Pre- Shadowing Relfection

 In the next month I will be traveling to Greenwood, Indiana to visit Center Grove School's technology coach Jenna Cooper. During my visit I will be shadowing Ms. C throughout the day to see what her job as a technology coach entails. 

My Expectations:

During my visit with Ms. C,  I am looking forward to experiencing a day in the life of a technology coach. While with Ms. C I hope to go into different classrooms throughout the day and see the range of technology tools that are used in the different grades. I am looking forward to seeing the different technology implementations in practice during my visit. I hope to see how students and teachers interact during technology lessons as well as how teachers manage their classrooms while using technology. 

Questions:

1.  What challenges do you come across with teachers, parents, and even students when it comes to implementing technology in the classroom?
2. How do you stay up to date with new technology resources and practices in your schools? 
3. What aspects do you look at before implementing a certain tool into your classrooms?
4. What advice do you have for perspective technology coaches?
5. What does being a technology coach mean to you?

Overall Thoughts: 

Center Grove's website provides a great overview of their mission as a technology department and the different programs they are using to implement technology in their school. I was able to find Ms. C's twitter which provides awesome resources and information about upcoming twitter chats for teachers to participate in and different ways to discover new tools for the classroom.

While looking at the Center Grove website I found their iPossibilities 1:1 iPad innitiative for students in kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade. Center Grove was awarded $200,000 from the DOE for a grant that will allow the school to integrate iPads into k-2, Special Education and ENL classrooms. The grant also allows for the district to have create their own eBook library that will allow for students to checkout Nooks from libraries and media centers at their schools. With their own eBook library, Center Grove has the ability to expand it's students learning outside of the classroom allowing almost any device to serve as an instant reading, learning and listening station. Also, each student will have their own "Personal Digital Assistants," meaning that their iPads will be unique to them, supplying them with apps that are specific to their individual needs. 

Click here to check out this awesome google doc!

The iPossibilities initiative provides teachers with countless resources to successfully implement technology in their classroom. On the initiative's page, you have access to a google sheet that shows the different apps teachers are using for different subjects, how they are using them and for what grades. There is also a tab that helps teachers trouble shoot when they are experiencing problems with the iPads in their classrooms. Overall, The resources that are provided on the website allow for the Center Grove schools to create a community where they can help and learn from each other's experiences with technology in the classroom.

Click here to check out the different ways that Center Grove teachers use their iPads and apps!

From what I have seen on Center Grove's website, Ms. C has done an outstanding job as the Tech Leader to create a community around technology. She has provided her colleagues with countless resources to collaborate and learn more about the technology they are using in the classroom. With google docs and excel sheets, she provides her peers with different ways to experiment with apps and lessons. She has created an environment where teachers learn from one another and encourage each other to try different technology tools in their classroom. Ms. C shown me what it truly means to be a technology coach and I cannot wait to see her practices in action when I go visit her in the classroom!