Disclaimer: I turned 30 this year. I am married, without children, have four cats and one dog. Currently, I live alone in Alberta while my husband builds a life for us (with the animals and his parents who live with us) in Victoria. The reason for the disclaimer is this: my thoughts and perspectives are not going to be the same as anyone else in this group or class. Making friends, connecting with colleagues, and learning together is not going to look, sound, or feel the same as any other person. When I moved from Manitoba to Alberta, I had one friend who I knew lived in Edmonton, about 30 minutes from where I moved to. We have known each other since high school, and are both teachers. We also play a game called Pokemon Go (yes, it's still a thing, and yes, 2016 was a very long time ago thanks for asking). Image Source: cdn0.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/shutterstock_568034230-796x398.jpg I received a contract for a grade 5 position in an independent school connected to my church's congregation. This means that I teach at a faith-based school where we go to chapel every Wednesday, have Christian Studies classes each day, and pray three times a day: devotions, lunch, and the end of the day. I did not know if I would love this job, because I did not know how I felt about integrating two pretty important parts of my life together so closely. Also, previously I taught grades 9-12, and I have a bit of a dry sense of humour, but it turns out I do love it - grade 5, working with people I see on the weekend regularly, all of it. Part of the reason why I love what I am currently doing is the support and the people I work with. This week we are being asked to discuss developing our ICT Skills and Pedagogy. When I taught high school classes, I taught a computer course to grade 9 students. The teachers in the school wanted our students to become fluent keyboard users since they were transitioning into 1:1 Chromebooks. Since moving to Alberta, I became the co-director of technology for our school. Let me be the first to tell you that our little school is a small fish in a great big pond... and dealing with Apple (or even getting in touch with someone from the purchasing in Education department) is no easy feat. For two years, I tried to hand Apple thousands of dollars, I filled out credit applications, sent many emails (if I said hundreds I would be lying), and played phone tag for weeks. Finally, this year, after two long years of phone tag, emails, support people, and the like - I was able for Apple to finally recognize us as a school, get us credit, and allow us to pay for apps. I told them a few times that I wanted to go about this the honest way, instead of purchasing apps and putting them on ten different iPads (the way sharing works in a household). They finally listened... the heavens opened (pun intended), we can purchase apps! Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-uvyL-sAHY I do not think I have ever had such a difficult time trying to give someone (or a company) money! I am considered the technology person in our school, so that means that nearly every day I have someone coming up to me in the hallway, outside the bathroom, while I am on a prep period, or leaving the school at my car asking me to take a quick look at something. Most of the time it is a quick fix, and other times it takes a bit of time on my part. I receive 40 minutes a week to work on technology in my school, but I do not usually get the full time as I wait for coverage for my class. I am not complaining, because I do get that time. However, it also means that I am the one to fix and troubleshoot everything. We have a class set of iPads, and two class sets of ChromeBooks in our school. We are trying to purchase another class set of iPads, but Apple still will not let me purchase a charge cart through them (please, just take my money)! Given my position, I do not have anyone else to go to to fix anything, run ideas off of, or receive any kind of help from. Google has become my best friend! GIF Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/black-and-white-text-google-xePnbnJiehT1e The great thing about my school is that if there is a need, administration is really supportive. Myself and the other technology co-director have gone to the Technology Summit in Edmonton for PD, and come back with some valuable tools and networking experiences. I would do that again, and I would also consider doing the Google Certification. I value the Facebook groups I belong to as well - because I belong to a number of teacher groups and technology groups for teachers. Often, I find new ideas there. I did not know about the streamlining of Google Classroom after I completed my survey at the end of June, but early to mid-August, sure enough, someone posted about the new features in Google Classroom. When the principal of my school started showing the staff how he planned to use it, I was able to help him by saying "this is a new feature" and "only within the last few months" to a number of things he touched on (do not worry, I was asked to interrupt and shout out my support for what he was showing). I think that taking classes of any kind help connect teachers to what is current or going on in schools. It can be isolating being in an independent school, because we really have no one to collaborate with. The newest teachers in our school come from the public system and are bringing in new ideas, which help with updating how things work within the school. I know that my UBC classes have certainly helped me in envisioning something great for my career and also for my school. I am excited to continue learning in these courses. I do not typically share anything on my Facebook news feed related to teaching, technology, or what I am doing in my classroom. At one time I might have, but I feel like with privacy issues and wanting to create a separation between personal life and career life, I need to avoid making those posts. I do contribute to Facebook groups, but do not update my profile. I belong to a Grade 5 Teachers in Alberta group that I am constantly bouncing ideas off of. I find that group (with it's focus) is so valuable! I think that it would also be valuable for someone to create a BC (or Canadian, so I could join) Teacher Librarian Facebook group, because I could not find one when I searched at the beginning of this course. If someone is interested in making it I would co-moderate! That being said, at the start of my career, I was fairly active on Twitter as it was part of my professional growth plan. I grew tired of notifications and trying to keep up. I hated feeling like I was "always on" and "always thinking about school", so I let that slide. Trust me, my conversations with my husband are no longer all about school, they also include hobbies, interests, and current events. I prefer it that way. Here are my take-aways or my summary of my thoughts on this topic:
Given all that I've said, some days I just feel like I need to pull a Ron Swanson. References [Amit Xavier]. (2013, December 13). Hallelujah Chorus Silent Monks funny !!! [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-uvyL-sAHY
i don't know idk. [GIF]. Retrieved from https://giphy.com/gifs/black-and-white-text-google-xePnbnJiehT1e Mobile Payments. [GIF]. Retrieved from https://media.giphy.com/media/9tvgtoRFLtTwY/giphy.gif [Pokemon Go]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2018, from cdn0.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/shutterstock_568034230-796x398.jpg
5 Comments
Rachel Wright
10/11/2018 08:58:51 pm
Hi Krista,
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Krista Belanger
10/12/2018 05:51:09 pm
Our school does a few different things with PD, sometimes there will be one PD opportunity where we will send one person out and then they will come back and tell the rest of us what it was all about (technology conferences is one).
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Rachel Wright
10/15/2018 07:19:42 am
Wow! Lots of great options then. I need to suggest these to our admin. I especially like the sharing when one person goes out for a Pro-D. That would hold me more accountable for my own learning if I was the one presenting it to staff.
Gillian
10/14/2018 02:19:24 pm
Wow you are an incredible resource for your school. I can imagine the revolving door of people coming your way with questions and IT support. From what I see at our school, it is never ending....
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Aaron Mueller
10/15/2018 06:14:56 am
So, it sounds like you are already working in a T-L role at your school, as the IT Coordinator support role you maintain is a big part of what T-Ls do in schools. You support others, go out and learn new things to bring back to your staff, try to stay one step ahead of everyone so you can chime in and support when needed. We never have enough time, but we do have the passion, energy and curiosity to always keep learning. Your time of life right now might not be conducive to using social networks like twitter and facebook, but it might be a way for you to get to know some of your future learning community from afar, as you wait to make the move to Victoria, but it is also a personal choice and a question of balance. I am sure you will enjoy the poke-walks when you are here!
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