I have been working on a project for the past eight weeks about developing professional development for our teachers. The professional development is for tools that are rarely used on SeeSaw and Google Classroom. I have been very excited for our professional development to take off because my passion is to help teachers with technology. Oftentimes I see educators either hardly using technology or using the same tools over and over again. During this school year, I have seen a great decline of student engagement, but my hope is that teachers will be able to learn a new tool on platforms they are already familiar with.
One challenge that came up was that a few of the teachers’ access codes were not working correctly. We were able to correct the problem by communicating with IT to replace the access codes with new ones. After checking that everyone had the access codes, it was pretty smooth sailing for both SeeSaw and Google Classroom.
I think this project has helped me come out of my shell and force me to work with other teachers that are not part of my grade level or teachers who teach specials. This has made me realize how many ideas for the use of technology are actually in the next room over or down the hall. Instead of looking on the internet for ideas, we can help and support each other as a team. My passion for becoming a Learning Resource Center Director has blossomed during this experience. At first, I was doubting if this project would ever take flight, but it has actually been one of the highlights of the year for my educational career. The more I put into this project, the more excited colleagues got to learn new tools/ideas to use with SeeSaw and Google Classroom. I think that the positions for Learning Specialists and Instructional Designers have great opportunities to help other educators create a strong learning environment for all students. There are ups and downs for any job, but at the end of the day, we can make a difference in our students’ lives.
