Post #3 Snow Days

Snow Days
That is the only title that I know would be fitting for this post.  We had about six days that we went to school delayed because of ice or snow.  We also had six days that we were out because of snow.  If you have ever been in a school setting that is getting close to "the test" then you know that chaos is only a snow day away.

Am I still working on my practicum?
I did work with a couple of teachers about Google Drive.  We also had an exciting field trip for ten of our staff to Atlanta, Georgia.  We ate supper at Mary Mac's, but that was not the best part.  We spent the day at The Ron Clark Academy.  WOW!  What a tiring and exciting day.  The possibilities that we brought back are endless not only for school in general but also the technology that we could integrate into these exciting updates.

I am researching ways to keep our points if we decide to divide our school into the "House" system that Ron Clark uses for his school.  It is based on Harry Potter's four houses.  The technology portion is keeping up with the points for the individual student and for the house.  Panasonic created a great way for Ron Clark to calculate and display their house points.  I am researching to see if that system is available or if we can use our Learning Earnings system.  I am also creating several videos for the students and teachers to use with the "chants" that were so common at the Ron Clark Academy.  My class created their first chants but we definitely need help with choreography and rhythm.

Research and organization is the key for technology coordinators in order for them to be a useful resource for the teachers and the students.  I have always thought that introducing something to a student or teacher is the most important because then they could go in depth and finish, learning the rest as they go.  I think that anyone that works in the school system is expected to do just that but it sets them up for failure.  The introduction is the very beginning and then the support is the backbone of the content.  Whether it is a student or a teacher, the support needs to be ongoing.  A technology coordinator's best support is going into the classroom in order to help model a lesson with technology and then stay for the support of the teacher and for the students.  This is  the reason so many technological tools are dropped and never utilized because the teacher is given the tool then left alone with the student's without the much needed support.  Teachers are so busy with all the assessments and tests, that overall, anything new is an overload to them.  New teachers and veteran teachers all need that support in order to move to project-based learning that does not just use technology as a tool but part of the learning process.