Alison Becerra

INST 5131
Dr. Crawford

Becerra 1
Assignment 1

The way I interpret the field of Instructional Design and Technology is by breaking down
the individual words. The word instructional means to teach an individual student or to a whole
class. The term design means to create or construct when teaching through technology. The word
technology is incorporating some form of computers, IPads, and laptops. When combining all
these terms together it basically means teaching and enhancing learning online. However, there
not a set definition for Instructional Design and Technology. Thus, throughout the history of the
field, the thinking and actions of substantial number of professionals in the field have not been,
and likely never will be, captured by a single definition (Reiser and Dempsey, 2012, p. 1)
The school that I currently work at is Damon Independent School District. This school is
located between Needville and West Columbia. Damon is a 1A school district with about 190
students. The school consist of Prekindergarten, which three year-olds, up to eleventh grade.
Damon is currently working on developing a high school. The goal of the first graduating class is
set to graduate spring 2017. The teachers that work at Damon wear multiple teaching hats. For
instance, I teach: 1st grade resource math, 2nd grade resource math, 5th grade resource math, file
and work on paperwork, TLC known as The Learning Center, and cheer coach. Each teacher has
a laptop for instruction in the classroom along with a Smart Board and Elmo. On the other hand,
we do not have any extra classroom computers for students. There is one computer lab in the
whole school, which is used as a classroom for the English I, English II, and technology classes.
This is a challenge for the other grade levels and teachers because many of our students lack
computer skills, which is very concerning. This is concerning because we can use the computers
as a resource and tools as another form for the students to learn. Technology is very popular in
todays world.

Alison Becerra
INST 5131
Dr. Crawford

Becerra 2
Assignment 1

The specific area of interest in this school would be focusing on new curriculum and
technology. Being that this is a low income school, this school suffers with financial issues for
new material. Our school lacks new curriculum in the classroom for all subjects. Since we do
not have a curriculum specialist, its the teachers responsibility to plan all the teaching material
from week to week. Its very hard for teachers to work together and plan because there is one
teacher that teaches only one grade. As for other schools, there are probably four to five teachers
that they can sit down and work on lesson plans. The teachers are responsible for looking up the
TEKS. They must incorporate the TEKS into their instruction and worksheets. Our school is in
need of more computers to help the students learn in another form of instruction. Last year, I
purchased IXL which is an online resource for students. This program helped the students to
further their learning after they have completed their instruction, guided practice, independent
practice, and test. This program helped the students to think outside the box by use real life
scenarios and why they needed to know the content. Our superintendent and principal are very
cautious with what material is bought for the school. Its very important that the material they
purchase will work and benefit the students on a daily basis.
According to Superintendent Dr. Donald Rhodes, Damon was not always said to be a
poor town (Rhodes, 2016). Damon was in an area of an oil boom town. At one point, Damon was
a popular school and financially well. The origination of the school was built around 1910 with
about sixty students. After the 1980s, the oil field slowly faded away (Rhodes, 2016). As of this
very moment, Damon is growing with around 190 students and about 45 faculty and staff.
At Damon, there are some strengths and weaknesses. There six strengths at Damon. One
strength that Damon has is fewer discipline issues. Due to the fact that our school is so small the

Alison Becerra
INST 5131
Dr. Crawford

Becerra 3
Assignment 1

principal has time to visit the classroom regularly. In addition, the teachers have more one-ontime to correct behavior if needed. A second strength that our school has is that our school does
not have drugs and violence since the teachers have more time to focus on our students
individually. Our class sizes are typically fifteen to twenty students maximum. Administration
and educators have more one-on-one to learn and understand about the student and their home
life. Lastly, our faculty and staff stand by each other and collaborate ideas on how we can make
the school better on a daily basis. We have a few weakness that we stress on working in order to
make improvement to our school. We are a low income school that is on Improvement Required
also known as IR. Our second weakness is that there is very little parental involvement.
According to the Counselor, Mrs. Shelly Schneider, she states that there is less specialized
enrichment and remediation due to the short number of teachers that work at Damon Independent
School District (Schneider, 2016).
The superintendent, principal, teachers, and staff are all working together to better the
school. The superintendent and principal are looking into what grants Damon qualifies for so that
the school can have more computers for the students resources. Since the school has around 50%
Hispanic and Latino students, Damon is working towards helping those parents to learn English.
With helping these parents, this encourages them to speak with their teachers and home life.
Many of the parents have stated that they cannot find a job because they do not speak nor
understand English. Due to the fact that this affects the student, the school offered to provide to
the non-English speaking parents with basic computer and English classes free of charge. If more
parents are involved in their childs education this will encourage their children that school is
important. Any students who are failing their classes must stay after school to receive more one-

Alison Becerra
INST 5131
Dr. Crawford

Becerra 4
Assignment 1

on-one assistance from the teacher. At the beginning there were about 40-45 students failing each
week, after the principal put after school tutorials in place, there are about 10-15 failing their
classes. It has been recommended that a specialist come in and develop a plan and time frame for
the following subjects: math, science, English, writing, and social studies.
The specific problem Damon is facing at this point is IR, which is known as
Improvement Required. Improvement Required is determined by the State of Texas. Students
from third grade on up must pass the STAAR test. The school as whole must receive a certain
passing score. If the school does not meet a certain standard, the school will be placed on
Improvement Required Plan. The Improvement Required stage is a plan to help the school to
pass the state standards, this is called a turnaround plan. (Accountability Monitoring, 2016). The
turnaround plan helps the school make improvements in their weak areas such as: afterschool
tutorials for students, Saturday school for students, more professional development for teachers,
remediation classes, etc.
One alternative that the school can do is to find refurbished computers to place in the
classrooms and to make another computer lab. A second alternative would be for drive the
students to a public library once a month to work on the computer and to check out books to
enhance learning. A third alternative would be for teachers to visit other schools to get ideas and
suggestion to help improve their classroom. Also, this helps the teacher to network and how to
better their school.
In conclusion, this case study has opened my eyes in how I as an individual can help
improve my school. This makes me have more confidence that there is a will and a way to help
this school have a better instruction, design, and technology skills. By working on these three

Alison Becerra
INST 5131
Dr. Crawford

Becerra 5
Assignment 1

ideas, the school and the students can become successful. Also, applying and learning theories
can help the teacher in classroom. I look forward to seeing the improvement and I am prepared
for the challenge.

Alison Becerra
INST 5131
Dr. Crawford

Becerra 6
Assignment 1

References:
Accountability Monitoring. (2016). Retrieved February 15, 2016, from
http://tea.texas.gov/pmi/accountabilitymonitoring/
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. V. (2012). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and
Technology (3rd ed.). Allyn & Bacon.
Rhodes, D. (2016, February 17). Questions about DamonISD [Personal interview].
Schneider, S. (2016, February 17). Questions about DamonISD [Personal interview].