Mr. E.

So, I’m finally a week-and-a-half into my new job as an “instructional specialist” for a professional development organization focusing on inquiry-based teaching through technology. It’s very different from teaching 4th graders; that’s for sure.

Here are a few of my observations…

PD (professional development) providers talk about the teachers in the same tone and manner as teachers who talk about their students. What I mean by this is that teachers joke about problem children and blush over star students. PD folk do the same thing over their teachers. Since I was a teacher just last month, I don’t know how I feel about this. Shouldn’t we treat the teachers with respect and not like children. Of course, maybe as a teacher I should have treated my students with more courtesy.

I am all on my own. Sure, I am constantly chatting and emailing with others on my team, but it’s different when you can’t just walk to the next room and discuss a difficult situation. I’ve had to learn how to do Dreamweaver on my own which is no small feet. Thankfully, someone on my team is meeting me in town on Monday to sort out my website.

Adults are a whole new beast for me. Thinking about ways in which I can affect teachers in order to affect children is a new challenge in itself. I know how to wow nine and ten-year-olds, but the same tricks won’t work for adults. I’ll have to continuously tell myself to not to baby them too much or I’ll lose them. On the other hand, those who need the baby steps to attain some proficiency with the technology and inquiry-based pedagogy, will provide different challenges.

The days of knowing what to expect are gone. I have a school full of teachers to train this year…and a few minor-leaguers to be named later. The state has extended applications for a program that will stick a few extra bodies in my group. How many? Where from? What grades/subjects do they teach? Who knows. This is in addition to the wide open schedule of events to come. The teachers at my school want to know when we’ll meet, but we won’t determine that until our first meeting, and some of that scheduling will be up the in the air. It’s going to be an interesting year.

I’m sure there are many more differences that I’ve failed to mention, but that’s where I am now.