Apr 07 2009
What Tech People Really Do Well: Teaching Teachers and Students at the Same Time!
Ok…. perhaps my title post is a bit limited.
I should define my comments from the start to really be pointing at effective push-in educational specialists. This includes (but is not limited to) Tech, ESOL, Special Ed., Academic Support, Librarians, Counselors… ADMINISTRATORS, etc.
I have been around a while and seen some some great teacher specialists, and some not-so-effective teacher specialists. The good ones are easy to supervise and make a huge difference to a large number of students. The not-so-good ones are extremely difficult to supervise and manage as the job descriptions, no matter how well they are written, always seem to miss the point. Their job is teach everyone, not just the kids, and in fact, if they are doing it right thing, the most learning is being taken on by the teachers with whom they work. More importantly perhaps, is that they are models of learning for their colleagues, their school and the community. It is learning out loud!
What got me going on this post is The Thinking Stick Entry, Why every school needs a Kim Cofino.
Jeff Utecht writes:
Some times being in the educational technology business can be a thankless job. The phone call or the e-mail that is a panicked teacher that sends you sprinting down the hallway. We get to play the hero a lot of times….swooshing in to unmute a computer who’s audio is not working before a presentation or other times more complicated matters arise. Nobody ever complains when the Internet is working, when the e-mail chugs along or every student laptop connects to the wireless Internet flawlessly.
I have met Kim and she is great and yes, she is a wonderfully talented woman, but I think Jeff missed a great opportunity to point out that perhaps the most effective way to move educational change forward is to TARGET the instructional message WITH the instructional strategy delivered directly WITH the classroom teachers who will be incorporating the lessons and tech skills over and over again! Jeff….. YOU KNOW this is true! I have personally seen you do it.
The most interesting connection that this post made for me was in the book “Influencer“. David Maxwell and his colleagues have put together a great read if you don’t have this book. One of the wonderful lessons I learned from this reading was that humans are biologically programed to learn best by WATCHING and OBSERVING.
Hmmm… let’s see. We take a talented master teacher. We put them in a room with a talented and eager learner teacher. There are kids. There is a skill or concept to be learned. Mix together… embedded staff development! Long lasting change. A more effective school perhaps!
Note: Go to the Influencer Link and there is a self-assessment, a blog and 4 very compelling videos. There are lessons to be learned here in influencing and leading. The great part to me is that it is all based in common sense.
So… the shout out here is to the digital leaders of the world who convince the powers that be, that technology specialists (or ESOL, Library/Media, etc) are not really there to teach the kids, but instead there to teach themselves and their colleagues. If we recognize the leaders as part of the staff development effort, the progress made will be measured in different ways, and will perhaps drive those involved and those hired to target their work in new ways.
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Funny how you pick the one paragraph where I don’t talk about working side by side with teachers to teach them as well as the students. That paragraph was a shout out to all the Ed Tech people who not only do exactly what you describe above but do all the stuff that isn’t written in the job description. In fact I know that I’m not suppose to be the one that unmutes a computer, that fixes a projector, or take 10 minutes to figure out why the e-mail isn’t working. That’s not my job…but I do it anyway. All those little interactions lead up to an invite into the classroom…your one shot…to make an impact on that teacher to be invited back again.
Your point is spot on. Our job is not to do any of those things I describe…but they do take up about 40% of my time…they are the little things that keep the technology running day to day. They are the little things that the Tech Office and local staff don’t see as big things, but to teachers…in the middle of a lesson…they aren’t just big they’re HUGE!
Take the podcasts I talk about in that post that the 5th graders are now creating. I did a 1 hour session with the kids…and teacher…back in November. Kim has gone in helped the teachers create step by step procedures for creating a podcast and now…they do it on their own. In fact neither Kim nor I have been helping those teachers for almost two weeks now. We’ve done our job, we taught both kids and teachers and they are on their way.
That…that right there is our job. That’s what is in our job description moving teachers to be independent users of technology. That’s when we know we’ve done our job well and we move on to the next project, the next teacher, the next student.
I love your point about being there to “teach ourselves” I think that’s often overlooked in our jobs. As an example Dennis Harter just today had to teach himself how to create and upload a text file to youtube to make subtitles on a move. He had to teach himself before he could teach the French teacher to teach the kids how to do it as they are putting French subtitles on YouTube videos that they get permission for. A perfect example of what people in the jobs you mention above do everyday.
So I’ll second your shout out. To those Teachers of Teachers who are lucky enough to work in schools who have admin who understand what their job really is.
Good read fellas! I’ve passed this onto my principal and two ‘brand new’ Tech Facilitators hired internally. The role requires many hats, all important, without which things won’t work and people won’t trust you or the technology; the ‘people trust’ being more important than the technology’s. Thanks.
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Nice post! I agree and believe the goal of IT teachers should be to work themselves out of a job (so to speak). In other words, if you are doing your job well, teachers begin integrating technology on their own freeing you up to go from an instructional role to a supporting role. This ultimately benefits the ones that matter most-the students.
Mark,
Thanks for the comment!
I have heard the old “work themselves out of a job” comment before and have used it myself. As I more further down the road on this implementation process, I am beginning to realize that it is probably not accurate though. Ultimately, a strong integrator actually ends up making themselves indispensable by creating pathways and channels for collaboration and resource building.
Yeah, perhaps a bit of a tech cliche.
I would like to hear your thoughts on the most effective school model or system to creating those pathways and channels. For example, do you plan with teachers on a regular basis and team teach? How much integration is done in the classroom? Are teachers present for all technology classes you offer?
Mark,
I will endeavor to write about this later but… the key as I see it is strong, consistent curriculum documentation that can be relied upon. Let me give it a think and will write about this later.
Andy
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