5. How have you used technology to enhance your productivity and professional practice, your reflection as an educator, and your leadership and collaborative skills?

                One of the most vital facets of technology that I use in my work to increase my productivity is the use of CTWBS in case managing my students.  I run goal reports on a bi-weekly basis so I can share the information with my staff.  These goal reports direct the curriculum that we teach in our workshops and the internships that students are encountering.  I also use CTWBS to follow up with students after they have completed the program and graduated from high school.  I report on retention in post secondary school or employment and credentialing, all of which impact my contract with the Department of Labor (see Appendix M).  I also use CTWBS to enter case notes, test scores and attendance.  I export reports into Excel to create mail merges, cell phone trees and e-mails lists for ongoing communications with my students.

                I feel that I demonstrate myself as a leader in technology through my participation in pilot projects that offer my youth online learning opportunities.  My collaboration with the area community colleges and the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board has opened doors of technology enhancement, and I am glad that I have taken on the opportunities.  In addition, my work at EASTCONN is grant funded, therefore, we need to infuse technology practices in our application, report writing and curriculum development.  These grants are submitted electronically, I attend bidders conferences via webinars, the reports we complete have appendices imbedded in them and the grants would not be funded by Department of Education or the Department of Labor if they did not have strong technology components in their product design.

                In order to ensure future funds, I publicize my program at community and legislative functions.  I created a PowerPoint slide show  to demonstrate my Summer Youth Program, and displayed it at the State Capitol.  In order to recruit school and community support, I created a brochure highlighting one of my programs.

                In addition to being a Youth Coordinator I also am a staff developer at EASTCONN.  I work with our Technology Team to learn more tools that I can use with my students, but that I can also use to teach area educators.  I am proposing doing a electronic portfolio workshop for teachers and I am also offering ongoing technical assistance through my Career Development Wikispace.   To help me create these professional development opportunities, I have attended several webinars to learn more about Student Success Plans and their incorporation into existing guidance counseling systems.