in surveyed to
shared) learning that shared from their own share
cohorts meet with Student leadership students and learning educational tech
student leadership, teachers information with
student councils and Elective members Staff staff.
elective groups to understanding
help institute new of new Students
technology. technology challenge
they were teachers to use
Cohorts bring accustomed to. techniques and
information back strategies in
from student Student class.
meetings to whole engagement
staff meetings and improvement Conversations
staff cohort with whole staff,
meetings. administration,
and students

Standard 4: Facilitator

Educators facilitate learning with technology to support student achievement of the

ISTE Standards for Students.
 9

Performance Indicator:

Manage the use of technology and student learning strategies in digital platforms,
virtual environments, hands-on makerspaces and in the field.

Action Steps & Person(s) Technologies Benefit(s) Assessment

Timeline Responsible Employed Method(s)

Create quarterly Grade Level Performance Argument Student and staff

grade level PLCs to Teams Matters supporting engagement
discuss how data. questionnaire
technology works Administration Google Suite
in their classrooms. Understanding
Use data from the IRT Traditional of student and
classroom to Paper and staff needs
support an Pencil
increase in Assignments Ability to
technology use or improve and
Engagement improvise
decrease in Surveys
technology use. lessons
 10

References

Borko, H. (2004). Professional development and teacher learning: Mapping the terrain.

Educational Researcher, 33(8), 3–15.

International Society of Technology in Education ISTE. ISTE standards for educators. ISTE

standards for educators. https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators

Lehrman, J. (2023). Unlocking the Power of Technology: A Professional Development (Pd)

Approach for Adult Educators in the Digital Age. COABE Journal: The Resource for

Adult Education, 12(2), 130–133.

Walker, A., Recker, M., Ye, L., Robertshaw, M., Sellers, L., & Leary, H. (2012). Comparing

technology-related teacher professional development designs: a multilevel study of

teacher and student impacts. Educational Technology Research & Development, 60(3),

421–444. https://doi-org.proxy-tu.researchport.umd.edu/10.1007/s11423-012-9243-8