Put me in Coach, I'm ready to play! Blog 6

While media specialists may not have the title “Technology Coach” and the pay that goes along with it, it is clear after reading the ISTE standards that media specialists already do the majority of these tasks on a day to day basis.

       Visionary Leadership – Sara is constantly working with our new Principal to plan, develop and implement a shared vision for technology in our building.

       Teaching, Learning & Assessments – Crescent is working tirelessly to help teachers use technology to collect and analyze student data.

       Digital Age Learning Environments – In most schools now, the media specialist is the first stop for teachers or students with technology issues, most of the time the media specialist has no previous training on the device, software, etc. It is all on the job training!

       Professional Development and Program Evaluation – The media specialist usually knows about technology needs before anyone else in the building.

       Digital Citizenship – The media specialist is the expert on digital tools and resources for staff and students.

       Content knowledge & Professional Growth – Our media specialist is constantly looking for new ways to teach students and staff and is constantly learning herself!

At my mentor’s school, the media specialist along with a few tech-wise teachers hold their own professional development days where they teach each other about Google Classroom or how they could use Makerspaces in their English classroom. These same teachers are also willing to help those that may need a little extra handholding when new technologies come along. While technology in a school is great, the Principal must also be on board and be a huge backer of having technology and casting the vision for the rest of the school. I have been in many schools in our system and it is obvious which ones have Principals that believe in the power of technology and those that do not hold those same beliefs.

As a media specialist, I will go to bat for my teachers and their technology needs/wants in the classroom. If Mrs. Smith comes to me with an idea, I will do the research to see if it is a plausible technology for our building. If not, I will look to find other ways to do what she would like to do in the classroom. Teachers and media specialists need to feel like they are on the same team and have the same vision for how technology can play a part in the lives of our students.