GCS Technology Plan-lesson-plans-technology

The Gray Charter School is a non-profit organization, governed by elected board members.
The Gray Charter School ( GCS), is committed to providing a quality education to students in kindergarten through 8th grade. GCS nurtures its economically diverse student body, preparing the students to be effective members of society. The Gray Charter School holds ourselves to the highest standards as we strive for excellence in education. The Gray Charter School is a National Blue-Ribbon School of Excellence, the Charter School received the United States Department of Education's National Blue-Ribbon award in 2010, and continues a tradition of excellence, and a legacy of success.

The Gray Charter School serves approximately 328 Students K through 8th grade in metropolitan Newark New Jersey,our campus is located at 55 Liberty St, Newark, New Jersey 07102 and has a teaching staff of 31 teachers. Approximately 78% of our student population is identified as qualifying for free/reduced lunch according to the federal government guidelines. Over 29% of our student body is ethnically diverse.
The Gray Charter School seeks to support and celebrate the gifts and abilities of each student.
To ensure success for all our students, GCS offers educational Student Support Services for those who may need assistance beyond the traditional classroom by providing after-school tutoring. Student support services serve our 328 students with a wide variety of individualized services, including short term tutoring, testing, academic support, inclusion services for students with IEP, GCS teacher support,teachers attend a NJIT advanced mathematics courses. The growth of student support services has increased the need for assistive technologies and other resources.
Vision
The evolution and dynamics of todays technology has made a tremendous impact on our daily lives. Technology empowers our productivity, and promotes the efficiencies of our day to day activities. Technology creates opportunities that makes learning easier.
Technology has become a vehicle to fuel our students journey of success. The Gray Charter School's technology-rich learning environment allows its students to transform their approach to instruction and learning. Our vision for technology is to provide staff and students access to a variety of technologies that will enable them to cultivate an environment where staff and students learn, collaborate, create and innovate together.

Mission
The Gray Charter School's mission is to provide its diverse student body the best possible education by focusing on the fundamental academic disciplines in an atmosphere that affirms academic achievements, and in so doing, to offer the community true choice in public education.
Technology is an integral part of the GCS education program, which recognizes and values the uniqueness of each learner, equipping them with tools for research, design, analysis, composition, and communication while teachers serve as facilitators of instruction, mentors, and coaches.
Executive Summary
This technology plan is intended to provide a comprehensive framework and planning document for the board, building administration, building technology staff, teachers, support staff, parents, and students to guide the technology needs and support for the next three years at The Gray Charter School. The technology plan addresses technology needs and planning in the categories of teaching and learning, professional development, and in an administrative/organization environment.

Empowering teachers to inspire minds and transforming instruction to deepen learning are part of our vision for equipping teachers with training, technology, and instructional environments that will enable them to put the best and most engaging teaching methods into practice with their students. It is vital that we encourage and empower students to be critical thinkers and problem solvers. We need an instructional framework that is data-based, research-driven, and employs a problem-solving approach across all areas of learning for all students, including those with special needs and those who are academically gifted. Our aim is to identify and offer the resources and tools, learning strategies, interdisciplinary connections, and flexible, collaborative learning environments necessary for all students to thrive.

Teacher Strategies to Improve Student Achievement Using Technology:
• Discuss and compare student and teacher data in their professional learning communities.
• Utilize technology tools for formative and summative assessments to provide data-driven instruction for immediate feedback to the students enabling them to self-assess their results.
• Improve student engagement and agency by using design, development, and delivery of lessons that include interactive technology tools and/or resources.
• Ensure equal access by providing students in grades five through 8th with a one-to-one device.
• Learning Commons Team - A key factor for successful use of technology is the willingness to integrate new ideas into the teaching of content areas.
Below are some of the ways the building level learning commons team supports staff:
o Provide opportunities for teachers to learn current and emerging technologies and technology integration techniques.
o Provide access to resources to assist teachers in integrating technology.
o Develop strategies that encourage student agency deepening learning, increasing student achievement, while utilizing the power of technology and collaboration.
o Collaborate with staff to develop and support active, hands-on learning opportunities for students so that there is a shift from students as consumers to students as creators.
o Provide students and teachers with digital citizenship lessons that help promote safe online behavior reflective of the Portrait of a Graduate both at home and at school.
o Collaborate at least two times per year with classroom teachers to ensure technology integration in relationship to the standards.
o Integrate technology in the current curriculum creates the opportunity for blended learning.
o Teaching essential standards while still focusing on New Jersey state standards.
o Offers a way to see the big picture while keeping the technological integration simple.
o Aligns curriculum with instructional standards.
o Encourages a collaborative culture among staff while facilitating curriculum articulation across subjects and grades K - 8.