Technology Administrator Report

Avon Elementary School

Avon, New York

Prepared by Jessica Shuff

FRIT 7739
Avon Elementary School Technology Program Evaluation

Executive Summary
The library media center at Avon Elementary serves as the technology center for the
school. The media center is attached to the STEAM lab which houses much of the
technology equipment. Both the media center and the STEAM lab serve 356 students from
kindergarten to fourth grade. 35 faculty members and 10 paraprofessionals also utilize the
media center/STEAM lab services. Avon Central School is a rural district with one
elementary, middle, and high school. Being a small district, the three district schools share
the same media center and technology mission. There is one technology committee with
representatives from each school. Data for this report has been compiled through
interviews and careful review of district and school documents. The Avon Elementary
School Media Center is always bustling with activity. There is one media specialist, one
library clerk, and one STEAM teacher. The media specialist continually collaborates with
the STEAM teacher as they are housed in the same space. Along with this collaboration,
both the media specialist and STEAM teacher also plan and collaborate with K-4 teachers.
Integrated, collaborative lessons are commonplace in the media center. These
collaborative lessons are enhanced by technologies housed in the STEAM lab. Avon
Elementary Media Center is becoming a model for 21st century best practices. However,
with lack of funding and restrictions due to internet filtering policies it’s clear this task has
been full of obstacles. With additional funding and complete implementation of the
district’s 1:1 initiative, the future of Avon Elementary Media Center is full of promise.

Organizational Chart

2
Summary of Organizational Chart

Holly Mullin is the media specialist of Avon Elementary. She closely works with Luke
Weaver, the STEAM teacher. Luke’s classroom is housed in the media center, so
collaboration between Holly and Luke is ongoing. Tara Schneider is an ITSE Certified
Educator and a Google Certified Trainer. She is currently a 4th grade teacher, but she is the
building technology coach, and the co-chair of the district technology committee. Ms.
Mullin relies on both Mr. Weaver and Mrs. Schneider for technology implementation.
Therefore, the collaboration and expertise of each of these individuals cycle back and
forth. Each of their contributions effect the media center program and overall school
programing. Beth Herburger, the library clerk, is under the direction of Ms. Mullin,
however, the two collaborate with one another on a daily basis.

Methods

A variety of methods were utilized to compile information for this report. Interviews were
conducted with the media specialist, STEAM teacher, building technology coach, a
second-grade teacher, two students, and the library clerk (Appendix A). Numerous
observations of the center activities were conducted. A district technology committee
meeting was also attended and meeting minutes were shared (Appendix B). A list of
technology resources was compiled as well (Appendix C).

Center Context & Goals

Avon Elementary is located in Livingston County, New York. Avon is in the middle of the
Genesee Valley and 20 miles south of Rochester, New York. The three district schools are
located on 90 acres of land in the center of Avon. The schools have been located on the
current land since building completion in 1998. In 2008, technology, security, and
communication services were updated. Avon Elementary serves 356 students from
kindergarten to fourth grade. 86.5% of students are white, 5.1% are multi-racial, 6.7% are
Hispanic or Latino, 0.8% are Asian and 0.6% are black. There are 31 classrooms, a library
media center, a STEAM lab, an art room, music room, and a cafetorium.

District Library Mission Statement

The Avon Central School Libraries share a mission to bring together all staff and students
in developing and encouraging a lifelong love of reading, building information literacy
skills, nurturing research and inquiry, and sparking creativity and critical thinking in
order to become college and career ready.

Goals

• Promote reading and literacy school-wide

3
 • Provide students with literacy experiences to meet their social emotional needs
• Collaborate with grade level representatives and individual teachers
• Integrate research, inquiry, creativity, design, & innovation while supporting the
curricular goals for each grade level

Stakeholders

• 356 K-4th grade students

• 35 teachers
• 10 support staff members
• 1 administrator

Personnel

The media center personnel consist of one media specialist, one library clerk, and one
STEAM teacher. The media center and technology services are also supported by an
additional building and district representative. These representatives include Tara
Schneider (Elementary Technology Coach & 4th grade teacher) and Jim Ellis (District
Technology Coordinator).

The media specialist is responsible for promoting reading and literacy school-wide. She
does this through purchasing relevant, curriculum supported text. She introduces
students to award-winning books and purchases diverse texts to give students multiple
perspectives and empathy for others. She is responsible for the Avon Free Library
Summer Reading Program. She also has a PARP (Pick a Reading Partner) program where
older students read to younger students. She coordinates a yearly author visit and invites
community members to read to students. Ms. Mullins collaborates with grade level chairs
or teams to supplement and support classroom curriculum. She also serves on the district
technology committee and supports the technology department initiatives.

Ms. Mullins has help from Mrs. Herburger, her library clerk. Ms. Mullins and Mrs.
Herburger collaborate with one another to support library services. In particular, both
serve as co-directors for the Page Turner Competition. Mrs. Herburger helps coordinate
and organize school-wide programming and events. Along with these duties, Mrs.
Herburger is also responsible for checking books in and out, shelving books, managing the
circulation desk, managing library cards, creating book displays, and managing and
maintaining materials in the makerspace area.

Ms. Mullins also collaborates with the STEAM teacher, Mr. Weaver. Mr. Weaver’s
classroom is housed in the media center, so collaboration between library and STEAM
occurs frequently. Mr. Weaver provides students with hands-on lessons that often
integrate technology and design.

4
Mr. Weaver, Ms. Mullin, and Mrs. Schneider help support teachers with technology
integration building-wide. Although Mrs. Schneider is a fourth grade teacher at Avon
Elementary, she is also the building’s technology coach and co-chairs the district
technology committee. Mrs. Schneider shares technology resources with staff digitally or
at staff meetings (Appendix C).

Mr. Weaver, Ms. Mullin, and Mrs. Schneider share the responsibilities of technology
trainings, professional learning and technology support for the elementary school.

Jim Ellis is the district’s technology coordinator. He is responsible for network

management, hardware and software support and purchasing, and district technology roll
out and implementation.

Center Activities

• Much of the technology equipment is housed in the STEAM room which is inside
the media center. Activities include programing and coding with Dash Robots,
Scratch Jr (K-2 grade), Hopscotch (3-4 grade) & Vex Robots (4th grade). Students
use coding apps on the 20 iPads. Students participate in virtual and augmented
reality activities through 20 Google Expedition Googles and iPad applications such
as Quiver. Students problem solve and create products using Project Lead the Way
Kits. Students collaborate with one another using Google Apps for Education on
Chromebooks.

• Ms. Mullins collaborates with grade level teams once a month so read alouds and
book talks are relevant to classroom curriculum. She also supplements the
Common Code Curriculum and reads one book a month related to character
education and social emotional learning. Read alouds are conducted with all grade
levels K-4.

• Ms. Mullins creates a school-wide project surrounding Veterans Day. During each
library time during the month of October/part of November, each grade level is
read non-fiction text and researches a part of the military. This project culminates
with a Veterans Day assembly where the students honor local veterans.

• Teachers can sign up for additional collaboration time with Ms. Mullin. Ms. Mullin
enhances classroom curriculum through technology and research skills, digital
citizenship lessons, and makerspace activities.

• Ms. Mullins teachers the research process to 2-4 grade students. She introduces
students to database searches, ethical research practices, and works cited.

5
 • Every Monday afternoon, students involved in the Page Turner Book Competition
meet with Ms. Mullins and Mrs. Herberger for book circles and discussions.

• Each fall there is a Scholastic Book Fair which takes place in the media center.

• Each winter there is a Lego competition for all students to create using Legos.

• All staff meetings and professional learning opportunities are conducted in the
media center.

Evaluation

The library media center at Avon Elementary is constantly buzzing with activity. The
stakeholders play an active role in the operation of the media center. Although Ms. Mullin
is the media specialist, she often relies on her collaboration with Mr. Weaver and Mrs.
Schneider for STEAM and technology implementation. Ms. Mullin was very open when
answering interview questions. She understands her strengths are fostering a love of
reading throughout the school. She knows her technology integration skills could improve.
However, the collaboration between Mr. Weaver and Ms. Mullins has impacted her
programing. She expressed her excitement in exposing students to new technologies while
allowing them to take risks, conquer new challenges, and problem solve. Her social
emotional lessons help support students when they encounter challenges while
collaborating, inventing, and designing.

Overall, the media center doesn’t have much technology besides the technology in the
STEAM room (within the media center). There is 1 Smartboard panel and two desktop
computers for Ms. Mullin and Mrs. Herberger’s use. There is a large makerspace area
where students have a chance to innovate, design, and create. When implementing
research, Ms. Mullin relies on books, and databases on iPads (housed in the STEAM
room). The library clerk doesn’t have a significant role in the technology operations. Mrs.
Herberger checks books in and out and updates the OPAC when needed.

Interviews with Mrs. Schneider and Mr. Weaver revealed the strict internet filtering in the
district. Mrs. Schneider said she had to beg for YouTube to be removed from the filtering
service because her students were unable to access her flipped math lessons. Mr. Weaver
stated similar problems. The Google Expedition Googles have to be updated frequently,
but they are unable to be updated at school due to filtering. Therefore, in order to update
the software, Mr. Weaver must take all 20 devices home to use his personal WiFi. It is very
ineffective and time consuming for Mr. Weaver. Another teacher who was interviewed
expressed his frustration with the filtering system as well. However, after attending the
district technology meeting, Jim Ellis, the technology coordinator from the district
revealed a solution to the strict filtering. He proposed purchasing GoGaurdian Software

6
which can track student internet searches. Therefore, once GoGaurdian is implemented,
Mr. Ellis may decrease the amount of filtering.

Attendance at a district digital citizenship training revealed the technology team’s

rationale for implementing district-wide digital citizenship lessons. At the elementary
level, all K-4 students will participate in all Common Sense digital citizenship lessons. Ms.
Mullin, Mr. Weaver, and Mrs. Schneider all helped make the decision to use Common
Sense Digital Citizenship lessons.

When interviewing Mr. Wheeler, a second-grade teacher, he stated his interest in

collaborating more with Mr. Weaver and Ms. Mullin. At the time of the interview, all three
teachers collaborated on a community project which integrated research skills, writing
composition, 3D camera use, and creation of a Google Expedition. He wasn’t the only one
excited about this project. His students were engaged and excited to create something that
people from around the world could view. Mr. Wheeler also expressed how helpful it is to
have both a STEAM teacher and media specialist housed in the media center. He said,
“Their collaboration and activities are something you want to be a part of!” Lastly, he
stated that Mrs. Schneider is an excellent resource and model for 21st century teaching.
Later he said, “I just want to go back in fourth grade and be in her class.” He often
participates in technology professional learning. He has even considered getting his
Google Educator Level 1 Certificate.

Observations were completed in Mrs. Schneider’s fourth grade class, and once you enter,
you are transformed to a true 21st century classroom. Flexible seating surrounds the
classroom, Chromebooks are being used for class purposes, flipped lessons are occurring,
and students are constructing their own knowledge while engaging in high order thinking
skills.

Two students were also interviewed for the purpose of this report. The students both
expressed their enjoyment of reading and love for Ms. Mullin. When asked about
technology in the media center, the students said, “the technology is in the STEAM room.”
When asked about the STEAM room technologies, the students excitedly expressed a
desire to use it on a more regular basis. Both students said they like to make things. One
student said she likes the challenge. The other student said he “just likes all the techy
stuff.”

Recommendations

It is obvious there is a lot of excitement in regards to technology at Avon Elementary.

There are some really great programs, devices, and software that are being implemented
in the school. However, the technology is not evident when you first walk in the media
center. At first glance, the media center looks a little outdated. Therefore, I recommend
housing the technology devices and resources in the media center, not just the STEAM

7
room. House the iPads in the media center so students can have a choice to read analog
books or eBooks when they visit. If possible, have a set of Chromebooks in the media
center for research, design, using Web 2.0 tools, and collaboration. Little changes will
bring the media center into the 2st century.

My next recommendation is for internet filtering to become a bit more lenient. The district
plans to roll out an additional 150 Chromebooks, but if educational websites remain
blocked, it will not be a useful investment.

Lastly, I would recommend the partnership between Ms. Mullin and Mr. Weaver
continue. From Mr. Wheeler’s comments, it’s clear Ms. Mullin and Mr. Weaver are
creating an integrated curriculum that will have lasting impacts on the students of Avon
Elementary.

8
Appendix A
Interview Questions
Media Specialist/STEAM Teacher/Technology Coach Interview:

1. What are your responsibilities?

2. How is professional learning/technology training conducted?
3. What are the activities conducted in the media center/STEAM room?
4. Who is in charge of technology support?
5. Is there a technology or media committee? Who serves on this committee?
6. What are the goals of the media center? What are the goals of technology
implementation?
7. What is the mission of the media center?
8. How & when do you collaborate with teachers?

Library Clerk Interview:

1. What are your duties and responsibilities?

2. Do you have any impact on technology in the media center?
3. What programs do you help the media specialist with?

Teacher Interview:

1. Do you personally use services provided by the media center or media personnel?
2. Do you collaborate with media center personnel? If so, when and how often?
3. Do you participate in technology training or professional learning?

Student Interview:

1. Do you use technology in the media center if so, what?

2. What type of technology do you like to use at school?
3. How often does your class attend the media center?
4. Would you like to use more technology in the media center or in your classroom?
Any specific ideas?

9
Appendix B
Avon District Technology Meeting

Personal Notes taken by J. Shuff

10
Appendix C
Resources
Hardware
Item How Many? Purpose

Chromebooks 152 in ES Instructional Purposes

4-4th grade classrooms Centers
2-3rd grade classrooms iReady
2-2nd grade classrooms

Google Expedition 20 in ES 20 in HS Expand experiences in specific

Goggles content areas

Dash Robots 10 for Elementary Coding

Design
Problem Solving

Vex Robots 12 Kits Hands-on learning

Design

iPads 20 in K Center work

20 in 1st Research
20 in STEAM Project Leds the Way
Coding

3D Printers 1 in STEAM Lab Not functioning

Teacher 1 teacher computer per teacher (either Lesson plan creation

Computers Chromebooks or Microsoft Surface) Lesson software

Desktop Every classroom has at least 1 Desktop computers are hooked up

Computers to the SMART boards

AirTame Every classroom has 1 hooked up to the Instructional Purposes

SmartBoard.

Smartboards 1 in each classroom Instructional Purposes

3D Camera Can be checked out from Genesee Valley Instructional Purposes

Educational Partnership

Other STEM Makey Makey, Microbit, Robot Turtles Coding

Resources can also be checked out from Genesee Design
Valley Educational Partnership Problem Solving

11
Digital Resources

Item Purpose

BookFlix Online Literacy Resource

iReady Differentiated instruction

Common Sense Education Digital citizenship

Epic! Individual teachers use in classrooms

Sora Mackin- accessed through Follett Catalog eBooks

PebbleGo Science, Social Studies, Biographies, & Research

Animals

Click below to view Tara Schneider’s curated list of digital resources organized by ITSE
Standards:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xDOCdu-
Nr7u6A6L_SiqzkdRGXoH1USzDUkIX8WWEXyk/edit?usp=sharing

12