Best Day

My Best Day,

I’ve been in education for a little while now, as I get ready to start my fifteenth year in the profession. I had the privilege of teaching in a general education fifth-grade classroom for nine years before I switched over to my current position as a technology coach. In the five years that I’ve been in this position, I’ve seen a great deal of growth in our staff, and the teacher’s willingness to adapt and step out of their comfort zones. While there is still much work to be done with our staff, my best day as an educator took place two years ago when we hosted our first teacher technology showcase.

Ever since we began the coaching program in our district five years ago, our boss has been urging us to have teachers present on some of their technology strengths at an in-service day. While the other technology coach and I were very interested in doing this, we were not able to convince enough of our teachers to present. And for the first few years, we were unable to put on this showcase. 

Two years ago, we finally had enough teachers that were comfortable enough, and willing, to present to their peers in this area. We scheduled a half-day for our showcase and had fifteen teachers who presented on a variety of tech tools and how they use them in their classroom. The presentations were only twenty minutes long, and the other staff members got to choose which sessions they attended. We ended the day by having some grade level articulation time across the district, where the grade-level teams could discuss some of the tools that they saw throughout the day. A schedule for our day can be found here. 

The feedback that we received from that showcase was extremely positive. Several teachers who presented said they would be willing to do it again, and some that were reluctant to present said they might be willing to do it in the future. Knowing where our district had come from, and knowing how reluctant many of our teachers were, it was so encouraging to sit back and watch them take ownership of their learning. I was so encouraged, not just by the quality of their presentations, but that they were comfortable enough in the technology to stand in front of their peers and share what they had done. 

I know that we have a long way to go with some of our teachers. And I know that there will always be more to learn in this constantly changing field. But, on that day, and on the day this past year when we held our second technology showcase, I knew that we were moving in the right direction.

Jason S.