While the “rounds” to the teams continued, my partner and I began to work behind the scenes on a Technology Resource Folder. We shared this folder with the teachers about a month into the school year. This resource is full of screencasts, instructions and information about Apps, Websites, Haiku and Google. Within each folder there are several subfolders with set-up instructions and ideas. This folder also explains our role as Ed Techs along with a flow chart of what our job is and isn’t. This folder will continue to grow and we have asked the teachers to turn to it when they are looking for something new.
The idea of the Technology Resource Folder stems from what I experienced last year. A similar folder was shared with teachers during my first year of implementation. I found it extremely helpful. As a teacher, it did take a few months to start searching through it but once I knew it was there, I found myself popping in and out of it daily. This was definitely a resource I knew that needed to continue at the middle school level.
Moving forward we plan to add “focus” folders. The idea of focus folders/topics/goals (still trying to figure out the best wording) came to me while at ISTE. I feel it is important to give teachers tools and resources, but more so a focus of what to do with those tools and resources. Focus goals allow for the “bigger picture” of technology to happen. Giving a teacher a goal, accompanied with several tools that can help reach that goal, will only expedite the ultimate plan of technology enhancing instruction. It is not about the technology, it is about what we do with it. Good teachers don’t need technology, technology needs good teachers!
The focus topics that were part of my “ISTE ahha moment” were: collaboration, exploration, global, assessment, differentiation, classroom management and study tools. As you continue to read through this blog, you will watch these focus topics grow and come to life.