We love hearing from our Teacher Leaders around the world! Read about Angela Barnett’s journey with technology as she moved from unsure to a confident teacher after being a part of the Summer Online Teacher Leader Cohort in 2017.
Last year I was moved from 2nd to 3rd grade AND with a chrome cart (1:1 Chromebooks) – There was no real training or PD provided for this new tool.
A teacher at my site invited me to attend the EdTechTeam Google Summit in Duarte (this was a first for all of us).
I thought, “Why not?” I was curious to see what it entails to have tech in the classroom. To be honest, I didn’t have any expectations going into last year’s summit (since I have never attended a tech conference). I just hoped that I would learn at least one thing that I could take back with me.
Well, I immediately tried a few things I learned, however, it wasn’t cohesive and I still didn’t feel very confident. And as the year progressed I began thinking of what this upcoming year would look like. I needed to become more comfortable with not only utilizing Chromebooks with students but how to connect this tool to my lessons. 1:1 Chromebooks were a game changer…I had to figure out how to use these tools in a meaningful way and learn what I could do to provide what everyone is calling “21st Century” skills.
I was receiving emails from EdTechTeam so I watched the TL video that was available. This encouraged me to move forward and as summer got closer I decided to enroll in the Teacher Leader Summer Cohort.
By participating in this course my goal was to receive knowledge and guidance on how to become a primary general education teacher that implements technology in the classroom…successfully.
So, to say I learned A LOT from the Teacher Leader Cohort is an understatement. My world was rocked and my mindset changed.
First, just let me say…Twitter – I never in a million years would have thought to use this social media avenue as a PLN tool. I have increased my use since this summer by participating in chats, webinars, and connecting with educators outside of my time zone.
Through the cohort, I have learned how to provide blended learning. The fact that the EdTechTeam invited guest speakers to share information connected to the honeycomb opened me up to new (and much more relevant) books for educators (“Dive into Inquiry”) and FlipGrid. I even practiced how to create my own lessons based on grade level content and standards. In fact, I used resources from a session I sat in at the Google Summit to help me with one of my TL cohort assignments!!
My teaching has changed tremendously – student agency has become more real when I put the learning into my students’ hands. I have put much thought into how to turn my classroom into an inspiring space. I have become more empowered by being proactive about my professional learning. I have turned basic worksheets into mini Hyperdocs, videos are used with note-taking, and student presentations are being done through FlipGrid…And I have done this across all content areas (ELA, math, social studies).
Because of the EdTechTeam Teacher Leader Summer Cohort I feel that I have become a courageous leader by providing a Parent Technology workshop, Staff PD on Google Docs, and opened my classroom to a district Tech Tour featuring FlipGrid. I am so not the same person or educator that I was a year ago!!
This year I attended the most recent Google Summit in Duarte with a totally different mindset. I felt like my time in the sessions was more about connecting and applying versus trying to figure out what was happening. In fact, during a session of Google Forms, I was able to follow and create something to use immediately while others were struggling with just the following – The Teacher Leader Cohort gave me the ability to do that this year.
[themify_button bgcolor=”blue” size=”large” link=”https://www.edtechteam.online/p/teacher-leader-cohorts”]Want to become an empowered teacher like Angela? Join our June Teacher Leader Cohort![/themify_button]
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