Baby Steps

So today, after another conversation with my prof, I think I may, just may, have a grasp on what I'm to do. As you can tell, if you've read my earlier posts, I'm feeling like there's too much information out there and it's overwhelming. I don't like doing anything halfway, and thought that I needed to incorporate everything that was "out there" into my teaching practice. But tonight, some thoughts emerged...
1. baby steps... don't try to find everything out there on my topic of interest, in this case technology coordinator leadership. Rather, I need to take small steps and only do as much as I can handle. So maybe I start with just following and contributing to one or two blogs of people I enjoy following, such as my small group of fellow students or one or two tech teachers' blogs. Okay, I can do that...I am doing that. Really, that's okay?? And he said "Yes." Whew! I don't have to be super tech teacher...yet!
2. Relationships...Building a netvibes page and following blogs is not all about what I can learn about technology or education; rather it's developing relationships with people from around the world. This, in itself, is transformational. It's not about me, it's about us.
3. Community...Tom mentioned the gulf oil spill. As individuals, there's nothing we can do, but as a collective community, we can make a difference. I want to be part of that community, so I will build the relationships, take baby steps, and see what we as a community of people can do to change our world. I can't change everything, but if enough of us start reducing our dependence on oil, maybe we can slow down the advance of oil exploration in sensitive habitats... And in teaching, together we as educators, can influence our students, our politicians, our world, to make it a kinder, gentler nation.

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