Mr. Bass

The last few days of my summer break were spent scraping, sanding and prepping some Adirondack chairs that I built a number of years ago so that I could paint them before we get into the fall and winter seasons. Yesterday I started to cover up the primed wood with the bright white paint and the difference was remarkable. The faded, peeled wood became clean, bright and brought back my pride in making them myself.

Today was the first day of school in our district and as I walked through the halls of one of our elementary schools with the new paint, waxed floors and excited voices, for some reason I thought back to the chairs that I had just put a fresh coat of paint on. Everything seemed very new, clean and bright. Smartboards had been installed over the summer, new equipment ordered over the summer has been released from blister packs and the projects planned for last spring is starting to become a reality. It’s all very exciting.

While the excitement continues to build, I’ve started struggling with ways to systematically figure out how to help teachers continue to move forward with their integration and teaching strategies as well as identify leaders in technology use in each of the buildings I work with. I hope to give them what they need to help their students be successful in the various curricular areas. This is not the first time I’ve thought about this, but I can’t say that I’m all that closer to an answer or a process. I am, however, glad to get started with a new year and looking forward to the possibilities that it will provide. Meanwhile, my chairs need one more coat before I take them out to brave the elements once again.

Jim Klein is talking about Social Networking using Open Source software.  Didn’t realize that he was going to talk about Elgg.  I installed Elgg to use with my students about 3 years ago.  When I used it with students it was a really good experience for my students.  The part I liked best was the Access Restriction selection project so that they could decide who could see a post.  If you’re interested in social networking with students, I encourage you to look into Elgg.  If you’d like to take a look, you can use James Klein’s demo site at http://demo.saugususd.org.

I found this on David Warlick’s site.  Rather than sending emails out to everyone, after I sent emails to my congress people this is the email message that would have been sent to everyone.  Go to the the Ed Tech Action Network website to send it out to your congressional representatives.

Did you know that the Bush Administration is intent on eliminating education technology funding?  I find it so surprising that elected officials would want to do such a thing when we’re at a critical place as a Nation in terms of how we match up with others in a global economy.  I personally don’t want to see our country fall behind when it comes to technology and innovation in the classroom – America needs to stay competitive!  That’s why I went to www.EdTechActionNetwork.org to send a letter to my Members of Congress. It was really easy – just one click and I made my voice heard! I encourage you to do the same and join me to spread the word!

Thanks for helping to make education better in our country.  If you are at NECC, there is an advocacy booth that provides computers for you to complete the form.

I started looking at the possibility of attending NECC last year and started bugging my boss about it probably 2 days into my new job.  Needless to say that as it gets nearer I’m getting more excited about the possibilities of the conference.  The networking opportunities… the sessions… the keynotes… San Antonio… all of it is very exciting for me.  I haven’t been blogging much since I started in earnest with Twitter (not that I was a regular blogger anyway), but as I look at the NECC program, maybe my role in this whole Ed Tech world is not that of the blogger. It’s not that I don’t feel as though I have things to contribute, but when I think of something that I want to write about, I struggle with actually sitting down and doing it.

I digress… to those of you that will be in San Antonio, I wish you safe travels.  To those of you unable to go, there will be plenty of coverage by many.  I may be one, I may not… but the conversations that are had there will be well worth the trip.

On Tuesday night I received a phone call from a friend’s father asking if I could come over and take a look at his computer; it wasn’t booting up right and he didn’t know what to do at this point. He’s a very nice man and has asked me for help on occasion because he’s unsure when it comes to working with his computer. Here’s the thing, he really wants to know and understand what happened, explaining all the possibilities are mind boggling and becomes a little overwhelming for him. Turns out he got a virus from somewhere, somehow. It’s not terribly malicious, but it’s certainly not going away without some major time. The good news, he has everything backed up and, after hearing a variety of solutions, has decided that he just wants a clean start so we’ll be reinstalling Windows this weekend.

Here’s the point of all of this, he was going to take his computer in to a service shop but he doesn’t trust them. He doesn’t mind paying for the service (I, however, won’t charge him for my help) but he’s heard about shops taking information off of computers and charging exorbitant amounts for a simple fix. I feel for him and the thousands of people who take their computers into the big box stores because something doesn’t work right. They need their computer to work and, if they don’t know what’s wrong, can fall victim to this kind of extortion or, in some cases, down right laziness on the part of the tech who simply wipes their hard drive. Yes there’s a business there, but at the same time. $50 to install a stick of RAM is out of line.

The average person doesn’t necessarily need to know about how to troubleshoot a problem, but I do think that a basic knowledge is important in our technological age. I think this is especially true of teachers who need their computers in their classrooms. In my previous district it would take approximately 5-8 days for the tech to get there to fix a problem. How can that teacher be expected to use technology on a regular basis? The answer, of course, is that they can’t.

Do we need to help teachers learn how to troubleshoot? To a certain extent, I think we do. I’d love to teach myself out of a job, but I don’t see that as a reality any time soon.

Today I worked with a middle school teacher who was “referred” to me to help her integrate a SmartBoard into her classroom.  She was new to the technology and was interested in learning, but had some considerable reservations about where to start and how to go about using the technology effectively.  We spent about 45 minutes talking through the software and brainstorming ideas for her lessons and when I left she had high hopes for using the technology with her classes.

While 45 minutes is not a long time to really exact change on a teaching strategy, it did get her thinking about the next steps.  She had no idea how to use the software though.  I didn’t even know that she had recently gotten a SmartBoard for her classroom otherwise I would have reached out to her and scheduled a time to help her understand the possibilities that exist there.   While I don’t believe that this is a unique position for a teacher to be in, it concerns me because in this instance, she just didn’t know the tools or understand the possibilities.  Sure we provide trainings, but I can only be so many places at once.  I guess it makes me wonder how many teachers are falling through the cracks when it comes to the supporting and meeting their needs when new equipment is brought forth.  For how many teachers is it simply that they don’t know the possibilities and don’t know what questions to ask?  As a Technology Integration Specialist, how can I find and reach out to those teachers who want to work towards integration, but don’t know where to start?  Yes, there are many answers, but for me, every answer just brings up more questions.

Just before Thanksgiving I attended the NCTE Annual Convention in New York City and enjoyed myself thoroughly. I was able to spend time with my friends Greg, Michael and Louann and met many other amazing people. I saw Angie and JoAnne, colleagues from my previous district and sat down for a drink with my new colleague Melissa and my new friend Carol, I mean Deb. I also got to see a little more about the inner workings of the NCTE board. Overall it was a great trip.

A few days ago Greg VanNest posted his quarterly blog entry in which he outlined some goals for himself for the upcoming year. He did the same thing last year and, I believe, completed each of his goals. After reading his blog entry, I began to think back over my time at the convention prompting this post.

One of the most interesting things about the convention was the fact that I was looking at it and experiencing it through a different lens. The biggest difference is that, technically, I’m not an English teacher. Sure, I’ll always be an English teacher, but my focus has moved to professional development and helping teachers use technology in the classroom. I’m not saying that I didn’t take away some ideas or that I didn’t enjoy being immersed in the English teacher culture again, but it was definitely a different experience.

Now for a little rant… I’ve been attending this conference for the last 4 years and I’ve seen, essentially, the same presentations for the last 4 years. I have been leaning towards the technology sessions and trying to see what others are doing with their classes, but so many are just teachers doing a web 2.0 101 presentation in which they explain what blogs, wikis and podcasts are. I know that this has a place in conferences and that there are still a lot of people that don’t know where to find these technologies. I also understand that many teachers haven’t been exposed to this yet, but I’d like to see a little more than, “This is a blog. This is a wiki.” How about some relevance as to how it works in a classroom and how someone might use a blog or wiki in their class? I think it’s time for us to move beyond the basic “click here” training and create relevance. I don’t think that it’s enough to show what you’ve done in your classroom. Why was that technology the best tool for a particular project? What kinds of objectives does this meet?

Maybe I’m just being cranky, but I see that same problem with a lot of the professional development that goes on in k-12 schools. In my position I do a lot of “click here” training to show people how to use a program. However, I’m a little dismayed that there isn’t more reasoning behind the instruction. I try to add that in, but I also have a curriculum to follow so that all who take that class have a common experience. Therein lies my struggle, yes I want to help teachers explore the technology and I want to teach them how to use it. However, there are all kinds of online tutorials that will show them where to click. Obviously there is something about face to face instruction that appeals to many. I’d just like to see those of us who facilitate development activities (whether at a conference or in a “training” session) to give participants something more than they would get from an online, how-to video. I may be over generalizing, but I think that it’s a question that needs to be asked.

This is my first blog post from my phone. I’m waiting for my plane to NYC and thought this would be a good experiment. It’s slow,but could absolutely see the benefits. For me, my phone will not replace my computer, but I LOVE having the Internet in my pocket.

I just finifhed reading Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. There’s a lot in his book that holds true for me as I work with teachers. I had a conversation with a teacher recently after a class that I held. Really what I do now is help teachers with instruction, my tool just happens to be technology. Sure, I still do a lot of “click here” instruction, but I’m still trying to influence instruction and help kids learn and succeed.

It’s an interesting position to be in and a little bit of my struggle with my new role.

Anyway, if off to NCTE. Got a flight to catch.

I wrote about this project before and it’s still going strong.

Folding at Home recognized

Since August I’ve been in the one high school in our district every day. I have a desk, a phone, a chair and a routine. Starting Monday, that will all change. The Technology Integration Specialists are being set free. We each have our own schools to support and will start moving into them to help teachers.

While this is an exciting prospect, I will once again be “making my way” in a new building. I’ll still be in the high school on a regular basis through December, but it just won’t be on a daily basis.

I’ve been struggling with my new role as a professional development person with technology as opposed to a classroom teacher. There is a distinction between the two and I’m trying to come to grips with how to change my thought process so that I’m the coach rather than the teacher. I’ve enjoyed moving from the classroom, but I’m not yet sure what my “path” will be as the year continues whizzing by.