Who are you really serving? How far does your reach extend? Why did you become a teacher in the first place?

On changing schools (again), moving away from Ed Tech (not completely), moving back into the classroom (why would I do that?!?), and bringing this blog to a close (perhaps) . . . 

The title poses some very good questions that I have been pondering over the last few weeks and months of this turbulent school year.  Going back to just over a year ago, having major cardiac surgery (in a foreign country none-the-less) certainly made me pause and think.  Add to that moving house/country/schools/continents brings everything into sharp focus and scrutiny.  There have been a number of ups and downs, and complete turn-arounds in the last 12 months which have culminated in a whole lot of change for me.  All of these changes were planned (in one way or another) and initiated by me and my family - we just didn't plan on doing everything at the same time.  That's just how it all worked out.  Now that we are a year down the track, I am making another big change with moving schools again, moving away from ed tech and returning to the classroom.  Why would I do that, you might ask?  The more that I think about it, the more I come back to the three questions in the title of this post . . .

What lies on the road ahead?  Are you on the right path?

Who are you really serving?
In my current role as an ed tech coach, I have really examined this question this year.  At my previous school, my role meant serving the entire student body (directly in classrooms, through technology tools and systems, and through various interactions with student leadership, clubs and the school community), the entire HS faculty (through developing teaching and learning with ed tech integration, through PD/training/support, and through building a school culture of professional sharing and collaboration), and the school as a whole (through my role as a co-director of digital learning, and through the development of school systems/procedures/organisation for school growth and innovation).  This year has been really difficult as these avenues for growth and development are in their infancy here, and out of my sphere of influence - which is just not a good fit for me.  Leadership here thinks my time is best spent acting as a technician (which we have enough of in IT Services), working as a substitute (wait, what?!?) or covering the ugly jobs of others (like planning the sub coverage for the day, very early in the morning).  My role here seems to be serving administration, as they simply do not understand what my role is, what my strengths and abilities are, or how I can help the school to grow and develop.  Am I serving the school community as a whole here - not really.  Am I doing what I thought I was brought here to do - definitely not.  Am I working in an environment which is conducive to school growth and innovation, as well as providing a platform for my continued learning and development - nope.  Which leads to the second question . . .

How far does your reach extend?
I can't help but compare my previous school to the current one when I consider this question.  The visual that pops into my mind is having my arms blown off by a grenade that has been handed to me . . . not a pretty image.  In my previous school, I contributed to school growth everyday in many different areas across the school.  Over the years, I helped to change the school timetable and master schedule, moved the entire school to become a Mac school and use Google Apps for Education, bring in external collaboration and certification programs for teachers like Google Certified Educators and GEG Poland, create flexible classroom environments, and update and evolve the courses and programs on offer.  Here, I have not been allowed to contribute to many of the bigger projects around the school such as building and outfitting the new campus, selecting school systems (LMS, SIS, SIMS), considering platform change for the laptop program, or bringing in/back Google Suite.  Everything has been relegated to "not now", "maybe next year", or "there is a team working on that already."  Disappointing, frustrating and again, not a good fit for me.  Not being able to contribute to school growth is demoralising, and does not help to build a sense of collegiality or ownership in the school.  Working in a strictly "top-down" environment where you have no voice and certainly am not heard, is not for me.  Looking back, I wish I had a better way to evaluate this aspect of a school from far away, before uprooting the family and making the jump.  In terms of evaluating where a school is at with its approach to educational technology, I think this is a very important question when considering a move that can only be answered truthfully by going there and seeing it for yourself.  What people say is so different from the realities of the environment, as everything is coloured by their own perceptions, attitudes and how they want to portray themselves, the faculty, the school or teaching and learning in general.

Why did you become a teacher in the first place?
This is the big question that I think all teachers should think about from time to time.  I first started thinking about becoming a teacher when I was halfway through my 3rd year of university.  I realised that my love for programming and computer science, and the kind of work that I was doing for my university courses, was not reflected in real-life and industry after graduation.  I had the benefit of an older brother who was already working in the software industry of the late-80's, and I could see the kind of work that he was doing was not for me.  When I started asking my friends and family what I should do, they all said that I had been a teacher all of my life - first as a school tutor, then as a lab tech in uni, and teaching assistant during the school year and over the summers.  Working with people, whether they be adults or students, is what I thrive on.  Seeing the lights go on, making connections, expanding someone's thinking and pushing their boundaries - these are the things which make going to school everyday worthwhile.  I have been doing this for 28 years now, and this is the first time that I have been in a school environment where much of this is lacking on a day-to-day basis for me in my current role.  If that is not a signal that I need a change, then I don't know what is?!  If what you are doing does not bring you some level of fulfilment and joy, then I suggest that you really think about the path you are on.  I have realised that I really need to get back into the classroom, to get back to teaching students who want to learn rather than adults who do not.  I have realised that I have been teaching CS in one way or another for my entire career, and I miss having my own classroom and students.  I need to work with the Growth Minded and problem-seekers, not try to change the very Fixed Minded and those who set in their ways.  Time for a change.  Time to look for a "better fit".

Does everything fit together?  Are you in the right place?

So, what am I going to do?
I am almost finished this school year, and this may be my last blog post for awhile.  It has served its purpose - to record my thinking and reflections on ed tech, to help me process everything, and to share it with anyone who cares to look.  Each of my posts has averaged well over 100 clicks/reads so they have at least been seen (I just don't know how many of those clicks were from bots trolling the internet ;-).  But I really started writing this blog for myself and it has run its course for the time being.  If you are reading this post and it is well past June 2017, then perhaps I have not come back to it in my new role back in the classroom.

I have come to realise that right now, I am not reaching very many students.  Being a coach and working with the faculty means reaching the entire student body through the faculty.  But the culture of the school has to be in alignment with this path, and school leadership must support building the path and setting a course for the faculty to follow.  Without this roadmap/vision/direction and without the authority to create them, the school simply remains in stasis, frozen in place.  My thinking now is that I can affect more change and reach more students by returning to the CS classroom . . . and a lot more fun along the way.

I can't wait for next year - going back to teaching Computer Science full time is complete serendipity!  They say "timing is everything", and in this case the timing was perfect for a change.  I have never had the opportunity to go to a new school with an established CS program that is growing, and never had another teacher to work with and share classes.  Moving to one of the top few international schools in the world is a great opportunity that could not be passed up.  Returning to the classroom, going back to my roots in CS, rejoining the AP community and (hopefully) getting back to the APCS exam reading next year, leading school trips and coaching school teams . . . it's all happening next year!  I know that I am a geek at heart - returning to my true geeky self just feels right!

Big Takeaways
Despite the frustrations and "poor fit" of the school this year, there are some big takeaways (as there always are things to learn), such as:

• Taking the opportunity to return to Asia (which we missed so much), and getting out of Europe at an opportune time (it seems to devolving and becoming unsafe in many places) have been good for us as a family
• Moving the school forward with ed tech and integration (even if some of the steps have been baby-steps, the faculty are at least moving), and being able to shift some people's thinking to "we are all technology teachers" has been important for future change here
• Moving a school towards innovation and updating teacher's pedagogy is a massive job, and it cannot be done without the support/endorsement/realisation of the school leadership as a whole - leadership's understanding and acknowledgement of ed tech role in school development is key, and has to happen before any real, deep and meaningful change can occur in the school
• Chip and Dan Heath's book Switch has been very helpful for me to frame my thinking and understanding of the very Fixed Minded (it has to do with the associated identity of the person involved, and their particular environment, rather than their personality or disposition), and my reflection on the how/why some particular initiatives have failed here
• Reconnecting with the international Ed Tech community in Singapore and Asia (and I will continue to work with Apple, Google and the international schools community as I transition back to the classroom)
• Concentrating on my recovery and health (the change of environment, climate and diet have been great for me ;-) plus being in Singapore where we all "just fit in" (for a mixed race family, living in Turkey, China and Poland has been challenging at times) has been a true revelation

So, this is the plan for next year and the foreseeable future . . . and it feels like I am going home!  Wish me luck!

FeedForward instead of FeedBack for Positive Change

In this article by Joe Hirsch for Edutopia, he talks about a change in teacher evaluation from top-down assessments of effectiveness and performance, to more of a self-guided and self-assessed reflective process.  Hirsch also connects this movement to:

Marshall Goldsmith's highly acclaimed feedforward concept in which employees are asked to suggest ideas for their own improvement in the future.    . . .   Feedback, by its very definition, is focused on the past, which can't be changed. Feedforward looks ahead at future possibilities that still fall under our control. Feedback tends to reinforce personal stereotypes or negative self-fulfilling prophecies. Feedforward looks beyond what is in favor of what can be.

I think the colours of the cans are reversed . . . Recycling should be Green!  

Working in an international school, I can see elements of the feedforward idea taking shape in my school, both for me as a technology coach and for the faculty that I work with everyday.  Hirsch breaks down the feedforward idea and offers three models for achieving it in your school or for your own professional development, which are receiving Instructional Coaching, conducting Peer Observations and Instructional Rounds, and developing your own Professional Learning Communities.  My current school is still coming to grips with educational technology, integrating technology into the classroom, having a laptop program, and what that all means for teaching and learning.  Many of the teaching faculty still have a bad taste in their mouths from what has happened here in the previous years before me, and from ongoing problems with IT that never seem to get sorted.  There are struggles with leadership as well, who really do not know "what ed tech does all day" and want to use the coaches as subs, technicians or secretaries.  As with any school, there are people who get it, and who are actively looking to shape the future rather than dwell on the past.

I think too much time and energy is wasted dissecting the past, and trying to prevent all of the problems and mistakes of history from appearing again.  Aren't we supposed to learn from our mistakes, even if they belonged to someone else?  Isn't that a primary component of a Growth Mindset?  Constantly looking at the past and thinking "things will not change" and not learning from it are hallmarks of a Fixed Mindset.  So how do we move school leadership forward?  How do we flip their mindset?  How do we shift from feedback mode (dissecting the past) to feedforward (looking to the future and what could be)?

As an ed tech coach, how all of this connects to tech integration, teacher evaluation, professional development/growth/sharing is part of my daily work life.  It's all interconnected and intertwined, so much so that each piece cannot be developed without considering the impact and parallel development of the other aspects.  I think this might be the crux of the problem, the bigger picture that leadership perhaps does not realise.  They don't see how ed tech integration is enmeshed with PD, teacher evaluation/appraisal, goal setting, collaboration, creating a professional culture of sharing and growth, and changing pedagogy.  Perhaps this is why we are treated as ready-made subs to cover classes, glorified technicians who can actually communicate with teachers and students, or someone who has the "skills" to do "complex" jobs like fixing the formatting in a Word document (I kid you not).  Right now, I don't have any solutions to offer here, except to keep fighting the "good fight" and trying to get people to better understand your role through articles like the one above.

"We are all technology teachers" is something that I have been repeating a lot this year.  I just hope that it is starting to sink in, especially in the places where it really needs to be part of the thinking and culture of the school.

Redefining Search!

Note - this post was originally written back in May/June but never published for a variety of complex and personal reasons mainly having to do with my health . . . but all is good now!


May 2016 - I meant to write this posting about a month ago, but things have gotten a little bit away from me with moving back to Asia for next school year. Too much to do with so little time left in Poland before we move on from here. On a fast train heading south to Kraków gives me a bit of time to reflect, write and just think . . .


After attending Learning2 Africa in Johannesburg in the fall, I have been thinking how I needed to alter my approach in the HS towards teaching research skills to students.  For the last number of years we have taught and reviewed research skills with all G9 students as they entered the HS (through a series of projects, lessons and workshops culminating in a large, personal research project in their English class) and in G11 as students began the Extended Essay process. Changes this year in faculty, curriculum, and the approach to launching the EE have resulted in most of this work with research skills falling away. After attending Jeff Utech's extended session at L2Jo'burg on research skills, I knew I had to do something different right away.

Rather than continuing with the model of periodically working with whole grades of students, I shifted my focus to the faculty. My reining was simple - up-skill the entire faculty to give them the same toolbox of resources, techniques and strategies and they will in turn use, model and train all students in the same way, in every grade and every class. What I developed was a differentiated workshop targeted at individual departments/disciplines which worked through how research skills have changed with Internet-enabled mobile devices in the hands of every student. As teachers, if we are still asking questions which can easily be Googled, then we are asking the wrong kinds of questions of our students. Are your students trained in how to conduct a really deep and targeted search, or to cope with conducting effective research when they do not have any search terms?

To answer these questions, I put teachers into research scenarios which changed their thinking about research.  When you have no search terms to begin with, research ceases being a solitary act. It naturally evolves into a collaborative and creative process involving critical thinking and communication - the 4 C's of 21st Century Learning. For example, in the workshop I had teachers work in small groups and try to answer the following questions about this image: what is shown in the photo and where was it taken?

Do you know what this is?  And where was this photo taken?  [can you figure it out without using Image Search?]

Individually, most teachers had no idea where to start with such a task. In their small groups some started discussing what they thought it might be and what search terms they could use to describe the image. All sorts of search terms were tried ranging from "golden dog poo" to "swirls" and to "golden ratio spirals". Other groups tried to work around the task to find the actual photo on the web, or to use Google Image Search to find similar images, but I did not provide them a copy of the image to work with. The most successful groups spent a lot of time talking and collaborating about what they thought the image might be, before jumping into any searches. These groups hit upon really important search terms like "Buddha" and "statue" through their collective knowledge, which they used to quickly used to figure out that these are the top knots on the back of Buddha's head at Wat Pho (the reclining Buddha) in Bangkok. Every time I did this workshop with another department team, they all agreed that this exercise was not only fun and exciting, but very thought provoking. As we are now an MYP candidate school, this exercise placed teachers in an open inquiry process which was unfamiliar for some.

Some of the groups who started with an easier task wanted to try the more challenging images rather than finishing the rest of the workshop. Simple testimony of how much they enjoyed working on this. The remainder of the workshop focused on sets of resources and alternative sites for research, compiled by discipline.  If you are interested, you can use the following shared doc as a resource with your faculty or students.

Harder - Who are these women (what "people" are they)?  And what does "what they are doing" mean?

Following the ripples and impact of these workshops was really interesting. It was great to hear about how teachers took my materials back to use with their classes for ongoing research projects, and how students could immediately employ these techniques and resources for their projects. Other teachers still required more support  and booked me to work with their classes - even small steps forward are still making forward progress.  One tech-hesitant teacher took the initiative to present these skills and resources to their class who were engaged with an large-scale IB Diploma Internal Assessment involving deep research into a topic of the student's choice. This teacher still felt that they could not completely help all of the students in their class with their research so I was brought in to work with a few particular students. I ended up working with two students in particular who were truly "stuck" in their reach process and it was really gratifying to help them get unstuck, and then immediately pass on some more advanced techniques to their friends . . . Students teaching students . . . it doesn't get better than that!

Another teacher had an epiphany in the workshop, and took my exercise with open, collaborative inquiry revolving around an image, and adapted it directly into their lesson . . . the next day! This teacher had been struggling with a unit centered on the Renaissance and the rise of religious art and its symbolism. The lesson changed from a lecture and discussion about a few important pieces of art, to open inquiry process where small groups of students truly looked at and analyzed a piece art to discover its importance, symbolism, and hidden meaning. This teacher told me with great enthusiasm about how the class were looking and thinking deeply about art for the first time . . . in years . . . and how much they enjoyed the process of discovery.  Huge win, and a big step forward.

Epilogue (October 2016) - a number of months have passed by since I wrote this, plus I have changed schools and continents. At my new school in Singapore, not a whole lot is different and I have discovered that I need to take the same approach with faculty. So Redefining Search is being rebooted and recycled, and relaunched with both faculties that I work with (my new school has two separate systems/curricula under one roof).  It's interesting to think about how the "students are digital natives" thinking has really taken hold all over the world, and how teachers don't often consider how student's search skills (and their own) need upgrading.  Taking this approach of up-skilling the entire faculty in order to reach the most students (hopefully all of them ;-) has been a successful and necessary approach at my last two schools . . . so, how are your search skills and the skills of your faculty? 

Coaching with Mindsets in Mind - Part 4

One more story from "On Court"

Now that the school year is finished and I am thinking about the highlights, this past spring season coaching the Varsity Girls Tennis Team stands out in my mind.  Just like in my previous post (Part 3), I can't help but apply my learning about Mindsets to our season, and think about how it relates to by role as a Tech Coach.  Some of what I have been thinking about also stems from reading one of my player's CAS reflections after the season, and her takeaways from playing on the team this year, compared to previous ones.

This year, I had the opportunity to shift over to being the Head Coach for the Varsity Girls when the long-time coach stepped down.  I have not worked with the girls team before, so we started the season with a team meeting so I could get to know the players who were trying out, and so we could talk about what they wanted to set as goals for the season.  It was a long conversation, but the girls had a central theme running through everything - they wanted to feel like a team, look like a team, and act like a team.  Part of this feeling came from last year where they went to the one and only tournament without proper uniforms, and played in boys soccer jerseys which were big, baggy and had numbers on the back.  Very unladylike and not inspiring at all.  At the end of that initial team meeting, we agreed on a few things which included: having proper uniforms, building our team spirit and identity, and supporting each other on and off the court.  This was perfect for me, as these are all things which I try to instill in the sports teams that I coach.  Little did I know that it would lead to endless hours of searching online for women's tennis dresses both locally and abroad, which would eventually impact the cookies on my laptop so that now all of the Google Ads and FB side panels are filled with pictures of the latest tennis dresses . . . ugghhhh!

ASW Varsity Girls Tennis Team 2015 - they wanted tennis dresses to look like a team, so we got them!

Fast forward to the end of the season and the CEESA HS Girls Tennis Tournament which we hosted here in Warsaw.  We had students, parents, teachers, and even some Board members and the new Director drop by to watch some tennis and see how it was going.  I think this was significant as we hosted the tournament off campus at a private tennis club, so people had to trek across town to see them play.  And they played fantastically, winning 3 of the 4 individual events plus taking the CEESA Team Championship for the first time in 6 years.  

Now, you might think that getting tennis dresses for the girls is insignificant but it wasn't - it was huge!  The other coaches and players at the tournament all commented on how great they looked on the first day.  My girls were all talking about how they felt like a team for the first time in years - it was all about the dresses (BTW - no other teams were wearing tennis dresses or even proper women's tennis clothing, and some coaches lamented that they could never get their girls into dresses, let alone skirts - we had a new outfit for day 2 ;-).  

CEESA Varsity Girls Tennis Champions 2015 - sporting their day 2 attire of hot pink tops with black skirts!

When the tournament was over and we were wrapping up the season, the girls talked about a number of things which made it very special for them.  I was surprised at what they came up with too.  They were happy about winning the championship of course, but it was all of the other stuff which stuck in their minds.  It was the team spirit that we had cultivated through the practices and out on display at the tournament that stuck with them.  From team warm-ups, to wearing uniforms, to team meetings, to doing team cheers (nobody does that in tennis, but I do), to supporting one another on and off the court.  One of my players even reflected on how "together" we are as a team even though it is a mainly individual sport, which she has never felt before in 5 years of playing on the school tennis team.  The same player also commented on how much she grew and improved this year, both with her skill level but more importantly with the mental part of the game.  What she wrote about was how her mindset changed over the season, and how looking back, it made all of the difference when she was on court at the tournament.

So what did I learn from this, and how does it apply to being a tech coach?  It all has to do with team building.  Building an effective team has to be an intentional process, and the little things count.  Details matter, having common goals and listening to your team is important - done right, this is how you can shift everyone into a Growth Mindset, to bring them together as a group.  Having a growth minded team working together and challenging one another, can lead to great achievements and breakthroughs - sometimes far beyond expectations.  I am really proud of the girls and what they achieved on court, but even more so with how they came together as a team and what they learned about themselves.  One of my players summed it up in her CAS reflection, with something I was constantly saying throughout the tournament - "One point at a time."  She really has taken this to heart, meaning to never give up, learn from your mistakes, and look to the future for the next opportunity . . . all sure signs of the Growth Mindset.

Coaching with Mindsets in Mind - Part 1

I have been reading Carol Dweck's "Mindset - the New Psychology of Success" and have been thinking about how it connects with my role as a tech coach.  In various coaching workshops, two "models" have come up which classify my clientele (i.e. the faculty that I work with) into different groups - the Train Model and the Garden Model (as I call it, for lack of a better name).  

In the Train Model, you can envision the faculty as being in one of three cars of the ed tech train, which is constantly in motion moving down the tracks.  There could be spur-lines that branch off of the main tracks, but everyone is generally moving in the same direction.  The first car contains the early adopters, the techies, and the gurus who are constantly exploring new ed tech tools and how they can be employed in their classrooms.  The last/third car has the tech sceptics, the tech-phobics and those teachers who use the minimal amount of technology or no technology at all when it comes to conducting their lessons.  In the middle car are most of your faculty, who use some technology in their classrooms and generally stick to what they know and have used before.  In this model, the early adopters are leading the way, and the sceptics are trying to slow the whole train down.  As a tech coach, we talk about focusing on the middle car to try and expose them to new ed tech tools, and to move them up into the lead car.  By moving the middle group ahead, others in the middle group and hopefully some of the sceptics in the caboose will be drawn along with them.

In the Garden Model, you can envision two groups - the plants and the rocks.  I know this may sound derogatory but I don't think it was ever meant to be.  As a tech coach, I have been told that "you have to feed the hungry" which means nurturing and fertilising the plants in the group so that they thrive and grow.  At the same time, I have also had conversations about "always remembering to water the rocks", meaning that I have to work with everyone on staff (which is very true) no matter where they are on the ed tech spectrum, or where they are in the garden.  With this model, it focuses more on working with everyone, rather than spending most of your time working with the group in the middle (plants that need a little more nurturing and care ;-).

So which model is better?  Which model better describes what we as coaches should be doing?  Dweck's "Mindset" has given me a new perspective on these two models and how they can be blended together.  When you apply mindsets to the Train Model, the first car is clearly the Growth Minded - always taking risks, trying new things out, constantly learning and reflecting.  The last car is the Fixed Minded - wanting to keep things static and comfortable, not believing that they can learn new things, and simply feeling overwhelmed by all things technology (they feel that it is beyond their ability to learn these new tools).  So what about the middle car?  People here are in the middle of the mindsets spectrum, somewhere near the border between Growth and Fixed.  Dweck talks about screening for mindset and working with those people to move them forward - this would mean looking for the people nearer to the front of the second car.  Dweck also talks about putting people into a Growth Mindset simply by talking to them or putting them in a specific situation - this means finding the people in the middle of the second car and nudging them forward by connecting with them, exposing them to new tools, and putting ed tech into contexts that they can relate to (such as demonstrating a tool in a class which they can observe and see for themselves).  Working with those people in the middle car does make sense, as you are trying to pull the trailing car along with the rest of the train.

Dweck's Mindsets can also be applied to the Garden Model in the same way.  Plants = Growth and Rocks = Fixed (sorry, no pun intended ;-).  The parallels are obvious here, I think.  "Feeding the hungry" refers to working with the Growth Minded, which Dweck explains can achieve great results in a very short amount of time, reflect and move off in new directions, and create new innovations.  "Watering the rocks" refers to creating opportunities and experiences which serve to shift people's mindset to Growth, even temporarily, so that they can learn and move forward . . . one small step at a time.  When you apply mindsets to the Garden Model, coaches need to be working with everyone across the spectrum and differentiating how we work with people according to their mindset rather than their tech abilities and skill set.  If you think ablaut it, this really makes sense as you can be far along the ed tech spectrum, but still have a Fixed Mindset - this is the teacher who is very comfortable with the ed tech that they employ in their class and good at it, but unwilling to consider new tools as they don't have the time.  

So which model is best?  Personally, the Mindsets Model really appeals to me and makes sense.  The more that I think about it, the more instances come to mind which fit Dweck's model or are explained by Dweck's thinking.  Moving forward myself, I will continue to write a few more posts about Mindsets and how it connects with my role as a tech coach and with my work in educational technology.  If you haven't read "Mindset" yet, you really should - even if you are not a coach yourself . . . it has totally changed my thinking.

The 1000th view . . .

When I started this ed tech blog about 15 months ago, I said at the time that it was mostly for my reflection on teaching and learning with/through educational technology . . . and I think that this statement still holds true.  This is my 23rd posting, which puts me right on a 1.5 posting per month pace.  Not bad for a first time blogger.  As I write this short post, I have noticed that I have just reached the 1000th view of my blog.

Now, I am not so naive to think that all of these page views actually came from real, live people.  Over the past year I have noticed a few hits along the way that have come from some automated trolling services in far-off lands.  Plus there's the clear evidence that my postings have only had a few comments left on them, or have had a few people Google+1 them.  So there is some evidence that people have read some of what I have written here, but I still maintain that this blog is for my reflection first, and sharing ed tech stuff with the world comes second.

So which posts have generated the most reads/hits?  Far and away, the clear winner here is my second posting about the Unplugged day that I held last year ('84 on 8/4 Unplugged Challenge - Revisited).  Coming in second was my posting about applying to the Google Teachers Academy (Getting All Googley).  After that, there's a bunch that have similar numbers of hits.  

Do you have a blog?  How long have you been writing it, and how one did it take you to reach a 1000 hits?  Do you know anyone who started a blog which they have since let fall away into the void of the internet?  Why did it fail, or why did they stop writing it?

Short Jaunt into the Blogosphere

Reflecting on Reflecting

Just a few short notes and observations that I have had about blogging, starting this blog, and actually getting some thoughts down.

First of all, I never have really seen myself as a writer or blogger in the first place - the reasons behind starting this blog are documented here in my very first post.  About 4 months into this project, 4 pages and about 10 postings later, here I am.  Thinking about the time and effort (it's not as easy as I thought it would be either) that has been invested in my blog has led me to reflect on my reflection.

Teachers need to be reflective in their work, in their pedagogy and in their disciplines/areas of speciality, in order to keep current, relevant and effective.  I have always been a reflective teacher in the classroom, throughout my career as a computer science and technology teacher.  Keeping current with the ever changing technology field was something that was a given.  But the results of this introspection and analysis always resulted in a tangible change in what I was doing in the classroom, what I was doing with students, or working with other CS/technology colleagues.

As a full-time technology coach, things have changed.  I no longer have a regular class of my own.  I am no longer teaching computer programming, applications, problem solving or working through a curriculum.  Instead, I am now working with faculty, the student body as a whole or as a grade level, or occasionally with just a particular class belonging to someone else.  Not that I am completely removed from the classroom - far from it.  It's just the context and focus has changed for me.  Hence, this blog.  By reflecting on the work that I am doing now as a technology coach and putting it into writing here, I am creating the tangible evidence of what has worked and what has failed, for my own use and for others out there in the blogosphere.  As my "class" now consists of faculty, students and staff around the school, I typically no longer have the convenience of thinking "well that really sucked . . . I will do it differently next period."  Writing it down and reflecting on the good, the bad and the ugly helps me to stay current, innovative, and engaged with being a tech coach.

If you asked me as recently as 6 months ago, I would have firmly said that I would never write a blog or have a good reason to do so.  But here I am . . . still writing . . . I am a blogger now!  If you are out there, thank you for listening/reading.  So do you have a blog of your own?  Have you ever thought you would never, ever start a blog, just like me?  Well, maybe it's time to start?!?