Educational Beliefs of an Instructional Technology Facilitator

Back in January, I read a blog post by Justin Tarte that got me wondering about how my beliefs and my actions in my work align. I also challenged our Pinnacle Leaders to blog about their thoughts on this as well and since I issued the challenge for them, I thought it only right for me to blog as well. So here are my beliefs (in no particular order):

1. All students can learn.
I work with teachers now, sometimes as a group of teachers and other times working with their students in their classrooms. My role is a coach to help them learn and use technology in seamless ways in their classrooms. Every. single. teacher. can learn to use technology effectively. Just like with young learners, we need to find the learning modality that suits them and build confidence through success.

2. Learning should be relevant.
Teachers will not use information from professional development if it doesn't apply to them. Just like teachers in the classroom, we differentiate according to needs and where teachers are now.

3. Relationships play a huge role in student achievement.
Research indicates that the student - teacher relationship plays a huge role in student success. Same thing applies to coaching teachers. I strive to build a relationship based on trust and collegiality so I can really help my teachers be successful. It is my job to make them shine.

4. Students should be given lots of opportunities to create.
When I think back on my educational experiences, times that I spent creating things to showcase my learning is when I had the most fun and really learned the material. I remember memorizing all the bones in the human body, and today I can't name all of them. Technology today really gives our students and teachers a way to create that was never available before. I think we should tap into that!

5. Teaching is a difficult profession, but the most rewarding.
Today education bashing is the "in thing" to do. But I dare say that teaching is still rewarding and it is amazing to be apart of the aha moment, whether it is a young student or a teacher.