Providing Teachers Context and Confidence

On May 25, 2017,  my son Gabriel was born.  Gabriel is my second child and by all accounts, is a happy and healthy baby. As I think back to the first few days of his life compared to those of my 5 year old daughter, there is one major difference between the two experiences.  My level of confidence.  I clearly remember with my daughter being surprised that the hospital let me, a guy who could barely cook his own dinner, take a human child home.  My wife and I didn't know what we were doing, and the looks on our 

faces told our nurse that.  However, now, after five years of parenting experience to go on, we were calm, confident, and ready to go when we finally got to take our little guy home.  This change in demeanor came down to things: context and confidence.  ​

As  I think about the differences between bringing home by daughter five years ago and my son two weeks ago, I think about the teachers I work with in my role as the technology coordinator for my school district.  The first time a teacher is exposed to new tools they are unsure.  They don't know what to expect and need a little more of my time. However, the more I work with a teacher and the more they implement instructional technology in their classrooms, the more context they have for 

implementing new tools and skills and the more confidence they have in their ability to successfully implement those tools.

​Here are a few of the ways I help teachers gain context and confidence when working with technology in class.

1.  Model best practices during classroom visits.

​When I work with teachers who are new to technology, I offer to model tech integration by teaching a lesson in their classroom.  Many of my teachers have found this to be an incredibly useful practice because it gives them context for integrating tech in their classroom. The teacher can observe how I handle tech issues, classroom management, and the flow of the lesson. ​


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​2. Practice using tools during workshops.

Each semester I lead two semester-long academies to help teachers increase their capacity, context, and confidence for implementing technology in their classrooms. In addition to demonstrating how to utilize tech tools during workshop time, I make sure to provide participants with context of how these tools are utilized in the classroom by assigning activities as if the participants are students in my classroom.  For example, when teaching collaboration in Google Slides, I have participants work together to create a collaborative slide deck.

3. Provide easy access to training materials. ​

One-on-one coaching is incredibly valuable to teachers; however, in my role, it’s impossible for me to offer that opportunity to all 850 teachers I work with. One way I supplement the one-on-one work I do with teachers is to provide thorough, relevant, easy to find resources to help them implement instructional technology in their classrooms.  This includes video walk-throughs of tools and how-to documents that are organized on my webpage and easy to find. These resources can help provide context by showing teachers the student views of tech tools and confidence by giving teachers the knowledge they need to begin to implement new tools in their classrooms.

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​4. Provide timely, meaningful feedback.

One of the best ways to help teachers gain confidence in their abilities after a classroom visit or discussion is to provide timely, meaningful feedback.  Whether the feedback is positive or constructive, timely feedback is so important.  I work to honor teachers who invite me in their classrooms learn with me in workshops by providing that feedback. Often times, that looks like a quick email. Other times, feedback can be in the form of an automated check in to see if the teacher needs additional assistance and to let him or her know that I’m available to help.

5.  Highlight high quality teacher work.

Everyone likes a pat on the back.  In my experience, few things give teachers more confidence than giving them a stage and highlighting the great work they are doing in the classroom.  In my district, I do this by inviting teachers to be guest bloggers on my edtech blog and interviewing them for my department newsletter.  This practice also provides other educators in the district the context they need to begin to meaningfully implement tech in their classrooms. ​

Just like in parenting, providing context about what teachers are doing and helping to instill confidence in their abilities to succeed is so important in the coaching that we do in the classroom.  
 How do you help teachers gain context and confidence in your work with them? Sound off in the comments below!