What up...Tuesday? That's right. I'm branching out a little early this week. We have been back on the elementary school circuit lately and I've heard some interesting comments and some comments that were borderline offensive. Winner for this week...right, I know it's only Tuesday...and the winner is: "So if the school district is trying to cut money, how come there are three of you?"
Believe it. That was said directly to all three of our faces with no twitching of the speaker involved. Frankly, I was appalled that someone would have the gall to be so rude in public in regards to someone else's position in the district. On a whole other plane, there are three of us and that still isn't enough. Previous to this statement, the very same individual quizzed us on a variety of tech topics and software. We clearly held value at that point.
So let's go back to the original statement...with a district cutting budgets why would there be three academic integration coaches. Here is my theory on why we need at least three...
What is an academic integration coach? That is a fancy term for technology integrator. We take the paper tasks and make them extraordinary without the paper. "I can make that 100% better." Jason said this about two weeks ago in the office without even looking at the task at hand. What he failed to mention is that he can do it without using any kind of paper at all and the ultimate benefit...his students will be doing it too and better than any way that we could have instructed them to do so with paper involved. He has yet to do anything under 100% better...it really is a bit repulsive but inspiring. So reason #1 for why the district benefits from three academic integration coaches...we are cutting budgetary needs by providing alternative instruction methods. Going paperless...it can be done. And for the ultra tech resistent...we offer a going less paper alternative.
Reason #2...we are the resident experts on anything technology related. You need training in Word/Excel which is new to the district this year? Coaches can do that training. You need assistance with the new testing program purchased by the district this year? Coaches can provide that technology assistance. You need a cable for your board? It's a rumor that Jason knows how to do this...coaches have that covered too. If we don't know how to do it, we sure know who to contact that does. You want to show 3rd graders with an attention span of approximately 9 minutes how to use power point because the Easy Tech program is a one page lesson on power point...sure, we can do that and do it with the curriculum you are teaching that week. Nonlinear power point...bring it! The age of our students this year ranges from 7 to 60 roughly. How many professionals deal with that range of clientelle in a week? It is our job to meet the technological needs of anyone in our district...first grader to high schooler, teacher to administrator to adminstrative assistants and classroom aides. We do it all and we can make them feel comfortable doing it as well.
Technology is a dynamic entity. It constantly evolves and becomes smaller, faster and better. It is visual and stimulating and can provide immediate feedback on information created or consumed. So why does the district need three coaches? In our office, we all have our own niche. I am the primer. I educate and break down the nerd so that teachers and students can use it successfully. Scott is all about getting the tech into the hands of the district. Give a kid the opportunity and equipment and learn from them. Jason is the idea. He is who drives the vision of true 21st century learning and skills. All three of us, together, make the vision happen. The district needs the coaches to be 21st century interpreters for a staff that is desperately trying to keep up with the standards and rigor of the real world.
So, what will I say next time I hear someone say...how come there are three of you? I'm going to say we act as one so that you can be the one to introduce your students to a new way of thinking outside of the classroom and off the paper.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Backlog
I am finally sitting down to do my blog. I cannot say that I’m excited. I read Jason, the King of Blog’s entry…then I heard Scott’s idea for an entry and my writer’s block got higher and higher and higher and…well, you get the point.
There was something that Scott said though that has seeded itself in my brain: he said his post was going to focus on the fact that technology doesn’t have to be perfect to be good. Based on that theory alone…a tiny chip of light has made it through my writer’s block for this entry.
I’m not going to make excuses for taking so long to do this. The bottom line in reviewing my week as an academic integrator is that we are extraordinarily busy. Busy is good, but how productive have we been in encouraging people to “Do” for themselves what we do for them. Let me make that a bit clearer.
We planned our awesome inservice training for October 11th. It is so progressive and well designed, it will run itself. The best slogan to come from that planning session is IT’S NOT ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY. There was more to the slogan than that, but if you think about it, that is all you need to say. It isn’t the technology that makes the lesson, it’s the independent learning that takes place because of it. It isn’t the technology that stimulates student interest, it’s what they are DOING with their learning that motivates. It’s not the technology that provokes higher level thinking and collaborative skills, it is the individuals USING it…DOING and SHARING and SHOWING and GROWING what they know with more than just their teacher and classmates.
Technology is not a noun…it’s a verb…an action verb. Just do it.
My goal for next week will be to treat technology as a verb.
There was something that Scott said though that has seeded itself in my brain: he said his post was going to focus on the fact that technology doesn’t have to be perfect to be good. Based on that theory alone…a tiny chip of light has made it through my writer’s block for this entry.
I’m not going to make excuses for taking so long to do this. The bottom line in reviewing my week as an academic integrator is that we are extraordinarily busy. Busy is good, but how productive have we been in encouraging people to “Do” for themselves what we do for them. Let me make that a bit clearer.
We planned our awesome inservice training for October 11th. It is so progressive and well designed, it will run itself. The best slogan to come from that planning session is IT’S NOT ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY. There was more to the slogan than that, but if you think about it, that is all you need to say. It isn’t the technology that makes the lesson, it’s the independent learning that takes place because of it. It isn’t the technology that stimulates student interest, it’s what they are DOING with their learning that motivates. It’s not the technology that provokes higher level thinking and collaborative skills, it is the individuals USING it…DOING and SHARING and SHOWING and GROWING what they know with more than just their teacher and classmates.
Technology is not a noun…it’s a verb…an action verb. Just do it.
My goal for next week will be to treat technology as a verb.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Hit me over the head, please.
What up Wednesday? I'm trying to stick to my web Wednesday plan. So what is up this Wednesday? Excel is up. My week ended last week with Excel and started this week with Excel and here it is the middle of the week...and guess what? Still Excel. I have never opened Excel as much as I have these past two weeks.
The week started with a district support staff training on advanced Excel topics. Scott Swindells and I combined sessions so that we could troubleshoot and support each other rather than go it alone. As it turns out I was hit over the head this weekend and needed the extra body help to present. We covered some serious Excel work in our sessions: tables, charts, mail merge graphing, formulas, formatting and other extras. Some topics went more smoothly than others and we helped everyone as the questions popped up. The questions we could not answer directly, sometimes someone else from the group who uses Excel every day had the answer. It turned out to be an excellent use of best practices. Scott and I sometimes presented something in the very standard step by step approach and then someone in the group would speak up and relate a shorter way to accomplish the same task. It was training powered by experience...and it worked.
After our lunch break we got to kick back with the security staff and some basic Word and Outlook skills. There has not been one security guard at the high school that I have seen since that session that has not told me that they learned something from my class. I think they truly did not expect to get anything from a tech workshop. Imagine! There was actually one person that stayed later to try to figure out something because he had an immediate use for it at home. Technology beyond the school walls...anyone can do it with the proper training AND it does not exist only at school/work.
So the week started out a little hectic, but working together and using real world examples to promote the learning seemed to make all things right again. And to complete my "Excel"ing for the week, I created a basic learning model to be followed by 6th graders. Going from Advanced to eager to elementary learners...it is quite a diverse grouping with this job. Sometimes the juggling changes from beanbags to chainsaws and back again all in the same day. So what have I learned this week? I learned that it is okay to see things from a different perspective other than my own. That people do not always focus on what is accomplished but on what is not accomplished. That there will always be someone who learns in a classroom, and that the learning does not have to originate with me. The learning could come from something the person next to you says, or another presenter or simply yourself...maybe you were looking at the answer all along.
More importantly, I have finally reached the point to where I can open up Excel and not cringe...hit me over the head...it isn't nearly as evil a program as I always imagined it to be. See...I learned something too.
The week started with a district support staff training on advanced Excel topics. Scott Swindells and I combined sessions so that we could troubleshoot and support each other rather than go it alone. As it turns out I was hit over the head this weekend and needed the extra body help to present. We covered some serious Excel work in our sessions: tables, charts, mail merge graphing, formulas, formatting and other extras. Some topics went more smoothly than others and we helped everyone as the questions popped up. The questions we could not answer directly, sometimes someone else from the group who uses Excel every day had the answer. It turned out to be an excellent use of best practices. Scott and I sometimes presented something in the very standard step by step approach and then someone in the group would speak up and relate a shorter way to accomplish the same task. It was training powered by experience...and it worked.
After our lunch break we got to kick back with the security staff and some basic Word and Outlook skills. There has not been one security guard at the high school that I have seen since that session that has not told me that they learned something from my class. I think they truly did not expect to get anything from a tech workshop. Imagine! There was actually one person that stayed later to try to figure out something because he had an immediate use for it at home. Technology beyond the school walls...anyone can do it with the proper training AND it does not exist only at school/work.
So the week started out a little hectic, but working together and using real world examples to promote the learning seemed to make all things right again. And to complete my "Excel"ing for the week, I created a basic learning model to be followed by 6th graders. Going from Advanced to eager to elementary learners...it is quite a diverse grouping with this job. Sometimes the juggling changes from beanbags to chainsaws and back again all in the same day. So what have I learned this week? I learned that it is okay to see things from a different perspective other than my own. That people do not always focus on what is accomplished but on what is not accomplished. That there will always be someone who learns in a classroom, and that the learning does not have to originate with me. The learning could come from something the person next to you says, or another presenter or simply yourself...maybe you were looking at the answer all along.
More importantly, I have finally reached the point to where I can open up Excel and not cringe...hit me over the head...it isn't nearly as evil a program as I always imagined it to be. See...I learned something too.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Busted...on tech.
I need you to do research on this technology.
I need you to get me a wiki.
I need you to get us a team blog.
I need you to set this up now because I leave for England in 3 days.
I need you to physically get the board there and get it running.
It's been two hours since our meeting, did you do what I asked?
Everyone needs technology now. Some people ask gently. When do you think you will have time to help me so that I understand? Lovely...I would love to come and help you! However, lately, this has not been the case. Lately, the demand is to do the tech and do it now. So what is it that I really need?
To take a breath. To learn more. To type faster. To get to inbox zero. To learn more. To unblock this. To learn more. To unblock that. To re-learn this because it's already changed...did I mention breathing?
I squeeze tech into almost every minute of my day. I run ragged all day long working with teachers so that they feel comfortable integrating the tech into the classes. That sometimes requires me to learn it first. Then learn it some more so that I can make it just easy enough for them to want to use and use it easily. When I leave work, there are team emails, Skyping with my daughters while they are at their fathers, texting with my sisters...I have 3. At home, I'm doing homework with my girls, I can't escape tech there either. There is always a better way to research, study or a more effective way to create that project...it's a curse having a Techno-nerd for a mom.
What this comes down to is that I am sometimes teched out by the time I get a moment in my day which is somewhere around 11:17 at night. The very last thing I have the energy to do is reflect on what I do. I just do it. It's my job. I do the absolute best I can with the time I have. I do not cheat because I have a Dolly Do Right complex. It makes being a perfectionist crazy. But that is me.
I need to take some direction from my most awesome colleagues. From Scott S. I need to take his initiative to assign a day to post this McKflection blog. Hence, the title "What up web Wednesdays." I will post by Wednesdays now. From our fearless leader, Dr. K. I need to set aside a specific time...I will try not to double book the 2:30 to 3:30 hour. From Jason, the king, I will try to provoke stimulating conversation. I aspire to be a great blogger like Jason. From my fav psuedo tech queen, Patti...I am totally stealing your graphic idea generator. I am a resistent blogger. I will try to be more enthusiastic about my posts. So for now, consider this a final post to writer's blog block and a new beginning to some wonderfully wicked web posts.
I need you to get me a wiki.
I need you to get us a team blog.
I need you to set this up now because I leave for England in 3 days.
I need you to physically get the board there and get it running.
It's been two hours since our meeting, did you do what I asked?
Everyone needs technology now. Some people ask gently. When do you think you will have time to help me so that I understand? Lovely...I would love to come and help you! However, lately, this has not been the case. Lately, the demand is to do the tech and do it now. So what is it that I really need?
To take a breath. To learn more. To type faster. To get to inbox zero. To learn more. To unblock this. To learn more. To unblock that. To re-learn this because it's already changed...did I mention breathing?
I squeeze tech into almost every minute of my day. I run ragged all day long working with teachers so that they feel comfortable integrating the tech into the classes. That sometimes requires me to learn it first. Then learn it some more so that I can make it just easy enough for them to want to use and use it easily. When I leave work, there are team emails, Skyping with my daughters while they are at their fathers, texting with my sisters...I have 3. At home, I'm doing homework with my girls, I can't escape tech there either. There is always a better way to research, study or a more effective way to create that project...it's a curse having a Techno-nerd for a mom.
What this comes down to is that I am sometimes teched out by the time I get a moment in my day which is somewhere around 11:17 at night. The very last thing I have the energy to do is reflect on what I do. I just do it. It's my job. I do the absolute best I can with the time I have. I do not cheat because I have a Dolly Do Right complex. It makes being a perfectionist crazy. But that is me.
I need to take some direction from my most awesome colleagues. From Scott S. I need to take his initiative to assign a day to post this McKflection blog. Hence, the title "What up web Wednesdays." I will post by Wednesdays now. From our fearless leader, Dr. K. I need to set aside a specific time...I will try not to double book the 2:30 to 3:30 hour. From Jason, the king, I will try to provoke stimulating conversation. I aspire to be a great blogger like Jason. From my fav psuedo tech queen, Patti...I am totally stealing your graphic idea generator. I am a resistent blogger. I will try to be more enthusiastic about my posts. So for now, consider this a final post to writer's blog block and a new beginning to some wonderfully wicked web posts.
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