Getting Up To Speed

How many times have we uttered that statement?  Getting up to speed means that you are well-informed about something or that you are moving, operating, or functioning at the expected rate or level.  Gosh! That is a hard goal for me!

I didn't get my usual start this morning.  I was later getting into bed last night and later getting out of bed this morning. That meant I was later being ready to work and later getting down to work and later getting work done and worked later to get things done. Not good.

So, now I'm asking myself if I'm needing the routine of work and interaction with co-workers or if I just had an off day.  Was it because it was rainy after several days of beautiful weather? Was it because it was cooler and I'd grown accustomed to the warm weather? Was it because I'd had some time off and getting back into the routine was not as simple?  Was it just A Monday, Tuesday, Friday?  What day is this exactly?

Why didn't I look at that notification and see that I was supposed to join a Zoom session at ten o'clock this morning?  Then, I wouldn't be scrambling to get all those questions that came in over the weekend answered so I could give the Zoom session my undivided attention.  How did I not know that I was supposed to facilitate the Zoom session at noon?  Why did I agree to participate in a summer PD planning session at one when I was hosting the noon session?  Why did I schedule two more one-to-one conferences after that?

At this point, I think I'd better hit the accelerator or I'm never going to get up to speed!

Good Teachers!

Everywhere I look educators are sharing ideas for ways to communicate clearly, visually, and digitally.  They are reaching out to their peers.  They are reaching out to their students.  They are seeking support and they are providing support. 

Times like these just prove that good teachers are the key to learning.  Good teachers are going to do what it takes no matter what obstacle comes their way. Good teachers get the job done.

I was so grateful to get a message from a young woman who I consider to be one of those Good Teachers.  She and I have worked collaboratively for several years and she said:

"No help needed at the moment, but just wanted to say thank you.  Your guidance and help over the last few years has given me the confidence to easily tackle all the new things coming my way these days."

I think the 'good' teachers are rising to the top right now more than ever before.  I see those who are strong, well prepared, versatile, risk-takers excelling even in this unusual situation of distance learning and staying at home.

I am really interested to see how this time impacts the future of teaching and learning!

Grasping the Tools

We got responses from folks who participated in our Zoom sessions last week.  For the most part they are positive.  There were also quite a few requests from folks who needed a bit of clarification or needed a bit more support.  Because we had 'sold-out' crowds last week, we decided to offer the exact same thing this week.  So, tomorrow we will be hosting another Zoom session for teachers in the district.

One of the responses sort of set me back. 

Now, this year I have been working as a support for a school which was piloting a rather in-depth 1:1 initiative.  It involved the introduction to the use of a learning management system, integrating new touch-screen Chromebooks, etc.  So, there was a LOT of new for this school this year.  The administration has been quite flexible and allowed teachers to keep doing what was working for them without trying to embrace too much newness and we just nudged them ever so slightly week-by-week to integrate something new.  Then, suddenly, school was dismissed and we are staying at home.

My concerns for those teachers at 'my' school were great but I was pretty confident that they were going to be alright and could continue using the tools and materials they had been using.  After all, we started with a small core team in training back last May.  Then, in July we did a bit of training with all of the faculty.  Then, we have provided ongoing training and support daily at the school.  We had plan and learn sessions where teachers could work with me in small groups to learn new things, build on what they already knew and were using, and get tips to make things simpler for them and their students.  We had a couple of faculty meeting sessions where we worked as a whole group and I followed up with visits to teachers' classrooms as requested.  I shared step-by-step tutorials, videos, and did a few co-teaches to support them and their students.  I even made little newsletters with QR codes and short URLs that I posted as bathroom graffiti.  Plus, I was always there every single day to answer questions, share tips and ideas, and work elbow-to-elbow with teachers and students. 

So, when the one response came in, I paused and did some thinking.  The response was this: "I would like to request that at least one Zoom session be paced so that I can follow along with my laptop and set it up for Screencastify."  There was more in the response but this was the key statement. 

At first, I rolled my eyes.  Did this teacher not realize that we had 300 people following along in that Zoom session?  Did this teacher not realize that we only had an hour to share info about using this tool?  Did this teacher not listen when we said we could not do an actual step-by-step modeling session because our computer's system was already using the camera and microphone for the Zoom application and could not also be used for Screencastify?

Next, I laughed.  To me this was the perfect example of how each of us will personalize something instead of recognizing that our personal need is not what is most important.  The needs of the group as a whole are what is being targeted.  I get it.  I sometimes do that, too.

Then, I got angry.  How dare this teacher make such a request.  Where had this teacher been all year long?  All.  Year.  Long.  Why hadn't this teacher requested a one-to-one with me back last October when this tool was first introduced to the staff?  Why hadn't this teacher sought me out in November when I set up plan and learn sessions?  Why hadn't this teacher requested a follow-up after I posted the February newsletter with a big ole blurb about this tool on it?

Finally, it hit me and I just sighed.  I think I talked about it HERE.  This teacher has finally begun to feel it. 

Maybe.

BTW: Screencastify is one of my most favorite tech tools!  It is a Chrome Extension that anybody and everybody can use to make short videos.  If you cannot have a live face-to-face moment with others, make a quick video and share it.  Check it out! Screencastify in the Chrome Web Store

Do you feel it?

Like most school districts across the land, we are closed and our government has encouraged staying at home.  In my job as instructional technology coach, there is always more to learn than I have hours in the day.

Or week.

Or month.

Or year.

I feel a need. 

I feel an urgency.

For the past year, I have felt such a sense of urgency to try and get people to know some of the things I've got the capacity to teach them.  I want to share things I know that can make their work more streamlined, organized, easier.  I want to share things that can help their students be more creative, engaged, and challenged.  It has been a far greater sense of urgency on my part than most have felt the need to learn.

For the past several months I've been quietly telling teachers with whom I work that I won't always be there to support their teaching and learning and they really need to take more risks and learn more.  Yet, I think those teachers have sort of swept that concept under the rug thinking that even if I am not there, somebody will be there to teach them or show them or help them or just provide support as they are working through.

This week, however, we have entered our third week at home.  We are supporting and encouraging distance learning like people have never experienced before.  Now there seems to be an urgency.

This morning our instructional technology team offered virtual learning for teachers.  When we have hosted these events in the past, participation has seen a dozen or so people log on and take part.  Once, I had a group of thirty-eight.  At this time of year, participants were generally just trying to check a box and earn professional development hours.  Today, we had record numbers log on and learn.  There was no extrinsic incentive like earning credit hours. There was no requirement by an administrator to get on board and embrace an initiative.  There was a personal urgency. 

If nothing else, this unusual time in our world has helped many recognize that our world has changed and we are being forced to change along with it in order to rise to the needs and expectations that are present.  We cannot cling to the old just because it has worked for us in the past.  We have to embrace the new as well.  We have to adapt ourselves to the newness that keeps surrounding us.  There is an urgency.

I could feel it all day today as I fielded questions and requests for support from teachers.  I could feel it as my partner and I shared the basics of a different means of sharing opportunities for students to learn.  I could feel it when I chatted with my children and grandchildren in the early evening.  Please let us hold on to that urgency and enfold it into our natural being so that we continue to grow and learn and make this world a more positive and better place. 

I feel a sense of urgency like never before.  Do you?

Teaching and Learning - From Home

On March 6 it was announced that our school would be taking a couple of days off for deep cleaning due to the Corona Virus impact.  We were told that school would be closed the next day and on the following Monday.  We have not returned to school and the impact of the virus has been growing.

Today, I started officially working from home as an educator.  We began the morning with a virtual meeting of the district Teaching, Learning, and Assessment department.  We learned that our ideas were reality and we are working through this one day at a time.  We also learned what is expected of us for the next few weeks as we do navigate this new path.

Following that virtual meeting with the large group of district folks, we had our own online meeting of instructional technology team.  We got further instruction of what is needed from us right away and what we could be spending the next few days working toward.  We learned how to support as many learners as possible but support them remotely.  We were told to keep it professional and follow the guidelines set up at this time.

So, I spent my afternoon working on a couple of professional development workshops that I'm planning to facilitate this summer.  Now, instead of creating them to be blended virtual learning, I am leaning more toward online learning with virtual support.  My workshops will be delivered online with videos offering instruction and me available via chat and online broadcast. 

I also had a Google Hangout with one of the teachers I have worked closely with at the school where I'm assigned this year and we offered one another support in the coming days.  We will be curating resources for students and parents to access and grow with as they are staying home.

While we are not pioneers or doing anything new and different, it feels a bit that way to us.  We are learning as we go more so than ever!  We are developing a new way.  I hope you will join me as I share what we are teaching and how we are learning.