What does an “Instructional Technology Coach” do?

     As Spring is upon us, and the weather is beginning to warm up, you may have noticed more and more people taking advantage of the nicer weather.  One way in which many people take advantage of this time of year, is they uncover the grill, scrub last year’s food remnants off of the cooking surface, and fire up some chicken, sausage, steak, or whatever delights their palate.  Further adding to the enjoyment of the first cook-out or barbeque of the year is the chance to enjoy this time with family and friends.  As people open up their backyards to neighbors, loved ones, co-workers, or to someone they just met--- the banter, conversation, and environment is often light and enjoyable.  During these social happenings, it is common that someone will ask you what you do for a living.  Most people can answer with a word or two, and the nature of the job is understood, (i.e. accountant, doctor, lawyer, pharmacist, waiter, etc.).

     However, when I am asked this question and answer “Instructional Technology Coach” must people look at me quizzically or ask me some of the following: Do you fix computers? So you are in the IT department? Or some will ask me questions about their personal computer/wireless network/printer at their home.
  
     In actuality our jobs as Instructional Technology Coaches is very fluid and often difficult (like most jobs) to sum up in a sentence or two.  I often wish I could bring people around with me so that they can see and experience the nature of the job.  However, since it is highly unlikely that I can bring my neighbors along with me throughout the schools, here is a quick peek into our year that might shed some insight on this subject.
  
     If you travel back in time several months to the end of July and beginning of August you will find Marc, Jenny, Keith, and Doug in the office planning for the upcoming school year.  We had recently been informed that our District now has Office 365 and we knew this is something that we wanted to explore and, if valuable, get our teachers and students to utilize.  However, none of us knew anything about this new product, let alone, were we prepared to offer professional development focused on it.  
Fast forward to now, we have all become very versed in the world of Office 365.  We can navigate you to  the O365 portal, and the apps you will find there.  We can tell you all about OneDrive and the massive amount of storage space it offers.  We can demonstrate how to share a document with colleagues and students.  We can have you practice editing documents in real-time with someone who is in a different location.   We can sync OneDrive to your computer.  We can show you how to get 5 installs for the Microsoft 2013 Suite on personal devicesh.  We can show you where students can access their email accounts and how they can participate in and contribute to collaborative learning.  Most importantly, we can have an educated conversation with teachers and administration about how we can use Office 365 to move learning beyond the walls of the school building
However, this was not always the case.  A few short months ago, the tech coaches barely even knew where to go to log into Office 365. Hence the journey of self-learning and discovery began.  And yes I say journey-because the hours spent for us to take a massive concept, understand it ourselves, and make it understandable to teachers in a 30 minute professional development sessions was borderline countless.

     We started out by reaching out to Microsoft themselves.  Through a series of webinars we began to gather information regarding this product.  With each webinar we found ourselves developing and asking more and more questions.  These questions drove us to the depths of the internet (most notably YouTube) and self-exploration in an attempt to really grasp this concept.
 
     Often times we felt like we figured something out, and then would take a step back.  We communicated with one another often, many times calling or texting each other at home to discuss Office 365.  We shared what we found with one another and posed questions to anyone we thought could help shed some light on our understanding of Office 365.  This process went on for months, and as we kept investigating, our understanding was became more clear.  What we discovered is that we have a product here with some awesome educational benefits.

     Now,  how do we take what took us months and hours upon hours to discover and learn, and be able to teach this concept to others in 20-30 minute segments?  To me, this sounds just  like what teachers do everyday, right?  You have a concept with a large amount of material, you have to sift through it to deem what is most important relating to the objective, and then you have to teach it in an understandable, concise and engaging manner.

     Well fast forward to present day, and we have just completed our roll out of this concept to all elementary, intermediate, middle, and high schools in our district.  The feedback we have received thus far has been very positive and we, along with teachers, are discovering new uses with Office 365 daily.
 
     So, back to the original question:  What does an “Instructional Technology Coach” do; or for that matter anyone involved in education?  We continually learn and discover, seek out new knowledge, and share what we have learned.  Our focus is always centered on making learning meaningful, engaging, and exciting.

- Doug

Put the PERFORMANCE in the TASK

While students are in the classroom, we push them to acquire the knowledge in the standards, so they will be ready for not only the state and national testing that comes towards the end of the year, but to prepare them for the next level of education. During this time we have in the classroom with them, we push content knowledge, new skills, and application of the new learning.  Performance Tasks provide meaningful strategies for communication and collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving, research and information fluency, and creativity and innovation…all integrated into an engaging lesson.

I have been in classrooms where there are reluctant learners, and seen those same students fully engaged in a Performance Task.  In a PT they may watch several videos, research the web, read pertinent articles and even create and take tests.  It seems that the integration of technology along with allowing them to collaborate on assignments and projects, is just the ticket for these, along with most of the student population in your school.  Let’s face it, they are social beings, so why not use that to our advantage…and theirs.  Start with a typically unmotivated or reluctant learner…toss in a highly motivated student that is a regimented worker, along with a free-spirited creative kid, and you end up with some pretty exciting learning happening before your very eyes.  And the creative presentations they come up with are astounding.

We know that some students would like to be “spoon fed” with the how’s and where’s and when’s of an assignment.  There is another group of students that you just have to give the task once, and watch them go to work.  The Performance Task hits on all points of both these kinds of learners.  What we have to determine as instructors is when to press a little more on the gas, when to pump the brakes, and when to get out of the highway and let them drive.

Performance Tasks help strike a balance between a traditional fact delivery and the more non-traditional discovery method.  Of course, both are valuable and both require guidance, but the discovery method employed by a Performance Task tends to differentiate the learning while connecting the dots with multiple strategies and multiple modalities.    

Teachers don’t have to give up any of the units of study they already have planned, but instead, utilize the students’ prior knowledge and mesh it with a real-world, authentic task…and give them an end project to work toward that satisfies standard mastery. Real-world tasks are after all, based in curriculum…allowing teachers to help design what works for best for them…and making the whole experience more meaningful for students. 

Performance Tasks use prior skills and knowledge to introduce new content, enhance a unit of study or even extend the learning outside of the classroom.  Students, given the opportunity, will initiate communication in real and non-real time, communicate and collaborate with learners of diverse cultural backgrounds, form collaborative teams to solve real-world problems, and create original works.

Students will use multiple resources to plan, design, and execute real-world problems, use technology to collaborate and solve, authentic problems, develop and answer open-ended questions using higher order thinking skills.

Students will research to find and select appropriate digital tools to assemble, evaluate, and utilize information…then use that information to accomplish real-world tasks.  Tasks that are now real to them!

Students will apply critical thinking, research methods, and communication tools to create original work…collaborate more effectively…and reach beyond the classroom to create original work.

Now THAT’S a meaningful performance!

Let's Send a Tweet

Why is Twitter a good education resource?  Mostly because it opens your world to people that you probably will never meet personally, but will connect with because of an interest you share.  It will open your world to ideas, strategies, innovations and new tools to help you in the classroom.

People on Twitter…the right people…are constantly sharing and as you follow them, their thoughts, pictures and articles come right across your Feed.   I will share my suggestions of some folks to follow later in this Blog Post, and hope having the names will help you as you get started.

We, the GCSD Tech Coaches, are always taking pictures and sharing the great things going on in our schools.  This provides a great way to do so.  Don’t you want to see your class mentioned on Twitter?   In the next edition of The Tech Connect, we want to highlight and spread the word of all of you that are on Twitter, to help you grow your Professional Learning Network.  If you area already on Twitter and want to share, email your Twitter name to Keith Brown…so that we can compile a list to share. In the subject line put “Twitter.”

Once somebody on your Twitter list has shared, I suggest entering their names in your Tweet using the “@” sign in front of their name.  This is much like a Tag on Facebook or Instagram…and brings attention to those individuals so they will take a look at your Tweet.  This is a good way to grow your followers and grow your professional learning network.  This is what a Tweet coming from my account might look like:

Great things going on in the classroom today as we learned how to build websites in Mr. Brown’s class today using Weebly @FrechetTech @ItsThatJenny @FreshD85 @weebly

Notice how we tagged Marc, Jenny and Doug (our other Tech Coaches) and Weebly (the website tool).  They in turn can either Retweet it or mark it as a Favorite…which spreads your Tweet, ideas and your Twitter Name even more.

Let’s get signed up.  Go to www.twitter.com and fill out the forms with the appropriate information and then click “Sign up for Twitter.”

When it comes to choosing a username – consider a couple of things:  Make the name easy to share.  (A long or complicated name isn’t easy for new followers to remember).  Think about the name you choose…you want it to be one you can live with, and that represents you and a majority of your subject matter.  You can change it later if you want.  Go ahead and click on “Create my account”
As you begin looking for people to follow, start locally.  Find people in your vocation or areas of interest that you know.  Perhaps some other teachers, or work friends in your building.  Next, click on the magnifying glass and search by subject.  As you read interesting articles online or in newspapers, look for the “Twitter Handles” of the authors, and start following them.

If you follow some of the celebrities out there, you will get lots of drama and here-say, so be prepared for that if you choose to keep up with them on your Twitter.

Here are some good folks to follow locally and nationally:
• @FrechetTECH
• @FreshD85
• @ItsThatJenny
• @KTech8
• @LessonToolbox
• @Teaching STEM
• @gatesed
• @NASA_Technology
• @WeAreTeachers
• @EducationSC
• @educationweek
• @edutopia
• @Edudemic
• @rmbyrne
• @AngelaMaiers
• @KleinErin

To start following someone, simply click the FOLLOW button next to their name or profile
After you have gotten on Twitter and found a few folks to follow, change your Profile Picture.  This alone will help you get followers.  People identify with a smiling face rather than a cartoon or some other weird picture.

Next, edit your Profile Page.  People will tend to follow you based off what you have there.  List interests, hobbies, profession, etc. there.  People tend to check there before they follow you or follow you back.

Make sure you follow all of our Tech Coaches…we can assist you with how to use Twitter when we come to your schools.  @FrechetTECH, @FreshD85, @ItsThatJenny and @KTech8
Now let’s send out a TWEET by clicking on the box in the upper right hand corner of the page…it will look like a box with a pen in it.  You have to keep your Tweets to 140 characters or less.  The box you type into will give you a countdown.  I suggest leaving at least 10 characters shy of the allowed 140.  That way, when someone wants to Retweet it, their name will be inserted, and they will have room to do so.

So come on…Log on…create a Twitter Account…and start enjoying the vast array of resources available at your fingertips.

6 Tips for a Successful Conference Experience: The Before and After

 

 

We all attend different conferences and professional development sessions as models of lifelong learners.  What makes a successful experience?  What is your approach while you’re there to extend your knowledge base?  How do you bring back the information and share it successfully?  Here are our tips to ensure it was a successful experience.

1)      Have Fun 

Surround yourself with good people. 

Learn to laugh at the current challenges that you all face.  Take moments to eat together, get a little sight-seeing in, and take time to care about the day-to-day lives of your coworkers.  It’s amazing how making time for each other strengthens your team bound.

2)      Work as a Team

One person can’t make every session because there are usually multiple topics during the same chunk of time.  Agree to go into different sessions and then debrief about what you learned. 

3)      Take Away New Learning from Each Session

Regardless of whether the presenter was entertaining or dry, there is at least one thing that you may not currently be incorporating.  The entire session may have been filled with wonderful new points, or you may feel like you knew everything the presenter shared.  The first is the easiest to walk away feeling like you have grown.  However, the latter might have made you feel like you could have done the presentation.  In that case, at least walk away with a sample of what they are incorporating in their classrooms.  Take that back to your staff and show them the example of what another classroom has done so that they can have a reference point.  There is always something that they are doing that could help improve what you are doing.

4)      Make a Plan

Begin to think about how you are going to share what you discovered.  Most likely it can all be done at once if any good is to come of it.  Begin thinking about what can be shared immediately.  Likewise, think of the stuff that maybe down the road.  Hit the ground running with the easy suggestions and encourage your go getters to implement within a short time frame.  Save the more intense development for when time allows for it.  Maybe that is at the beginning of a new grading cycle or after a long vacation. 

5)      Extend Your PLN

There are a lot of great people with incredible ideas at these conferences who are starving to learn more.  Introduce yourself face to face.  If that intimidates you, tag them in a tweet or shoot them an email.  What’s the worst that could happen, they don’t respond? 

6)      Be Proud of Your Accomplishments

Reflect on your new learning and your growth.  Also take time to pat yourself on the back and reassure yourself that you are heading in the right direction. 

 

A special thanks to all who attended our session today!  What’s your approach for getting the most out of your conferences?

Be the HEAD Coach in your Classroom!

Using the analogy of a Head Football Coach, I beg the question:  How much time do we spend on a week’s worth of lessons?  Having filled that role myself for several years, I thought it would be a fun analogy to do a basic breakdown of what a Head Football Coach and his Staff does in preparation for an upcoming game, and then in parentheses, apply classroom lesson terminology alongside it: 

Scout the Other Team: (Students' Interest Inventories, Boys vs. Girls learning styles)
Know their Strengths /Weaknesses: (Data, Question Item Analysis, Student Item Analysis)
Know their Tendencies/How they react to certain situations: (Lecture, Active Learning, Out of their seats, Peer Interaction).
What Plays will work best: (Learning Styles)
Have your Game Plan Ready: (Lesson Plans - purposeful - make a plan to WIN )
What to do on Special Teams: (Transitions to/from Lesson Subjects or Activities without a fumble)
Prepare your Team:  (Practice, Practice, Practice)
Pre-Game:  (Provide relaxing, purposeful environment.  Provide materials, supplies, equipment for your players to Win)
Organize Warm-Ups: ( Non-Instructional Routines, like getting Laptops, logging on, "Turning Screens" to the instructor, etc.)
Coin Toss: (The SET Activity)
Game Time: (Acting on your Plans, Using your Play sheets)

Offense: How to score points (Positive encouragement, authentic feedback, push to the Goal)

Defense: Prevent the opponent from scoring (Keep the negative things at bay, learn to make a positive out of a negative, keep them focused.)

Special Teams: Kick Off, Kick Off Return, Punt and Punt Return, Extra Point and Field Goal, Onside kick and Onside Kick Return Teams) Modifications for student learning, IEPs, Pacing, Re-Teaching a concept, Re-Testing)
Quarters: Change ends of the Field - wind conditions, the sun, etc. (Change up the Approach, allow student to take charge of their own learning.)
Time Outs:  Hear from the Players on the Field - (Feedback, Reinforcing Effort, individual Attention, Re-Focus, Re-Direct, Encourage)
Half Time: (Monitor and Adjust, Re-Teach from a different perspective, get information from the Players on what is happening, and then find a way to help them be successful)
Momentum:  (Shifts both For and Against you - take advantage of the "For"...stay with something a little longer than planned if you need.  Stop a bad activity before it takes you too far off course.)
Penalty Flag: Penalizes your forward progress. (Stop things that takes you backwards...away from your Goal.)
Out of Bounds: Play between the lines and boundaries.  (Something that's not in the Standards for your grade level or Subject, just because you like it...or have taught it for 20 years.  These get you off track...Off your game plan.)
Stop the Clock:  Slow it down... Keep the Players on the field a little longer, dictate the pace and speed of the learning.  Allow students the chance to be successful. Allow them more of a chance to score.)
Run out the Clock:  Let the clock run out so the game will end.  (Know when it’s been enough a time in your lesson that is Long to cover a subject, but Short enough to keep it interesting.)

WIN:  Score more than the opponent. (The really cool thing here is that when the students win, you win…Just like the Head Coach, and the Opponent is the non-engaged student or the teacher that fails to plan).

4 Tips for a Successful School Year

The world of education is unlike any other career.  We end each year in June: reflecting, vowing to research and discover new ways to improve in our profession.  Summer provides an opportunity to relax and rediscover what has inspired us all to be lifelong learners.  Every August we welcome new learners to an exciting new beginning.  The energy and possibilities are endless. 

So how can we make certain that it stays this way? 

 

 

Here are a few suggestions from our Instructional Technology team to help you this year:

1)      Safety Police: Travel Safely

At times we become so focused on what’s innovative and new that we can overlook the most important aspect of all, make sure everyone is safe.  Familiarize yourself with all safety procedures and follow them.  Be sure to have emergency contacts (try using Google forms or Remind), and get to know your learners.  Understand CIPA, COPA, and FERPA and how they apply to your learners.  Remember that the most important component is ensuring everyone’s safety as you travel throughout the Internet.  To quote Barney Fife, “Thanks and happy motoring!”

 

2)      Driver: Keep your eyes on the road and hands upon the wheel!

Who knew that Jim Morrison and the Doors would have some great advice for teachers? 

Each year we model how to set goals: for ourselves, for our classrooms, etc.  Promote an environment where learners are encouraged to drive their own learning, no matter the vehicle.  Help learners create their own path for learning and demonstrate how necessary it is to be aware of those we share the road with.  Edmodo, Padlet, and Kidblog can be great vehicles that promote communication and collaboration.   

 

3)      Wave Rider: Be a Risk-Taker

Model how to take appropriate chances.  Gone are the days where the teacher needs to be the owner of all the knowledge.  It’s ok to “not know everything”, and it’s ok to be unsure of how to do something.  Model for your learners how to ask questions, find the answers, and how to step out of the box and try something new.  Invite an instructional tech coach into your room to co-teach a lesson!  If you haven’t blogged with your classes, flipped your classroom, or tried any other strategies you’ve heard about; there’s no better time to start than now.  John Kabat-Zinn said it best, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” 

 

4)      Fun Police: Have Fun

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

Ever watched elementary school students get off the bus?   When’s the last time you walked into a Child Development class?  Take wake-up calls from Kindergarteners: learning is exciting and it is fun!!!  Be sure to smile and laugh throughout the day.  After all, the more we model these good behaviors, the more we are helping to increase the life expectancy of those around us. 

My suggestion for bad days, whistle more.  My grandfather told me that it is hard to be in a bad mood when you whistle; try it sometime. 

 

What suggestions do you have for a successful year? 

The Technology Fair isn’t just about Technology

We recently held our Fourth Annual Technology Fair for the Georgetown County School District in Georgetown, SC.  By the very nature of the fair, “Technology” was the star…and that is true to an extent.  But the Technology Fair is much more than that once you dig a little deeper into the essence of the event.

There were five different Categories in which students and teachers signed up to compete:             (1) Creativity, (2) Communication and Collaboration, (3) Creative Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making, (4) Innovation, and (5) Educator.  We had Kindergarten-2nd grade students showing off Power Points and Paper Slide Videos.  We had 3^rd – 5^th graders showing off Web Quests and Little Bird Tales.  There were 6-8^th graders solving problems with Robotics and introducing Padlets, Weebly web sites, and Prezi presentations.  High School students were creating programs for Apps and Weather Balloons, and Flipped Classrooms.  Teachers were introducing unique strategies and “paperless Classrooms” in the Educator Category.

The aforementioned are just a few examples of what was presented among the over 400 students and 60 teachers.  What was really impressive was what they learned along the way.  Students learned to find, navigate through and document relevant and important pieces of information.  Furthermore, they learned to take that information and make more informed decisions in creating products and projects.

Students learned to work together in pairs and in groups more efficiently.  Some began to show leadership qualities by delegating different jobs within the group, while others learned to be the followers and pull their own load for the project to be completed.

Students learned how to dig a little deeper into “how” and “why” to be able to think critically on a deeper level…and find ways to solve problems for their projects…a skill they will certainly develop more and more as they get older and progress in their school or in their careers.

Using all of the things they have experienced as they were producing a Tech Fair Project, students formed a hypothesis, used trial and error, and dared to create and innovate…to design original and unique projects.

The skill set that students were exposed to, and learned to manipulate for the good of the project itself, will be an invaluable part of their life’s toolbox.  Learning by doing…taking the risk…not being afraid to fail…driven to succeed…the journey starts with the first step.  The more we can provide our students with the opportunities to utilize these skills, the better off they will be while they are in our classrooms, and long after.  And besides, isn't that the goal.

The Technology Fair definitely isn’t just about Technology.