During ITEC 7460 I learned a great deal about who I am as a teacher and as a coach. Helping others comes naturally to me, but the requirements of this course challenged me in new and exciting ways. I learned how social networks and preconceived ideas can negatively and positively impact the attainment of my goals as an instructional coach. We were tasked to provide coaching sessions with someone in my school and I was paired with an experienced teacher who, based on the results of the adopter survey created by my PSC, is an early adopter who is willing and open to learning about new technologies. Even though she is new to the virtual environment, she is an experienced teacher. I learned from our readings that I need to always make sure that Mrs. A knows that I view her as a collaborator and peer. Because the foundation of our rapport is based on mutual respect, when she became frustrated while struggling to complete a newly mandated task, we were able to discuss the problem, step away from it, and return to it later with new vigor.
The task of creating a technology workshop was outside of my comfort zone. While I excel when working one-on-one with peers, I often become nervous when presenting to a group of my peers. After seeking guidance from the department chair about topics to present in the workshop, I was told so present on live streaming. This is a topic that I knew very little about. One of the career newsletters I read stated that a person should never lead a presentation on a topic that they know little or nothing about. My dilemma meant that I needed to become very knowledgeable about my new task very quickly, while simultaneously overcoming my nerves. Knowledge is power. Armed with my new-found knowledge about live streaming in Adobe Connect, I was able to align the selected topic with purpose. I decided to align the livestreaming topic with creating equity and increasing access at our school. Not only did it inspire me to do my best, because I was passionate about the reason for the workshop, I wasn’t nervous and my passion transferred over to my co-workers. They were all excited about the purpose for the workshop and they all agreed to put the technology they learned in to action. Knowing that my co-workers are also my collaborators helped me grow from their constructive criticism and meet their needs in the best way possible. During and after the workshop, we were able to have a positive dialogue about how we could grow the workshop forward and create an ongoing project. Professional Learning and Technological Innovation has enabled me to become effective influencer or change agent at my school and a more reflective collaborative partner with my peers.
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As my first class in the ITEC program, ITEC 7400 immediately challenged my preconceived ideas about what made a good project. Projects that I implemented in the past and proudly discussed with my co-workers were suddenly below par when evaluated against indicators of engaged learning. As a teacher who has always infused technology in my instruction and with student activities, I learned with chagrin that including some technology was not enough when trying to attain a LoTi of 5 or the ever illusive 6. Thank goodness for the numerous examples of technology integration in the Roblyer text which gave me new ideas and reasons for including technology in my activities. Also immeasurably helpful was both the feedback on my evaluations of project examples of LoTi by Dr. Williamson and the collaborative constructive spirit of my group mates in the discussions.
As I used the "sniff" test and researched resources to help my peers increase the Indicator s of Engaged Learning and LoTi with their Engaged Learning projects, I inevitably recognized the shortcomings in my own Engaged Learning project. The 21st Century Teaching and Learning has changed my thought processes about what it means to truly engage my students with authentic assignments and recognize their ability to direct their own learning in a positive and productive manner. Even though my students are in a virtual setting, I was challenged by this course to think about cultural responsiveness, ELL and ESL in ways that I had not even crossed my mind in my virtual setting. I realized that I had short changed myself and my students in not realizing that my virtual setting was not a limiter in interaction with my students. It was just a challenge to overcome. I learned, from this class, that with collaboration and expert advice, I will continue to become a better teacher and coach just as my students will become better learners and participants in our 21st century global society. |
E. DrakeVirtual School Educator, ITEC Ed.S. Candidate Archives
May 2019
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