Qualities of a Tech Integration Coach

Positive

When dealing with technology, things go wrong. The wifi doesn’t work. Kids forget their devices. Teachers become discouraged. But that’s okay because positivity spreads. “What can we do to make this work in the future?” should be a constant refrain. Remind your teachers that there is always a solution and that failure is part of the road to success. The coach’s job is to stay positive and inspire teachers and students to do the same.

Supportive

Teachers are responsible for so many things. I don’t believe that technology should be another worry for them. Technology integration coaches should work for the teachers by acting as a positive support system. Part of the reason that I love my position is because I can take some of the burden off of the teachers’ backs. Technology integration coaches should be empathetic to teachers’ reservations about technology and remember how difficult it can be for some people to shift perceptions and practices.

Enthusiastic

Your passion for teaching, technology, and student success should be visible to the people around you. Like positivity, enthusiasm spreads. Teachers who have been apprehensive about using technology are more likely to experiment with new teaching approaches when they know the possibilities and they’re communicated with enthusiasm. So freely share your knowledge, skills and excitement with them.

Why look at Grade Spans through Multiple Lenses?

Pre-K-4 has been doing a version of proficiency-based and student-centered learning work for awhile, and our 9-12 team has been leading the charge in transitioning our district to be ready for the proficiency-based diploma law, enacted in 2012. Grades 5-8, however, have lagged behind a bit. So to provide a full look at our needs (and similarities of needs regardless of grade span) we compared varying grade span’s needs. This was to see if there were any commonalities in needs from our two strongest grade spans in terms of proficiency-based learning design. The data showed us and our staff that the needs of K-4 teachers are similar to 9-12 teachers, however, implementation of those needs will vary based on the students.

Seesaw

Seesaw is a digital portfolio tool to support students in documenting and sharing their progress over the course of their academic careers. Students can “show what they know” using photos, videos, drawings, text, PDFs, and links.

Seesaw can give educators, counselors, and school leaders a view of what a student is learning across classes. Counselors can use SeeSaw to see a fuller picture of what the student is learning, leverage this tool to start conversations with the student about progress, and access this information to help students make postsecondary choices. Seesaw provides training materials for all types of school staff via their Seesaw for Schools Success Plan.

Noted communication and collaboration features:

Opportunity for students to share and demonstrate learning to the school community and beyond.
Ability for parents to have greater access to student work.
Downloadable portfolios of student work for reviewing and sharing.
Students can blog or journal on the platform.