Throughout this course I have had the opportunity to learn about professional development in education. With the amount of technology being poured into schools, professional development in this area is becoming more important. In order for this technology to be effectively used, it is essential that every school has a person that can serve as a technology coach. This may be a difficult job as some teachers will be resistant to accepting the need to change and incorporate more technology. It is important that a coach has the ability to build relationships and develop partnerships with the teachers within their school. Similar to building relationships with students a coach needs to have an understanding of how their colleagues learn. A coach must understand the school culture that they are walking into. Time is an important resource and teachers typically will not appreciate if it is wasted. The coach needs to be prepared to share effective resources with teachers that are going to benefit them in the classroom.
I have participated in many professional development sessions on a wide variety of topics. This course has given me the opportunity to gain the perspective of a presenter instead of just being a participant. I have also gained experience coaching my colleagues one on one. These experiences have given me a much greater understanding of the environment that a technology coach will experience. From my experience it has been important that I understand the colleagues that I am working with. In order to plan efficient coaching sessions or workshops it has been important that I have an understanding of my colleagues’ personalities and technical abilities.
I will continue to use the tools that I have gained in this course. In the fall I will be starting my capstone experience where I will need to provide several workshops and coaching sessions in order to reach the goal of increasing technology use within my department. Things that I have learned in this class will serve as a guide as I work with my colleagues. We will have several new department members next year and it is essential that I am able to build relationships early on. They will need to feel that we are in a partnership or I will run the risk that they will not want to work with me. I will also need to be prepared to model strategies that I feel are valuable. After modeling, I will need to be able to observe my colleagues as they incorporate technology. While observing other teachers, it is important to collect data on an observation form. This data is important for fostering a conversation between a coach and teacher. The person serving as a coach does not have all of the answers and it is important that there is a conversation where both voices are heard. If a coach does not approach this as a partnership, teachers will likely become resistant to their ideas. If I am able to build effective partnerships, prepare useful resources, and communicate these resources clearly, then my colleagues will benefit positively from my coaching.
I have participated in many professional development sessions on a wide variety of topics. This course has given me the opportunity to gain the perspective of a presenter instead of just being a participant. I have also gained experience coaching my colleagues one on one. These experiences have given me a much greater understanding of the environment that a technology coach will experience. From my experience it has been important that I understand the colleagues that I am working with. In order to plan efficient coaching sessions or workshops it has been important that I have an understanding of my colleagues’ personalities and technical abilities.
I will continue to use the tools that I have gained in this course. In the fall I will be starting my capstone experience where I will need to provide several workshops and coaching sessions in order to reach the goal of increasing technology use within my department. Things that I have learned in this class will serve as a guide as I work with my colleagues. We will have several new department members next year and it is essential that I am able to build relationships early on. They will need to feel that we are in a partnership or I will run the risk that they will not want to work with me. I will also need to be prepared to model strategies that I feel are valuable. After modeling, I will need to be able to observe my colleagues as they incorporate technology. While observing other teachers, it is important to collect data on an observation form. This data is important for fostering a conversation between a coach and teacher. The person serving as a coach does not have all of the answers and it is important that there is a conversation where both voices are heard. If a coach does not approach this as a partnership, teachers will likely become resistant to their ideas. If I am able to build effective partnerships, prepare useful resources, and communicate these resources clearly, then my colleagues will benefit positively from my coaching.