Jessica Fraser
Mentorship Blog
In addition to the coaching support I offer teachers, I chose one teacher at my school to mentor. I asked the teacher to choose areas of technology that she wanted additional support in. We focused on one of her needs every week for a three week period. I used a variety of methods to teach my mentee the technology, from doing live tutorials to having the teacher practice in meaningful ways. By providing my mentee with one on one support, she made great gains in her knowledge and use of technology with students. She became more confident in her ability to design and implement technology-enhanced learning experiences and is now seeking out more opportunites to infuse technology into her lessons.
Click the above image to view my blog I used to document our mentoring relationship.
This artifact shows that I am meeting the performance indicators for ISTE Standard 2.d: Coach teachers in and model design and implementation of technology-enhanced learning experiences emphasizing creativity, higher-order thinking skills and processes, and mental habits of mind (e.g., critical thinking, metacognition, and self-regulation).
During this mentorship, I coached my mentee in the design and implementation of technology-enhanced learning experiences. I taught her that just using technology for the sake of using technology is not enough. Instead, I coached her in how to provide meaningful learning experiences that emphasize creativity, higher-order thinking skills and processes, and mental habits of mind. I showed her how Google Slides promotes creativity when making the presentations and how it lends itself to higher-order thinking skills. When my mentee planned and implemented a distance education unit with sixth graders, she used what I coached her in and had a successful unit where the students developed 21st century skills.
Coaching Cycle
As a Digital Learning Coach (DLC), I take part in coaching cycles with two other DLCs. This artifact is a presentation we created for our first coaching cycle. We identified a teacher who could use some good modeling of a technology-enhanced lesson, specifically using the InterWrite tablet to provide visual and textual support to her English-language Learners. The teacher told us which second grade Common Core standard to focus on, and the two other DLCs and I created a lesson. Following the principles of Research Based Lesson Design (RBLD), we developed a lesson that modeled how to use the InterWrite to make a lesson more interactive. The second graders were highly engaged in learning the content because they were able to use the InterWrite tablet to show their learning. They dragged and dropped examples and non-examples and wrote words to appropriately expand sentences.
Click on the presentation above to view the full lesson along with the notes we used when presenting.
This artifact demonstrates my competency in meeting ISTE Standard 2.f: Coach teachers in and model incorporation of research-based best practices in instructional design when planning technology-enhanced learning experiences. By taking part in a coaching cycle in a reluctant teacher's class, my colleagues and I modeled how to enhance learning experiences with technology, notably the InterWrite tablet. We also used our knowledge of RBLD to create a lesson that incorporated research-based best practices. During the lesson, we stopped and explained to the teacher how to use certain features on the InterWrite tablet and the rationale behind our decisions. After this coaching lesson, the teacher told me that she was using the InterWrite in a much more purposeful way to enhance her lessons and has invited me back to her classroom to continue the support.
BYOD PLC Presentation
For professional development during a Professional Learning Community (PLC) meeting, the fifth grade teachers at one of my schools wanted to learn more about what they could have students do with their devices. I collaborated with two other DLCs who had the same question from teachers. We created a presentation to use during a PLC. This presentation focuses on the use of Padlet during the Interactive Learning Problem in the enVision math program to have students show their thinking. I taught the teachers about how Padlet is an online bulletin board where students can post text, photos, videos, and more. I coached the teachers in how student devices can be used to post group responses to Padlet.
Click the above image to view the entire presentation I used with the teachers at their PLC.
This artifact shows how I am meeting ISTE Standard 2.h: Coach teachers in and model effective use of technology tools and resources to systematically collect and analyze student achievement data, interpret results, and communicate findings to improve instructional practice and maximize student learning. This presentation allowed me to coach the fifth grade teachers in effective use of technology tools and resources to collect student data. Normally, teachers would have students use whiteboards during the Interactive Learning Problem. By using Padlet, teachers learned how their students can collaborate on a solution and creatively post their solution using the media that best fits their learning style. Padlet also allows teachers to easily analyze the students' solutions and view patterns. They can then communicate their discoveries with the entire class to maximize student learning. After I worked with the teachers during their PLC, I did a few demo lessons in the fifth grade classrooms to model effective integration of Padlet into the math curriculum. Now, a few of the teachers are continuing Padlet on their own and I have more teachers asking for support!
Teaching, Learning, and Assessments
Technology Coaches assist teachers in using technology effectively for assessing student learning, differentiating instruction, and providing rigorous, relevant, and engaging learning experiences for all students.