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.
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