Mentor+Report+March,+April


 * Technology Mentor Report**
 * Dawn Corbett**

1. **Month**: March and April 2007

2. **Goals for the months**:

Our team has been offering PD sessions for all schools in District 18 over the past 2 months on a various topics. We have systematically contacted the principals with topic suggestions for their PD, and booked the times to deliver the in-service. Because the school staffs vary in needs and goals, each school’s plan is tailor made for a nice fit.

Between visits to schools, I was able to respond to individual teachers’ needs as they developed.

3. **What did I do to bring about success in achieving your monthly** **goals**?

I kept my calendar up to date and made sure I had anything with me that I might possibly need to deliver PD, i.e. cables, charged batteries, camera, cleaned off memory cards, data projector, etc. This also meant that I needed to print off hand-outs long in advance since I wouldn’t be able to get back to the office for days at a time.

4. **Accomplishments/Successes**

The big thrill is how I am treated by my fellow teachers. They really love the small group approach and sign up for repeat sessions. When I walk into a school I may or may not know what topic I’m about to cover, but after a quick question or two, we make a decision and get started.

When I’m involved in District meetings, I am often enthusiastically approached by teachers with problems in their world of technology. Sometimes I can offer them advice on the spot, and other times we agree on a time that we can meet. It’s this level of rapport and camaraderie I really enjoy, making it possible to be invited into their busy world to help out.

A teacher commented that although she had attended our in-service on Photo Editing back in the fall, she’d like to take the same session again. She was able to use about a quarter of what was presented, and now she’d like the opportunity to absorb another quarter! I guess I can relate to that comment. Years ago, I took 3 different sessions on Web Design and uploading before I finally had the nerve and the know-how to tackle the job!

A number of Smart Boards are just about to go out to many of our schools. Most teachers have had some level of training to use the software and to find on-line lessons. Besides teaching Photo Story, Smart Board is one of my favourite topics to teach. To hear the “ooohs” and “aaahhs” and “wows” out of a group of teachers is really exciting! I can’t wait to help them out with the 35 “real” Smart Boards about to be installed!


 * 5.** **Challenges:**

Although we have had a lot of supply teacher days given to us for Technology PD, I still feel the need to give more help to each one of the schools. As I leave, I see the enthusiasm build and know that if I could just get in front of them more often, I’d make more of a difference. Everyone takes in the amount of knowledge they’re capable of for the time and has to build upon it.

On a personal level, a few years ago I wouldn’t have imagined that I could go out to a school, deliver in-service to a group of teachers and not know the topic beforehand! I have always had to have everything ready in advance, and set in stone so to speak. It’s an uplifting feeling to be more flexible!


 * 6. Additional Comments:**

The support from my co-workers has been tremendous. Because our team is set up on MSN, I know that no matter what question or mess I’m involved in, I can always type in a question and find the answer! A good example of this was during the last report card season for Elementary teachers. At the eleventh hour, I had a teacher who ended up with a corrupted data file for her report cards. Although way back in my distant memory, I remembered something about a fix for the problem, I just couldn’t retrieve it. One little shout to Bryan Facey back at the office brought me an answer in less than two minutes. The teacher who was close to a break-down almost hugged me twice, one for me and one to take back to Bryan! That type of assistance comes on a regular basis from the rest of the team and I am grateful for the support!