Taking on the role of a technology coach has not felt like that big of pivot after the years of technology teaching we just experienced. It has been refreshing to focus on using technology purposefully rather than out of necessity. I have enjoyed finding new ways to engage my students as well as the rest of the sixth grade classes. It has been a challenge to get our students back into the rhythm of regular school again. Technology gives us resources to allow them to still communicate and collaborate (or collabricate as my students like to say). When proposing the new idea to my team, I appreciated having the research to back up the use of technology in my lessons. Overall this has been a positive experience. I like the way our proposal has been broken down into manageable steps. This has allowed me to take the time to think about the steps and have detailed notes when talking to my team.
I am still very excited about my topic and believe that it will benefit our sixth graders. As I previously mentioned, it has been a challenge especially during those independent work times to keep our sixth graders focused and on task. As a grade level it was our goal to come up with independent work that would allow for high engagement and an ease of feedback for teachers. Having small groups of students read chapter books and then discussing via Google Classroom and Padlet will give them the outlet for discussion in a more controlled and beneficial setting. I look forward to starting this with our students and seeing how it will benefit their growth in reading.
