Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Cracks in the Walls

I'm a teacher facing walls. I want to help my staff (and myself) use the technology we have in our school to help our students in their learning. But the walls I'm facing feel overwhelming. My staff (as a whole) haven't expressed any interest in collaborating with me on computer use in the classroom. The IT specialists in the district are too busy dealing with system problems through all the schools to help individual teachers like me. And my administrator, although supportive in language, is lacking in knowledge to be of any real help.

But there are some cracks in these walls, and I intend to capitalize on those. Although most staff have brushed me off in my attempts to engage them in this conversation, a few teachers have asked me for help. For example, BJ was frustrated that when her students were on a website, they were constantly clicking outside of it. I showed her the real quick and simple F11 key trick, which hides the bar and makes the website fill the screen. She was so appreciative of this simple solution and it has meant that her students are more fully able to use the learning websites their teacher had picked for them.



So what do I do? Where do I go from here?

Some ideas I have include being open about websites I'm using with my students. Knowing that some teachers are frightened of the initial student experimentation with the computers, I'm going to offer to lead their class during this time.

But do you have some ideas? What has worked for you in your school?

Here's a blog I've found from someone who's a technology coordinator at her school:
http://cougarramblings@blogspot.com

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