NEW ORLEANS - ISTE chose the perfect location for #ISTELive 2022. During my undergraduate program at Indiana University, my Computer Education License program aligned very closely with and sparked my passion for learning more about ISTE. Flash forward a few years, I land my dream job as an Instructional Technology Coordinator at a middle school in Colorado. However, now I need to redevelop and relearn some of the newly evolved tools to best support my teachers.
I couldn't decide if I wanted to share tips from a first time #ISTELive goer or my takeaways, so I've decided to share a little bit of both. However, this blog is going to start us be focused around the 6 most important #ISTELive 2022 takeaways (based on the sessions I attended, posters I listened to, and people I connected with)
1. Connect with anyone and everyone.
Nothing is more important than making connections. Why? To keep in touch with peers in similar roles, learn and support problem solving through similar issues, share awesome ideas, and maybe even collaborate with down the road! I met a few friends at the hotel, a future ed tech coach in Ohio and a current ed tech coach who will be opening a K-2 STEM school in Texas, and although we all came to New Orleans with different backgrounds and different goals, we fan-girled over new ideas and perspectives as we reflected at the end of each looooooooong day.
Aside from the more personal connections I made, I realized the power of Twitter and Podcasts. Are you like me and used Twitter during middle/high school, then transitioned over to Instagram and now TikTok, forgetting the power of Tweeting?! I was able to connect with so many more #edtech individuals, hear about sessions I missed, or even decided to attend last minute during a break! Here are a few connections I made this past weekend that I recommend:
Easy EdTech Podcast with Monica Burns - all educators!
Katherine Goyett - all educators!
Adam Juarez - all educators!
Restart Recharge Podcast - ed tech coaches
Dr. Ashley McBride - ed tech coaches
2. Walk around classrooms, be present.
If you're a leader in a building, you should be walking. Walk around the halls and be present. Relieve teachers for bathroom breaks, then stay awhile. Intentionally forget a coffee mug (which if you know me, ends up being unintentional and often) so you can return to classrooms and maybe leave a fun sticky note with an idea to try (maybe turn the exit ticket into a quick Mentimeter poll). Another reason to walk around is to have resistant teachers realize you want to help, not add pressure.
Leave a post it for feedback
Relieve teachers for a bathroom break
"Borrow" the class and teach a mini tech tip/tool
3. Personalize professional development.
Unlike a pair of socks, or the pants shared around the world, one professional development approach does not fit all teachers. One teacher might prefer a one-on-one tutorial being hand held along the way, while another teacher prefers an hour of tinkering and asking questions. As coaches, we need to personalize our professional development opportunities to most effective help teachers comfortably enhance their instruction. Here are just a few ideas:
One-on-one in their classroom
Suggesting a podcast for their commute
Offering Tech Tuesday drop-ins ("bite-sized, micro-lessons")
4. Offer feedback as a suggestion, not a pressure.
Teachers have enough pressure when another adult enters their classroom. Am I being observed? I hope these kids see her, too, and are on their best behavior. This slide deck better not freeze. Wifi, don't you go out on me now. Many teachers second guess their abilities and become flustered when they feel they're being observed. Therefore, we don't want the pressure of observing, or simply being in a classroom, to scare or inhibit teachers from wanting to explore tech advances to enhance their instruction.
Once you get in the classroom, remember you're not their evaluator. The feedback you provide should be viewed as suggestions. If you see a teacher who uses Google Slides but could benefit by using the interactive PearDeck add-on, leave a sticky notes suggestion and remind the teacher you'd love for them reach out if they want one-on-one support or have follow-up questions or would like to brainstorm ideas for a different idea.
5. Create a tech team.
There's no I in team or technology! Therefore, I can't wait to create a tech team at my school this upcoming school year. My plan is to put in a request for 45 minutes during Teacher Work Week to refresh, review, and share about all things #edtech! During this all-staff PD, I hope to pitch a tech team to my colleagues with the intent to receive some buy-in and interest.
Goal: Create a technology team consisting of various stakeholders (teachers, students, school leaders, school support staff) to help fulfill our school's technology goals throughout the school year
6. Celebrate and shoutout!
Last, but not least, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of celebrating your teachers. Every session and poster presentation I attended shared the same insight. Providing model teachers not only instills confidence in those teachers, but can inspire teachers who also look up to those educators (or even shouting-out the veteran teacher who is anti-everything) can be very powerful to getting teachers to buy-in and take the risk with an ed tech coach.
To start off the celebrating and shoutouts...
Shoutout to my mentor (previous Instructional Technology Coordinator) for teaching me everything I know, all things middle school tech. Thank you so much for helping me build the confidence and develop the toolbox to continue supporting our school.
Shoutout to my school's social studies department for finding Flowcabulary and utilizing it in their classroom to enhance their instruction and student engagement!
Shoutout to the teacher who used Swivl to record himself teaching, reflected on his experience, and shared it with his evaluator with the consideration of his evaluator's time
Shoutout to the teacher who used Discovery Education to take their instruction beyond the walls of their classroom!
Shoutout to the admin who spent hours tinkering with Google Sheets to create a spreadsheet, for each grade level, to record and identify student needs for intervention and extension opportunities.
And, finally, congrats to all educators on a difficult past few years, but remember how incredible and strong we are to have persevered through it all. Go team!
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