Breaking Down Walls to Increase Teacher Confidence When Integrating Technology

I've been an Instructional Technology Specialist (Tech TOSA) for the past year and a half.  In my role, it is my job to help train and coach teachers in my district to integrate technology into their curriculum to enhance instruction, transform student learning, and meet the CCSS standards related to technology.  While many teachers are excited to use technology in the classroom, and the Chromebook carts are being checked out and are in constant demand, many more teachers are still not comfortable using technology in the classroom.  Many lack the confidence to use technology with their students.

There seem to be a variety of reasons why teachers are afraid to use technology with their students.  Some feel that they don't have a grasp on using the technology themselves, and don't want to feel that they are not in control in their classrooms, or not the expert of everything.  Some have had bad experiences in the past with the wifi or technology not working, and don't want to run into problems again.  Others are afraid of classroom management issues, such as students being off task and texting, surfing the web, etc.  All of these issues seem to lead to the idea of mindset.  

My goal is to slowly change hesitant teacher's mindset about using technology in the classroom.  I want them to understand that the teacher doesn't have to be an expert on the technology tools; they can rely on students to be the experts and share with their classmates.  And while the network may go down or tech may fail, it is important to always have a plan B, or even a plan C, because non-tech lessons may not work either, and you always have to have a fallback plan.  And lastly, students will always be tempted to get off task if they don't have an engaging assignment.  Before computers, smart phones, and texting, students passed notes.  The same classroom management skills and strategies that you use in a class without technology, are still important in a class with technology.

Mark Anderson, @ICTEvangelist, 

http://ictevangelist.com/

A few weeks ago, I saw this diagram "Teacher confidence in use of technology" by Mark Anderson in my Twitter feed.  This diagram perfectly describes the different levels teachers are at in my district.  I feel like many have moved on to the mastery, impact, and innovation levels.  But there are still a lot more at the survival level.  These teachers are scared to use technology with their students, and don't seem to be able to move up to the next level.

To get to mastery, the simple answer is that the teachers should receive training and play and practice with the different tools.  Then that would increase their comfort and confidence.  But many seem stuck.  They know they need practice, they know they need to sign up for training, or one on one appointments, but they don't always do that.  They have built up a wall of fear, that they have a hard time climbing over it.

How can I break down the walls that these teachers have built?  How can I change their mindset about technology and alleviate their fears?

I'd love for administrators to model using different tech tools in staff meetings, and to have technology purposely integrated into all professional development my district offers, not just the tech PD offerings.  I feel that this would help hesitant teachers start to see the benefits that using technology could provide to learning.  But this is a challenge for me in my district right now, and I feel like I'm making baby steps in these areas, but it's not enough.  Yet.

Another thing that I just started to try is to work with teachers to "crash their lesson".  (This ideas is based on the Yard Crashers TV show.)  In this process, I meet with a teacher and look at a lesson that they have already used in the past, that they would like to improve, and we find a way to use technology to enhance the lesson to meet their content goals and standards.  We plan a revised version of the lesson, and then I go to their class to co-teach the lesson or just help out and provide support while they teach it.  Afterwards, we reflect on the process and share what we've done with the whole staff as part of a weekly Tech Tip blog post.  It's starting to get other teachers, who are at the Survival level, to book appointments with me to brainstorm ideas to include technology in their lessons.  I'm hoping that this continues and spreads by word of mouth to other teachers.  

Do you have any suggestions to help teachers make that huge jump from survival to mastery?  How do you break down those walls that have been built?  Please share your ideas in the comments section below. I'd love to see what has worked for you.

Email Check In After Providing Professional Development

A few weeks ago, at Fall CUE, I attended Kevin Fairchild and Jessica Lura's session "Strategies for Teaching Adults".  I had participated in the Leading Edge Certification course for Professional Learning Leaders with them last spring and enjoyed learning with them.  I was excited to see that they were leading a session together at the conference.  

Their presentation was more of a discussion than a presentation, which promoted a lot of group conversations and sharing.  One of the things Kevin shared in the session really stuck with me, and inspired an idea.  When we were discussing how to know if our PD had an impact on the participants, and if they used what we taught them, Kevin shared a strategy that he has used.  Kevin sends out emails after the event, and then, if he remembers, another one a few months later.  

I normally send an email right after the PD, but never thought of sending one out later, to check in on the participant's progress.  I know I wouldn't consistently remember to send an email later in the year; I'd never be able to keep track of everything.  I thought that there had to be a way to automate that process.  I immediately began thinking of how I could use Google Forms and some Add-Ons, copyDown and formMule, to make this work.   

I just got a chance to try this out and set it up for the professional development I offer at my district.  In this post, I will describe how I set it up in case you want to use this for any PD you may offer.

Summary of Automation Process

• First, I created a Google Form for participants to sign in when they attend a PD session.  It collects their name, email, and title of the session.
• On the spreadsheet that is created from the form submissions, I added a few extra columns, with formulas.  
• One column includes the date of a week after the PD, which has a formula that auto adds that up referencing the timestamp.
• Another column that includes a date three months after the PD, with a formula to calculate that, referencing the timestamp.
• And two more columns that reference those two dates I just created.  The formula in these columns looks at the previous column and if the date of the one week column equals today's date, it will write "TODAY" in the column, and if the date of the three month column equals today's date, it writes "TODAY" in that column.
• Next, I ran the add-on copyDown to copy down these formulas into each row on form submission.
• Finally, I used the add-on FormMule to run each morning.  It is triggered to send out one of two emails.  If the one week column says "TODAY", it will send the one week email thanking participants, sending them the link to our PD resources webpage, and asking if they need any support.  If the three month column says "TODAY", an email will be sent asking if they implemented what they learned and offering support if they need help.

Video Instructions

This video is about 20 minutes and walks you through the entire process to set up one week and three month check-in emails.  I am so sorry that it is this long, but you can jump ahead to the section you need, using the timeline if you open it up on YouTube, or on the table of contents "page" at the beginning of the video.

Spreadsheet Formulas and formMule HTML

Here are some of the formulas and HTML code I used, so you can copy and paste them into your own sheet.

Spreadsheet Formulas:

• To convert the Timestamp (with date and time) to the date:  =to_date(int(A2))

• 1 week reminder (7 days):  =B2+7  
• Today:  =if(H2=today(),"TODAY","")

• 3 month reminder (91 days):  =B2+91  
• Today:  =if(J2=today(),"TODAY","")

(Where B2 = cell date, and H2 = cell that has the one week date (or J2 has the 3 month date formula).  Depending on what information you are collecting in your form, your column letters may change.)

HTML for FormMule:

• HTML website link:  <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/seq.org/suhsdpd/">SUHSD PD Website</a>
• HTML email link:  <a href="mailto:mhero@seq.org" target="_top">Melissa</a>

(What is in blue is what they will see in the email, and it will be hyperlinked to what is in red.)

Leading Edge Certification: Online and Blended Teacher, Module 1.2 Reflection - Personal Learning Goal

I am currently taking the Leading Edge Certification course for Online and Blended Teacher.  For each of our assignments, we can either post our activities and reflections straight onto the course LMS, or we can add them to our blog (and then link that to the LMS).  I have been neglecting my personal blog this school year as all of my tech tips have been posted on a new district blog that I have created.  So I have chosen to post my course work for the Online and Blended Teacher course here to give my blog some attention and love.  :)

Module 1 is an introduction to Online and Blended Learning.  This is the first reflection.


PROMPT:  1.2 Reflection: Personal Learning Goal

 Considering the online learning self-assessment you took this week (page 7 of the online textbook), and thinking about your reasons for taking this course:

• What is your highest priority learning goal for this course? 
• What are some specific skills, strategies or tools you are hoping to learn more about?

In the 15 years I have been teaching (high school biology and AVID), I have always been near the forefront of using technology in my classes, at my school.  I was one of the firsts in my school to use an LCD project, get a SMART Board, use clickers with my students, allow my students to use their phones in class, etc.  The last two years in the classroom, I had a class set of iPads and flipped my instruction.  I feel that I taught a blended course, as direct instruction was mostly delivered through online content, but students worked together in person, in class.  I strived for giving my students a choice in their learning activities, differentiating instruction based on their learning needs, and providing support and guidance so that they can succeed. I feel that not all of my high school students are ready to be an online only learner, and would "fail" the online assessment from page 7. However, they could learn a lot in a blended course, taking advantages of the pros of online learner and face to face learning.

In the last few years, I have met some amazing educators at CUE conferences, EdCamps, GAFE Summits, and other workshops that I have attended, who have done things with their students that just blow my mind.  I love to learn what other educators are doing and improve my practice so that I can help all of my students succeed and excel.  I am also willing to try new things, but I am very thoughtful in what technology I use with my students.  I feel that it is extremely important that the technology is not used as just a fun tool to capture attention, but as a means to best meet the student learning objectives.  There is a time and a place for technology, and it doesn’t always fit in a lesson.

This year, I am out of the classroom, in a new role in my district, as a Instructional Technology Specialist.  So my students this year are high school teachers.  I am working with my district’s teachers one on one, providing after school workshops, and co-facilitating an online course using the LEC Digital Educator open source curriculum.  My job is to help teachers incorporate technology into their lessons, to enhance student learning.

I have many goals for taking this Leading Edge Certification course for the Online and Blended Teacher.  I want to find the best ways to teach other educators how to create a blended learning environment in their courses.  I also want to learn some tips and strategies to help me better facilitate the online course I am doing with the teachers, while modeling practices they could use with their high school students.  I have found that it is really easy to provide feedback and guidance on assignments to my high school students, but when a teacher, my peer, doesn’t follow directions on an assignment, I have a harder time providing feedback.  It is so awkward to have to tell a teacher, sometimes a few times, to make sure they answer all parts of a prompt.  

By taking this course, I also am looking forward to collaborating and learning from and with other educators from around the state.  I have taken another Leading Edge Certification course and know that it will help me grow as an educator.

New Position and New Helpful Calendar Tools

This school year I have started a new adventure.  After teaching at Carlmont High School for the last twelve years, I am now our districts new Instructional Technology Specialist.  I spend one day a week at each of the district schools helping teachers integrate technology into their curriculum.

People keep asking me if I miss being in the classroom.  Honestly, after four weeks, I am still not sure.  I miss my AVID students.  I left them after their sophomore year.  And I missing talking with my students and having them hang out in my classroom at lunch.  But there are some things that I definitely don't miss - grading, spending hours setting up biology labs, and getting emails about grades. 

Also, I have had to get used to traveling around to different schools, learning all the different bell schedules, finding my way across new campuses and learning names to so many different people.  

So far, most of what I have been doing is helping teachers and other staff get to know two new programs our district has adopted - School Loop and GAFE.  It feels great to see teachers excited about what these tools can do, but I can't wait to start helping teachers actually plan lessons and integrate technology into their classes for students to use.  We have so many great teachers in our district, and I look forward to working with them and their students.

In this new position, I have found that I rely on my Google calendar immensely.   Last week I had appointments with twenty different teachers, and that doesn't include the meetings I had at the district office.  I have found two tools that work with my Google calendar that have saved my sanity.  One is Schedule Once, and the other is the Google calendar text notifications.

The first few weeks of this position, teachers were emailing me asking to meet, but they didn't tell me what school they were at, or would ask to meet fourth period, but forget to tell me that they had an assembly schedule that day.  I ended up spending a ton of time emailing back and forth to set up meetings.  I started to explore different ways to book appointments - GAFE's appt slots (not great for varied schedules), youcanbook.me (didn't put the calendar event on the appt. booker's calendar) and then found and loved Schedule Once.  Schedule Once allows me to set up 5 booking calendars, one for each school I visit.  I can then set my availability and give out the website to my booking calendar.  Teachers can choose their school, pick an amount of time they would like to meet, and then find an open slot.  When they book an appointment it goes to my Google calendar as well as theirs.  I even have it set up to send a reminder email to the teacher the morning before the meeting.  It is the greatest tool ever!  I don't have to worry about anything, their is no emailing back and forth, and the appointments just show up in my calendar.

Now that I had all these appointments set up, I would get really involved with helping the teachers I was meeting with, that I didn't watch the clock as carefully as I should.  So I played around with my phone notification settings.  I didn't want to get event notifications for every one of my Google calendars.  So I checked out the settings on the Google calendar.  I set it up so my work appointment calendar would send me a text message 10 minutes before the start of each meeting.  Now, I get a text, and I know I need to get moving to my next appointment.  

I look forward to a great year, and know that I will be able to have an impact on so many more student's learning.  I met a lot of other teachers who are starting working in educational technology TOSA positions this year, so I know I will be collaborating with some great teachers this year as I figure out this new job.