Standard B1 - Creating an environment of trust and respect (10/11))
Benchmarks:
Relationships with the instructional specialist are respectful, with some contacts initiated by teachers.
I believe this to be the most important part of my job. Without a trusting, respectful relationship with my teams I cannot work well with them as they incorporate technology in the classroom. Team teaching requires great teamwork, trust and commitment and this is one of the strengths I bring to the school. I have a great relationship with all of the teachers and I have worked very hard to develop these relationships in my three years here. Ways I have done this include attending team meetings, checking carefully over the wording of my emails to be sure they sound supportive and not threatening, staying positive when working with teachers, and trying to be helpful at all times, even when I am feeling busy myself.
See this attachment of emails. Most of them are emails initiated by teachers and one if from me. Tone and level of comfort of teachers can be seen in these emails.
Standard B2 - Establishing a culture for ongoing instructional improvement (10/11)
Benchmarks:
Instructional specialist promotes a culture of professional inquiry in which teachers seek assistance in improving their instructional skills.
Teachers know that I am always available for informal help sessions and I have also offered many formal help sessions. Through TTT, Date Night and Tech Help Tuesdays offered during the first trimester teachers have become familiar with my style and the help I can offer. Many teaches still come for tech help after school when they have specific questions, especially about blogging. Teachers will come individually or in groups. As we moved to Macs this year, many teachers needed help sessions with the new applications and I worked with teams doing this, small groups, and individuals. While we offer a lot of tech help, many teachers are more comfortable working in small groups or individually so this option has been a good one for those teachers who need the one on one attention or are uncomfortable in larger groups. Many of these tech help sessions are just a quick fix while others take a bit longer and can run over a month as teachers like to learn specific skills.
Examples of help that has been given this year include:
Editing photos in iPhoto.
Adding photos and videos to portal.
Adding photos and videos to blogs.
Using Pages to create newsletters.
Using ComicLife to create a photo gallery to put on your blog.
Creating slideshows in iPhoto.
Standard B3 - Establishing clear procedures for teachers to gain access to instructional support (11/12)
Benchmarks:
Instructional specialist has established clear procedures for teachers to use in gaining assess to support.
At the beginning of the year, I conduct new teacher training and also meet with each team to discuss how our tech integration works at SAS. We cover the following topics: Who do you contact for help? We talk about the role of the TRF versus the role of our tech department and support services. We hand out this document which explains different problems that may arise and who the contact person/department would be.
How do we share data at SAS? We talk about how we transfer files between teachers and students and between teachers and teachers. We also review where important documents can be found schoolwide. This document explains our network system.
How does the relationship between the TRF and classroom teacher work? We talk about what our role is, different services we can offer for the teachers and what a classroom lesson with the TRF will look like. This document explains our varied roles.
What are the procedures around working with my TRF? We talk about a variety of procedures when working with the TRF - how to book our time, what the role of the TRF is during the lesson, how to book the labs, and when to use the TRF for a lesson and when to run the lesson on your own.
Standard B4 - Establishing and maintaining norms of behavior for professional interactions (11/12)
Benchmarks:
Instructional specialist has established clear norms of mutual respect for professional interaction.
See above standard for discussion on norms and procedures that are discussed at the beginning of the year. During team meetings, I also discuss with my team members the best way to contact me, how we can work together to book times, what my role is during curriculum meetings, and many other topics that come up. There has never been a problem with respect at our school, but when issues arise with certain teachers who may not clearly understand my role I work with them individually to explain how I can help and how our lessons are run.
Standard B5 - Organizing physical space for workshops or training (09/10)
Benchmarks:
Instructional specialist makes good use of the physical environment, resulting in engagement of all participants in the workshop activities.
Most of the technology space is already set up as the labs have furniture that is not mobile. When we offer training in the desktop lab, we seat the teachers around the tables so we can all see each other and have a conversation, if necessary. In the laptop lab, teachers sit at the laptop stations which are already set. When I have a smaller group, we will often sit at the table in our office or I will go to the teacher's classroom for one on one sessions. As often as possible, I use a projection unit so all teachers can see my screen as I am explaining a program. In addition, I create handouts so the teachers have something to take with them to refer to. We try limit our workshops to 15 or fewer as we have experienced some frustration from the teachers when there are more people at the workshops.
The Environment
Standard B1 - Creating an environment of trust and respect (10/11))
Benchmarks:
I believe this to be the most important part of my job. Without a trusting, respectful relationship with my teams I cannot work well with them as they incorporate technology in the classroom. Team teaching requires great teamwork, trust and commitment and this is one of the strengths I bring to the school. I have a great relationship with all of the teachers and I have worked very hard to develop these relationships in my three years here. Ways I have done this include attending team meetings, checking carefully over the wording of my emails to be sure they sound supportive and not threatening, staying positive when working with teachers, and trying to be helpful at all times, even when I am feeling busy myself.
See this attachment of emails. Most of them are emails initiated by teachers and one if from me. Tone and level of comfort of teachers can be seen in these emails.
Standard B2 - Establishing a culture for ongoing instructional improvement (10/11)
Benchmarks:
Teachers know that I am always available for informal help sessions and I have also offered many formal help sessions. Through TTT, Date Night and Tech Help Tuesdays offered during the first trimester teachers have become familiar with my style and the help I can offer. Many teaches still come for tech help after school when they have specific questions, especially about blogging. Teachers will come individually or in groups. As we moved to Macs this year, many teachers needed help sessions with the new applications and I worked with teams doing this, small groups, and individuals. While we offer a lot of tech help, many teachers are more comfortable working in small groups or individually so this option has been a good one for those teachers who need the one on one attention or are uncomfortable in larger groups. Many of these tech help sessions are just a quick fix while others take a bit longer and can run over a month as teachers like to learn specific skills.
Examples of help that has been given this year include:
Standard B3 - Establishing clear procedures for teachers to gain access to instructional support (11/12)
Benchmarks:
At the beginning of the year, I conduct new teacher training and also meet with each team to discuss how our tech integration works at SAS. We cover the following topics:
Who do you contact for help? We talk about the role of the TRF versus the role of our tech department and support services. We hand out this document which explains different problems that may arise and who the contact person/department would be.
How do we share data at SAS? We talk about how we transfer files between teachers and students and between teachers and teachers. We also review where important documents can be found schoolwide. This document explains our network system.
How does the relationship between the TRF and classroom teacher work? We talk about what our role is, different services we can offer for the teachers and what a classroom lesson with the TRF will look like. This document explains our varied roles.
What are the procedures around working with my TRF? We talk about a variety of procedures when working with the TRF - how to book our time, what the role of the TRF is during the lesson, how to book the labs, and when to use the TRF for a lesson and when to run the lesson on your own.
Standard B4 - Establishing and maintaining norms of behavior for professional interactions (11/12)
Benchmarks:
See above standard for discussion on norms and procedures that are discussed at the beginning of the year. During team meetings, I also discuss with my team members the best way to contact me, how we can work together to book times, what my role is during curriculum meetings, and many other topics that come up. There has never been a problem with respect at our school, but when issues arise with certain teachers who may not clearly understand my role I work with them individually to explain how I can help and how our lessons are run.
Standard B5 - Organizing physical space for workshops or training (09/10)
Benchmarks:
Most of the technology space is already set up as the labs have furniture that is not mobile. When we offer training in the desktop lab, we seat the teachers around the tables so we can all see each other and have a conversation, if necessary. In the laptop lab, teachers sit at the laptop stations which are already set. When I have a smaller group, we will often sit at the table in our office or I will go to the teacher's classroom for one on one sessions. As often as possible, I use a projection unit so all teachers can see my screen as I am explaining a program. In addition, I create handouts so the teachers have something to take with them to refer to. We try limit our workshops to 15 or fewer as we have experienced some frustration from the teachers when there are more people at the workshops.