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.

I haven't been on the Honor Roll Since High School.

If you'd believe it, I was a bit of a hard worker in High School. I lived on the honor roll and graduated number 11 in my class, but after High School was over, I never gave the Honor Roll much thought.


My work ethic didn't stop when I left school in fact, if anything, it grew in strength. This school year was no exception. For my EdTech life, I found myself away from home volunteering or working about 15 times for anywhere for one to three days at a time. For my job as a Staff Developer, I worked my standard contract, 185 days, plus an additional 196 hours of overtime. That equates to 26 days.


For all of this, I am incredibly exhausted and grateful. This has been one of the most challenging school years of my life, managing the needs of teachers, budget cuts, and my husband and I bought our first house in January (thank you over time). I've had to say no to opportunities with friends and family during this past year all for the career I love, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but I must say I am very happy for summer break so I can recharge my batteries.


I woke up Sunday morning, my third day of summer break, and started my regular routine. When I sat down with my cup of coffee to swipe through my notifications, I saw the following tweet.

Woo hoo @EdTechAri 😍😍😍 !!!#LAX18 https://t.co/r071L1Ecv1

— Jennifer Leban (@mrsleban) June 9, 2019

At first, I was confused. Why was Jen tagging me in this retweet? So I clicked the link and there in the 11th spot of the Honor Roll I saw my face. I almost did one of those tv sitcom spit takes. I had no idea about this. This was published on June 5th, and I was clueless.


Everyone in education has their sweet spot. My husband works at an Elementary School and loves it, my good friend is a new Teacher Librarian and is kicking but even in her first year. For me, I thought my place was high school, but after 6 years working with adults, I've found mine. I love specializing in pedagogy-first technology integration to enhance practice & student achievement. I'm so grateful that my travels with EdTech have helped me pursue my passion for inspiring others to share their stories & skills through technology. Best of all, I'm so happy that I can share the vision that technology needs to be implemented equitably to provide all students access and opportunity.


I am so lucky to be able to do all of this, and to be highlighted for my efforts is never something I expected. To be included on a list filled with other wonderful educators and EdTech enthusiasts perfectly punctuates the 18/19 school year.


Thank you EdTech Magazine for recognizing me.

P.S. If you're interested in seeing me IRL I'll be at #ISTE2019 this year. Click here to see where I'll be for #ISTE2019 and beyond.

Reshma, 60 Minutes and #CSforAll

I've seen the 60 Minutes piece shared quite a bit already today and it really bugged me that a piece focusing on women in tech didn't feature actual women in tech or anyone from the many organizations working to close the gender gap. I know 60 Overtime features an interview with Bonnie Ross, a Microsoft corporate vice president, but I didn't even know Overtime existed and if you don't visit their website you won't see that feature because that's not what's shown in the actual nationalized TV program.

So when I saw the following piece from Reshma, founder of Girls Who Code, I found myself nodding along as I read. When I visit the Google campus, there a men every where, women not so much and you certainly don't want to get me started about hispanic women. Getting girls involved with STEAM and Computer Science isn't just about early exposure and early exposure isn't going to fix this problem at Google or other tech companies. It's about supporting and helping girls see themselves as a professional in that career.

This is something organizations like Girls Who Code and the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) do every day throughout our country. I've seen these programs change girls lives first hand. It's a shame 60 Minutes didn't share that story.

I encourage you to read Reshma's response to the article. Better yet, if you share the piece from 60 Minutes, share hers right along with it. #CSforALL

Erasing Women in Tech: How 60 Minutes Ignored Women’s Voices, Stories, and Expertise

The Room Where it Happens

I, like many, was sucked into the zeitgeist of Hamilton. So when I first read about Our Voice Academy on Twitter I immediately thought “I have to be in the room where it happens.”  

I emailed a friend that attended and learned that this event was Jennie Magiera’s capstone project for her Pahara NextGen Fellowship. I patiently waited and hoped another cohort would be announced. As luck would have it, I was nominated to apply for cohort two and was invited to attend.

As the days got closer to the beginning of Our Voice Academy, I kept telling myself to not be nervous but I couldn’t help it. Going into the event, I knew we were going to learn about the art of crafting a keynote message, begin writing one, and then give a short version of the keynote at the Our Voice Academy event.  While I knew all of this would be a challenge, something else worried me more.

I have always viewed myself as an advocate for students and educators of diverse backgrounds but knowing I was going to be surrounded by other educators of color intimidated me. Normally when I walk into a conference, it’s hard to find other educators of color; especially those on keynote stages. When I reflect on my day-to-day interactions in education,  I’m lucky if I’m one of two people of color in the room. This number is even smaller when I think about the educators of color in policy or decision making positions. While I was excited for the opportunity to be in a space completely different than what I’m used to, I was afraid. I was afraid I was going to say something insensitive. I was afraid I’d make an assumption, or worse yet, I’d discover an implicit bias that was lurking in my mind.

When I walked into the room for the welcome dinner, I was quiet. I said hello to the people I recognized and hid behind a glass of water but I couldn’t hide for long. We had to go around the room and introduce ourselves and I couldn’t hide it. I declared to the room, “I’m hella nervous.” Acknowledging my fears in front of my cohort was the perfect way to start the experience.

I took a leap and my cohort was there to catch me. By being honest with my cohort, and with myself, I was able to open myself to the Our Voice Academy experience and to those around me. This is something I made a point of bringing home with me to Chicago. Since the event, I’ve tried to be more open and vulnerable with colleagues and friends. As difficult as it is, I encourage you to do the same. When we go back to school there are so many emotions our students and colleagues are feeling.  Imagine how school climate could be positively affected if we could foster an environment where we all felt we could be this honest. For me at Our Voice Academy, this vulnerability allowed me to learn so much from the coaches and from the others in the cohort.

One of the most poignant moments of learning was when we were at dinner playing a card game about historical figures. A majority of the cards featured historical/famous African Americans. I didn’t say much until someone asked me what I thought of the game. I told the table I was angry, confused and ashamed that I couldn’t speak to the accomplishments of the men and women on the cards in front of me. Once again, my cohort embraced me. Being honest with what I was feeling gave me the opportunity to learn more about African American history in that dinner than I have in the many Black History months I have lived through. The environment that was built allowed for this to happen, and for that, I’m forever grateful.

There is magic in the room where it happens. Over the course of three days not only did we work together to create meaningful messages to share but we created bonds and memories that will last a lifetime. We were told that the word “voice” was chosen rather than “voices” because our individual voices are stronger when they are brought together. I am so excited to finish my keynote and one day share my message, but I am also invigorated by the messages being shared by others from my cohort. Best of all, the room isn’t just a physical space, it can be anywhere any of the cohort members are. Whenever we get to share our messages with others, we get to allow others into the room to grow and share.

Adventures in NV and AR Part 1

The Silver State Technology conference was wonderful. Any time you get to meet other individuals interested in things you are is a great event. Even if people don’t agree on how to implement technology, it’s always exciting to discuss ideas and learn with others. Friday night opened words from Dr. Jesse Welsh Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Professional Development for the Clark County School District. One thing he shared that I was so happy to see was a screenshot of an article about the digital divide that persists in Maine despite their statewide laptop program. Dr. Welsh shared this not to discourage technology use, but rather to remind us, that educational technology will only perpetuate traditional teaching styles without proper professional development and teacher support.  This isn’t the article he shared, but this is a story from NPR about the laptop program.

Admittedly, I called it an early night and didn’t get stay for the full friday night event. I was nervous about the keynote. This was the first time I would be keynoting to an audience this large, there were over 150 people registered for the event. About a year ago I presented my keynote to some of the teachers at the Norwalk La Mirada Unified School District, but this was a much bigger event. The next day I woke up early to get prepped for the big keynote. I went in to do a soundcheck and make sure all the tech was working because I wanted to make sure nothing would get in my way of sharing my message of TechEsteem. I won’t spoil the keynote, because hopefully you’ll get to see it live one day, but in super short summary I talk about educational technology and how despite challenges, we can harness our TechEsteem to persevere. People who believe in TechEsteme believe we can learn how to use technology for the betterment of education and that our learning can grow and develop over time. True to from, despite the sound check, the sound went out on one of my videos. It could have been a horrible moment, but I just ran off stage and turned up the volume. Kyle also came in with the assist too. It was a #BetterTogether moment for sure. Surprisingly it felt like a planned moment in the keynote, but it wasn’t. Although it was a nice moment to model what TechEsteem can look like.

The event was a great success for Nevada CUE and it was such a pleasure to work with the amazing teachers of Nevada. I’ve always loved visiting the state, I even got married there almost three years ago, and after the amazing conference I have so many new reasons to visit the state. I stayed in the city and enjoyed relaxing on Sunday for making the drive home. When I got home, I unpacked and went to sleep pretty early because I was so tired.The next day I woke up to several texts and messages making sure I was ok. I groggily responded not fully understanding what was going on until after I turned on the NPR Up First Podcast and heard the news.

When it comes to what happened in Las Vegas, well it’s such a complex topic and I know no matter what I type it won’t be enough. I do believe that our country can do more to prevent gun violence and help victims of gun violence. I just hope I’ll get to see that happen. I couldn’t go give blood, (less than a year old tattoo), but what I could do, did and continue to do, is call my government officials to let them know I believe this is a problem worth addressing.

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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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