The Process
At the beginning of this whole process, I found it difficult to figure out what problem from my school could be resolved through the use of technology. My school is seriously dealing with a lot of problems that we had never really dealt with before since I started there ten years ago. To focus on trying to solve just one with technology, seemed unreasonable. How can I focus on just one and ignore the rest? Therefore, I decided to try to focus on one that would also tackle multiple problems, which is why I decided to focus on the Smartpass. I felt that starting there, it could eventually lead into helping with the ditching, loitering, and the group gatherings in the bathrooms.
Fortunately for myself, I began this process with high hopes. This year we began with a complete turnaround administrative team. At the beginning, this new administration expressed their desire to turn things around and truly try to tackle the problems we were facing. This is because the new Principal used to be a coaching teacher at the school before all of the previous administration left so she was aware of the problems but just did not have enough support to really do something about it. The previous administrators seemed to simply ignore the problems and really would do nothing about it even though we desperately reached out for their support. Therefore, I knew I would have their support on this process, which I thankfully did. They willingly met with me on multiple occasions and provided me with any support that I needed to continue moving forward for this new proposal.
The Challenges
Throughout the whole process, I didn’t really run into any challenge. However, when I got to the last step, which was the feedback, I realized that not every teacher was really thrilled about it. Most of their feedback was that they just didn’t like that it would affect instructional time. Trying to sell the benefits over the inconveniences is what is going to have to be important with those specific teachers, however, I believe that through piloting it with some teachers and realizing how those disruptions are minimal and the benefits are greatly, it will be easier for them to change their mind. If not all teachers are bought in, another challenge would definitely be weakening the support we are trying to implement to reduce these problems that we are experiencing.
The Positives
I truly believe that this could be a good start to begin to fix the problems at my school. I don’t think it will completely eliminate them, however, I do believe that it has the potential to weaken them or reduce the problems. The most positive aspect of this whole process has been that administration support. I know if I had tried to implement this last year, it would have not gone past a simple conversation. Thankfully, there has not been a negative experience with this process.
The Need
As I have previously mentioned, becoming a teacher who becomes a "Learning Specialist/Instructional Designer" in their classroom by utilizing technology to enhance learning for all students is extremely important during these times. Technology allows us to teach and reach all of our students, promoting the equity in education that we should strive for all our students. Technology is literally taking over our lives in so many different forms and with that, it is going to eventually take over in education as well. Being prepared for that and for my students is really important and essential if I want to be an effective technologically inclined educator. With technology evolving, learning is also evolving, and technology is part of that evolution as well. It is my responsibility to adapt myself to my teaching environment and students and not leave them behind.
Comments
Post a Comment