Big News ‘Round Here
For the first time in my life as a teacher, I will not be working as an elementary school music specialist when the next school year begins…
After a lot of deep thinking, I have accepted the offer to serve as an Instructional Technology Coach for School District 67 in Lake Forest, Illinois - the same school district which I have been working in for most of my career. Starting this fall, I will be working with directly with students and teachers at Cherokee and Sheridan elementary schools with the goal of integrating more technology into the curriculum.
As some of you may know, a few years ago I went back to graduate school and received by Master’s of Technology in Education degree from Lesley University. It was there that I caught the tech bug and became interested in the many exciting possibilities that technology integration brings to teaching and learning. And ever since, I have been lobbying for a teaching position in our district that would help teachers become more comfortable with, and more informed about, what all this technology stuff has to offer.
Since I received by degree in 2005, I have been finding ways, though only in my spare time, to help teachers find ways to use the tools of technology to create meaningful content with their students. This has come in the form of podcasts, websites, movies and cool tools like Flickr and Del.icio.us.
Our school district is very fortunate. We have a parent association that is dedicated to raising large sums of money in order to support our technology goals. And we have reached the point where we have all the technology stuff we really need (LCD projectors and document cameras in each classroom, multiple mobile wireless computer carts with 25 laptops, a technology lab, digital and video cameras, scanners, etc…). What our teachers need now is the time to explore these technologies along with some guidance to help them on their journey. The really good news came this Spring when our administration and board of education came through and supported the creation of three tech coach positions starting next school year.
Our district has chosen to go with the “tech coach” model to help our teachers and students. What this means is that instead of mandating that all teachers to go to tech training sessions, where maybe a few might come away with any excitement or insight, teachers who would like help developing projects can sign up for a time to meet with me. As partners, we will brainstorm on how we might bring the teacher’s idea to life. This may involve team teaching a lesson with the teacher, or finding some online resources to support an upcoming unit, or turning a book report or unit study into a podcast, or whatever… That’s the beauty of this approach. It is need driven.
Does that mean that some teachers will choose not to be involved? Yes, initially. But we (principals, administrators, tech coaches) will let them know that our goal is to have everyone involved somewhere in a three to five year span. Some teachers are overflowing with ideas and can’t wait to get started while some will undoubtedly sit back and see how all this works. And that’s okay for now. I am most confident that each and every teacher will see the light and eventually make the leap to a technology enhanced classroom.
So what does that mean for BestChildrensMusic.com? If I’m not teaching music anymore will I still have the same desire and need to pour through the stacks of CDs sent to us each month? This is definitely a valid question and concern - one that I will have to address in the near future.
And what about Chicago Parent magazine? Will I still continue to write my monthly review columns? This question is much easier to answer. Yes, I will continue to write for Chicago Parent.
So that’s about it from here for now…
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Photo Credit:
JetSetJim
http://flickr.com/photos/jetsetjim/400600654/
Wow Fred, that’s a big move! I know you and your students will really miss making music together. Good Luck on the new job and if you are even half as passionate about being a tech coach as you are about music I’m sure you will be fantastic.
↓ Quote | Posted August 2, 2007, 10:43 amThanks, Tricia!
↓ Quote | Posted August 2, 2007, 5:13 pmI’m pretty excited about the possibilities of the new job - but I am already bummed a bit knowing that there won’t be as much music making as last year.
I’ll keep you posted.