Presentation

1. Do you feel my internship’s objectives were met?

 

When I reviewed Joanna Edwards' Presentation for her Masters in Educational Technology it was like walking down Memory Lane, because as her principal at New Hope Academy (NHA) we took this journey together. Watching the video I was taken aback at the magnitude of work that was done and the incredible distance that was traveled, not just by Joanna, but by every member of the New Hope community; especially teachers, but also parents and students, and other staff.  Without Joanna’s leadership, we would not have gotten this far in such a short span of time.

 

For 2-3 weeks before the schools closed on March 13, Joanna was asked to lead a team to prepare for the school to go fully online, if needed. This meant assessing teachers’ and students’ current tech skill levels, determining what students would need devices to be online from home.  It required determining what training was needed and then providing teachers with that additional training that would enable them to do the monumental tasks before them, and also planning to train the students and parents.
 

NHA was able to very successfully teach our full curriculum last March-June when COVID closed the in-school programs, largely because of Ms. Edwards' investment, preparation, continued coaching sessions, and mini-staff development training at our weekly staff meetings, where she could be found trouble-shooting whatever problems teachers brought up. 

 

This school year, Joanna continues to lead a social media/marketing team of four other staff with IT training who are upgrading our website in both content and design.  Our teaching staff are able to demonstrate well-honed tech skills and have continued to learn new apps and advanced skills, with Joanna training them in additional tools to better manage their classes, assess and grade student work, and streamline the class preparation process.

 

NHA would not be in the position we are in, were it not for Joanna Edwards' leadership during this critical time.  Absolutely I believe her objectives were fully met, and even exceeded.

 

2. Did the professional learning appear to make a substantial change for the school?

 

From one year ago, NHA is in a very different, and much-elevated position regarding the technological expertise of our teachers.  Our programs have been enhanced, our teachers are so much more skilled in technology, and the school website is modernized and accurate.  Though COVID has thrown everyone a curveball, New Hope Academy is able to demonstrate our students are on top of their academics and are fulfilling our complete curriculum online. This is far above what most schools can claim.

 

 Ms. Edwards has contributed greatly to NHA being in the solid position it is in at this time.  She continues to support her fellow staff to learn and perfect their new skills and to support the students to use technology fluently and with good online citizenship. She has provided all of our staff with the benefits of her professional learning experience and technology training, and for this, we are most grateful. It came at a time of greatest need.