A Time to Reflect

Week four of the #YourEduStory blog challenge brings a powerful reflection question from @MsVictoriaOlson:

"What is the best thing you do in your classroom/school/district/job?"

This is a great question for all educators to think about - whether you are a classroom teacher, a site admin or at the district office - the things you do each day make a difference in the lives of many children.  I have written about this a little in the past, feeling that my direct impact on students is not what it used to be when I was in the classroom.  In some ways I have less impact but in many other ways I have a much larger impact on many more students.

As for the best thing I do - I would have to say advocating for teachers within the technology department in my district.  As an EdTech Coordinator it is my job to keep what is best for teachers (and students) at the forefront of the decisions made in regard to our technology use and purchases.  This can get somewhat blurry at times because I may know what is ideal, but I also know the realities of budget and time constraints.  

Sure, I'd love to train every teacher in our district and help them use Google Docs in their classroom every week.  But can that be done?  That involves pulling teachers out of their classroom for training, setting a time to follow up, being in their room to help implement things if they want and making myself available for more help as they keep going.  And that doesn't even get in to the question of devices in their room - do they have any, can they get some, will they work when turned on, do the kids know how to use them, are the teachers comfortable letting the students use them, etc.

So I do what I can and work within the confines of what is currently available.  I work with a great educator - @adinasullivan - who is doing the same thing.  She is always working to find new and better ways to help the teachers in our district learn and use technology in their classroom.  We also have three TOSAs (teacher on special assignment) who are getting out in the classroom and showing teachers best practices and helping where they can each day.  So together we are working to shape the vision of technology in our district.

But with the grind of day to day work - meetings, more meetings and a meeting about the last meeting - sometimes that vision gets lost in the fray.  So I am thankful for this week's prompt to help me get back centered and focused on what I can do to help the teachers and students in my district.