Time for an upgrade

One of the many things I was looking forward to this year was the possibility of becoming a part-time tech facilitator. I was told a job was going to be posted and I just needed to apply. I had spent countless hours planning all of the different things I was going to do to help the students and staff of my district. I talked with so many great people in my PLN, I was sure I was going to help my district accomplish its goal of being a leader in educational technology. My district was in desperate need of an upgrade and I was excited to be part of the solution.

Well, the budget was hammered out and that position, among others, was lost. I do not want to use this space to rail against the decision to cut the tech positions while the district claims to want to be a leader is educational technology. I've covered that topic before and I do not need to preach to the choir. So, I've decided to build a better position and pitch it to the powers that be. I would appreciate any comments on the make-up of the job I'm proposing.

Details:

- This position could be part-time or full time. If it was part time, the person who fills the position would teach two classes in the morning and would fill the tech facilitator responsibilities the second half of the day.
- The tech facilitator would be available to all buildings in the district.

Tech Facilitator Duties:

- Working with all building administrators, including the superintendent, to get them signed up to Twitter. If they are willing to sign up and lead, the teachers will be more willing to do so.

- Setting up blogs for each school for admins to share information with parents, students and staff.

- Creation of building Facebook pages

-Individualized PD

- The TF could be checked out by teachers like a book from a library to help construct lessons that incorporate technology. Teachers could get workshop hours for these 1:1 sessions.

Large PD

- Building Admins could check out the TF to run building wide PD or have them create smaller in-building workshops.

Tech All-Stars

- The TF would work with willing teachers from each building to create a group of Tech All-Stars that would help teachers within their building with tech integration and grade specific help.

- The Tech All-Stars would meet regularly to discuss tools and integration strategies to best help all the buildings in the district.

Tech Blog

- The TF would run a district wide Tech blog that would provide examples of new tools available in the district.

- Screencasts would be created and uploaded based on the needs of the students, staff and parents of the district.

Attending and Presenting at Conferences

- The TF would attend and present at conferences to be up to date on the current trends in technology and pedagogy.

Business

-The TF would work with local businesses to try and bring new tech to the district. Building a relationship with local families and business could help offset major budget cuts.

After School/Weekend Seminars

- The TF would run after school and weekend seminars for parents, students and staff on various tech related items.

Policy

- The TF would work with the administration, parents and school board to shape new policy as technology grows and changes.

All of these job duties, and possibly others, would be performed by one person who would also be teaching 1-2 classes as well.

The ultimate goal of this proposal is to create a position that would best use the money available by drastically changing the way PD is offered in my district. In the long run, money will be saved on PD because the TF will be working with more teachers effectively.

Please feel free to comment on anything I have or might have left off. This is going to be my last ditch effort to create some change in my district before I start considering other options. A person can only roll the boulder up the hill so many times right?

Thanks again for all of your support and wish me luck!

-@TheNerdyTeacher

Change Brings Frustration

I have been working on a committee this past school year that has been tasked with improving the way that technology is used in the district. I’m lucky to work with many passionate teachers, parents and administrators as we look at different ways to take the influx of tech in our buildings (Smart Products) and get the most out of them. It’s a tall order, but something I think can be accomplished.

The frustration comes from the fact that we all want the same thing, but do not have a clear path on how to get there. We want to great a district that is a leader in educational technology. We want our students to be 21st Century learners. We don't have the money. So, we need to find ways to accomlishour goals with little or no money.
One of the things I was tasked with doing was using my PLN to gather information on how other people support the integration of technology in their district. I talked to many awesome people and pulled together what I think would be the best solution to our problem. Here is the presentation I put together.

Ti presentation

View more presentations from Nicholas Provenzano

I truly feel that adding 3 people to focus on teacher training is the best way to move forward. By providing the support for the teachers, we can then move the conversation to reviewing the curriculum to see how we can change what we do there with our new skills. As a district, we cannot move forward if our staff is not trained and our current system is not sufficient. If we are not moving forward, we are getting left behind.

I was not given the chance to give my presentation, but was told the money isn’t there to hire 3 more people. I understand that completely. These are tough times and adding staff is not something districts can do. However, the conversation was still about training teachers and having them prepared to use the technology that is being deployed. How can you expect to train teachers with trainers? When teachers in my district are asked what they want, they say training. When the one teacher trainer was asked what is effective, he said training in small groups. So we want everyone trained, but have no money to train. What do we do next?

Ideas were thrown out about a Tech Czar that would create a vision of technology for the district, create surveys, compile success stories and spearhead the charge for a new tech bond in the district. The idea has merit, but I’m not sure adding an administrator is what we need. That doesn’t solve the training problem and will end up telling us what we already know; teachers are ready to learn and use technology, they just need someone to work with them.

On the way to work, I had an idea that is a compromise to the ideas that were shared at this two-hour meeting. Since we cannot hire three people to act as full time Technology Integrationists, maybe we can take the positions we currently have and adjust what they do. I propose two part-time TIs and one fulltime Tech Czar.
I see two 0.5 positions of Tech Integrationists. They would be responsible for the following,

1:1 staff support – The TIs would go to schools and teach staff how to use the tools AND how to integrate them into their curriculum, departments, etc.

Larger group PD – The TI’s would be responsible for running larger PD sessions for buildings. These times would be checked out by administrators in advance.

Maintaining a blog – Each TI would be responsible for grade levels (K-6 and 7-12) and their blogs would focus on tools that are helpful to those areas.

Online Support – TI’s would create screencasts and videos on how to use specific tools so that teachers can learn on their time how to use everyday tools.

These are the big ideas to start. As the school year moves forward, there will be other ideas that will come up that could be added to their responsibilities, but since they are .5, we do not want to overload them with work because they still have class responsibilities as well. Also, it might be a good idea to have one .5 be set for AM and another set for PM. It would allow for a TI to be available all day.

The Tech Czar

One of the ideas that came out of the discussion was that we need someone to create the vision and take the steps that are needed to see it thought. I feel this person needs to be a teacher in the district. The TC will have 2 responsibilities. One of the responsibilities will be an extra TI. For .5 of the time, they will work in the buildings across grade level like the TIs do. The other .5 will be responsible for the following,

Work with 389 to establish a clear vision of tech today and for the years to come.

Work with the GPFE to provide them with information they need for fundraising.

Working with TIs to organize schedules.

Maintain a site that will be the “Home Base” for training videos and examples of what teachers are doing across the district.

Visiting other districts to see how they set up district wide support networks for staff.

Attending conferences to get the latest on training, staff development, hardware, software, best practices, etc.

Identifying current teachers in the district that are tech leaders and utilizing them to support teachers in their building.

Surveying staff across the district to get a specific idea of the training that is needed.

Focus on creating a network in the district that supports tech learning by using the experts in our district.

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The current model does not meet the needs of our district. Trying to solve a problem with a broken solution will not accomplish our goal. It is time to look at how we do things and try something different. Our committee said one of our goals is to become a leader in educational technology. I think that is an admirable goal, but to accomplish that, we have to be willing to do things we haven’t done before. Leaders lead by making tough decisions. Decisions need to be made if we truly want to move forward.

There are many teachers in the district that are doing great things and want to support others teachers, but need the support from the district.  However, if a system of support is not set up soon, these teachers are going to lose hope or move to other places that support innovation. If homegrown talent is not cultivated,  it could be lost to other districts. That would hurt the district more than anything else. Now is the time for action.

These views are strictly mine and not the views of my school, department or district. I’m just a teacher that is passionate about helping a school system realize its dream of being a leader in the educational community.

Have a warm and fuzzy day!

- @TheNerdyTeacher

My Dream Tech Plan

My Dream Tech Plan

I've been thinking about the way that schools deal with technology integration. I've spent time talking to teachers from all over the country to see how they use technology in their schools and how it is implemented. After these conversations are started to think about what might work best for teachers and students. I think I've come up with a pretty good plan to help districts ensure that teachers are receiving the support they need to instruct students and use these valuable pieces of technology they are purchasing and placing in classrooms.

This plan seems like it would work great in my district, but it might not be the exact fit for your district. Feel free to take these ideas and adjust them for your school system. Let me know if you do, because I would love to hear how it works. :-)

I've broken up the Technology Department into 4 levels. Each level has a very specific role. These job concern the implementation and support of new and existing technologies in a district. 

District Technology Director

This is the administrator of the Technology Department. It is important that this is the only job this person does. I have heard about other districts that lump this job in with others. The phrase, "Jack of all trades and master of none" comes to mind. Organizing the implementation of technology across the district is a full time job if it is expected to be done well. Attending conferences, visiting other districts using various tools, visiting schools and working with other members of the department will be time consuming. To ensure that the DTD can do a great job, technology needs to be the main focus.

The DTD should also work closely with the School Board, Superintendent and building Principals. Advising the Superintendent and the School Board on technology purchases and installation is necessary so all parts of a school district are on the same page. It is important for the DTD to be the expert when it comes to the various types of technology a district is considering. The DTD should also work closely with building Principals. Every building has different needs and its important to keep in contact with the Principals to see if there is anything building specific that might be needed.

The DTD will also work closely with 3 District Technology Coordinators.

District Technology Coordinators

District Technology Coordinators are teachers that will be assigned to 3 grade level groups. One will be assigned to K - 4, another will be assigned to 5 - 8 and the last one will be assigned to 9 - 12. It is very important that these teachers are currently teaching in the grade level groups they are assigned. Technology use by First Graders is very different from technology use by Sixth Graders and very different from technology use by Twelfth Graders. One person should not be in charge of helping other teachers in all grade levels. Again, the "Jack of All Trades" concept comes into play. Also, as current teachers, they will be able to help others by showing them example lesson plans.

The DTCs will focus on tech implementation and professional development for their grade level groups. They will each be in charge of a blog specific for their grade level group providing tech tips and tools. I currently run a blog for my school district and post every other week. I try to find all different levels of tools, games and lessons, but it is not easy. As a High School English teacher, I do not know what a 5th grade Math or Science teacher might need or use in the classroom. By having blogs dedicated to the 3 different grade level groups, teachers will know the updated blog will be something for their grade level. It makes sharing easier for teachers across the district.

The DTCs will also be responsible for working with Building Technology Coordinators.

Building Technology Coordinators

It is important that each building has a teacher that is responsible for coordinating the Professional Development for technology and provide tech support for teachers during the school year. The BTCs are crucial to this system. They are the ones that are going to work with teachers every day to help implement technology. These are the teachers that are going to have the greatest direct impact on technology integration in a school. Too often, professional development is a half day of sessions with little to no support for teachers after the day is over. We would never teach a student this way, so why teach teachers this way?

The BTCs will work closely with the DTC to provide them with tech tools that teachers are interested in and want to use in the building. BTCs will also coordinate PD with the BTCs to ensure that all building are on the same page. If possible, these teachers should have a technology period. This time would be set aside to all the BTC to help teachers with various technology questions. I was given a technology period during lunch. This way I could move my lunch so I could help various teachers during their lunch time. If that doesn't work, establishing "Tech Office Hours" before or after school would be another good way to support different teachers who might need extra help with various tools.

The BTCs will be responsible for bringing all of the teachers in the building up to speed on the different tech tools in the building. It is not an easy job and they should not be expected to have everyone on board by the end of the first school year, but they are key in moving a building, and a district, into the 21st Century.

Here is a diagram my 5 year-old nephew drew from me.

 

Actually, I drew it. While the art might not be super awesome, the pyramid shaped diagram shows the process of helping teachers and staff. There could be another step to this diagram. The teachers and staff would be responsible for making sure students become proficient in the new forms of technology that the district is integrating. 

Compensation 

One of the first things a district administrator might say is, "It's an amazing idea, but how do we pay for all of these teachers?" A teacher might say, "This is easily the best tech plan ever thought of, but how are teachers going to be compensated for their extra work?" Those are great questions. Below are my ideas for compensation. 

The District Technology Coordinators - Compensation equal to a club adviser or coach. This will be a time consuming job for a teacher and it is important to pay them for their time. 

Building Technology Coordinators  - I think these teachers could be compensated with pieces of technology that would help make their job easier. An iPad or Netbook would be a nice way to show that these BTCs are appreciated. They could also use these tools to connect with other teachers in the district to coordinate and collaborate.

Final Thoughts

This plan is something that might not work everywhere for many different reasons. The reason I am sharing this is that it might spark a flame within a tech director, superintendent or other teachers to think about their district's tech setup. Integrating new technology using the same model from the 80's or 90's is going to hurt the teachers. The focus should no longer be teaching teachers just about email or how to turn on their Dell. The focus needs to be on teaching teachers the tools they need to instruct more effectively and then have them teach the students so they are ready for the next step in their educational or professional life.

What do you think? What did I leave out? Let me know in the comment box!

- @TheNerdyTeacher