As an ITRT, I do not have students per say. I work to assist elementary teachers in my district ranging from Pre-K to Fifth grade with technology integration for all content areas. I personally visit all of my assigned elementary schools at least once a week providing professional development or model lessons that encourage technology integration. I create monthly newsletters to provide the newest information regarding how technology should be integrated in the elementary schools. I have established a website which has served as an area for me to share what's new in technology, what devices or software are available to enhance lessons, computer tips, model lessons and resources. I also provide informative e-mails to faculty and staff. Most recently, I began facilitating an online course for technology integration for elementary teachers in our county. A crucial part of the course required teachers to discuss and share ideas regarding their knowledge of technology integration in a discussion forum. This forum enabled teachers to share their views and concerns with other teachers throughout the district which provided an opportunity teachers rarely find time to do. It was obvious from their comments to me that the teachers truly enjoyed this type of interaction as they didn't have to stay after school to meet in a conference room to partake in the discussion forums. They could literally have a discussion with another teacher miles away from the comforts of their own classroom or even in their own home.
Since my students are teachers and my classroom is online or in a conference room, how I use a blog might differ slightly from a classroom teacher. I plan to require the teachers in my online course to interact via this blog to expand on educational issues regarding technology integration. The blog will serve as an area for the teachers to post and comment on their projects they have created in the class. There is (was) something really powerful about easily being able to share resources and ideas with a Web audience that is (was) willing to share back what they think(thought) about those ideas (Richardson, 2009).
On a broader scale, blogging could serve as a county wide initiative to increase teacher ideas across the county and the world. Why not use blogging as a form of professional development? Imagine how much more interactive blogging would be when compared to the good ol' faculty newsletters. Blogs engage readers with ideas and questions and links. They ask readers to think and to respond. They demand interaction (Richardson, 2009). It is my hope that through professional blogging among teachers, teachers will feel more comfortable and see the benefit of utilizing blogs in their own classrooms with students. In many ways it's important for teachers to consider the use of blogs in the classroom if only to model appropriate behavior of this powerful communication tool...(November, 2008)
November, A. (2008). Web literacy for Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.Copyright 2008 by Sage Publications, Inc. Used by permission of Sage Publications, Inc.
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wiks, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
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Melodi,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are finding a way to help your teachers see technology in a more positive light this year! Keep up the great work!
I am very curious as to what your undergraduate degree is in. Clearly with your experience with technology, it seems that it would be in some sort of technology field. How did you become involved with a school and teachers?
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of interactive blogging as a tool for professional development. We don't have a newsletter, but we do have horribly boring meetings. It would be wonderful to use technology and blogging to hopefully spice up regularly scheduled "blah, blah, blah" meetings! The actual interaction alone would have to make things more exciting.
Are a lot of your teachers still resistant to using technology? Maybe I am generalizing here, but it seems like teachers over a certain age say they like and use technology, but in practice don't really do much other than enter grades. Do you notice this or am I out in left field?
ReplyDeleteI guess the challenge I see here is getting teachers to actually use technology in their teaching and not just say the right things.
bharr, I do see that, in general, people will tell me they are using it. I do find that it is easier to get in the classroom to help them truly integrate the technology if I model lessons utilizing technology first and then gradually do less each time through the scaffolding approach. Eventually I go to observe and they are doing it all and usually are impressed with how far they have come. There is an extreme lack of confidence with a majority of teachers who are more seasoned.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of teachers using a blog to share ideas and resources. In my district I have found that some teachers are still very protective of what they have created or implemented in the classroom. I wish more teachers enjoyed sharing their successes and failures when it comes to using technology. In our district each teacher has their own webpage. One of the sections is entitled "Projects". Here we post direction sheets, rubrics, etc. for our students. I enjoy looking at other teachers' websites to see what fun and exciting projects they are using in their classrooms. As I said before, not every teacher wants to share. For those that do, it is extremely beneficial to other teachers in our district.
ReplyDeleteJodi, I can't agree more with you that sharing is caring! No really. It is so much better when everyone makes a cooperative effort with teaching by sharing what they are using that works well. I have observed a faculty meeting at one school where every grade level selects a teacher to share a lesson or project they enjoy to share with the rest of the school. I also like the idea of cross-curricular meeting and meetings across grade levels where teachers share their ideas as well. Our district conducts grade level meetings about twice a year and they are great but I wish they would take an hour of that 1/2 day they devote to the meeting to have teachers share effective lessons correlated to specific standards in their grade level.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Sarah. I'm finally getting into the swing of things again! It was tough taking that break but I did enjoy it :)
ReplyDeleteMelodi, would you agree that if a school would set up blogs for their teachers, that they would not utilize them until they are required to use them and realize the potential blogs offer? My district has spent a lot of money on a communications program called SharePoint which offers many similar tools that our "free" blogs offer. We were trained on how to use the program ,(a fifteen minute DVD), but not many have tapped into its potential use, including myself. At first I was very excited and began posting to our team discussion but one can only talk to themselves for so long. Have you experienced anything similar in your district?
ReplyDeleteI speculate that one factor is just unfamiliarity with the tool. I believe your solution of offering online courses might make people feel more comfortable and willing to extend the use of the program.
One major difference between SharePoint and a true blog is that we are working within a controlled network where as a blog is open to the world. Will Richardson points out,"that the potential audience is one of the most important aspects of the Read/Write Web", so by isolating our communications from the outside world are we losing that important motivator (Richardson, 2009)? I would enjoy hearing your thoughts.
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wiks, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hey Melodi, good insight and plans into how you will incorporate technology's use within the teachers present at your school. Do you ever find it sometimes more or less difficult to educate teachers about technology versus elementary level students? I’m sure you have a good set of stories regarding these ability differences already. A good way to get around this dilemma would of course be differentiating your approach. Keep up the good work in your technology quest!
ReplyDeleteHey Melodi, I like your idea that through professional blogging among teachers that more teachers will be comfortable and use them in the classroom as an educational tool. In your position how do you respond to the few teachers who are set in their ways and are not interested in integrating technology into the classroom?
ReplyDeleteZach, I am required to make all teachers part of the integration process, so I model technology about two times a year in all of the classrooms of the schools I serve as well as hold professional development sessions during planning. Yet, it does get to a point where I begin working with the teachers that "want" to integrate technology. I can't force those teachers who don't want to integrate technology. I focus on the teachers who I can impact and hope that the other teachers who need to integrate get envious of those who are integrating. Sometimes it really does work. Also, I get tons of administrative support. Most of the principals of the schools I serve have made it a requirement to see technology integration when they observe the teachers.
ReplyDeleteHi mpowering, I enjoyed reading your blog post. I am a technology integration teacher in one school. It's great that you provide model lessons for your teacher. I was curious to know when in the school day the teachers work with you. Do you model a lesson by teaching their class or do they come into your room during a free period? I wanted to share with you a website that I use with my students called http://www.sitesalive.com I have been volunteering to promote the program for many years. As the Skipper of the Great American 3 competes in the Vendee Globe, he connects with students and teachers via his website where he posts podcasts and blog entries, through gabcast, facebook and twitter. His content is on the http://www.vendeeglobe.org site as well as on the Thinkfinity site http://sail.sciencenetlinks.com/ Perhaps someone in your district would be interested in this program so I thought that I would share it with you. I'll check back from time to time to see what you are working on. It's really helpful for me to read blogs of other technology teachers to see what they are doing with their students. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJackson, nice to meet another fellow technology integrator. Sounds like a super hero! There are several times within the day that I am working with teachers. For model lessons, teachers decide as a grade level what subject and content they need an extra boost with an innovative lesson. Then we schedule times for me to model for the teacher and their class. I also work with grade levels and/or a teacher alone during planning and after school. Several times a year, I work with bigger groups in a school for the whole day. Administration hires substitutes for the whole day and I spend the first half of the day (3 hours) with K-2 and then the later half with 3-5. Thanks for the idea. I will share this with the schools I service. Take care.
ReplyDelete