Week 7

How did this week’s coaching / observations go? Share stories / examples / wonders / questions / successes / challenges from the week.

Week 7 had a resounding theme: SUCCESS!

This was one of the busiest weeks on record for me thus far.

I worked in classrooms, met with teachers, set up future plans, assisted with as much as I possibly could, updated the DLP Google Classroom collection of resources, experimented with a few new tricks, met with student tech leaders and more!

More?

Attended the annual STEAM showcase with very special students who were sharing their knowledge of STEAM, sound waves, using technology to visualize sound wave patterns, building and creating fabulous art installation pieces using Coding and Makey Makey. I was so very proud to be their "coach" at that event!

I was able to catch up with and meet with my Tribe....or at least part of the Tribe.....some of my fellow DLP coaches in the Pittsburgh area. This is so very helpful. I cannot stress enough how important this relationship is to all of us. We share successes and failures, we throw ideas around for discussion, we compare notes, we support one another, and we simply are there to reaffirm what great accomplishments we have achieved in such short a time. I'm meeting with another coach next week to see how things are progressing for her , then, I'm actually planning an out-of-state visit to see Kelli Coons in South Carolina! I'm really looking forward to this meeting! It will be so helpful seeing how she operates her coaching program, meet her teachers, see the good things happening in her school, and meet face to face to discuss EVERYTHING!

Good things with teachers:

I helped the special ed department stream-line their data collection process using Google Forms and Google Sheets. They also learned how to use Google Keep to set up friendly reminders for staff to complete behavior data forms.

A reluctant, veteran science teacher let me in to see his amusement park research activities!!! Yay! A win! He though using the Chromebooks for simple research wasn't fancy enough. THAT IS COMPLETELY MY FAULT. I obviously did not do enough or say enough to reassure this teacher (and possibly others) that the amount of technology, the type of technology, or the sophistication of the technology is not what matters........meeting student learning goals is what matters. If using the Chromebooks for research is what he needed to accomplish his goals, then so be it! I was proud of him for trying!
He also set up a separate Google Classroom for his special needs inclusion science class. He was very proud of listing the differentiated lessons posted to the classroom. A win all around!

Challenges:
KEEPING THE SECRET ABOUT THE EXTRA CHROMEBOOKS WE WILL BE RECEIVING! LOL
It's so hard to listen to frustrated teachers when they say there just aren't enough Chromebooks to go around, knowing full well some are on the way!

Our biggest challenge with the ones we currently have is longevity or sustainability: some of the older Chromebooks have missing keys, no longer hold a charge, or are simply MIA. This is so very frustrating. Carts of 25 are actually carts of 19.....so someone 'borrows" from another cart. We have a librarian who manages the signing out of the carts and the delivery of the carts, but it is difficult to police adults. The carts we have a shared with the high school and this also presents a problem. We will have to seriously come up with a better organizational and accountability plan of action.

Week 6

Today. I blog in honor of my dear friend, Christine.

Her father passed away today. 

He was diagnosed with bone cancer earlier this year and has fought a very long and painful battle.

Christine reminds me very much of myself.  She is from a very close family that prays together, celebrates together, cries together, and comforts one another in times of need.

Christine never missed a beat during her father's illness, not at work and not at home.  Each day, she came to work, drove home,  made dinner for her family, visited her father in the hospital, completed her school work , and helped her two sons with their school work and extra curricular activities.  She's missed two days of school since her father was diagnosed, both days were for her older son's college visits. 

Christine was the first to congratulate me when I became the tech coach, and she has supported me, as her coach, more than any other teacher in the building.  In fact, she tweeted about me and how much she appreciated having a DLP coach just this morning, right before her beloved father passed away.

I blog about her, because of the human element we face daily with all of our teachers, our students, our support staff, and ourselves.  In the midst of all the new changes in her personal life and at our school, Christine chose to be positive and proactive, embracing me as an extra set of hands to help her, rather than looking at me as an inconvenience. 

Christine and I have know one another for more than 20 years.  I've always admired her.  She cares for the lowest functioning students in our school.  She is a behavioral plan genius.  She began her special education career under the tutelage of a remarkable principal, who was, himself, a special education/emotional support teacher.  He encouraged Christine to try new things with her ES students.  Christine and I were the first to introduce the concept of "co-teaching" to our middle school.  I would invite her ES students to my science lab to do the "fun" things, like dissecting frogs, making slime, or building models of cells.  Twenty years ago, special ed students were still in a self-contained classroom for all classes, rarely having e a chance to interact with other students doing cool things like science labs.  We made it work, and it was a tremendous learning experience for each and every one of her students. Christine has always been firm, but compassionate, with her students, and she has always been a leader in our building.  I'm very fortunate to work with such a wonderful teacher and friend.

We, as coaches, need to remember that there will always be baggage brought to school/work each day.  We have to be understanding and supportive in more ways than we can imagine.  I was scheduled to work with all of the teachers on staff today to get them using Google Keep.  Christine asked me to come up with a way she could remind staff members to complete behavior charts for her Emotional Support students.  She didn't want to constantly have the responsibility of sending e-mails or calling individual teaches at the end of the day to collect the data.  I showed her how to use a Google Sheet "Add Reminders" extension from the Chrome Web Store, and after taking quite some time to set it up, I investigated Google Keep and adding collaborators.  This was significantly easier to do, so I presented it to her and made a "how to" screencastify presentation for her to watch at her own convenience.  I asked her to let me know if it would be an option for her or not.  This morning, she met me with tears and open arms, thanking me for showing her how easy it would be to set this up and share it with the staff.  She tweeted about it, told me how happy she was, and asked me to help her set up a Google Form in the same way for another student.  I visited every classroom this morning, making sure the Keep extension was added correctly, with notifications set to "ON." 

During our lunch break, Christine told another special education teacher how easy this process would be for all of them.  As the department head, Christine plans to have me attend her next meeting and share this application with all members across the district.  She thanked me and told me how grateful she was to have this all in place, just in case she would have to monitor her students behavior from home, if anything happened to her father.

We had a few minutes left in the lunch period to relax, eat lunch, and share some truly touching stories about Christine's father.  She told us how she would meet her father at the door on pay day, reach in his shirt pocket, and pull out his paycheck.  A young teacher eating with us laughed, not knowing what a real paycheck looked like, since we all have direct deposit now.  As the lunch period ended, just Christine and I remained in the room.  She personally thanked me for making her life a little easier at school these past few weeks with the shared tech tips and tricks.  She explained to me how rough things had been at home, with her mother, and with her father.  I hugged her and told her I was happy to be there for her. 

A few minutes later, Christine received the call that her father had passed away. 

I was so very glad to be there with her, in that moment, to comfort her, to cry with her, and to support her in any way I could. 

Week 5 or week 6

How did this week’s coaching / observations go? Share stories / examples / wonders / questions / successes / challenges from the week.

I'm having trouble keeping the weeks straight. I think it's because I started writing the blog entries too early. Oh, well. No matter.
You can never have too much reflection.

This was a short week. Three days with students, two professional development days. I participated in a NMSI training over the summer (National Math and Science Initiative), therefore, I earned three days off during the year. My first day off will be this Friday. I'm traveling to NYC to visit my niece. Fun times!

The first PD day was today, Thursday, October 5. As a tech coach, I wasn't sure what I would be doing today. We have our own campus police/security department, and the chief asked me if I could train his staff how to use Google Docs, Forms, Sheets, Mail, and Hangouts. The rest of the staff was assigned training sessions with various visitors/trainers/staff members, so I really had no "assignment," so to speak. Of course, I said, "Yes!'

I planned a 30 slide presentation, and the four main officers showed up promptly, donuts in hand, at 8:00. I was thrilled they trusted me to train them. I had coffee, snacks, etc... set up for them, and we got started. They were ornery, to say the least!
One of the main issues was teaching them the difference between using the school google account and their own personal google account. Once we got that settled, the rest of the training went well. I made them create and share documents, and I asked them to manipulate forms, create sheets, and add items to calendar. Chief wanted to learn about Google +, so I showed them our DLP groups, and posted the pictures, below, as an example of how to interact with the site. They loved it all!

Google Police!

Practicing Forms

"Thinking"

They were with me until 12:30. We laughed and learned all sorts of things. It was an amazing experience for me, because we never get to "talk" to the officers. We see them in a different role during the day, protecting our students, keeping the order. Today, they needed me, and it felt nice! They appreciated me, and that also felt nice. A very rewarding training session!! They "booked" me for the winter ins-service dates already!

The rest of the day was filled with blogging, Google+, Hangouts, catching up with paperwork, and so on. All in all a productive day!

What's going well? Great conversation with Dee. Great conversations with Marc Berry. Great ideas flying around the middle school!

What's challenging? Getting it all done! LOL I think I work harder now than I ever did before, if that's possible. I feel like my thinking wheels are turning all day long! I'm constantly thinking of ways to help teachers, constantly looking for new ideas, looking for answers to their questions, or anticipating their needs. That's all good, BTW. It is, however, EXHAUSTING! haha

Next week is Parent/Conference Day. We hold conferences from noon until 7:30 at night. I'm using that time to meet parents, pass out the parent flyer shared with us, and pop in for meetings with teachers as time permits. Not all time slots are filled by each teacher throughout the day, so I will have ample opportunities to have meetings with teachers.
The main thing to remember, don't take yourself too seriously! :)