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Friday, July 30, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Internet Research for TechQuest
Search Strategies
As I set out to research Moodle and Professional Learning Communities for my TechQuest, I did it with three goals in mind. My goals were to find resources that :
As I set out to research Moodle and Professional Learning Communities for my TechQuest, I did it with three goals in mind. My goals were to find resources that :
- Provided guides for implementing a professional learning community
- Demonstrated ways that Moodle or other online communities have been used as a professional learning community
- Illustrated ways that Moodle has enhanced teaching and learning
To begin my search, I used Michigan State University's eLibrary to search through ProQuest and ERIC on FirstSearch. I found five out of my six resources there. The last resource I found through a Google search of "Moodle Implementation". My strategy for searching was to keep my goals in mind and to continuously ask myself "how does that fit with what I aim to do?".
What helped my search?
As I searched, I found that what helped me most was changing how I worded the terms in my searches. I limited my searches to full text in order to get the "big picture" rather than a snapshot from an abstract. I searched terms like "professional learning communities", "online learning communities", "Moodle in the classroom", "benefits of Moodle", "Moodle implementation", "online learning in elementary school" and "Web 2.0 tools in professional development". I was surprised by how many documents I turned up with these searches since I originally felt that each one was too specific. Finally, with so many articles to choose from, I found it helpful to read over the abstract first. If it didn't sound like it would give me new ideas or fit into one of my goals, I would go back to the search and try again.
What hindered my search?
Since Moodle is a relatively new tool being used in schools, it was a struggle to find a wealth of examples of its implementation through published scholarly journals. I would find articles where it was mentioned as a possible tool but it was not often that an entire article was dedicated to Moodle. However, the few I did find were very powerful. Other articles would cite online learning communities as an effective tool in teaching, learning and professional development. Since Moodle encompasses the same tools as many other online learning communities, I was able to make a connection to how Moodle would provide the same opportunities for my school. During my web search, I found several sites about Moodle including the theory behind it, resources for sharing about Moodle and tutorials on Moodle. There were not alot of articles that talked about the benefits to schools through my Google search.
How will I search next time?
I really enjoyed the majority of the articles I read through the eLibrary and scholarly journals. Several of them were from educational journals that were written in a way that allowed me to connect to the information. To do it again, I would use the same resources but I may expand my search beyond just ProQuest and ERIC on FirstSearch. In the past, I have had some luck with JSTOR. I would try a web search again as well. As Moodle continues to become an integral part of virtual learning, more research and articles about its use in education will become available to educators through a traditional search engine.
What helped my search?
As I searched, I found that what helped me most was changing how I worded the terms in my searches. I limited my searches to full text in order to get the "big picture" rather than a snapshot from an abstract. I searched terms like "professional learning communities", "online learning communities", "Moodle in the classroom", "benefits of Moodle", "Moodle implementation", "online learning in elementary school" and "Web 2.0 tools in professional development". I was surprised by how many documents I turned up with these searches since I originally felt that each one was too specific. Finally, with so many articles to choose from, I found it helpful to read over the abstract first. If it didn't sound like it would give me new ideas or fit into one of my goals, I would go back to the search and try again.
What hindered my search?
Since Moodle is a relatively new tool being used in schools, it was a struggle to find a wealth of examples of its implementation through published scholarly journals. I would find articles where it was mentioned as a possible tool but it was not often that an entire article was dedicated to Moodle. However, the few I did find were very powerful. Other articles would cite online learning communities as an effective tool in teaching, learning and professional development. Since Moodle encompasses the same tools as many other online learning communities, I was able to make a connection to how Moodle would provide the same opportunities for my school. During my web search, I found several sites about Moodle including the theory behind it, resources for sharing about Moodle and tutorials on Moodle. There were not alot of articles that talked about the benefits to schools through my Google search.
How will I search next time?
I really enjoyed the majority of the articles I read through the eLibrary and scholarly journals. Several of them were from educational journals that were written in a way that allowed me to connect to the information. To do it again, I would use the same resources but I may expand my search beyond just ProQuest and ERIC on FirstSearch. In the past, I have had some luck with JSTOR. I would try a web search again as well. As Moodle continues to become an integral part of virtual learning, more research and articles about its use in education will become available to educators through a traditional search engine.
TechQuest Resources
Nelson, T., LeBard, L., & Waters, C.. (2010). How to Create a Professional Learning Community. Science and Children, 47(9), 36-40. Retrieved July 20, 2010, from Education Module.
My goal was to find an article that provided a framework for a Professional Learning Community that was centered around student achievement and professional collaboration. This article provided me with some basic guidelines for what a PLC should look and sound like. Essentially, a well established PLC takes on a cyclical nature where the members begin with an inquiry focus. Teachers look for an area to improve in teaching or learning and then begin to set goals. Implementation is the second step of the PLC process. After teachers implement the strategies and collect data, the hardest part of the process begins. During the final stage of the professional learning community, teachers come together to reflect on the teaching or strategy that was implemented in accordance with the collected data. The authors note that often this is where a Professional Learning Community loses its effectiveness. The reason for this is that it is a very humbling experience for a teacher to admit that there is still room for improvement. Often, this stage takes a "proving approach" where teachers use the data to show how well it worked with statements like "80% of my students passed". In an effective PLC, the guidelines say that it should take an "improving approach" where teachers examine student work or data and say "how can I make it better?" or even "how can I reach that other 20%?". In this stage, it is important to pose more questions rather than to make a definitive statement about the results.
What can I take away from this article for use in my setting? First, it is important to have the time, resources and teacher buy-in to make a professional learning community effective. If I truly want to make my Moodle courses into PLC's, I will need to make sure that I establish consistency and leadership within each group. The leadership is the most essential component because each PLC will need a leader to be the first to admit "I can do better" and to share student achievement or lack thereof. Finally, the leader will have to be someone who can do these things as a way to set the stage for a nonthreatening environment for reflection and further improvement for the other members of the group.
Duncan-Howell, J. (2010). Teachers Making Connections: Online Communities as a Source of Professional Learning. British Journal of Educational Technology. 41(2), 324-340.
I was intrigued by this article because it shed some light on what teachers will value from an online professional learning community. This particular article focused on the feedback of teachers who had participated in three different online professional learning communities. What they found was that teachers were most engaged in these communities when they directly addressed the needs of teachers by offering practical applications for the classroom. Teachers responded better to courses or discussions that were founded on theory but did little to no presentation on theory. The four basic elements that teachers looked for in their PLC were:
- Strategies offered for practical application with students
- New ideas or strategies presented by specialists
- An ability to participate and be creative
- The ability to both present information and observe
As a person coming from the classroom to a coaching position, I felt that this study deeply represented the true thoughts of a group of teachers. When in practice, it is very difficult to sit through loads of theory based trainings without seeing the practical application. This study will be very helpful in maintaining current Moodle PLC's and in creating new ones throughout the year. It has reminded me to think of how teachers will use it and to remember to ask for input about what kinds of learning communities they would like to be a part of.
Huber, C.. (2010, May). Professional Learning 2.0. Educational Leadership, 67(8), 41. Retrieved July 20, 2010, from Research Library Core.
This article was written by an elementary school principal about the ways in which her school has used 2.0 technologies to create a professional learning environment. She starts off by sharing the common false assumptions about the professional learning process. The false assumptions about professional learning are that passing on information is enough, information must come from outside of the school walls, and having a great plan means that learning will occur. By following this model, schools get into a habit of "going through the motions" when it comes to enhancing teacher learning. By using Web 2.0 tools, this school was able to "upgrade" their professional learning. The structure for this learning included sharing access to information looking inward for insight and protecting learning time. Strategies for sharing access to information included using wikis and Nings to share resources for a unit or get ideas for ways to differentiate within a certain area. All questions or topics in these sharing areas were decided upon by teachers. When they looked inward for insight, they would post resources as well as wikis, discussion forums or blogs for discussion. In addition, when someone attended an outside training, he or she would post to the school's Twitter page so that important thoughts to share weren't lost. Members of the PLC could comment on the posts or inquire further if necessary. Finally, to protect learning time, teachers, administration and support staff created Jings or podcasts to teach "how to" lessons like how to log in to a certain program or how to access data from a district database. This eliminated the need for extraneous meetings and allowed for teachers to revisit the directions on an as needed basis.
For me, this article was very powerful. It allowed me to see some amazing ways to differentiate how collaboration is done as well as the purposes for which it is done. It was a great example of a school that has attempted the same Moodle based professional learning community that I hope to establish and maintain over the next two years (and beyond!).
Larson, L. (May 2009). Reader Response Meets New Literacies: Empowering Readers in Online Learning Communities. The Reading Teacher, 62(8), 638-48.
For the second implementation phase of Moodle, teachers will be participating in the professional learning community as well as facilitating and online learning community for their students. This article demonstrates the power of using online learning communities in reading response through a case study. In the fifth grade classroom featured, students were studying the American Civil Rights Movement in conjunction with Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The teacher gave them two choices of historical fiction that related to these topics. Students were then introduced to a blog to be used as an "eJournal" to record their thoughts on the events in the stories and how they related to the Civil Rights Movement. Then, they used online discussion forums where they were expected to interact with peers by sharing ideas and feelings about the book as well as respond to questions posted by the teachers. As time went on, even the most struggling readers began to post not only more words but more meaningful thoughts. At one point, the students asked if they could construct their own questions in a discussion forum for their peers to respond to.
Since classroom teachers look for practical application, I think this case study is a powerful example to share with teachers when motivating them to introduce online learning to their students. I plan to share this resource with the teachers at the school as we begin to implement phase two and look for ways to effectively use online learning communities.
Hargadon, Steve. "Implementation Study #3: Moodle." K-12 Open Technologies. Web. 20 July 2010.
By reading this implementation study, I was able to look at using Moodle in different ways and think about how I want to employ it as a tool in our classrooms. Most specifically, I could relate to schools just beginning out with Moodle. One of the Michigan schools used it on an as needed basis for solving problems of practice in the classroom. I see this as being our use of Moodle for the first year of implementation for student learning communities. My goal for the first year is that teachers will participate in the Professional Learning Communities as "students" in courses that demonstrate the full capabilities of Moodle. Then, in year two, the goal is for teachers to begin to take on that responsibility of using the full capabilities with their students through virtual learning.
Hamilton, B. (2009). Transforming Information Literacy for NowGen Students. Knowledge Quest, 37(5), 48-53.
This article was written by high school Media Specialist Buffy Hamilton who is famous for "The UnQuiet Library" which she refers to as Library 2.0. She wrote this article on information literacy and ways to promote it. What was important for me in this article is that she writes about connectivism. This theory explains how technology facilitates learning because it creates a personal learning network for users to access resources, strategies and ideas. George Siemens, founder of this theory, explains it as follows: "The starting point of connectivism is the individual. Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual."
After reading this article, I decided that this theory supports what I aim to do with Moodle as a Professional Learning Community. Essentially, teachers will be part of a personal learning network where they are connected to each other and use each other for ideas, resources and strategies. In the case at my school, Moodle is the technology facilitating the learning. In addition, it can be said that Moodle is increasing the information literacy skills of our teachers who vary from digital natives to digital immigrants. I think it is important to note that it is not just students who have to adapt to a new set of information literacy skills.
Friday, July 16, 2010
TechQuest Project Description
The Four Common Places in Education:
Teachers: For the early stages of this implementation, the teachers will be the administration and the coaching team. As the focus shifts to phase 2, the teachers will include the K-5 classroom teachers.
Students: For the early stages of this implementation, the students will be the elementary teachers of Odessa Elementary. As the focus shifts to phase 2, the students will include the K-5 students in our school.
Subject Matter: Professional Development and all content areas
Context/Setting: Odessa Elementary School in New Port Richey, Florida
The Problem of Practice
This summer we are busy getting ready to open the doors of Odessa Elementary for the first time. Currently, our staff has been hired from ten different elementary schools. Recently we had our new school retreat where we spent four days getting to know each other and developing our Core Values for the new school. During this process, we really came together as a staff as we worked to develop our own identity. As we prepare to begin the 2010-2011 school year, however, there are a lot more decisions to be made and discussions to be had. As a member of the coaching team, I have asked myself "How do we continue to establish our Wildcat team?". For the duration of the summer, there is a definite need to continue what we started at the retreat so that we are ready to open the doors to students on August 16th. This problem is most important in my work as an educator at this time. In order to be successful in our first year as a new school, it is important for our staff to cooperate and put our Core Values into practice. Again, the problem lies in how we are going to continue this process between now and the start of the school year.
Why do we need to address this?
In his article, Jere Brophy sites the principles that drive effective instruction. The three principles that apply to our current needs at Odessa Elementary School are a supportive climate, thoughtful discourse and cooperative learning. The teachers in this case will be the coaches on the instructional staff (literacy coach, media coach, and technology coach) as well as the administrators while the learners will be the classroom teachers. Together, we are looking for a way to put these effective teaching principles into practice. Why is it important to solve the problem of practice? It is important because we have been given the responsibility of creating and maintaining the culture of a brand new school and we have an entirely clean slate on which to start. Every year after this will thrive on the foundation we have built. Most importantly, we have an opportunity to decide what is important to us as educators and see those beliefs carry over into the classrooms to drive student achievement. In order for this to happen, however, we need to continue to have the important discussions and make decisions. In the end, if we are successful in building a supportive climate, facilitating thoughtful discourse and encouraging collaboration and cooperative learning, our staff will become a cohesive team where each member has had his or her opinion heard and incorporated into the vision and practice of Odessa Elementary School.
Proposed technology solution
Our district has been actively pursuing the implementation of Moodle in the schools and I fully support this implementation. In this case, my proposed solution is to create a Moodle site for our school, Odessa Elementary. Within this site, I will create an area for a professional learning community. Then, within that community, I will create courses related to our ongoing work groups and discussions. For example, our Positive Behavior System work group met recently to discuss our ideas for a school wide behavior plan. To facilitate further discussion for those who could not attend, I will create a PBS course. Under that course, I will post the notes from the work groups, copies of the distributed handouts and any new documents that were created. Then, I will create a discussion forum with a prompt that will allow teachers to discuss or share an idea about the posted materials. For this particular work group, my discussion post could be "What do you like about this behavior plan? Do you have any thoughts or ideas on how to make it more effective?". During teacher planning week, we will be able to go over the Moodle discussions and posted works and make the final decisions about how they will be incorporated into our school year.
Using Moodle will be a beneficial tool in setting a positive climate, facilitating thoughtful discourse and encouraging collaboration. First, it can be accessed by all teachers from their home computers. This is especially important as we are without our new school computers at the moment. Second, it supports the district's vision for using Moodle with students as well as for professional development. Also, for those who are unable to attend work groups, it offers a chance to see the development of school related plans or ideas as well as a chance to chime in with a thought or idea. Finally, it is cost effective because Moodle is a free resource and is hosted by our district server.
As I looked into other alternatives for building a professional learning community, I quickly disregarded Blackboard due to the cost to the school. Also, I deliberated over using a wiki to create a collaborative environment. In the end, I chose Moodle because our district supports its use in our schools. Also, by choosing Moodle, I can add different collaboration features to each work group in order to expose teachers to using different Web 2.0 tools. For example, in one work group I may use a discussion forum to engage teachers while I may choose to use a wiki in another so teachers can add to the previously posted work or ideas. I will also be able to set up a blog where the users can post their ideas as separate entries that answer the discussion prompt. Essentially, it is multifaceted and therefore Moodle will be the most effective technology tool.
There are several schools that have used Moodle in a similar way and have been successful. Here are some case study examples of schools that have used Moodle as a professional learning community. These cases helped me decide on implementing this tool.
Implementation Timeline
Teachers: For the early stages of this implementation, the teachers will be the administration and the coaching team. As the focus shifts to phase 2, the teachers will include the K-5 classroom teachers.
Students: For the early stages of this implementation, the students will be the elementary teachers of Odessa Elementary. As the focus shifts to phase 2, the students will include the K-5 students in our school.
Subject Matter: Professional Development and all content areas
Context/Setting: Odessa Elementary School in New Port Richey, Florida
The Problem of Practice
This summer we are busy getting ready to open the doors of Odessa Elementary for the first time. Currently, our staff has been hired from ten different elementary schools. Recently we had our new school retreat where we spent four days getting to know each other and developing our Core Values for the new school. During this process, we really came together as a staff as we worked to develop our own identity. As we prepare to begin the 2010-2011 school year, however, there are a lot more decisions to be made and discussions to be had. As a member of the coaching team, I have asked myself "How do we continue to establish our Wildcat team?". For the duration of the summer, there is a definite need to continue what we started at the retreat so that we are ready to open the doors to students on August 16th. This problem is most important in my work as an educator at this time. In order to be successful in our first year as a new school, it is important for our staff to cooperate and put our Core Values into practice. Again, the problem lies in how we are going to continue this process between now and the start of the school year.
Why do we need to address this?
In his article, Jere Brophy sites the principles that drive effective instruction. The three principles that apply to our current needs at Odessa Elementary School are a supportive climate, thoughtful discourse and cooperative learning. The teachers in this case will be the coaches on the instructional staff (literacy coach, media coach, and technology coach) as well as the administrators while the learners will be the classroom teachers. Together, we are looking for a way to put these effective teaching principles into practice. Why is it important to solve the problem of practice? It is important because we have been given the responsibility of creating and maintaining the culture of a brand new school and we have an entirely clean slate on which to start. Every year after this will thrive on the foundation we have built. Most importantly, we have an opportunity to decide what is important to us as educators and see those beliefs carry over into the classrooms to drive student achievement. In order for this to happen, however, we need to continue to have the important discussions and make decisions. In the end, if we are successful in building a supportive climate, facilitating thoughtful discourse and encouraging collaboration and cooperative learning, our staff will become a cohesive team where each member has had his or her opinion heard and incorporated into the vision and practice of Odessa Elementary School.
Proposed technology solution
Our district has been actively pursuing the implementation of Moodle in the schools and I fully support this implementation. In this case, my proposed solution is to create a Moodle site for our school, Odessa Elementary. Within this site, I will create an area for a professional learning community. Then, within that community, I will create courses related to our ongoing work groups and discussions. For example, our Positive Behavior System work group met recently to discuss our ideas for a school wide behavior plan. To facilitate further discussion for those who could not attend, I will create a PBS course. Under that course, I will post the notes from the work groups, copies of the distributed handouts and any new documents that were created. Then, I will create a discussion forum with a prompt that will allow teachers to discuss or share an idea about the posted materials. For this particular work group, my discussion post could be "What do you like about this behavior plan? Do you have any thoughts or ideas on how to make it more effective?". During teacher planning week, we will be able to go over the Moodle discussions and posted works and make the final decisions about how they will be incorporated into our school year.
Using Moodle will be a beneficial tool in setting a positive climate, facilitating thoughtful discourse and encouraging collaboration. First, it can be accessed by all teachers from their home computers. This is especially important as we are without our new school computers at the moment. Second, it supports the district's vision for using Moodle with students as well as for professional development. Also, for those who are unable to attend work groups, it offers a chance to see the development of school related plans or ideas as well as a chance to chime in with a thought or idea. Finally, it is cost effective because Moodle is a free resource and is hosted by our district server.
As I looked into other alternatives for building a professional learning community, I quickly disregarded Blackboard due to the cost to the school. Also, I deliberated over using a wiki to create a collaborative environment. In the end, I chose Moodle because our district supports its use in our schools. Also, by choosing Moodle, I can add different collaboration features to each work group in order to expose teachers to using different Web 2.0 tools. For example, in one work group I may use a discussion forum to engage teachers while I may choose to use a wiki in another so teachers can add to the previously posted work or ideas. I will also be able to set up a blog where the users can post their ideas as separate entries that answer the discussion prompt. Essentially, it is multifaceted and therefore Moodle will be the most effective technology tool.
There are several schools that have used Moodle in a similar way and have been successful. Here are some case study examples of schools that have used Moodle as a professional learning community. These cases helped me decide on implementing this tool.
- Pasco County Schools, Florida: This is the district in which I work. Our district leaders set up their own Moodle universe called LEARN (Learn Easily and Right Now). Within this platform, departments, such as the Elementary Math Department, have set up courses to give teachers access to curriculum maps, lesson plans, and online resources. In this way, our district created a Professional Learning Community where teachers across the district can access what they need as well as engage in forums to ask questions and share ideas. I used it often as a classroom teacher to access information, documents and ideas. Now, as a technology coach, I use the Instructional Media and Technology department course to talk with coaches from other schools to get ideas and share resources.
- Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, Tennessee: In this district, they started using Moodle as a way for teachers to take online courses that would normally be taken in face-to-face environments as trainings. Their goal was for teachers to first become fluent in using the features of Moodle before they were responsible for managing their own course. It then evolved into literacy coaches at the middle and high school level using Moodle courses to help implement a reading intervention program. They used Moodle to troubleshoot, problem solve and communicate about the use of the program. The coach facilitated this course and they were able to build support for the program and find effective ways to use it in their classrooms.
- East Grand Rapids Public Schools, Michigan: As I read about this district, their implementation fit in to my goals for Phase Two of the Moodle implementation at Odessa Elementary. In this district, they adopted Moodle to meet specific needs of the teachers and coined it as their "Swiss Army Knife" for instructional technology. In other words, as the problems came up, Moodle was offered as a tool to use. For example, an art teacher wanted to create a virtual place for students to showcase their work. She created a gallery for each student through Moodle to upload their artwork and share with others. In another East Grand Rapids Public School, the students responsible for the yearbook posted pictures to share with other students so they could decide which pictures were most well liked for use in the final yearbook. By not putting limits on the teachers and students, Moodle was slowly implemented as needed. The result was that teachers found various and creative ways to integrate it into their classrooms to enhance student learning.
Implementation case studies found via K-12 Open Technologies at http://www.k12opentech.org/implementation-study-3-moodle.
Implementation Timeline
- July- August 2010 Phase 1: During this time, teachers will access the Professional Learning Community section of the Odessa Elementary School Moodle site to view notes and documents from work group sessions for various planning. To begin, we will have courses for Culture Committees, Academic Committees, Teamwork Committees, the Positive Behavior System group, Professional Development (which includes links to online trainings provided by LEARN) and Team Teaching sharing courses. They will also participate in discussions within these courses using wikis, blogs, and forums.
- August 2010-June 2011 Phase 2: We will continue to use the Professional Learning Community courses throughout the year. We will add a Leadership course for team leaders, a Lead Literacy group, a Media & Technology Integration group and a Response to Intervention (Rti) group. In addition, teachers will begin to work with me, the technology coach, to find ways to use Moodle with their students through the facilitation of their own Moodle course. As part of differentiated instruction and Rti conversations, Moodle will become a tool for teachers to begin to solve problems that arise with student learning.
- Year 2 and beyond Phase 3: After teachers have spent time learning to manage a Moodle course and using it as needed as a tool for student learning, I would like to see teachers planning their courses and embedding Moodle into their instructional routine regularly. This will occur over time from the second year of Odessa Elementary and beyond.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Problem of Practice Preview
Problem of Practice
This summer we have been busy getting ready to open the doors at Odessa Elementary School for the first time. Currently, our staff has been hired from ten different elementary schools in our district. Recently, we had our new school retreat where we spent four days getting to know each other and developing our Core Values for the new school. During this process, we came together as a staff and worked to create our own identity. As we prepare to begin the 2010-2011 school year, however, there are a lot more decisions to be made and discussions to be had. I have asked myself “How do we continue to establish our own Wildcat team?”. For the duration of the summer, there is a definite need to continue what we started at the retreat so we can be ready when school begins on August 16th. Between now and then, the classroom teachers are only allowed restricted access to the school and to the coaching team as we are working during regular hours to get the school physically ready. This problem is most important in my work as an educator at this time. In order to be successful in our first year as a new school, it is important for our staff to cooperate and to put our Core Values into practice. Again, the problem lies in how we are going to continue this process between now and the start of the school year.
Why is this a significant problem?
In his article, Jere Brophy sites the principles that drive effective instruction. The three principles that apply to our current needs at Odessa Elementary are a supportive climate, thoughtful discourse and cooperative learning. The teachers in this situation will be the year round instructional staff (media coach, literacy coach and technology coach) and the administration while the learners will be the classroom teachers. Together we are looking for a way to put these three effective teaching principles into practice. Why is it important to solve this problem? This problem matters because as educators, we have been given an important job of setting the culture of a brand new school. We have an entirely clean slate on which to start. Every year after this one will add to the foundation we have built. Most importantly, we have an opportunity to decide what is important to us as educators and see those beliefs carry over into our classrooms to drive student achievement. However, in order for this to happen, we need to find a way to continue to have important discussions and make necessary decisions. In the end, if we have been effective in building a supportive climate, facilitating thoughtful discourse and encouraging cooperative learning, our staff will become a cohesive team where each member has had his or her opinion heard and incorporated into our vision for Odessa Elementary.
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