Instructional/Technology Integration Coach
Northeast Metro 916 Intermediate School District
2011-Present
Thank you so much for spending time with me on Monday. My iPad lessons went off without a "hitch". The kids learned a lot and so did I. I will continue to use them.
Thanks for reminding me about Evernote. I downloaded it today and have been busy this morning making it work for taking notes on the kids. I think it's going to be fantastic, so I just wanted to say thank you!
You help to make technology so friendly.
Thanks for reminding me about Evernote. I downloaded it today and have been busy this morning making it work for taking notes on the kids. I think it's going to be fantastic, so I just wanted to say thank you!
You help to make technology so friendly.
TPCK, the intersection of technological, pedagogical and content knowledge, guides our work. Knowing and appreciating that teachers bring differing levels of knowledge in all three circles help us to position ourselves as peers, learning from and with the people we coach.
Jim Knight and his Partnership Principles also factored strongly into our coaching work. Throughout all of our encounters, we cultivated mutually respectful relationships. In subsequent academic years, we have seen many of those efforts pay off in coaching requests for more varied and deeper professional learning topics.
The concepts in the Cognitive Coaching Seminar - helping teachers become more self-directed learners, among other ideas - have heavily influenced my work. I completed the seminar in the fall of 2013 with local trainer Jim Roussin.
The concepts in the Cognitive Coaching Seminar - helping teachers become more self-directed learners, among other ideas - have heavily influenced my work. I completed the seminar in the fall of 2013 with local trainer Jim Roussin.
Photo: flickingerbrad on Flickr
Work one-on-one with teachers to help them improve uses of technology in their unique settings.
We met people where they were at and worked with them to improve skills in the area of their choice. Topics broadly included:
We met people where they were at and worked with them to improve skills in the area of their choice. Topics broadly included:
- Technology basics, especially iPad and SMART Board
- Deepening uses of these technologies in the classroom - effective apps, customized activities, student technology choice, assistive needs
- Curriculum topics, like Building Academic Vocabulary (Marzano), reading strategies/curriculum implementation, math supplementation, science unit development
- Threads throughout the year: Schoology for staff networking, continual building of communal iPad knowledge
- Early adopter challenges like brainstorming ways to integrate coding/programming, helping to facilitate the work or clear away barriers for those individuals
Development of Online Mini-Courses
We saw a need for more in-depth, ongoing, flexible professional development opportunities for staff to learn effective uses of the iPad in the classroom. I spearheaded the effort to offer our first 2 hour online mini-course (iPad for Higher Order Thinking) and co-developed a subsequent course (iPad Strategies that Work, based on the nine instructional strategies in Classroom Instruction that Works).
These courses were NOT just the equivalent of a sit-and-get professional development session in an online space. Participants interacted, were able to think critically and engage in praxis with the material, using it immediately in their own unique classrooms (916 is a very diverse district consisting of many Related Services providers, Level IV setting special education programs, Career & Technical Education, and more). Among the individuals completing the course were special ed teachers, education assistants, a school nurse, an occupational therapist, classroom teachers, and more. Staff from member districts and other Minnesota districts also participated.
Staff pointed to the individualized pace and content as a prime reason for recommending the course to others.
These courses were NOT just the equivalent of a sit-and-get professional development session in an online space. Participants interacted, were able to think critically and engage in praxis with the material, using it immediately in their own unique classrooms (916 is a very diverse district consisting of many Related Services providers, Level IV setting special education programs, Career & Technical Education, and more). Among the individuals completing the course were special ed teachers, education assistants, a school nurse, an occupational therapist, classroom teachers, and more. Staff from member districts and other Minnesota districts also participated.
Staff pointed to the individualized pace and content as a prime reason for recommending the course to others.