Another week, another batch of ruffled feathers....

It is interesting to be in the position of interacting with all of the teachers. I'm used to monthly meetings with my department, chatting in passing or during preps about trials, tribulations, testimonies, etc.

Now I'm on the outside. I still have my departmental pals but I'm an observer. Some appear to be jealous of the attention and , face it, the power that comes with the coaching job. Some are distant, as if they're waiting to be criticized ("What?!? You don't know what URL stands for?!?"). Others are dismissive, disdainful, appearing to think that I couldn't possibly be working as hard as they are since I no longer have students. A few, a vocal few, are thankful to have me in this position and it goes a LONG way toward making my job more enjoyable. This is STILL teaching; I'm just teaching some older kids, that's all....

This job is an action research spiral...as soon as I start moving forward, the same old questions, concerns, needs pull me back. I'm very thankful to have a tech liaison full time; it would be absolutely impossible to get anything done without his support. I added 'curriculum' to my card because I wanted them to stop asking me to hook up printers. However, I'm beginning to see that hooking up printers, if that is what is most important to them at the time, shouldn't be 'below' me, whatever I choose as my title. It's their current need and THEY won't be able to move forward and be receptive to new curriculum which embraces technology unless those needs are met.

I Miss the Kids

While I do enjoy getting to wallow in technology, I miss having students. Yes, I know that the teachers are my students but it's not the same. It's easier to deal with them one on one but in a group....oy vey! Yesterday's staff development was a fine example. There some of them were, exhibiting all the worst habits of the students they complain about. Next week I'll think it's hilarious but right now the frustration is still too close.  I was curt with some of them but that's because that wasn't the time to get bogged down in what they wanted addressed at that particular moment in time.

In trying to create greater accountability at the school for our inventory and supplies, I'm treading on toes of those who like the way that things have been and don't feel the need to change (or just can't be bothered, perhaps). By asking them to be responsible and not allow students on computers that the teachers have logged on to, they feel I'm cramping their style. I could go on (bitterly) about that but I won't. Bottom line, you're an adult and you're here to teach and mentor, not to be 'liked.'

Ironically enough, I'm gaining a greater respect for 'the chain of command.' On Wednesday, a teacher tried to circumvent it in order to place a (false) complaint against my tech liaison. TL is a quiet fellow who is very knowledgeable about tech. He is extremely helpful, a hard worker as well as a proactive one. He is over-qualified for this position which is why I have mentally prepared myself for the day when he'll take another position. TL's already being courted by the district's tech services. Back to the complaint. The teacher's sense of self was offended when it was perceived that TL was being unhelpful. A call was then placed to the district office to lodge a 'formal complaint.' I was at the district office that day and walked in soon after she had called. Thankfully, the help desk had told her that this wasn't the venue for her complaint and to take it up with her administrator. I was also able to disabuse tech support of any false notion that TL was a problem. As soon as Miss High-and-Mighty makes it back to campus herself (oops- gave away the gender after having tried so hard for so long to keep it neutral).....let's just say that I'm going to straighten her out about the chain of command. Since it will be one on one, I'll be able to do the 'straightening' a little more diplomatically than I was able to do in yesterday's staff development. Funny, when I think back on yesterday, it was mainly from one department......perhaps I need to sit in on one of their meetings.

I'm seeing that if you really want to get something going in this position, at least 2-3 years of funding needs to be appropriated for it. At a school with high teacher turnover, you would want to get it going indefinitely because there will always be a rather significant crop of educators who need to be brought up to speed. The first year is a foundation year, a building year. You have to set up the infrastructure, evaluate the school's and teachers' needs before you can get to what the students need. You have to make sure that you have the supplies and support to start tackling it. Depending upon what has been established prior to that beginning, it could take a whole year before you've got the time to 'indulge' in what I think the beauty of this position is: creating curriculum.

End of Week 8....

I find that I'm falling into the same online pit at school that I tend to 'inhabit' at home- too much information duplicated in too many places. Communication that is succinct and useful is of vital importance to me. I created a Moodle page where I could store easy links to resources. Each week I've sent my staff an email with tips and updates that I think can be valuable. So I've started adding that information to the Moodle page. Then I thought I'd add it to my webpage as well. So I have the same information in 3 different places online and still I'm answering some of the same questions over and over. It's a little frustrating at times but it's funny too. We teachers are human beings and often display the same weaknesses and are guilty of the same trespasses as their students.

On the bright side, I am pleased in the interest of folks who are not so tech-savvy to include computers in their instruction. I have an appointment in a week to help a science teacher explore virtual labs.

My brain hurts...

...I'm trying so hard to keep track of anything. Desktops, printers, laptops, tablets, bays, presentation stations, Elmos, etc. I feel a great responsibility to 'get it all right' and I'm taking it quite seriously. My worry is that I'll overlook something (hey, I'm married to an auditor- I know how important details and numbers are).  

This new position has led to some insights as to my personality; I'm a rather ____ person. Difficiult to fill in the blank- am I ambitious, competitive, responsible, obnoxious, overbearing, helpful? A mix of it all, I suppose. After years of bossing kids around, I'm now in the position of trying to direct my peers and it's a little uncomfortable at times. There's also a little too much 'cave' time.  I miss the lively interaction of the classroom. Thank goodness for my student club which brought a little life into my office at lunch today!

Pluses this week so far are igniting a few folks' interest in using new and different technologies. It's time to start playing with my fake Moodle class and look at creating quizzes. I've heard that I can export the quizzes I'd stored in Quia to Moodle. Demonstrated the document camera for a teacher who loved her overhead projector. Needless to say, she has since transferred her affections to (TickleMe)Elmo.

Another perk to this job is being invited to attend conferences. I'll be at the Innovative Learning Conference in San Jose next week. I'm looking forward to using the time to get my thoughts in order. 

And away we go!

It's been suggested that I use my experiences (going boldly where no one has gone before) as a high school tech coach for my culminating project in the iMET program. So I decided to start a blog to keep a record of my thoughts and experiences.

We just finished up the seventh week of school and I'm happy to say that three quarters of my teachers have their webpages up. The ten 'holdouts' include 3 teachers who are retiring at mid-year, two new hires, two ROP, two Luddites, and one who can't find the little box to click even though I sent three emails. I'll get most of them on board yet.

In a way, I feel as if I've been so bogged down with inventory, management and maintenance that I haven't really gotten into the role that I want to play: technology CURRICULUM coach. However, to be fair, I need a little distance is necessary to look at what has already been accomplished so far- the webpages that allow for communication and accountability. We also have 7 COWs available to the teachers.  There were only two last year and they tended NOT to include a full class set. There were a lot of maintenance difficulties. For example, when I was doing a digital storytelling project last winter, I only had 15 computers to use for a class of 34 students. It took almost 3 months before we had a full class set again. Thankfully, this year we have a full-time tech liaison, Ron Neubauer, who is keeps our equipment up and running.

Right now, laying a proper foundation is the most important part of my job. I'm shocked to think of how long we've worked without one and am thankful that we haven't 'lost' more equipment than we have in the absence of a comprehensive inventory. Baby steps....I'll get to create curriculum soon.