Internship Proposal

Amanda Kazin
Loyola University Maryland

Proposal/Rationale:
I have worked at Mars Estates Elementary School for four years. All four of those years I
have taught fourth grade. This past school year I was appointed our school’s technology liaison. I
have seen our staff take new technologies and new ideas and excitedly bring them back to the
classroom. For my internship, I will continue to work as the technology liaison for our school
who is in charge of inventory of devices, but I would also like to expand this role. I will be
leading multiple professional development trainings on various programs and technologies that
will help the staff at Mars Estates deliver meaningful and engaging instruction. These
professional learning meetings will directly align with our School Progress Plan and address how
we can meet the needs of our learners.
The professional learning sessions will take place after school every other Thursday. I
plan on sending out emails to remind staff and include voting buttons to respond if they
can/cannot attend. In addition to providing these professional learning sessions, I will offer a
supplementary “Tech Tips” meeting time for teachers who have specific questions or programs
they are more interested in learning about. Many teachers at Mars Estates are eager to try new
ideas in the classroom, yet some are more hesitant and would be more comfortable with more
practice. “Tech Tips” meetings will help these teachers get more specialized trainings in some of
the technologies learned during the professional developments or general technology help.
For the staff members who participate in these sessions, as well as for the whole staff, I
will be compiling all presentations, resources, and an area for others to share. I will be utilizing
Microsoft One Drive Online so all staff members can access this information and have the ability
to add their own resources that they may find as they continue to learn about the different
technologies covered. For example, there will be a folder for Breakout EDU with some of the
different resources easily organized for staff members. There will also be a Microsoft Online
Word Document so teachers can add some of the “games” they try in their own room and any
feedback they can provide to other staff members on what went well and what they wish had
gone better.
As my internship begins, I will ask staff members to reflect on their use of technology in
their own classrooms. This will help me determine where they feel comfortable and how they
can continue to grow professionally. I will utilize surveys after each professional development
meeting and each “Tech Tips” meeting to gain a better understanding of what the staff is looking
for and what is working for them. Towards the end of my internship there will be a final survey
where teachers will reflect on how they have hopefully increased their use of technology in the
classroom and reflect on how comfortable they are with trying new ideas in the classroom. I
would also like to end this internship by proposing a technology committee at my school. I am
hoping that by doing so after the completion of my internship, staff members who have
participated in the sessions will feel more confident in their technological abilities and would
want to be a part of this committee. The committee will be in charge of overall technology needs
and how to help other staff members continue to learn.
Mars Estates is a Title I funded school. We are fortunate enough to be provided with
multiple means of technology. Teachers often see this as the only technology necessary to use in
their classrooms. Although many of the staff at our school are often eager to try new programs
and technologies, it seems that some are much more hesitant or are stuck in the substitution stage
of the SAMR model. One of the goals for my internship is to show staff members how they can
move up in this model. One of the biggest pushes for our students is to deliver meaningful and
engaging instruction. I believe that with my internship I can teacher staff members how to
properly utilize technology to make their lessons engaging for students, while still keeping in
mind standards and rigorous instruction.
Participants:
The participants of this internship will be staff members who are interested in gaining
more knowledge and/or practice with various forms of technology for their classroom. Staff
members who participate will also learn about the SAMR and ACOT Model in order to become
more aware of their use of technology and how they can move up within these domains. There
will also be sessions on specific programs that staff can learn more about and how to plan for
their use in the classroom. These sessions will be opened to classroom teachers for grades pre-
kindergarten through grade 5. It will also be open to special educators, special area teachers, and
support staff if they are interested. Those interested in a more personalized session will be
invited to “Tech Tips” meetings as well. Overall, there are 40 staff members who would be
supported through this internship, if they wish to participate.
Learning Objectives:
The main learning objectives for my internship are that staff members will be able to use
the various technologies they learn during the professional development sessions and that they
are successfully able to identify how they will integrate and implement these programs or
activities in their own classrooms. In order to help staff members move up within the
ACOT/SAMR models, they will be able to demonstrate their understanding of the programs by
the end of each session. They will also leave certain sessions with planned materials to
immediately use in their classrooms.
I want teachers at Mars Estates to begin using technology in meaningful ways for their
students. My ultimate goal for staff is to see how they can get to the Appropriation stage of the
ACOT Model and the Modification/Redefinition stage of the SAMR Model. In order to see this
goal through, I plan to meet with administration to determine where our school might be in
regard to Ely’s Eight Conditions of Change. I want to discuss with administration where they
believe the dissatisfaction might be within our school. I also aim to work with administration to
determine the best ways to present information to staff members with the most participation
possible. It will also be essential that we provide staff with support and encouragement in
attending these sessions. A final learning objective is to begin a technology committee at Mars
Estates. This will ensure that the momentum and learning from my internship will continue on
throughout the school year and into future school years.
Addressing Change:
After meeting with administration to discuss dissatisfaction with the status quo, I aim to
provide staff with the knowledge and skills that are necessary to move up within the SAMR and
ACOT models. I believe I have the necessary knowledge and skills in the programs I want to
teach my staff about in order to provide them with effective professional development. Being a
part of Baltimore County Public Schools, all of our students from grades 1-5 have a 1:1 device.
Pre-K and Kindergarten students have up to six devices for each of their classrooms. All teachers
are to be equipped with the newly purchased devices as well. We have multiple resources that
have been purchased for us including four BreakoutEDU boxes and a 3-D printer.
In terms of time, I will be offering my time to provide these professional development
trainings as well as the “Tech Tips” sessions that will be scheduled on a 1-1 basis for teachers of
interest. For the professional development meetings, I will determine a time that works best for
staff members in order to get more people participating. Rewards and incentives are often
necessary yet difficult tasks for gaining participation. The intrinsic reward for staff members is
bettering themselves as well as their classroom. For extrinsic rewards, staff members will often
leave sessions with something to bring right back to their classrooms. I also plan to speak to my
administration and our school’s PTA about purchasing different physical incentives for staff
members. I will be meeting with administration to also discuss incentives for staff that attend
each session such as five minutes of extra planning or even a duty-free recess period.
Participation for these meetings will depend on the staff members who are interested in
learning more. I also know that participation will be encouraged my administration and will be
promoted throughout the school by email and Twitter. I think that commitment from my
administration is evident in the encouragement I have received and the materials that have been
purchased with me as a technology leader in mind. I also believe that I can provide leadership
during these professional development sessions and one-on-one meetings to encourage the staff
at Mars Estates to use technology more effectively in the classroom.
During my internship, I will be holding an asynchronous session on how to use Seesaw.
This session will be created using a screencast and the actual Seesaw website. This session will
still hold staff members accountable by having activities for them to complete throughout the
professional learning. I believe that this session will be most beneficial in the online learning
format because this website is user-friendly and the best way to see how our students will use it,
is to show the staff members how to use it in a similar fashion.
To stay organized and keep track of my internship’s progress, I will be utilizing a variety
of methods. I have a notebook that I will use to take notes as the professional development
sessions are implemented. I will also be writing reflection notes in this notebook, which will then
be transferred online. I will be using Microsoft One Drive to collect the data from the surveys I
will be using. I will also have a calendar to document all dates for any type of meetings that take
place throughout the internship.

Learning Activities:
Action Plan
Action Objective: Person/Group Date to be Assessment
Responsible Completed By
Meet with To plan Breakout EDU Technology August 2nd, Meeting
administrator to session on the staff Liaison (Me) 2018 notes
plan Breakout handbook for the first Principal
EDU Session week back for staff
Meet with To discuss goals for the Technology August 2018 Notes taken
administration internship/fall semester Liaison (Me) throughout
and STAT and dissatisfaction Principal meeting
teacher amongst staff Assistant
Principal
STAT Teacher
Survey staff To determine interest in Technology August 2018 Survey
participating in Liaison (Me)
professional
development sessions
Introduction to To learn about staff Technology Back to Survey to
Breakout EDU Handbook by a Liaison (Me) School Week determine
Boxes & Staff Breakout EDU box STAT Teacher August 2018 effectiveness/
Handbook Interested Staff feedback for
PD
Topic 1: To discuss the Technology September Survey to
SAMR/ACOT SAMR/ACOT model Liaison (Me) 13th 2018 determine
Model Meeting and how the future PDs what level
will help staff move staff members
from one level to the believe they
next are in

Topic 2: To learn about Breakout Technology September Survey to

Breakout EDU EDU boxes, participate Liaison (Me) 27th, 2018 & determine
boxes in a lesson, and work Interested Staff October 11th effectiveness/
towards creating a 2018 feedback for
lesson or using a PD
premade lesson

Topic 3: To learn about Seesaw, Technology October 25th, Survey to

Seesaw when or how to use Liaison (Me) 2018 determine
(Synchronous Seesaw, create a Interested Staff effectiveness/
online session)
 classroom, and create an feedback for
assignment on Seesaw PD
Topic 4: To learn about the 3-D Technology November 8th Product from
3-D Printers printer program and how Liaison (Me) 2018 Program
to use within the Interested Staff
classroom
Topic 5: To see if staff who have Technology December 6th Committee
Recruitment for participated in PD Liaison (Me) 2018 Meeting
future sessions would be STAT Teacher notes/agenda
technology interested in creating a Principal
committee technology committee Assistant
and discussing needs for Principal
our staff/school Interested Staff
Session 6: To meet as a technology Technology December Committee
Technology committee and discuss Liaison (Me) 20th 2018 Meeting
Committee the administration STAT Teacher notes/agenda
Meeting approved topic and how Principal
Topic TBD to implement within the Assistant
school Principal
Interested Staff
Tech Tip To further discuss Technology Ongoing Notes taken
Meetings/Check technology/programs Liaison (Me) throughout throughout
In’s and help with Interested Staff the year meeting
implementation
End of To determine Technology November Google Form
Internship effectiveness of Liaison (Me) 2018 Survey
Survey professional Interested Staff
developments and to
discuss moving up
within SAMR/ACOT
model

ACOT. (2007). Apple classrooms of tomorrow. Retrieved July 2017, from

www.apple.com/education/k12/leadership/acot/.
Ely, D. P. (1990). Conditions that facilitate the implementation of educational technology
innovations. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 23(2): 298.