Recently, there have been more teacher leaders who visit teachers at their schools. Their role is to help teachers in whatever they can- whether it be curriculum planning, course mapping, or classroom management. They are there to give teachers viable options that may work better than what the teacher is trying to attempt to do in their classroom. These teachers that go around helping others are known as "teacher leaders" because at some point in their careers they have taken the initiative to try something new with their students with regards to teaching and learning. Their methods, though new, may have produced great results to the point that people in the district become aware of what these teachers are doing.
Last week, in class, we had a guest speaker, Andrew Clark, share his experiences with us as far as technology and teaching were concerned. He had graduated from USU with a teaching degree and was able to start teaching 4th grade at a school in small, rural town in UT. The school had no technological devices. Mr. Clark sought out to find ways of obtaining devices by applying for grants. By the end of the school year, his students had iPods that were used to create podcasts. Also, he found a movable computer lab. He put these technological devices to use in his classroom. For example, he had his class dissecting owl pellets through these devices. His class was extremely engaged and motivated to learn. Parents, grandparents, and faculty noticed the change that Mr. Clark brought about to that small school in rural Utah. Eventually, the school district tore down that facility and built one that would be able to support technological devices. I like to think that this change began because Mr. Clark, a teacher-leader, had tried something that no one else in his school had tried before- implementing technology into his students' learning activities.
With regard to educational technology, teacher-leadership is essential. This is due mainly because there are many teachers who are hesitant to use technology because they are set in the traditional ways of teaching. They may think technology will not work or that it is a waste of time for their students. They may not know how to use it or the best ways to apply it in their content area. But, if they were to see a teacher-leader implementing various forms of technology into different lessons, the traditional teachers may start to feel more inclined to learn about the new methods. The teacher leaders would demonstrate how to properly use the technology in the classroom setting and would provide support for the teachers who are learning. For example, Mr. Clark mentioned that he would go to different PLCs in his school and would sometimes just show other teachers how to power on/off devices. Other times he would show them ways apps could be implemented into a particular lesson or content area. If it were not for teacher leaders like Mr. Clark, traditional teachers would not be as willing to use technology in their classrooms. How can someone know whether or not something is beneficial if they have never used it before?
Because so many people find that technology in general is detrimental, especially to the younger generations, there is a misconception that it will not work in the classroom either. But, with the help of teacher-leaders in our schools and districts, like Mr. Clark, these misconceptions will be replaced with more teachers enriching their curriculum with more educational technology.
