Running Head: CURRENT REALITY AND GSAPS 1

Professional Learning Current Reality and GSAPS

Trent Stapleton

PL & Technology Innovation

Kennesaw State University

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Vision

Elkins Pointe Middle School has established concrete goals describing the importance of student

growth and student achievement. Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, the current administration

and Elkins Pointe School Governance Council (EPSGC) develops goals based on the current areas of

celebration, concern and ideas for the future. As part of Cohort 3 of Fulton County Schools Personalized

Learning initiative, Elkins Pointe received 1:1 devices for each of their students during the 2016-2017

school year. The current administration and the EPSGC believe that the focus for professional

development needs to be in developing effective practices for using the devices in the classroom for

personalizing the learning of each student.

The current plan focusses on developing best practices for using technology in the classroom

and sharing effective strategies for increasing opportunities for personalizing learning. The current plan

relies on the effectiveness of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) to develop, implement and track

the use of new tools and strategies in the classroom. Through weekly PLC meetings and common

assessments, the strategic plan sets the teachers up to use data to drive the changes and drive

instruction at Elkins Pointe.

As part of the personalized learning initiative, Elkins Pointe students and faculty are provided

access to Office 365. The strategic plan requires frequent collaboration between PLC members, and the

online tools provided by Office 365 make this possible. Administration, teachers, students and

community members can communicate much more frequently and easily than prior to the use of the

Office 365 suite. The current strategic plan calls for teachers to create online learning opportunities

using Office 365 (OneNote Notebooks, Class Notebooks, Teams, etc.) and to provide easy access to

students and families outside of the school building.

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Elkins Pointe also receives additional support for professional development through the

Kennesaw State University iTeach program. Beginning with the 2017 Spring semester, Elkins Pointe

receives support from a fully embedded instructional technology coach. Through the use of technology

and with the support of the instructional coach, Elkins Pointe is determined to provide impactful and

effective opportunities for students to think critically, solve real world issues and gain real world

experiences. Moving in to year two of the personalized learning initiative requires teachers to embrace

the technology tools and develop lessons and units that utilize technology to enhance effective

teaching.

Needs Assessment

While Fulton County was granted charter system status in 2012, the district still relies on

standardized testing to gather data and report on student progress and growth. As a member of the

Fulton County school district, Elkins Pointe is required to comply with state and district mandated

testing. The school (and district) rely on the data from these assessments to make decisions with regards

to professional development.

Specifically, Elkins Pointe developed some of their own practices for gathering data to drive the

focus of professional development. The administration and the EPSGC concluded that there were four

major stakeholders in deciding the direction for the school strategic plan. The four stakeholders are 1)

Parents, 2) Teachers, 3) Community partners, and 4) Students.

Parents as Stakeholders

With the assistance of a parent liaison, Elkins Pointe gained results to parent surveys through a

weekly e-newsletter. The school also sent paper surveys home with students and also made the survey

available to parents in the front office. A Title I Community Care Event is also held annually and parents

are encouraged to attend and complete the parent survey. Results of the parent survey illustrated a
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strong relationship between teachers and parents, however, the results also indicated that these strong

ties occur mainly between teachers and the parents in the English speaking population. Only 44% of the

Spanish speaking population indicated that they were participating in school events, while nearly 70% of

the English speaking participants indicated they were active in school events. During the Community

Care Event, Spanish speaking families indicated that they would like to have more opportunities to

participate in school events and that they would like to communicate more frequently with the teachers

of their children, however, they often feel limited by their language capabilities.

Teachers as Stakeholders

A Needs Assessment survey provided to the staff indicated the desire to develop and provide

more authentic and real-world learning opportunities. Teachers indicated their belief in the importance

of incorporating technology in the classroom when it was being used to enhance, and not when it was

being used to replace. Teachers indicated their frustration that many teachers experience when first

introducing devices into the classroom. They indicated that they were spending more time teaching

students how to use the devices (as opposed to providing curriculum based instruction), and that the

new devices opened a new series of distractions for students. While almost all of the teachers indicated

their understanding and belief in the importance of using technology in the classroom, many indicated

that they have not yet seen a significant increase in student growth and achievement. Most teachers

(83%) stated that they were more inclined to increase the use of technology in their classroom during

the second year (2017-2018 SY) of Fulton County’s Personalized Learning initiative. When asked about

professional development opportunities, most teachers indicated that they needed professional

development in two areas: 1) general use of technology tools (Microsoft Office 365, device

troubleshooting, etc.) and 2) technology implementation. In other words, teachers wanted to continue

to understand best practices for using the devices as a professional working in a PLC and how to use the
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technology to increase students engagement, how to use technology to increase authentic learning

opportunities, and how to use technology to support and increase the personalization of the learning in

their classrooms.

Community as Stakeholders

Many of the community members that were asked about the personalized learning initiative at

Elkins Pointe shared that they were not well enough informed about the activities and goals of the

school to feel as though they could provide adequate support. While the principal, Kindra Smith,

indicates that she receives a lot of support from community partners, it is often financial support.

Principal Smith, as well as the community members surveys, all indicated their desire to see greater

community involvement and presence in the school building. Most responses to the community survey

indicated their willingness to more actively participate and support the school.

Students as Stakeholders

Students responses were provided in the form of data from the 2017 Georgia Milestones

assessments.

Students at Elkins Pointe Middle School achieved higher than state averages on the English

(50.9% proficient or better), Mathematics (48.4% proficient or better), Science (49.% proficient or

better) and Social Studies (42.2% proficient or better) on the 2017 Georgia Milestones assessment.

During the 2016-2017 school year, the percentage of students reading at or above grade level by 8th

grade increased slightly to 77.6% of the student population, which is also greater than the state average

(Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, 2017).

As part of the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI), Elkins Pointe received a 5-

star rating for the school climate index (Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, 2017). This rating
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includes information from student, staff, and parent surveys. According to the school climate surveys,

students rated the school at a 65%, staff rated the school at 75% and parents rated the school at 77%

(Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, 2017). In the other two components of the school climate

score, Elkins Pointe received a 91% (Safe Learning Environment) and 93% (School Attendance). Principal

Smith argues that this indicates that Elkins Pointe should be among the leaders in student growth and

achievement from the district. However, for the third year in a row, Elkins Pointe has received a CCRPI

score lower than the year before. While student achievement scores have increased each year, they

have not grown at a high enough rate to have a positive impact on the school’s CCRPI score. According

to Principal Smith, the need for authentic and appropriate learning experiences supported by effective

use of the provided technology is needed now more than ever.

Principal Smith and the administrative team continue to encourage professional development

both during the school year and the months off. This past year, Elkins Pointe sent nearly 20 teachers

down to the Advancement Vis Individual Determination (AVID) conference in Orlando, FL. During the

2017-2018 school year, Elkins Pointe is working towards becoming an AVID National Demonstration

School. Much of the professional development planned for the 2017-2018 school year focusses on

implementing AVID strategies and how to use the technology to effectively utilize these strategies in the

classroom.

Teachers at Elkins Pointe have also received professional development in several programs

provided by the county. These programs (Mastery Connect, iReady, STAR Reading & Math) are basic

assessment tools to establish student baselines and measure growth during the school year. Despite the

simplicity of these tools, many teachers are already frustrated with their use. Many teachers see these

tools and requirements of use as yet another thing that they have to do.
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With all of the pieces of the strategic plan in place, it is evident that the administrative team and

the EPSGC have set forth practices based on the data being received. The tools and training provided to

the Elkins Pointe community are based on data gathered from the various needs assessment pieces, and

the staff is being required to continuously collect data to drive future instruction in the building.

Professional Learning

Professional Learning at Elkins Pointe begins with the individual PLC. Beginning with the 2017-

2018 school year, Elkins Pointe required common assessments and use of Mastery Connect (an online

assessment tool) to provide PLCs common data to drive instruction. At the beginning of the school year,

school administrators led professional development during pre-planning days to illustrate the goal of

common assessments. Each PLC is required to create at least 3 common assessments during the 2017-

2018 school, with a goal of 100% common assessments in place for the following school year. One of the

major goals, according to Principal Smith, is for PLCs to create more effective measures of assessment.

The administrative team wants individual PLCs to develop assessment pieces that venture away from

the traditional 40 question multiple choice test. As another requirement in the common assessment

goal, PLCs have been tasked with creating assessments that include at least 25% free response questions

to encourage personalized learning through the assessment pieces.

Professional Learning Communities meet weekly on Wednesday at Elkins Pointe. On Mondays,

the teachers meet for Grade Level discussions. At the Grade Level meetings, all teachers from each

grade meet to discuss progress on current grade level goals. The Grade Level meetings are intended to

be a time to share resources and demonstrate proficiency to the grade level administrator. It is during

these grade level meetings that the instructional technology coach from Kennesaw State is often

included to share various tools and resources that may help in achieving various goals and meeting the

various needs of each grade level.

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Elkins Pointe has introduced the use of a Staff Notebook (Microsoft OneNote) to communicate,

collaborate and record evidence of professional development and professional learning. Each PLC

creates a new professional learning goal for each unit. Each grade level creates a goal for each semester.

And the administration establishes a goal(s) for the school year. Throughout the unit, semester or year,

teachers, PLCs and grade level leads use the Staff Notebook to provide evidence of progress and

completion of their goals. This data will be used during individual Teacher Keys Effectiveness System

(TKES) evaluation.

Alignment to School Improvement Goals

As part of the school improvement plan, the goals for the 2017-2018 school year indicate that

teachers will participate in a Professional Learning Community, will provide authentic learning

experiences for their students, and the school will see an increase in their CCRPI score by building

stronger relationships between the parents and community partners for the school. As a Title I school,

Elkins Pointe will continue to meet the needs of a diverse learning community by relying on continuous

data and will continue to develop instructional practices based on the individual students in the building.

Teachers at Elkins Pointe are keeping up with their goals using the Staff Notebook, meeting with

their PLCs weekly, meeting with their grade level chairs weekly (who meet with the admin team bi-

weekly), and are using data to drive effective teaching and instruction in their classrooms. Individual

PLCS work with the KSU instructional coach to develop effective use of technology in the classroom to

help them achieve their various goals.

As Elkins Pointe works toward its three long-term goals of 1) maximizing academic potential of

all students, 2) maximizing social-emotional potential for all students, including character development

and academic readiness skills, and 3) increase students’ civic involvement in their community, they stay

focused on the importance of providing authentic and real world learning opportunities for the
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students. By working towards the goal of becoming an AVID school the students will become more

prepared for college and real-world problems and issues. Students will become better prepared to

resolve issues and problems that they will face outside of the traditional brick and mortar classroom.

Funding and Incentives

Elkins Pointe receives annual federal funding as a Title I school. With nearly 70% of the student

body qualifying for free and reduced lunch (Fulton County Schools, 2017), Title I contributes the greatest

amount to funding activities and programs at Elkins Pointe. Title I funding was able to send the group of

teachers to the AVID conference in Orlando during the Summer of 2017 and is set to send another group

of teachers this year. Title I funding also helps to provide support to the staff and students through the

iSchool Initiative program. iSchool instructors led a professional learning day at Elkins Pointe in

November 2017. While Elkins Pointe qualifies as a Title I school, it is located in an affluent suburb of

Atlanta, and has several partners in education that spend time and money aiding the school. Almost

monthly, staff are provided lunches from community partners and they are often rewarded for their

hard work through teacher appreciation nights from local restaurants and stores.

Each year, teachers are encouraged to attend professional learning/development conferences.

While Title I funding can be allocated to cover some of these costs, teachers at Elkins Pointe are

encouraged to develop presentations, as this usually includes entrance to the conference. This past

year, Elkins Pointe was planning on sending 8 teachers to attend and present at the Georgia Educational

Technology Conference.

Diversity

Elkins Pointe has an extremely diverse student body. Nearly 43% of the student body are

students of Hispanic background, 37% are African American, 15% are white and 3% are Asian. The

remaining 2% do not identify as any one background (Fulton County Schools, 2017).
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One of the most interesting things about Elkins Pointe is the diversity in the staff. For a school in

its area, it is unique that the staff is made up of such a diverse group of teachers and administrators. The

administrative team is made up of 5 females and 1 male. The teaching staff includes higher numbers of

African American and minority teachers than in most schools in the Roswell and Alpharetta area. The

administrative team at Elkins Pointe believes this helps to strengthen a relationship between students

and families that is not as existence at other places.

Evaluation

Each PLC and Grade Level meeting is attended by a member of the administrative team. With so

many teachers and students, it is difficult to consistently and effectively evaluate the impact of

professional learning at Elkins Pointe. Recently, Title I funding helped to purchase a SWIVL robot (Swivl,

2017) which can be used to help teachers self-evaluate and share lessons with a busy administrative

team. Also, using the Staff Notebook, teachers and administrators are able to communicate and

collaborate frequently on professional learning progress.

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Georgia Assessment of Performance Standards (GSAPS)

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
The means by which teachers, administrators, and other staff acquire, enhance, and refine the knowledge,
skills, practices, and dispositions necessary to create and support high levels of learning for all students

Professional Learning Standard 1: Aligns professional learning with needs identified

through analysis of a variety of data

Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Exemplary Operational Emerging Not Evident

Professional learning Professional learning Professional learning Professional learning

needs are identified needs are identified needs are identified needs are identified
and differentiated through a using limited sources using little or no
through a collaborative analysis of data. data.
collaborative analysis process using a
process using a variety of data (e.g.,
variety of data (e.g., student achievement
student achievement data, examination of
data, examination of student work, process
student work, process data, teacher and
data, teacher and leader effectiveness
leader effectiveness data, action research
data, action research data, perception data
data, perception data from students, staff,
from students, staff, and families).
and families).
Ongoing support is
provided through
differentiated
professional learning.

EVIDENCE: Using a Staff Notebook, a variety of students, teacher and parent surveys, and
frequent classroom observations and walkthroughs help Elkins Pointe to develop an effective
plan for professional development. Moving through the school year, it is the goal to provide
professional development in an “edcamp” format, allowing teachers to choose their professional
development when and where they need it (Conversation with Principal Smith, 2018)

RECOMMENDATIONS: Working with the parent liaison, it would be beneficial to find the specific
needs of the family and community members. Based on school climate surveys, there is a large
percentage of the family population that is not comfortable working with or in the school due to
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language concerns. I believe it would be beneficial to schedule professional development that

will help the staff and administration develop the skills to communicate across various language
barriers. It is also recommended that teachers begin using the Swivl robot for increased self
evaluation and peer-to-peer reviews. Peer-to-peer review has been a goal for teachers at Elkins
Pointe for several years, but with not much extra time or common planning, it was very difficult
to schedule these reviews. Swivl makes peer-to-peer review and reflection possible without
needing more time or common planning periods.

Professional Learning Standard 2: Establishes a culture of collaboration among

administrators and staff to enhance individual and collective performance

Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Exemplary Operational Emerging Not Evident

Administrators and Administrators and Administrators and Administrators and

staff, as a staff routinely staff routinely staff routinely
foundational practice, collaborate to collaborate to collaborate to
consistently improve individual improve individual improve individual
collaborate to support and collective and collective and collective
leadership and performance (e.g., performance (e.g., performance (e.g.,
personal construct knowledge, construct knowledge, construct knowledge,
accountability and to acquire skills, refine acquire skills, refine acquire skills, refine
enhance individual practice, provide practice, provide practice, provide
and collective feedback). feedback). feedback).
performance (e.g.,
construct knowledge,
acquire skills, refine
practice, provide
feedback).
Teachers conduct
action research and
assume ownership of
professional learning
processes.

EVIDENCE: The administration and staff meet frequently to discuss progress toward goals and to
analyze progress toward current performance measures. Administration meets weekly as an
administrative team, PLCs meet weekly as small groups, and each teacher meets weekly with the
rest of their grade level team. Teachers can provide evidence for their progress in their Staff
Notebook. Administration checks the Staff Notebook frequently, at least once every two weeks.
The major obstacle preventing the school from achieving a Level 4 in this standard is the lack of
teacher ownership in establishing professional learning processes. (Conversation with Principal
Smith, 2018)
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RECOMMENDATIONS: It is recommended that the administration set up opportunities for the

individual PLCs to lead professional development. At Elkins Pointe, we are currently working on
developing a set schedule for professional development for the following school year (2018-
2019). These monthly professional development sessions will be lead by individual PLCs. It is
recommended that each PLC have an opportunity to share how they are increasing personalized
learning opportunities in their PLC and how their strategies and methods can be taken into other
classrooms.

Professional Learning Standard 3: Defines expectations for implementing professional

learning

Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Exemplary Operational Emerging Not Evident

Administrators, Administrators, Administrators, Administrators,

teacher leaders, or teacher leaders, or teacher leaders, or teacher leaders, or
both consistently both regularly define both occasionally both rarely, if ever,
define expectations expectations for the define expectations define expectations
for the implementation of for the for the
implementation of professional learning. implementation of implementation of
professional learning, professional learning. professional learning.
including details
regarding the stages
of implementation
and how monitoring
will occur as
implementation
progresses.

EVIDENCE: A Staff Notebook has been developed. The Notebook provides explicit directions for
recording and providing evidence of how they have achieved their goals and how they are using
strategies or tools provided during professional development. Teachers are given 4 weeks to
implement tools or strategies that are received during professional development. For example,
when Mastery Connect was introduced, teachers were given 4 weeks to create and implement
their first assessment though the tool, with their data shared and discussed in the Staff
Notebook. (Elkins Pointe Staff Notebook, 2018)

RECOMMENDATIONS: As teachers become more familiar with the use of Office 365 and other
Web 2.0 tools, it is recommended that administration and staff use the Staff Notebook as a place
to 1) provide evidence of their achievements, and 2) a place share exemplary activities and
lessons that help achieve personalized learning goals.
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Professional Learning Standard 4: Uses multiple professional learning designs to support

the various learning needs of the staff

Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Exemplary Operational Emerging Not Evident

Staff members Staff members Some staff members Staff members

actively participate in actively participate in are engaged in receive single, stand-
job-embedded professional learning, professional learning alone professional
professional learning most of which is job- that makes use of learning events that
that engages embedded, which more than one are informational and
collaborative teams in includes multiple learning design to mostly large-group
a variety of designs (e.g., address their presentation designs.
appropriate learning collaborative lesson identified needs.
designs (e.g., study, analysis of
collaborative lesson student work,
study, analysis of problem-solving
student work, sessions, curriculum
problem solving development,
sessions, curriculum coursework, action
development, research, classroom
coursework, action observations, online
research, classroom networks) to support
observations, online their various learning
networks). needs. Professional
Professional learning learning includes
includes extensive follow-up with
follow-up with feedback and
descriptive feedback coaching.
and coaching.

EVIDENCE: Currently, the follow up to professional development activities is not as strong as it

needs to be. Teachers are asked to provide their evidence of use or implementation in the Staff
Notebook, however, there are few opportunities for teachers to show how they’ve used their
professional development in their classrooms. While a KSU iTeach coach is provided, the current
professional development plan does not include many technology based activities. The KSU
iTeach coach spends time coaching the use of technology tools for personalized learning and
often looks for feedback and recurring coaching opportunities that are separate than what the
professional development provided by the school may be. (Conversation with Principal Smith,
2018).

RECOMMENDATIONS: It is recommended that the KSU iTeach coach and the professional
development planning team work together to develop professional development activities that
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compliment each other. Using the resource that is the KSU iTeach coach will allow for increased
opportunities for continuous coaching and follow-up after professional development.

Professional Learning Standard 5: Allocates resources and establishes systems to support

and sustain effective professional learning

Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Exemplary Operational Emerging Not Evident

Extensive resources Adequate resources Some resources and Few, if any,

(e.g., substitute (e.g., substitute systems are allocated resources and
teachers, materials, teachers, materials, to support and systems are provided
handouts, tools, handouts, tools, sustain professional to support and
stipends, facilitators, stipends, facilitators, learning. sustain professional
technology) and technology) and learning.
systems (e.g., systems (e.g.,
conducive schedules, conducive schedules,
adequate adequate
collaborative time, collaborative time,
model classrooms) model classrooms)
are allocated to are in place to
support and sustain support and sustain
effective professional professional learning.
learning.
Opportunities to
practice skills, receive
follow-up, feedback,
and coaching are
provided to support
the effectiveness of
professional learning.

EVIDENCE: At Elkins Pointe teachers are provided the support when they need it and where they
need it. Using the Edcamp model for many of the professional development opportunities during
the school year allows teachers to utilize their time in the most efficient manner possible. While
the county still mandates certain trainings, the school is able to provide the support for various
groups of teachers (new teachers, comfortable with tech teachers, etc.) and the school strives to
meet their teachers where they need to be met. Just as the teachers are being trained to
personalize the learning experience of the students, the professional development is planned to
do the same for the needs of the teachers (Conversation with Principal Smith, 2018).

RECOMMENDATIONS: It is recommended that the school continue to “Edcamp” approach to

personalized learning. To achieve Level 4 for this standard, teachers need to be provided
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opportunities to practice their new skills and more opportunity for continued coaching. In order
to achieve these, it is recommended that each professional development activity require a
follow-up session. This may look like walkthroughs, or discussions at subsequent PLC or grade
level meetings. It is recommended that with the development of the new professional
development schedule, that each professional development opportunity have a required time for
a reflection and follow-up.

Professional Learning Standard 6: Monitors and evaluates the impact of professional

learning on staff practices and student learning

Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Exemplary Operational Emerging Not Evident

Monitoring and Monitoring and Monitoring and Monitoring and

evaluating the impact evaluating the impact evaluating the impact evaluating the impact
of professional of professional of professional of professional
learning on staff learning on staff learning on staff learning on staff
practices and practices and student practices occurs practices occurs
increases in student learning occurs sporadically. rarely, if ever.
learning occurs routinely.
extensively.
Evaluation results are
used to identify and
implement processes
to extend student
learning.

EVIDENCE: Currently, the evaluation process for professional development takes place twice
each year. Before the school year and near the end of the school year the staff is surveyed to
look for growth areas and areas of deficit that can be supported by professional development.
The current survey process has been in place for several years, and the administration is not sure
that the staff feels fully comfortable in requesting professional development that they feel will
have a quick and direct impact in their classroom (Conversation with Principal Smith, 2018).

RECOMMENDATIONS: It Is recommended that teachers be provided more frequent opportunities

to reflect on and encourage the professional development at the school. It is recommended that
before each professional development opportunity, the staff take a readiness survey to
determine which direction the professional development should take (similar to a pretest for a
new unit). Using familiar grouping techniques, professional development can be directed towards
the teachers that need it most, and teachers can focus on professional development in the areas
that they need the most.
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KSU ITEC Professional Learning Standard: Professional learning reinforces educators’

understanding and use of strategies for promoting equity and high expectations for all
students, application of research-based teaching strategies and assessment processes, and
involvement of families and other stakeholders in promoting student learning.

Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Exemplary Operational Emerging Not Evident

Classroom practices Classroom practices of Classroom practices of Classroom practices

(e.g., considering most teachers reflect some reflect little or no
interests, backgrounds, evidence of teachers’
skill in communicating teachers reflect
strengths, and
high expectations for evidence of teachers’ training in
preferences to provide
meaningful, relevant each student and training in understanding the
lessons and assess adjusting classroom understanding the impact that attitudes
student progress, activities to meet impact that attitudes regarding race,
differentiating student needs. regarding race, disabilities,
instruction, and Respect for students’ disabilities, background, culture,
nurturing student high expectations,
cultures and life background, culture,
capacity for self-
experiences is evident high expectations, and and social class of
management) of all
teachers reflect an through the social class of both both students and
emotionally and emotionally and students and teachers teachers have on the
physically safe physically safe learning have on the teaching teaching and learning
environment where environment where and learning process. process.
respect and students of diverse
appreciation for a
backgrounds and
diverse population is
evident. There are high experiences are taught
achievement the school code of
expectations for all conduct (customs) to
students and teachers. help them be
The principal and other successful in the
leaders provide
school context.
professional learning for
teachers lacking
understanding of the
impact that attitudes
regarding race,
disabilities, background,
culture, high
expectations, and social
class of both students
and teachers have on
the teaching and
learning process.
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EVIDENCE: Because of Elkins Pointe’s unique demographic, it has been a point of emphasis this
past year to become more culturally sensitive educators. One of the earliest professional
development opportunities for the 2017-2018 school year focused on building culturally
responsive lessons and units. The KSU iTeach coach led professional development on using web
2.0 tools to encourage students to collaborate and communicate with people around the world.
Using Office 365, Flipgrid, and Skype to connect with several classrooms around the world has
encouraged teachers to break down common barriers that can be seen in a traditional brick and
mortar classroom (classroom observations, conversation with Principal Smith, 2018).

RECOMMENDATIONS: It is recommended that teachers continue to develop opportunities to

connect with other classrooms around the world suing the Web 2.0 tools provided. It is also
recommend that teachers and staff continue to push student instruction in Digital Citizenship
throughout their daily lessons and activities, and not only during the first few weeks of school.
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References

Elkins Pointe Middle School Strategic Improvement Plan, 2017, Retrieved from

http://school.fultonschools.org/ms/elkinspointe/LSGC%20Documents/Strategic%20Plan%20Fin

al%20%202014-15.pdf

Fulton County Schools. (2017). Fulton County Schools: Academic Portal.

http://www.fultonschools.org/en

Georgia Department of Education (2017). College and Career Ready Performance Index.

http://ccrpi.gadoe.org/2017/

SWIVL, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.swivl.com/

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