I'll pick up at the end of one which really is the beginning of the other. Eleven years in the classroom boils down to this one photo. This is all I took with me when I left. Almost all of my books I left behind to help the next teacher. I even left my classroom library for the students to continue to enjoy.
After all, it cannot all fit in my new corner of the world:
First and foremost: I CANNOT help you fix your computer or figure out why your internet is not working. That is one type of IT-Informational Technology. My job title is Instructional Technology. As it sounds, my concern is with instruction meaning that I still work with curriculum and lessons and all of that. I just come at all of that with an eye on what kind of web applications and programs could bring the lesson into the 21st century and beyond. Another large aspect of my job is helping teachers educate students on Digital Citizenship. (You know-safety, security, and making sure kids don't post or create anything so inappropriate it haunts them for the rest of their lives.)
By working with education tech and curriculum, I get to help teachers integrate it into the classroom in suitable ways. Technology should never be superfluous. Basically, no one should use tech just for the sake of using tech. Instructional technology should bring a new dimension to learning by providing students the opportunities to teach, share, and learn with each other in ways that couldn't happen before. All teachers know about Bloom's, well the tech version is SAMR. The ThingLink at the end of the post does a sensational job of explaining how SAMR works. One of the things I am looking forward to is learning all the other subject areas and seeing how they approach their lesson planning and execution. However, I think ELA will remain my strong suit since that is the one I know best:).
As for the Digital Citizenship, well, I think everyone can agree this is something that must be taught since digital devices are so prevalent. Students need to understand that the devices in their hands can be powerful education tools and not just toys. (In all honesty, I know plenty of adults who need to learn this as well.) Therefore, I will also be working on helping teachers guide students to becoming superb digital citizens.
So really, my new job is easy to explain. I use technology applications in planning and implementing instruction. Therefore, I am an Instructional Technology Specialist.
Of course, my new position has me all crazy excited and ready to go. I want to meet and plan and research and devise and all the other things I can do in anticipation of the fall. Yet, I still need to remember to enjoy my summer. While I wait for the new school year to begin, I set a couple of fun goals for myself. I stumbled across the concept of Sketchnoting and came up with this:
I want to be proficient in digital Sketchnoting before the school year starts. Also, it turns out that Pinterest is apparently a great tool for organizing ideas for ed tech and other lesson ideas. I had an account when it first started, but thought it was a waste of time and deleted it. Well, some of my new co-workers encouraged me to give it another try. Then an edublogger I like actually posted about Pinterest for educators the other day. Along with Sketchnoting, I will be building my Pinterest boards to become useful resources for ideas.
If I can get my act together, I might even remember to post more often. Chances are I will get a work blog going and people will be able to follow my adventures in my new position. Only time will tell. Speaking of time, it is a quarter past midnight. Yikes! Good night.
(Just scroll over the picture to get the links to work.)
