New Year!

I love the feeling of a new year.  So many goals are set (and hopefully kept).  I think it's super important to allow students time in our classrooms to set goals.  This has to be much more than a bulletin board......follow through is paramount.  I remember the few times I did this with my students, I hung these banners up to remind them of their goals, and they rarely looked at them.  We must teach students the importance of goal setting and follow through.  My plan for my teachers is to create a goal setting form for them to fill out so that I can help them reach their technology goals.  This will provide me with the info I need to help them follow through.  I'm looking forward to starting fresh!  Happy New Year everyone!

Little babies.....

This will be a quick post.  I am amazed at the amount of things that little people can handle.  I wonder how often we adults stifle them because we are the ones who are afraid.  This week, an very hesitant teacher and I logged her second graders onto Google Classroom and submitted our first assignment.  These little digital natives did this with such ease.  What we thought would take an hour, took 30 minutes.  They aren't afraid to try.  They aren't afraid to mess up.  We grown folk could learn a lot from these second graders......

Stress.......

I always loved as a teacher how energized I was at the start of a new school year!  But then, that energy usually comes to an abrupt end as quarter 1 draws to a close.  My old principal was a firm believer in the Phases of first year teachers' attitude (shown below) but for all of teachers; not just newbies.  I really agree with him.  Many of my teachers are feeling so stressed and overwhelmed that they don't even really want my help with the tech right now.  Not all....but many.  It's like they see me coming and before I even cross the threshold of the door, they're explaining why they are too busy to be using the iPads.  I want to yell from the mountain tops, "I remember how you feel!  I'm with you!  Let me take some of the load off!"  Instead I retreat giving them their space, because I also remember  the feeling of just wanting to be left alone to do my job.  I wish teachers were given the freedom to do more of what's right for their class and less of what's directed to them by district mandates.  Here we are in October...the start of disillusionment.....it's going to be a long winter........

Feeling Productive

Over the past couple of weeks (minus a few days for horrible flooding here in South Carolina), I have been assisting teachers roll out their devices and meeting with them to discuss digital citizenship and standard operating procedures.  I have been so energized by the number of teachers who are enthusiastic and optimistic about how these devices will help them transform their teaching.  They are seeking advice and new ways to do old things.  They are eager to have students create with a purpose and are collaborating with teachers outside of their school.  

I have been seeking feedback, much like we get as teachers.  However, that feedback is not there.  I thought teaching was isolating, but this job can sometimes be isolating as well.  I was starting to wonder if my coaching was making a difference.  I have some teachers who are not as eager about using the devices or having my support.....I accept the challenge:)  As I began to beat myself up about this, I had a stream of teachers coming up with creative and innovative ways to use the tech with their students.  I realized that this was my feedback.  This was my high five.  Having a teacher share a fantastic idea that she came up with after a model lesson I did, seeing two of my teachers from different schools have their students collaborate via Kid Blog and working with a teacher who literally wants me in his room every week shows me that I am making an impact in these classrooms and these teachers are shifting their thinking about using tech as a tool to enhance learning.  

The shift may be slow, but it's coming.  I am encouraged by a quote I saw in the Mooc Ed I am participating in.  It said something along the lines of coaches don't need to have all the answers....if we did, we would be creating a sense of learned helplessness.  Instead we need to ask the right questions so that the teachers are the learners and we are the facilitators.  This is what we do with our students daily.  I'm encouraged and excited for what the coming weeks hold as teachers "dig in."  

MOOC Ed

Last week I joined my first Professional Development as a Tech Coach outside of our job embedded PD.  It's a MOOC Ed (Massive Open Online Courses for Educators).  Who knew that these existed?!  I had never heard of them before and am so thrilled that there are so many out there.....and they're good!!  As we all know relevance is key, so as I browsed through the free course offerings, I came across a 6 week course called Coaching Digital Learning.  I started this week and it's been really fun connecting with other educators who want to strengthen their coaching.  This course is for anyone who is in a position to coach (mentor role, teacher leader, tech coach, etc.)  If you've never checked out any of these courses, click here to see what's out there!  As I had down time between working with teachers, I was able to get through the first unit in two days and take with me tools to use right then and there.  If you're on Twitter, follow the hashtag #CDL_MOOCEd to see some of the great conversations going on.

Beginnings......

It's almost October and I can't help but reflect back on the whirlwind of the past 7 months.  I left the classroom after 11 years, joined a wonderful team of Ed Techs as a Technology Instructional Coach AND had a baby!!!  It's been a crazy year to say the least....but it's been so good.  People have been asking me why I left the classroom.  I hear all the time, "You were such a good teacher."  "What a loss."  This freaks me out!  I was a good teacher!  What if I'm a horrible coach?  This fear wakes me up at night....along with my screaming 4 month old......
But then I remember that all beginnings are challenging and that's why I love teaching so much.  It's the toughest thing to take a classroom of students and help them learn growth mindset, think critically, collaborate and communicate effectively and most importantly show them how much fun learning can be.  My hope is that I can show other teachers how technology can light a spark in students in ways that traditional learning can't and share my experience of how technology made me love teaching so much more.  It's hard work, but it's good work and I'm so glad I took the scary leap into a new beginning.  I can't wait to see the classrooms in action with the devices they're getting in the coming weeks.