Reflecting on the first year-Part 1 #edtech #ETCoaches

I've been reflecting on my first year as a tech coach in a large, urban school district.  Our team of 19 served 187 schools as Digital Learning Coordinators.  And since this was a brand new role in the district we served 187 schools all while figuring out what our job is.

For all its glory and awfulness, I'm a big fan of the listicle.  So this is my attempt at a witty and humorous entry.  Maybe I'll send it to Buzzfeed...

(As I began writing this, I realized I'm a lot more long winded than I thought...well if I'm being honest, I always knew, but I had to face the writing on the wall this time.  So I'm breaking this post into three parts.)

Ten things I learned as a district Tech Coach (Part 1)

10.  It doesn't matter how many times you decline, people still ask you to fix their computer.

I love helping people.  I never thought that the hard part of my job would be saying no.  Since the Digital Learning Coordinator position was new to both us and everyone else in the county, we spent a lot of time talking to people about what we could and could not do for them.  Many of us were Instructional Technology Facilitators previously serving one or two schools and a big portion of that job ended up being tech support.  As Digital Learning Coordinators serving the entire county, we were told early on that break/fix was not something we would be doing.  We are coaches and trainers and our time is to be spent doing that.  It was hard for those who knew us to flip that switch and we had to say no to a lot of requests.  It was hard for us to say no to people we knew and used to work with.  It IS hard to say no to people who want us to come work with them and help them.

I learned, unfortunately, late in the game last year that if I fill my calendar with collaborations, trainings, and meetings, then I will never have time to actually prepare for the collaborations, trainings, and meetings.  This year I'm taking a stab at time blocking because of a session I attended at ISTE.  It fits right in with my attempt at following the Getting Things Done system.  So I'm actually protecting the time I need to develop my materials and do my own professional learning and growth.  

Recognizing when you're over committed and learning to say no is a skill and it's one any busy tech coaching serving multiple schools needs to embrace.  

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9.  Having a car with good gas mileage is important.

I will be serving 20 schools this year.  Fortunately for me they are clumped fairly close together and relatively near my house (though in my county, "close together" still means a 25 minute drive sometimes).  That is not the case for all the people on my team though.

I've been on a huge reduce waste kick lately.  I've switched to bar soap to eliminate the plastic bottles.  I've bought reuseable straws (I just got these and they're my favorite).  We've eliminated almost all ziploc bag use in the house.  I'm hoping to try out fabric wrapping paper this Christmas.  And perhaps the hardest change for me, switching from paper napkins to cloth.  Something about cleaning with fabric grosses me out.  I've had my eye on this company and can't wait for them to come to our area.

All of that to say, the amount of driving I have to do, makes me want to plant a tree.  Or a few hundred trees...There are some days I have to go to three or four different schools.  I'm not sure which is worse, the car emissions, the reliance on oil, or the amount of money in gas.

I still have my eye on that Suburu Ascent though.  Maybe they'll release a hybrid version.

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8.  There are only so many types of quickly accessible food.
And you learn ALL the locations of the type you like best.

I fully own this one.  I'm terrible at packing my lunch.  I blame two factors:
1. I barely tolerate leftovers of my favorite foods let alone eating them on a regular basis. 
2. That extra 15 minutes of sleep in the morning instead of packing a lunch is totally worth it.

So I eat out, a lot.  Freshman 15 has nothing on the Transient Job 20.  And over the past year, I've realized that if I want something quick and, if I'm being completely honest, something I can eat in the car as I'm going from one school to another I'm pretty limited to burgers and fries.  And those get old.  Fast.  I still remember how excited I was the day I found a drive through Subway.

Hopefully that all is changing this year.  My girls have started kindergarten and I now have to pack their lunch whether I like it or not.  (If anyone has any ideas for how to involve them in this process that doesn't involve a billion ziploc bags to prep choices, PLEASE let me know.) And since I do a reasonably good job packing a varied and nutritious lunch for them, I might as well do the same for myself.

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So that's it for now, stay tuned for Part 2 in the Ten Things I learned As a District Tech Coach!