Running Head: INDIVIDUAL TEACHER NEEDS ASSESSMENT 1

Individual Teacher Needs Assessment

Kimberly Jones
Kennesaw State University
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Mrs. Squires is a fourth-grade teacher at Calhoun Elementary School, and she has been

teaching for thirteen years. She has taught mostly English Language Arts during her career, but

this year she is teaching all subjects for the first time in ten years and has a one-to-one

Chromebook classroom for the first time. She also has an ActivBoard, two desktop computers,

three iPads, and a document camera in her classroom. Mrs. Squires was asked to complete two

surveys addressing her use of technology as well as her comfort level when implementing new

technology. The results of these surveys as well as conversations with Mrs. Squires were used to

determine her needs and a plan of action.

Level of Technology Use

Based on the results from Teacher Technology Use survey, Mrs. Squires is moving

toward a Levels of Technology Integration (LoTI) Level 3, infusion. Students in Mrs. Squires’

class use technology daily, and most of their technology use is a digital replacement for paper-

pencil tasks such as skill practice or electronic assessments. Mrs. Squires does make careful

choices with the technology tools she uses; IXL, Flocabulary, and Canvas (learning management

system) allow for students, parents, and the teacher to receive immediate feedback and provide

formative assessment data that can be used to drive instruction. Mrs. Squires uses Google Docs

and Google Slides for students to collaborate with each other on writing assignments or projects,

and she utilizes the comments and feedback settings on Google Docs and Canvas to provide

feedback to her students. She also uses Google translate, text-to-speech features, online

dictionaries and vocabulary cards to scaffold instruction for English language learners or

struggling readers. Online educational games are another way Mrs. Squires uses technology to

engage students.
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Mrs. Squires would like to feel like her assignments are “pertinent and memorable” for

her students. While she is using technology to engage students, she acknowledges that she is not

using it in a student-centered environment. Students complete research projects or presentations,

but they are always on a topic she chooses. Mrs. Squires states the reason she has not moved

beyond her current use of technology is a “lack of confidence.” She is eager to learn about the

possibilities with technology but feels that she is limited because she does not know enough to be

able to help her students if they run into problems.

Adopter Level

The second survey administered addressed the adopter categories from Rogers Change

Theory. Mrs. Squires is eager to try new technology once it has been presented through

professional learning, but, due mostly to time constraints, she will only seek out new technology

if it is a necessity for her classroom. Occasionally, she will come to me to ask about something

she has found online but is hesitant to try anything that someone else has not already tried. Last

year, Mrs. Squires was the first of the fourth grade English Language Arts teachers to utilize

Canvas for classroom assessments. She then helped the other English Language Arts teachers set

up their classes and learn how to give assessments through Canvas. Since I had already been

using Canvas more extensively, she then came to me for help when she wanted to add files to

Canvas to allow her students to go back and view resources. For these reasons, Mrs. Squires

would fall into the early adopter category. Mrs. Squires stated that her lack of confidence causes

the discrepancy between her excitement about the possibilities of technology and her comfort

level with implementing new technology. Thus, I believe she could be an innovator with a little

more self-confidence in her ability to choose and implement technology with her students.

Perspective of Technology
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According to the survey results and interview, Mrs. Squires loves technology and feels

that it opens up “a world of possibilities” in the classroom. Even though she mostly uses

technology for skill practice and assessment, she recognizes the benefits for all stakeholders. She

receives instant data, and students and parents have immediate feedback. She states, “This is

especially helpful when parents want extra practice for their students to work on at home. Instead

of sending home worksheets, having to bring them back for me to grade, and possibly doing the

whole thing wrong, IXL provides instant feedback and explanations so the student and parents

know the correct answer and how to get it.” In the interview, I asked Mrs. Squires about

students being digital creators; she said she is using Google Docs and Slides but is not confident

enough to do anything beyond that such as creating blogs, websites, or videos. She currently has

students create teacher-directed digital products a couple times per month but feels that is not

enough.

Technology Needs and Coaching

Mrs. Squires is eager to take full advantage of her one-to-one classroom. When I asked

all of my fourth-grade colleagues who would be interested in some technology coaching, Mrs.

Squires immediately volunteered and said, “I need all the help I can get!” After attending an

optional professional learning session on screencasting, she has stated she would like to try this

in her classroom, so this is where we will start with her coaching since my ultimate goal for her

is to help her gain confidence in choosing and using technology in her classroom. She would like

to use screencasts to provide a recording of classroom instruction, especially in math, so that

students and parents will have examples as they work through classwork and homework. With

this being the first year she has taught math in ten years, she has seen first-hand how much

parents struggle to help their children at home. She would also like to have students create
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screencasts as an option for showing what they have learned. Jim Knight’s Partnership Approach

(Knight, 2002) will be used in coaching Mrs. Squires. As stated previously, Mrs. Squires has

been an English Language Arts teacher for thirteen years, so she has a lot of expertise to offer me

since this is only my third year teaching English Language Arts.

The coaching plan will begin with determining which particular topic for which she

would like to create a screencast. Once this has been identified, we will spend one hour after

school using the Screencastify extension on Google Chrome to create a screencast. This

screencast will be uploaded to Canvas and shared to parents through her Remind account. After

this, Mrs. Squires will create a screencast on her own for another topic, and she will share this

screencast with me before sharing it with her students and their parents. Once Mrs. Squires is

comfortable with using the Screencastify extension, we will meet again for approximately one

hour to determine how students will use the extension. At this point, depending on her level of

confidence, I will offer to model a lesson in which I have students create screencasts. Mrs.

Squires is open to observing me or having me model with her class because I have done this

previously with number talks and questioning techniques in math. Once she feels confident she

can have her students create a screencast, we will decide on a topic and determine what students

will need (e.g., virtual manipulatives, pictures, or slideshow). We will also brainstorm a list of

possible problems students may encounter as they create the screencast and ways to troubleshoot.

I will also be available to observe and possibly help during her implementation lesson. Once

Mrs. Squires has successfully incorporated screencasts into her classroom with both teacher and

student use, she will train at least one other teacher on how to use Screencastify. Our coaching

will continue by meeting at least once per week for thirty minutes to identify other ways students

can become digital creators and how to create a more student-centered classroom.
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References

Knight, Jim. (2002). Partnership Learning Fieldbook. Retrieved October 3, 2017

from: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/files/GRyv9swdxK8zkr/PartnershipLearni

ngFieldbook.pdf

S. Squires, personal communication, October 2017