ABC Community School

2 March 2016
Christopher Montero

To the District Board. Hello. My name is Christopher Montero and I have been a teacher
here at ABC Community School for six years and three months. During my time here, I have
watched this school transform the way it teaches students by incorporating technology in the
classroom. ABC Community School has risen to become the standard by which all other schools
in the district are measured. I believe that this is due to blended learning and the history of our
students standardized test scores show a dramatic increase since the integration of technology
alongside our lessons. CCSD is not alone when it comes to the benefits of blended learning.
Randolph Central School District in Randolph, NY is also seeing drastic improvements.
Kimberly Moritz, the district Superintendent says We use blended learning for all students in
several gradesdecades of mediocrity provided the control group data. Our program has
increased our test scores and improved the ranking of our elementary school among schools in
western New York. The changes and improvements would not have been possible without
implementing blended learning (Watson, 2015). As you can see, the inclusion of technology in
the classroom is having a positive effect in other school districts as well as ours. It is this reason
why I feel the removal of technology from the classrooms in CCSD is the wrong decision.
There are plenty of reasons why I feel technology is vital in the education of our students.
Too many to list here, but I will cover what I feel are the most important aspects of using
technology in my classroom. First, and I feel this is probably the most important reason,
technology isnt going anywhere. It seems like every day some new gizmo, gadget, or app is
coming out. The advancement of technology is in the future of every one of our students and I
feel the sooner we can make technology a daily part of each one of their lives, the better they will
be at creating and implementing the changes for the generation that follows them. Next, students
can get a lot more accomplished with the use of technology versus not using it. Research can be
done with just a couple of keystrokes and a button press. Creative displays can be created in a
matter of minutes instead of hours. Papers can be typed and corrected with ease. Technology
allows us to move at a blistering pace and assists us in our daily lives with all kinds of tasks.
Finally, there are certain types of technology that allow us as teachers to create lessons that we
would never be able to do without it. For this example, I will use Google Cardboards
Expeditions Pioneer Program for my example. With the use of smartphones, the lens kit, and
some headsets, I can whisk my students away on virtual 3D field trips without ever having to
step foot outside of our classroom. Just last week we were exploring the ruins of Machu Picchu
while learning about the Incan civilization. With the use of this technology the possibilities are
endless.
Technology should not be abandoned in our classrooms. Our city will not benefit from
this decision and I fear you will see a catastrophic loss in student performance if this were to
happen. This is called the information age for a reason and technology is our vehicle through this
transition. Students connect with these devices and to remove them from the classroom would be
a grave mistake.
Watson, J. (2015). Blending Learning: The Evolution of Online and Face-to-Face Education
from 20082015 (1st ed., p. Pg. 8). Vienna: International Association for K-12 Online Learning.
Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/resources/

To further show the importance of integrated technology in the classroom, I have

included along with this report three documents that describe how the standards of technology
are handled at the national, state, and district level. These are the National Educational
Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S), Nevada Academic Content Standards for
Computers and Technology, and finally the Clark County School District Computer and
Technology Education Standards.
The first thing you might notice when looking at these documents is how Nevada handles
the NETS-S. Nevada has taken the liberty of adapting these national standards and breaking
them up into various grade levels. You will see that there are different levels of progression for
each standard and substandard which begins in elementary school (3rd grade), continues on to
middle school (5th and 8th grade), and finally culminates at the high school level (12th grade). At
each benchmark, the student is required to have full understanding and proficiency in all of the
specified standards for their grade level. This tiered progression has been designed so that a
student builds upon existing knowledge and gains more confidence in the use of computers and
technology as they advance their education. To illustrate this concept further, let us look at
NETS-S 1C: Creativity and Innovation. You will see that the standard for third grade requires
each student to use digital models and simulations with teacher assistance. By fifth grade, that
same student will be required to use digital models and simulations to explore complex systems
and issues. We will skip to twelfth grade where the student will be able to develop digital models
or simulations to answer questions or to solve problems. As you can see, by the time students
reach high school graduation, they are well equipped to pursue their desired career or college
degree. This evolution of knowledge is prevalent in all six NETS standards and the twenty three
sub standards that accompany them. The implementation of standards is further broken down at
the district level which we will explore next.
Clark County School District utilizes the Nevada Academic Content Standards for
Computers and Technology for each grade benchmark, but instead of breaking each standard and
substandard down further, we have created assessment criteria to gauge how well each student is
progressing in each of the standards. The scale consists of the following: Below Standard,
Approaches Standard, Meets Standard, and Exceeds Standards. This system allows us as teachers
to accurately evaluate each student to determine where their strengths and weaknesses are. Once
we know this information, we are able to tailor future lessons to increase student proficiency in
the areas where they are falling behind. I will continue my previous example of how these
standards work, but this time, at the district level. If you look at Content Standard 4.0 for twelfth
grade students on page 34, you will see the levels by which we as teachers gauge success in this
area. As you can see, a student who falls in the below standard category will have a lot of trouble
using tools to complete a project. This type of student does not possess critical thinking skills
and will need a lot of help in the form of tutoring and teacher assistance. On the other extreme
where a student exceeds standards, you will see a student that is able to fully integrate numerous
types of technology into their projects and will be able to use the correct tool for each
assignment. The standards which we use as teachers to gauge proficiency might be better
explained if viewed in a more practical setting such as a lesson plan that we might use on any
given day. For this example lesson plan, I will be targeting specific proficiency in English
Language Arts and NETS-S 1B: Creativity and Innovation-Create original works as a means of
personal or group expression. In this lesson, students will be required to write a unique, word
processed, short story and create illustrations for their story using computer graphics.

Name of lesson: Writing and Illustrations

Grade Level Appropriateness: 5-12
Technology Content Standard Addressed: NETS-S 1B: Creativity and Innovation-Create
original works as a means of personal or group expression.
Other Content Standard Addressed: English Language Arts Common Core Standard
Standard: W.5.3 - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Objective: The student will understand how to create a unique short story using word processing
software and also how to illustrate the story using computer graphics programs. The student will
also understand how to correct grammar and spelling mistakes as well as how to revise a written
paper.
Materials Needed: Any word processing software like Microsoft Word and any program that
can create and manipulate computer graphics.
Suggested Group Size: 1
Procedures: In this lesson the students will be required to write a fictional short story about
anything they choose and illustrate a title page for their story.
-

Spend about five minutes having each student think about what type of story they want to
write such as science fiction, fantasy setting, fictional historical setting, thriller, etc.
Once each student has the type of story they want to write, verify with each student to
make sure the story is appropriate for class and make adjustments as needed.
Once all topics have been verified as appropriate, explain that they will also be required
to create a title page for their story using computer graphics to accompany the text.
Monitor progress and ensure each student is focused on the task at hand. Answer any
questions the students may have to the best of your ability.
Once a student is finished with their story, make sure they proof read it and check for
grammatical and spelling errors. Caution them that most word processing spell checkers
do not catch all errors so it is vital they proofread their story very well.
After the story is finished, the student will now create a title page for their story using
computer graphics, either drawn or from the internet. These pictures must pertain to
either the story plot, protagonist, or antagonist or any combination of those three.
The title page must include the name of the story and the name of the author. Give each
student the creative freedom to play with the words and have them come up with a unique
style other than a horizontal look for the title. Their name can be at the bottom and be
horizontal if they wish.
This project may take a few days so spend about 45 minutes each day and make sure each
student saves their progress at the end of each period.
When the student is finally finished with his or her story and title page, have them check
one more time for grammatical and spelling errors by proofreading.
When a student is completely finished with the above steps, have the student print out
their story and cover page. Staple the sheets together for turn in and grading.

Assessment: Students will one at a time, present their short story in front of the class. After the
presentation, the class will have a short conversation where constructive criticism and feedback
will be given. After the discussion, students will hand in their papers for grading which will be
based on proper use of grammar, correct spelling, sentence structure, and story construction.