Developing relationships

As I continue to develop relationships during my practicum and learn the importance of such relationships as a technology facilitator, I consider the following questions:

How am I developing my identity as a technology facilitator? 

Perhaps the most important way that I am beginning to develop my professional profile as a technology facilitator is through listening. In my interactions with people in the district, I am spending most of our meeting time together listening. I am interested in what they are actually doing in their day-to-day jobs, what values and beliefs they hold about their educational environment and education in general, what ideas they have about how to make it better and what challenges they face. I am learning about who they are, how they envision their role, and what aspects of what they are doing I would like to emulate in my own approach. In doing so, I am beginning to form ideas about how I can contribute and how I can help them. They are hopefully perceiving my interest in them and I have conveyed my desire to help in a realistic and practical way with the issues they are facing now. During these interactions, we are also discussing what some of my core values are as an educator, which very much informs who I will be as a technology facilitator. Furthermore, I am beginning to propose ideas in an effort to get feedback and garner experienced opinions about their potential and things that would need to be considered. Perhaps one of the most important characteristics of a technology facilitator is listening and understanding those who you wish to serve, and that is the phase I think I am currently in.

  

How am I building relationships with individuals in my practicum district this semester?

 

I have now had multiple meetings with my mentor and others in district administration, and one of the classroom teachers with whom I am work. I initially reached out to the district director of communications and an experienced classroom teacher at the high school. Through them I was able to connect with others who were willing to help me. In almost every conversation, there came a point where the person said, “oh, and you should also talk to…” By reaching out to a variety of educators in different roles, I am beginning to build relationships that provide a variety of perspectives and advice. It is perhaps this step that is most important, being open to learning from multiple people, and being interested in what they do and what they think. I would like to be perceived as someone who is genuinely curious, but also someone who can offer meaningful suggestions and ideas based on my own experiences and what I have learned in the ISDT program. I think this approach is helpful for building positive relationships moving forward. Good communication is also key to building those relationships, being clear about what my objectives are, what I am asking of them, and being considerate of their time and appreciative of their perspective.

How have I started to empower others to be risk-takers?

 

Meeting with Sarah (ESL teacher) has been a very educational experience. When we first spoke about the practicum, she mentioned that she was not especially tech-savvy and often felt adverse or indifferent about incorporating more technology. She wasn’t entirely explicit about her reasons, but after talking with her, I gather it is largely rooted in her experiences with technology as insufficient for handling what she wanted to use it for, a headache because of problems, or not really effective in the end. My hunch was to talk with Sarah not about technology, but rather about what more general challenges she faced as a teacher. By listening to her explain those challenges, I thought it would be easier to imagine what risks or possible steps Sarah might be able to take that would help to mitigate those challenges and how technology might play a role. One of the struggles she mentioned was the perceived shortcomings of Google translate. For the scenario in which she described the issues, it seemed like the Word Lens might be a tool she could explore with her students, a possible new avenue she could try that may work better. I think by framing a suggestion in such a way that it addresses a specific problem, it creates a possible willingness to try something new.

 

Not having much experience yet as a technology facilitator, the best examples of how I have helped to empower others to take risks come from my experiences as a coordinator of multiple sections of courses. In this role, I essentially lead, and really serve, several faculty members by providing content, shaping policies, assessments and helping with any specific issues they face with a student or students. I always leave time during our meetings for, and encourage other faculty, to share their opinions and ideas. I have also responded to and followed through with those ideas on multiple occasions. Most importantly, these are times when we can share ideas about how to work with students who experience certain challenges. In these instances, we have developed an atmosphere where we feel comfortable sharing our approaches and learning from other approaches, some of which succeeded and some of which did not. I think that has enabled in many instances less-experienced faculty to try approaches that they may not have thought of before and be willing to voice ideas despite the fear of embarrassment if they fail. An open and trusting environment has certainly been ideal for problem solving and results in a much more pleasant work environment in general.