Blog Post #4

In the final stages of my practicum, I scheduled a day to spend with the technology coordinator of the Elmore County school system, Mrs. Barbara Burchard. We began the day with her answering emails and returning phone calls. She told me that most of her day is spent at her desk solving problems that arise. This happened to also be the case on this day. One of the problems had to do with an issue involving the school's management system, INOW. There were two schools that could not post grades for report cards. Mrs. Burchard spent time on the phone with someone from INOW support as well as administrators in the affected schools. Another problem arose concerning a technology survey that was scheduled to be sent home. There was a need to have the survey translated into Spanish. Mrs. Burchard first had to locate the translator and then send her the survey to be translated. At 10:00, a webinar was scheduled to discuss the new management software that will be utilized beginning this summer, Powerschool. I was able to sit in with her and listen to the information that was shared. The majority of the material for this scheduled webinar had to do with the school nurses and the information they would be responsible for entering and tracking in the new system. Mrs. Burchard also took the time to tell me about many of the other responsibilities she has. The total time I spent with Mrs. Burchard was 4 hours.

Along with the other requirements, I have written reflections and reports that detail my experience and the knowledge I have gained during this process. This portion of my practicum took approximately 5 hours.

This experience has been very rewarding and challenging. It took a lot of preparation time from sorting through the needs assessment to actually delivering the training. It gave me a greater appreciation of everything that has to go into leading a group of educators in meaningful and useful professional development. The rewarding part came with the support of my coworkers and their encouragement. Many of them conveyed an appreciation for the training, identifying content that provided them with new information they had not previously known.

With the conclusion of my requirements, I have logged approximately 103 hours.




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