Tech Education for Teachers

  When you are the technology coordinator, you wear many hats. One of those hats is peacemaker. There are often so many opinions on what technology should be added to a school community. As the technology coordinator, it is your job to not only research and find what will work best in your school, but also deal with administration who may have their own, different opinion. So what do you do when you encounter conflict with an administrator on technology acquisition? Research The first step in dealing with differing opinions with your school’s administrator, is to first research as much as you can! You need to be aware of the network configurations, what devices work effectively on the network, what the cost analysis is for different devices, etc. Frazier and Hearrington, (2024), state, “Regardless of the network type, it is critical that a technology coordinator work with experienced technical experts to design and install the most appropriate network for a particular location.” ...

    So many schools today are receiving grants, start up funds, or donations to embrace new technology for their students. They can be earmarked for new laptops, Chromebooks, interactive white boards, IPads, etc. Now what? Below you will find the steps to take that ensures you are utilizing the funds appropriately and effectively for your students and teachers. Image courtesy of http://skycentral.com/skyresources/the-growth-of-technology-expenses-in-education/ Create a Team When deciding what new technology to purchase, it is important to create a team. It is vital to have more than one opinion when purchasing such a large component of a school.  Frazier and Hearrington (2024) state, “Before preparing the specifications, it is usual to convene a hardware/software/service evaluation committee to identify needed features, help prepare the specifications documentation, and ensure that the identified needs are met.” (p. 31). The key to these committees is that they are l...

       Technology is everywhere. It is a guiding force in today’s classroom instruction. There are platforms, programs, software, hardware, everything that you can imagine for a classroom today. But with all this technology, comes a roadblock. The willingness of teachers to LEARN and USE these new technologies. Education leaders are already asking a lot from teachers. When teachers are already bogged down with so much today, and can feel like too big of a hurdle to ask them to learn and use new technology on top of everything else. Leaders and administrators have to find new and innovative ways to get teachers invested in the new technology for their classrooms. Frazier and Hearrington (2024) state, “The promise of technology to positively affect teaching and learning is largely related to the support teachers get for their teaching.” (p. 134). Here are some key points school leaders need to remember when encouraging teachers to implement technology in their classroo...

  Coaching to Improve Teaching Mentoring and coaching are of vital importance when it comes to education. New teachers are essentially thrown in with the wolves their first year of teaching. Sure, they all have gone through countless college classes to receive their diploma, but until you walk into your own classroom that first day, you are essentially going in blind. In today’s schools across the country, mentors and coaches are being utilized to help guide these new teachers. Mentors and coaches have valuable knowledge and understanding into how to manage a classroom effectively, how to engage students, and how to meet the needs of all students in a classroom. These insights should be shared with new teachers as they progress through their beginning years of teaching.  The book, The Impact Cycle by Jim Knight  (2018) states, “...I have come to believe that it is better for instructional coaches to know a few strategies well than to know a lot of strategies superficia...

Instructional Methods of Teaching  When a leader has decided to create an instructional lesson, it is vitally important that they determine what type of instructional coaching they will utilize in order to reach every learner. There are three types of research-based coaching methods that we will look at to help your students reach their full potential and develop their talents. The three types of coaching methods that we will discuss are facilitative coaching, directive coaching, and finally dialogical coaching.  Facilitative Coaching Facilitative coaching is when leaders approach their students by facilitating the discussion to enhance their learning. Knight, Knight, and Carlson (2017) state, “[Coaches] refrain from sharing their own expertise or suggestions with respect to what a teacher can do to get better.” (p. 23). This method of teaching allows the students to have an open discussion, with the leader guiding the group to make sure students stay on track and is profess...