A year and a week later.

 

Since March 13th, 2020 time seems like an illusion. Everything just blends together as we all try to stay safe and stay sane during this crazy time. But as of today, I've been with CDWG for a year and a week.

I started with CDWG on February 24th, 2020 and 19 days later the U.S. shut down. My husband and I are in a privileged situation, we own a home and have been able to consistently work from home. However, the first year and a week as an Education Strategist hasn't been what I thought it would be.

As cliche as it sounds, it's been better. It hasn't all been roses, I can't even count all the late nights anymore. However, at the end of the day, I'm truly happy I took the leap and accepted this position. Over the past year, I've learned so much about education funding and policy, I've gotten to advocate at levels I never would have imagined, and I'm met so many amazing educators and administrators that are truly inspiring. I feel incredibly privileged when I get to collaborate with school staff because, again with the cliches, despite regional and population differences there is a lot to learn from each other and I'm happy to be a conduit for sharing.

Another reason this role is better than I thought is how much I've grown over the past year. Yes, the knowledge, experience, and expertise are great but I've been empowered to grow as an advocate for digital equity, diversity, and inclusion. While I will always have room to grow, I don't feel like an imposter. I feel confident in myself and the messages I want to share. After a particularly detailed email or a complicated call, I find myself being thankful. I know February 23rd, 2020 Ari would have taken on the situation differently. I can think of times when I reacted too quickly or gave up my power.

I find it crazy what a difference a year and a week makes. I didn't think changing jobs would make such a personal difference. I thought it would be a new challenge, a new way to grow as an educational technology professional. That's happened of course, and again there are days when I collapse into a chair mentally and physically drained, so no rose-colored glasses here. 

I'm thankful I've found a role where I can grow and positively affect things that matter to me. I know many in education technology aren't as lucky so I have to acknowledge this privilege. Despite the winding road it took to get to March 3rd, 2021 it's the road I needed even though I couldn't see past the next turn.

So what's up next moving towards year two and two weeks later? My focus right now, both for myself and those I serve, is not going back to school but moving forward towards what many of us have envisioned education could be for a long time. I'm excited to be a part of that work, and even more so I'm excited to help others along the way. 

Responding to Digital Promise and the Value of Edtech Coaches

"With experience in helping teachers and students use technology in teaching and learning, as well as an understanding of the district’s goals, edtech coaches are uniquely positioned to support districts in successfully implementing at-home learning." March 31, 2020 | By Mahsa Bakhshaei via Digital Promise

Last year many districts made the difficult decision to send district educational technology teachers on special assignment back to the classroom due to declining funding. I personally know many passionate educators that found a second calling teaching and collaborating with their peers, that were devastated when they lost their position. Many of them are back in the classroom this year and while teaching their own classes are volunteering their time to aid their districts during this unprecedented time.

With the advent of distance/remote learning, it is becoming apparent how vital positions like edtech coaches are. When we return to school sites, districts may have more devices than ever before. District dollars will have been spent on technology, and districts have potentially gone one to one overnight. I hope that districts are able to find a way to fund educational technology coaches again because despite the hardship we are undergoing innovation is happening. Teachers that are empowered to be educational technology coaches for their peers can help us learn from this time and help propel us and our students into the future.

I encourage you to read this short piece from Digital Promise to learn even more reasons why edtech coaches are valuable to students, teachers, schools, and districts.

Drop and Give Me Clicks

I know education doesn’t need another acronym, but I’m a big fan of the SAMR model. I think it’s a great way to help teachers think about using technology in the classroom. The thing about the model is, it can often be misinterpreted so I find it really important to help teachers and school sites think critically about SAMR and how it can be implemented in the classroom.

One of the biggest misconceptions of the SAMR model is thinking about redefinition. So often that is set as the be all end all and it’s not. If you watched the vlog you maybe have been thinking, why is the sticker for her SAMR training a cairn? It’s because it’s a reminder for balance on many levels. It’s about balance among the sections of SAMR, between analog and digital activities, individual and teamwork, lecture and collaboration. There isn’t a single one of these things that should overrun a classroom. I wanted the sticker to reflect that and hopefully remind the participants of this message.

As far as the Google Bootcamps go, I have at least one level 1 or level 2 bootcamp scheduled a month to help get more teachers Google Educator certified. Last year I hosted several one bootcamps, but this past week I hosted a level 2 bootcamp to help some level 1 folk move on to the next level. I’m also really excited that individual school sites want all their teachers Google Level 1 Certified. One thing I’ve noticed is even though we’ve been a G Suite District for years there are still many people at the basic level. I think I’m going to create a Google Basics Bootcamp for our district too. Then internally we’d have three levels teachers could potentially progress through.

It’s a short vlog, but a lot happened and more great stuff is on the horizon! Don’t forget you can still sign up for the Silver State Technology Conference and connect with CUE NV on Twitter and check out my interview with Peergrade: buff.ly/2f9N1tI

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& We're Back, to School That Is

This vlog was a unique one in the sense I didn’t provide any additional voice overs for the Snaps. I felt a lot made sense on it’s own but I thought I’d still blog a bit about the content.

The all staff PD day (complete Snapchat Story) was quite an undertaking and so much of the planning and preparation you didn’t see because it was done behind the scenes and by a varied group of departments. With something this large, it was only natural to get other groups involved. Plus our department, while a provider of PD in our district, doesn’t hold a monopoly on PD. It was so great to be able to work with teachers that were interested in the SAMR model and help classified employees learn about how they can use Google in the classroom. My hope from the day is that staff I worked with now have another resource or two to help them in their position.

The snaps you see of staff using the HTC Vive were from an exploratory session to begin looking into how we can use the the virtual reality tool in the classroom. There are also some fun snaps from the office just showing some random happenings. One of the things I’m trying to do more this year is get away from my desk during lunch and whenever possible I bring others with me. I think it’s a great way to de-stress, disconnect from technology and get to know others in the department better. While we all work together, sometimes I feel like I barely know my coworkers and I like to change that. So for me, it starts with food but if you know me offline, that’s probably not a surprise to you.

The last major thing covered in the vlog was my short reflection from my first meeting with Renee Hill. While she worked in the district I always admired and looked up to her. In some ways, I was always a bit intimidated by her, but that was never something of her doing. She has command and presence, she’s the kind of person you pay attention to because you know she knows her stuff. There is no B.S.ing her, and that can be scary but a great challenge. When August began to wind down I knew Renee was who I wanted to call for help. I knew she would tell me like it is, and not sugar coat it. With something as important as an opening keynote, I didn’t want lip service, I wanted to know if the keynote sucked. Luckily she liked the first draft and provided great suggestions to help make it even better. I’m excited to keep working with her and I can’t wait to see what we create together.

Don’t forget you can still sign up for the Silver State Technology Conference and connect with CUE NV on Twitter.

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Pre-Back to School Happenings

We’re back for the next installment of the blog and I’m coming in under the Tuesday wire, but I’m glad I was able to get it done. Having the video and blog aspect together is a great way to keep me motivated and posting. Thanks for checking in here on the blog and don’t forget to watch the video.

The first set of Snaps comes from the C3TC 2017 Conference that I got to participate in thanks to EdTechTeam. As I said in the vlog, I started my journey with EdTechTeam and really the road to being the coach I am now, years ago as an attendee at a summit. I attended an event in Napa, California and came back inspired to continue learning and sharing with others. That process eventually gave me the confidence to become a local presenter and technology coach for my district. One day an EdTechTeam employee approached me about working for them at an event and since then, I’ve been presenting for them almost on a monthly basis. What I love about working with EdTechTeam is these events are the ultimate iron sharpens iron situation. I’m always surrounded by so many phenomenal people, that I can’t help but learn from them. Whether it’s their presentation delivery, content or innovative ideas. I always return home from working energized and bucket full, and this event was no different. I was so lucky to be able to learn a lot about working with iPads, Seesaw, and Flipgrid. What was also great about this event was just seeing the other presenters. These events are like a family reunion, and this was no different.

A lot of what’s been going on in the department lately has been preparing for teachers to come back to work and August PD day. What you saw in the vlog, though was a bit different. This preparation was specifically for our Elementary Grade Level Leads and Technology Mentors. This is the first time a training of this scale has been undertaken and for the unified purpose of empowering grade level leaders with the skills to enhance their PLC. It was great to see teachers from so many schools across the district get the same information about important subjects like the new California dyslexia guidelines (AB1369), technology integration and adult learning theory. I’m hoping we continue events like this and we get to continue to be involved. One counter point about this, however, is I only got to be involved with the elementary training. Due to miscommunications and schedule conflicts, I wasn’t able to be apart of the secondary event. The good news is the footage from the Elementary PD wrap up is from a self-created inter-department PLC for staff developers. I have hope that meetings in this PLC will help foster collaboration in our district and closed the gap between the multiple departments and staff that provide professional development for teachers.

I think some of the other fun gems from the footage are simple presenter tips that I can pass on to others.

• Have teachers sit by grade level or content area, especially when sites are mixed. Help push people towards collaboration and give them the opportunity to work in groups so hopefully, this can continue beyond this specific training.
• When you can, tag team a PD with another presenter you trust. Having a colleague from my department there to help share the load, saved my voice and provided additional perspectives to our learners.
• If your learners need to respond in an app, have them read something useful, like the California ELA/ELD Framework, important article or useful in district document.
• Specifically, with technology remind teachers it’s embedded in the standards or in other district initiatives.
• When attendees are walking in, play music, but not just any music, play stuff people can sing along to. I’m enjoying the Songs to Raise Your Kids to playlist on Google Play right now.
• If you’re filming sections of your PD and your participants don’t want to be on camera, film the slide they are responding to, that way you get their awesome comments but respect their privacy.

Also, just like the in the vlog, I’m curious what’s your favorite back to school thing to do? Leave your thoughts in the comments and I’ll see you in two weeks for the next installment.

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