Internship Proposal - Pikesville Middle School

Colleen DiNunno and Mandi Wilson

Loyola University Maryland

Rationale
In 2015, Pikesville Middle School (PMS) became a lighthouse school, giving our
students more opportunities to learn in different ways, by using technology and making our
students 1:1 with devices. As a result, teachers have become comfortable with using technologies
in their classrooms, however, in a very simple way. Since then, the school vision has shifted to
focus more on using technology to implement targeted small group instruction to better meet the
needs of individual students. For our educational technology internship, we decided it would be
most beneficial to assist teachers at our school to become more confident in their use of
technology to split students into targeted small groups (TSG).
TSGI (targeted small group instruction) has been proven to be beneficial for many
reasons. It has been stated that TSGI allows students who don’t normally get an opportunity to
share this chance through more direct 1:1 instruction with the teacher. TSGI allows students to
feel more confidence in themselves and become empowered to be more active in their learning
process. Some teachers at our school appear hesitant to use TSG because they feel that using data
to place the students in their TSG is a daunting task. Teachers at PMS don’t always recognize the
benefits of using technology nor do they fully understand how technology could make the
process of TSG easier for them.
Overall, teachers face difficulties using technologies daily; whether it’s failures of
technologies, or the discomfort of using technology and trying something new, many teachers at
PMS tend to shy away from the use of technology. Technology is an important factor in how we
educate our students today. Trying to deny the role that it plays is futile. Encouraging the
teachers at Pikesville Middle School to use technology is the first step in leading them towards
using that technology to create TSG. Along with aiding teachers in using the technology to create
TSG in their classrooms, we will also be able to assist them to move upwards in the ACOT
model. This project is particularly important because as technology is expanding, we want our
co-workers and students to grow with it. Implementing TSG into every classroom is imperative
to efficiently individualize instruction and meet the students where they are with the content they
are learning.

Participants
Participants for this internship will include teachers in grades 6th-8th in any content area
that seek assistance in creating their TSG. These participants will engage in categorized small
group professional development (PD) and explore resources to help improve the implementation
of their targeted small groups within their classrooms. We are seeking assistance from our school
STAT teacher, Amy Felton, to provide additional supports and resources to staff members during
weekly content co-planning time. Once teachers feel comfortable utilizing the technology and
data to create their TSG, teachers will hopefully find that their students are more successful,
which in the end, will also make them participants in this educational internship.
Learning Objectives
For this internship to be both beneficial and successful for participants, several objectives
are required to ensure teacher understanding. These objectives will help to deepen our
understanding of what supports we need to provide our participants.
Part 1: Teachers will reflect on their technology usage within their classrooms and
if/how they use TSGI.
Part 2: Teachers will explore a variety of technology tools that can be used to improve
the organization of TSG. Resources will be provided through Schoology and a shared
drive.
Part 3: With support and assistance, teachers will effectively plan lessons that are both
technology based and individualized for students.
Part 4: Teachers will use data to determine strengths and weaknesses of lesson and apply
any additional change that are needed.

Models of Change
For this internship to work, it’s crucial to properly know how to address adult learners to
make this transition of change go smoothly. Asking teachers to change something they already
think is right is not an easy task. Adapting new ideas can be a scary task for some, therefore, it’s
vital we ensure that we are there for teachers every step of the way and encouraging in this
process.
According to Ely’s 8 Conditions of Change (Ely, 1990), there are many factors that go
into making change happen effectively. The priority is making sure teachers know what TSG.
We must provide teachers with the proper knowledge and skills they need to properly use
technology and analyze their data to effectively utilize TSG in their classroom. This will require
us to provide proper resources to accommodate this need for change. By designing shared folders
in our Learning Management System (LMS), Schoology, and our school shared drive teachers
will be able to access any information they may have about this process. We also need to provide
teachers with time to incorporate this change, while it’s the middle of the school year, there is
still time for teachers to learn and adapt new ways of teaching students. Fortunately, each content
has weekly planning with their department where they can work together with the assistance of
the STAT teacher to develop ideas to use technology to enhance the way they use TSG in their
instruction. We would also like to offer PD during specific times or days after school where
teachers can meet with us to discuss any questions or concerns they may have. As they become
more comfortable with this process in their classroom, we would like to provide incentives for
teachers who are successful in changing their TSG instruction. By offering weekly shout outs or
gift certificates, teachers might feel more motivated to participate and commit to this change to
not only better meet the needs of their students, but to also improve their instruction. Lastly,
teachers need to feel like they have good leadership who support and encourage them along the
way. Therefore, we are going to make sure that we’re easily available and happy to assist in any
way that we can to support teachers in making this change.
Since our students are 1:1 with devices, teachers have developed at least some way to
implement technology into their daily instruction, taking them beyond the entry stage of the
Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) model. Most teachers at PMS use technology in a way
that is keeping them in either the adoption or adaptation stages of the ACOT model. In the
adoption stage, teachers are using one or two technology applications, but there is still little
student use of computers for instruction. These applications are more out of convenience for the
teacher, not the students. In the adaptation stage, students are interacting more with technology
in their instruction, but the assignments are more uniform rather than being tailored to individual
learners. For teachers to progress forward with their TSGI and enter the appropriation and
invention stages, we need PD to help teachers expand their knowledge of different technology
applications and how they can be used, so that individual student needs can begin to be met.

Addressing the Change

During our internship we will start off by understanding where each teacher is in terms of
comfortability with technology. We will send out a Microsoft form for each teacher to complete
in which they will be able to rate their ability (or comfort level) to complete certain tasks using
technology. Using this data, we will decide which teachers need the most support using
technology in general and which ones need specific help with TSG. It will be important to be
encouraging and supportive of all teacher no matter the level they are at.
We will host a variety of PD sessions for teachers in which we will introduce new
resources for teachers to use. We will also spend some of our time going into other teachers’
classrooms to provide our support while they are using technology. We will also invite teachers
into our room to see the technology being used in action. Since asking teachers to give up some
of their instructional time or planning time is unrealistic, we will also plan to record some of our
lessons in which we use some of the technologies we are introducing to others. In doing this,
teachers will have access to seeing the technology in action without having to give up their
precious time. Through the provision of screencasts and recordings teachers will be able to
obtain the PD we are providing in at a convenient time and place.

Learning Activities
To begin this internship, we must evaluate level of teachers when it comes to technology
usage, as well as their experiences with TSG and how they design them in their classroom. We
will design a survey for teachers to complete using a Microsoft Form. In our survey, inquiry
about level of comfort is using technology and the use of TSG is key to providing with the
information we need to continue to the second phase of our internship.
Once we collect the basic information needed to determine where each teacher is, we can
begin to gather the proper resources. We will be able to hold both in person and online PD
sessions that will address the different needs of all teachers. Using technology, we can split
teachers into appropriate categories based off their comfort level with both technology and TSG.
These smalls groups will include levels such as: beginners to TSG, beginners to technology, I’m
kind of comfortable with both, I’ve got TSG down, I’m a technology leader. Splitting teachers
into these leveled groups will allow us to create resource folders that will meet their direct needs
and provide them with the most relevant information for everyone.
After we have categorized teachers into their applicable groups, we can compile folders
with as many relevant resources that we can find (or create). To avoid the monotony of school-
wide PD, we will invite groups to personalized PD sessions so that we can adequately address
the needs of each teacher to ensure their success. Using each of these techniques we are not only
teaching the different ways teachers can use technology in their room for TSG, but we are
modeling it as well. If teachers can see how we can use something as simple as our LMS to
create and teach individualized small groups, they may be more inclined to implement TSG with
the assistance of Schoology.
 While teachers are using the variety of resources we provide, we will make ourselves
available for questions or difficulties that may arise. We will provide various screencasts and
online PD’s that demonstrate how to properly implement each technique and suggestions for
how to move forward in the ACOT model. As they begin executing the new strategies we will
take some learning walks into their classrooms to assist. This will hopefully give more teachers
the encouragement to try something new, as they will have additional help with them in the
classroom in case something goes wrong. We will also open our classrooms to all teachers to
observe if they would like to watch one of the techniques being used in action.

Online Learning Component

It seems both unfair and unrealistic to ask teachers to spend time outside of school hours
planning the implementation of TSGI. We would like to provide teachers with resources that
they can access at any time. It is easy to create a resource folder in the county LMS, Schoology,
as well as our school shared drive that can be shared with all staff members. By providing these
two options, teachers can access resources that will assist their planning of TSGI both in and out
of school at the time works most appropriately for them.

Timeline
The second half of the year is always a hard time of the year to navigate with testing.
Therefore, the sooner we can begin meeting with teachers to find out their comfort level, the
quicker we’re able to begin compiling resources for them to begin exploring. By mid-February,
we would like to have data collected that tells us where teachers are at in this process. While
we’re going to help teachers discover ways of using technology to better create their TSG for
only three and a half months, we’re hoping teachers continue to grow their repertoire of
resources to meet the needs of their students every year, because it’s important that they’re
recognizing this is critical to increase student success. We will start by issuing the Microsoft
Form in the first week of February. We will ask that all teachers reply by Friday, February 8th.
This will allow us time to group teachers into the appropriate levels in Schoology. Throughout
February and March, we will upload a different tech-tool or strategy for teachers to use in their
classrooms every Wednesday. We will also try to utilize time at school-wide faculty meetings to
check in with teachers and discuss and further assistance they may need.

Evaluation of Participant Learning

To evaluate the effectiveness of our internship, it’s best to gather information and data
from our participants. Collecting data from teachers that supports the increased achievement of
individual students will be extremely valuable in our evaluation. As teachers become more
familiar with using technology in their instruction, learning walks will also help demonstrate the
newly learned concepts and skill teachers have acquired because of our internship. It will also be
beneficial to have teachers complete a Microsoft form at the end to see what was most useful,
what still needs to be done, and what could be done better so that we can reflect on our practices
for implementing this change at Pikesville Middle School.
 References
Dwyer, D., Ringstaff, C., Sandholtz, J. (n.d.). Integrating Technology into Classroom

Instruction: An Assessment of the Impact of the ACOT Teacher Development Center

Project. Retrieved from: https://www.apple.com/euro/pdfs/acotlibrary/rpt22.pdf

Ely, Donald P. (n.d.) Conditions That Facilitate the Implementation of Educational Technology

Innovations. Retrieved from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oFkMl-

s85RRWhwTGQ0VFdnVzg/view

Meador, Derrick. (2018, July 5). Small Group Instruction. Retrieved from:

https://www.thoughtco.com/an-investment-in-small-group-instruction-will-pay-

off-3194743