The days are all blending together from ISTE; I
can't remember what I went to on which day. And since the days were such a
hodgepodge of topics, I figured it'd make more sense to organize these next few
posts based on my three big focuses at the conference. The first I want to
gather my thoughts on is becoming an EdTech Coach (ETC).
I didn't go
to as many of these types of sessions as I'd hoped to go to; there was
definitely no shortage on sessions advising how to help teachers integrate
technology. The first one I wanted to go to was hosted by Apple. If you read my
last post it was the 1:00pm session I referred to missing. As I look back at my
list of sessions now, I realize most of the sessions that I hope to use as an
ETC were about badging- which I'll talk about in a coming post. The few
sessions I did get to were packed full of advice and ideas. As I sit hear
trying to decide how to sum it all up, it's tempting to lump things together
into generalizations, but I don't want to do that, I see plenty of blog posts
and tweets about the generalizations, but no specifics on how to do those
things. So instead I'm going to be specific, and to keep this form being a
hodgepodge list I've attempts to sort my take-aways into three groups: personal
practices, planning professional development (PD), and working with teachers.
Warning: This
is a lengthy post!
Personal
Practices
I'm not sure
if I'll be required to have a professional development plan (PDP) in this new
role, but even if it's not official, I'd still like to set goals. At this point
I have no idea who type of goals to set- I hope I'll have a better idea after
meeting with the central office person over digital learning. Knowing this
person, I'm sure I'll walk away with a clearer idea of the county's goals for
the digital learning facilitator, then I'll need to meet with my
principal/assistant principal to get an idea of the school's goals for the
digital learning facilitator. The hard part is going to be take those goals and
reflecting on what skills I don't have, but will need to reach those goals. In
the past it's been easy to create PDP goals about things I already know I'll
have to do, or I'm already planning on doing (so it's not extra work), but for
this job I'm going to need to- and I want to- focus more on my shortcomings, to
really push myself to be the best ETC I can be. One idea I loved was looking at
the ISTE standards for coaches to get ideas for goals! As we all know, it's not
enough simply to set goals. I want to print my goals and hang them somewhere
I'll see everyday, so I won't forget, and reflections are key! I was pretty
good about reflecting as a teacher; I had a reflections box in my planbook, and
at the end of each day I'd take notes of what went well, what didn't, what
ideas I had for tweaking things, how the timing was, and other things I wanted
to remember the next time I taught that lesson. This is a habit I want to
continue. It's going to be weird not having most of the time in my day
scheduled for me, and in my new role a planbook wouldn't work like it did when
I was a teacher, so I think this blog will be my place for reflecting. I'm a
little hesitant to reflect so publicly (no one wants the world to see all their
flaws), but I hope by doing so I'll help others going through similar struggles
as myself, and hopefully those with more experience will read my posts and help
me find solutions to problems, and encourage me when I need it.
I do have an
idea for a goal, but I'm not sure how realistic it is for my first year. One of
the ISTE ETC playground sessions I missed talked about spending 80% of my time
outside of my office (meaning: in classrooms). I love that idea, and if it's
not something I can do this year, it will definitely be a goal, eventually.
Next in this
section I'd like to talk about some specific tools I've seen recommended that I
think will be immensely useful. First, using Google Calendar for teachers to
sign up for a time to meet with me. One veteran ETC suggested doing this to
avoid the back-and-forth email strands that can happen when trying to schedule
a meeting. What I'll do is set up a few slots each week in my calendar during
the different planning periods and after school, and teacher simply go in a
sign up for a time! I get notified when a slot gets filled, and it relieves the
stress of the back-and-forth emails! Another Google tool I'm excited about is
the add-on FormMule. Over the years I've heard about more add-ons than
I can keep track of, but this one I really don't want to forget, especially
when final exam season rolls around and teachers are signing up for training
times. The next tool I discovered was QuickTime, and how it can be used to
record my screen. This will be a great tool for when I want to create how-to
videos for different digital tools! Another tool I learned about is tchat.io,
which is a site to help staying organized during Twitter chats! I see myself
using this tool every week for the chats I participate in. The last tool I'm
pumped about is the website called Smore, which creates digital
newsletters. Unfortunately it's not free :/ It looks like my county uses a site
called MailChimp, so I'll need to
check that out too. I'd love to send out newsletters with tech tidbits to
teachers who want it (tell them about keyboard shortcuts, tech tools they can
use, and articles about tech integration into classrooms), but I think this
idea may need to wait til next year.
Planning PD
I'm going to try my best to remember what it was
like being a teacher, and keep that in mind when planning PD. (That
out-of-my-office-80% idea would help me stay connected with being in a
classroom!) I'd love to find out what teachers in my school already know, for
two main reasons: 1) So I know where to start when planning PD (I hated sitting in sessions
that told me stuff I already knew; what a waste of time!), and 2) So I know who
the experts are and where I can direct teachers for peer-assistance (I found it
so much better learning from someone who knew what I was dealing with). One
thing I need to keep in mind when polling teachers, is to be specific about
skills; instead of just asking teachers how comfortable they are with Gmail, I
should ask how comfortable they are organizing emails, redirecting emails,
using Gmail Labs and other features in Gmail. I heard about two websites that
help with determining what teachers know- Loti
Lounge and Brightbytes- but I'm not sure I want to spend time figuring
out these sites, as opposed to just creating my own survey in a Google Form.
Along with finding out what teachers already know about tech, I also need to
find out what help they want;
everyone is more receptive to help they want.
It is also key to give teachers choice as often
as possible. This is something I want to work on extensively. I'll talk about
it more in a future post, but I want to create a badging system where teachers
can pick which skills they want to work on and when they want to work on them.
Making sure teachers have time in PD sessions to
start applying the tool/skill to their classes, and building resources they can
use is key. There are so many PD sessions I've gone to where I've learned about
awesome tools or ideas, but I didn't have time after the session to figure out
how it'd fit into my classes, and the idea died there. I don't want that to
happen with the things I share, so giving teachers time in the training to
start applying what they've learned is vital.
Getting into specific trainings, I'd love to
meet with new teachers at the beginning of the year who've never used a Mac
before, to help them with the transition. Being a techie person myself the
transition wasn't too hard, but I know I'm lucky, and a lot of
Microsoft/Windows natives struggle to adjust. I'd also love love love to help a
cohort of teachers train for the Google Level 1 certification (and
fingers-crossed the school will pay for the exam!). Then next year there could
be another cohort, and any of those from the first cohort who are interested
could work on the level 2 certification! (And that could repeat every year, so
everyone who wants to can move their way up with assistance.) Finally, I expect
teachers will need help figuring out how to train students to use Canvas. (Or maybe it'll be my job to train students, we'll
see!)
Working
with Teachers
I received
quite a bit of advice for when working with teachers. When starting to work
with teachers is important to let them get their thoughts out, and to really
listen. Some people will just want someone to vent to, and some will want
advice/help, and that help doesn't always have to come in a digital form. Yes,
I love tech, but sometimes there are better solutions that don't require
electricity.
When
introducing someone to a tech tool it's key to have them use it, don't just
show them. I've been good about doing this so far, but it's something that
needs to continue. I also want to strongly encourage teachers to really adopt a
tool; too many people do the one-n-done when trying something new (I think it's
because adding something new takes time and effort- which are hot commodities),
so I think part of my badging system will be perseverance; not just trying a
tool, but using it x times
in their classes.
I'm horrible
with names, but I know this is something I'll need to work on, espeically when
blogging and sharing ideas I need to be able to give credit where credit is
due. Luckily with this next amazing idea, the person who shared it with me
shared files with me in Google Drive, so I know this next idea came from
LaRenda Norman (@1LaRenda on Twitter). LaRenda shared with me her flipbook idea
for sharing tools. At the beginning of the year she puts a key ring with
different tool descriptions in teachers' boxes, then, each week she gives them
another card (laminated) to add to their key ring! I absolutely love this
method of sharing ideas with teachers, especially because I think this'll help
to reach those reluctant learners who aren't big into tech (since it's
paper-based, they don't have to worry about finding it online or on their
computer somewhere).
In our ETC
meeting we talked about ways to help teachers keep their digital resources
organized, and this is something I know I want to help teachers with. I got big
into Twitter before I thought of a way to keep the ideas I found organized, and
that was a mistake! I know I liked and retweeted a ton of great ideas, but
because there's no organization to it, it'd be nearly impossible to find a
specific idea/resource, and I've forgotten 99% of what I found. I've recently
discovered Google Keep and I've fallen in love with the way it helps me stay
organized. I want to share this with other teachers, as well as the other means
of organization that were shared: padlet, pinterest, and pocket.
Whew! You
made it to the end! Thank you SO much for sticking with it! Any advice or ideas
would be greatly appreciated!
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