Keep On Keeping On

Educators: The Balance Between the New and the Mundane

One of the reasons I got into teaching is my interests in the arts.  Creating is all about empowerment and giving students that sense that they too can create is for me the root of all joy in being a teacher.  Watching a face light up comes from a sudden sense in that student that they are now privy to the secret as well.  So I want every lesson I teach to be a journey into the new for my students, every lesson is but the lightest sketch of a map for all these younger great explorers, discovering my past joys, all anew.  And though in each individual I can see that same moment of new, the lesson is the same one I taught last year (sure there are small, subtle changes), last week, last period.  As educators we must walk a very thin tightrope between the new and the revisited, with a long drop if we fall, and sadly the learner dies with us if we lean too far on either side.  It is something I struggle with every day.

Step It Up

Absolutes are part of the past so knowing this blog is not perfect I still want to put it out there. I know education and the creation of a better system is a priority if humanity wants to grow. I also know that technology is an essential part of that growth and the area I want to concentrate on is birth thru 6th grade Ed. This blog is about engaging in that conversation that will push tech coordination in schools from the sidelines to the forefront.

Changed Title: Change is Hard 4 Schools

I changed the title of my blog from Tech Coordinator for NYCDoE Schools to A Tech Coordinator for Elementary Schools, and here's why: I created this blog as part of a PD given by the MOET (Manhattan Office of Educational Technology - great acronym) on Blogs.  I thought I'm a tech coordinator at a NYCDoE public school, maybe other TCs would like to read And write about their experience.  But I realized what I really want to converse about is not NYCDoE (New York City Dept of Ed) schools in specific, and not the large field that can encompass the title Tech Coordinator throughout schools, but in How Technology is being Used in Elementary Schools, and the what's involved in the job of Coordinating all the Technology that is now such a staple of most elementary schools.

Been a while ... but that's going to change.

Right now I have one follower, and the truth is half of how all of this works is a total mystery to me, so I'm not sure what will make this blog more active, but for now I'll just start writing at least every other day.  And we'll see.

The reason this Tech Coordinator is not up on the tech of blogs has to do with how I came to the combination of technology teacher and elementary school teacher.  I certified as a elementary / early ed teacher first at a school that didn't know the word pc, (Beloit College 1977 to 1981) and then with a Masters at a school that prides itself on being hands on, and in their eyes computers were not (Bank Street 1998 to 2004).   In fact the only tech technical training before becoming the computer teacher / tech coordinator for an important NYC public school was the classes I took in college: Computer programming (I failed, C-) and two classes at the University of Oregon (one using AppleWorks (A-), and the other in pascal programming on first generation Macs (B- I think), 1985).   I could have continued the program at U of O, but in those classes I realized that was not going to make me a better tech coordinator or a better computer teacher.  I am not always in complete agreement (though the conversations she starts are spot on) with the postings of Lisa Nielson (theinnovativeeducator) but 30+ years of making my own choices in the world of how I get an education has certainly made me believe that institutions Do Not hold the only keys to learning and becoming proficient in a field.  We really need to tear a lot of this down if we want to bring education institutions out of the 20th, or even the 19th century.  And I really believe in the importance in changing schools!  Institutions are just a small subset of people with a little bit of power who are afraid of giving that power up.  Hard to do, but essential!

And here's an interesting fact, it's now 2012 and in order to be a computer teacher in an NYC DoE school I still don't need to have any certification in the area.  And there is not even a title of Tech Coordinator, or Tech Liaison, or TOS (Tech on Site), or Technology Coach, in the list of DoE teacher categories for elementary schools (there is gym teacher, music teacher, math coach, literacy coach, science teacher, librarian media specialist, but there is no title for computers or technology (I'm a CB -Common Branch teacher).  We are really going to teach technology in the same way, treat it in the same way, use it in the same way?  Here's a tool that can change Everything, every area of learning and adapt itself to every style of learning, and there's not even a designated professional in every school there to help that tool get into the hands of every learner?

efn (enough for now)

New Tab Added

Just added the new Page / Tab: The Forgotten Resource.  I was a bit preachy, but I did speak from the heart.  Hope if I am preaching, I at least walk the walk while I talk the talk.

Rasmussen College Faculty Teach Each Other in Virtual Conferences

Rasmussen College Faculty Teach Each Other in Virtual Conferences

Why don't we try a "Tech Coordinator" / Tech Liaison virtual conference?

The best PD I've ever been involved in has been about teacher and others sharing their passions.

Tech Coordinator Position?

Though New York State requires a certification for a Technology Instructor, NYC Dept. of Ed. has no requirement.   WHY?  I've been in my school for ten years, teaching computers 22 to 25 periods a week, (full time) and around that acting as the Tech Coordinator for the building, (in charge of all tech hardware and software purchases, and up until this coming year acting as web master for the school web site, and organizing any tech PD for classroom teachers, and doing all the immediate tech repair including upgrades and fixing many a school printer) but with all this tech responsibility my official job title remains: CB (Common Branch) Elementary teacher.  It just seems silly to be in a building where 1) Every K-5 classroom has an IWB / high end document camera / printer, 2) Where there are two 30 station computer labs, 3) Where an XServe houses student accounts, 4) Where there are four laptop carts with 15 MacBooks each, 5) Where if you count all the Apple (eMacs, iMacs, Mac Minis, MacBooks) there are well over a total of 200 computers, yet with all this tech there is not one person in the building with the job description of Tech Coordinator, or at least Computer Teacher / Tech POS?  It doesn't make sense to me.  It's like going on an ocean liner without someone in charge of the engine room, hoping that there won't be any issues till the next time you stop in port.