1st Month
You may have read my blog post about Toggl. Toggl is a great time tracking tool that you can and should use to track where you are spending your time. You can then use this as a self-reflection tool to see if you are aligned to the vision of your district, school, or your own goals. I have been using Toggl since I started the school year coaching teachers with integrating technology into their curriculum. It has been 3 months since I started and I have been so busy, that I have not had time to reflect on where I was spending my time. I thought now would be a good time to start looking at the data. To be completely transparent, I am going to share with you what each month has looked like in terms of where my time was spent. I am doing this so that you can get a sense of what your role as a 1st year ed tech may look like (or may not), and to get feedback from other experienced ed tech coaches. 1st Month 2nd Month 3rd Month I have already started to process the data from these graphs, but I would love to get insight from other ed tech coaches. Please comment and let me know what you think about where my time was spent and where to focus my time in future months.
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You may have read my blog posts about attending the ISTE 2014 Conference and the ICE Conference. While those conferences did provide me with a lot of information and value, this past weekend I had an opportunity to attend EdCamp Chicago and my view of conferences will never be the same.
If you have never been to an EdCamp before let me explain what it is. EdCamps are considered unconferences. In other words, about 425 educators, edtechs, and administrators all got together this past Saturday afternoon with no planned agenda. There were no keynote speakers, and no one had to propose a session prior to the event. At the start of the day, everyone gathered in the auditorium and then people were invited to come forward to propose sessions on the spot. No one had to be an expert in the topic, but only curious about it and have a willingness to share and learn. The sessions take on a discussion forum/roundtable/dialogue type format under the premise that "the smartest person in the room, is the room" everyone has something to share and bring to the table. What is so great about this format, is that you can hear from everyone about their experiences and get their knowledge about the topic. You are also free to share your own knowledge and pose questions to the group. You are also ENCOURAGED to "vote with your feet" or "go where you grow." in other words, if you attend a session that is not valuable to you, you are free to get up and find another session that you might find more value in. No one will hold it against you that you left. I left one session, but that was because the discussion just ended up dying out. Organization of the event was accomplished using shared Google Documents. One document contained the sessions, times, and rooms. Each session also had a shared Google Doc that was used to share notes, attendees' names, and Twitter handles in case you wanted to connect with others after the session ended. Each session was about an hour long and there were 4 different time slots throughout the day. I went into the conference hoping to just soak up some PD, but found myself adding a lot to the discussion and offering advice, feedback, and suggestions. I even proposed a session on 1:1 Chromebooks in the Classroom. A lot of great information was shared on classroom management and management of the devices. I am looking forward to the next EdCamp and encourage you to find one near you OR if there are none near you, start your own. It is a great experience! |
AuthorHello. My name is Chris Skrzypchak. I am currently a Teacher on Special Assignment in Instructional Technology, overseeing a K-12 district in the Chicago suburbs. Prior to becoming a TOSA, I was a Technology Integration Specialist, and taught middle school Computers for 9 years. Prior to working in education, I worked in educational software sales for 8 years before returning to school to get my Masters in Secondary Education. In total, I have over 20 years of experience in Educational Technology. Archives
August 2015
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