Teaching Technology vs. Teaching Teaching

Every other week, on Friday's, I present at our staff meetings.  Originally these bi-weekly meetings were devoted to technology, and to a certain extent they still are.  At the beginning of the school year I would come in, open up my computer, and teach the staff how to use Googles Apps, different websites, etc. and I noticed something.  The teachers I was presenting to, for the most part, were disengaged, and failing to find a purpose in what I was presenting to them.  I was showing them great tools, but that was it.  I wasn't explaining the tools, I wasn't aligning the tools to the content, I wasn't presenting in a way that made the teachers want to use these tools.  I adapted to the reception I was getting and started zeroing in on something entirely different.

Instead of teaching technology I am now teaching technology integration.  A lot of what I am presenting about is built upon SAMR and TPACK.  Throwing strategies and theories out for teachers to grasp a hold of.  It get's teachers to think about and reflect on their teaching practices.  There is still some reluctance to change and incorporate technology for certain individuals, but as a whole I am seeing a great shift within the walls of this building.  Our school went 1:1 in January of this year (about a month and half ago) and things are going well.  Many teachers have adjusted and embraced the technology for what it is.  Many are still struggling and are still using the devices to simply substitute what they were doing before.  I think the process is interesting though.  I knew going into this that it wasn't going to be an overnight shift, so watching the process of a school slowly change is great.  

These staff meetings are, for me, a great reassurance that teacher's still want to change the way they are doing things in the classroom.  Though the reluctance is a bit frustrating, for me if even one teacher can grasp a hold of some new concepts and ideas, that's one teacher closer to impacting our students in a positive way.  I talked about assessment the other day and how we need to evaluate how we assess our students.  The old habit of simple regurgitation is not cutting it anymore and is an injustice to our students.  We want higher level thinking, analysis, evaluation, questioning, reasoning, adapting, and by giving a paper/pencil, multiple choice test, you cannot get all of that.  I was annoyed by a response I got that dealt with standardized tests, that we would not be preparing our students for things like the NWEA's if we create projects and higher order thinking essay tests that speak towards relevance and skill sets over content.  My simple response to this is, we are not here to prepare kids for a test they will take a few times in their life, we are here to prepare them for life.  

When you scan through your classroom can you honestly say your students are engaged?  If your students are not getting their work done, what is the true source of the problem?  Can your students see a purpose?  Is there a purpose?  Ask all these questions and reflect, change the way you are doing things.  When your students grasp a hold of something it is amazing, and many people have lost that feeling due to comfort and sameness.  This is what my staff meetings encompass, a sense of change, a sense of engagement.  I talk about technology but the focus has shifted to talking about teaching more than talking about technology.