Teaching With Technology in APS

I am an instructional technology coach, with the key word there being instructional.  I can help make otherwise boring and direct teaching lessons come alive through the use of various instructional technology tools which include, but aren’t limited to: interactive white boards, digital visualizers, laptop computers, LCD projectors, personal response devices, and web-based resources that we have district licenses for as well as the many that are available free of charge.  To people that don’t “get it”, I tell them I train teachers to use technology in their classrooms; for people that “get it”, I tell them I help teachers make classroom and school 2.0 possibilities a reality in their classrooms.

A colleague and I recently walked into an elementary school classroom and the kids asked, “Who are they?”  The teacher, without hesitation, responded, “They are the people who fix things!”  I can’t get a, “They’re here  to help make the Promethean board work better” or “They’re here to help maximize the powerful potential of instructional technology”?!?  That’s really all we are to some teachers and buildings, people who fix things.  Someday this will change, but until then, I’ll just need to hang on for the ride.  I guess, kind of like the potential with the use of all these great learning tools, it’s going to take a little while for people to realize that our department can do plenty more than just “fix things.”

Until they realize that, I’ll just fix things, and darn well.  Welcome to my world…