Interview Reflection

Teacher Librarians:
It is a very unique experience to be a teacher librarian. This week, I had the opportunity to watch videos pertaining to different roles in the educational world, that use technology as a tool. The first interview I watched was with two ladies who are teacher librarians. I loved hearing from them. Why? Well, I remember my librarian at my school and she was nothing like what these ladies were. Librarians have grown so much in the past few years and became a much stronger part of each school district. I loved to hear that they both loved their job and worked to help students build an understanding of things like digitical citizenship. Another thing I was interested in was the term, targeted tools. It interested me that the school district she worked for had many different tools, that each served different needs for the students. Whichever tool they needed, they would work with. Overall, the teacher librarians had a lot of information about teaching, integrating technology, and helping students become the best they can be. Technology has benefitted these teachers for the rest of their career.

Tech Director:
Tech directors have a huge job in the education system. They are the ones who keep the schools technology up and running. This specific tech director has a teacher education background. I love that he has this because it helps him understand the tools used in an actual classroom. His understanding of teacher goals and the use of technology is very empathetic and I believe that is extrememly important. One thing I really enjoyed learning about from him was getting teachers to want to integrate technology in their classrooms. He said the most important thing for doing this was creating a community of teachers who DO want to use the technology and building off of them. This community will help the teachers who do not want to use technology become interested. They find ways to show these teachers that technology is important and will benefit the students. Lastly, I learned how awesome Google Apps truly is. He stated that when you use it, the support system is amazing and you can do so much with it. Overall, hearing from teh tech director has shown me the importance of his job, that we cannot always blam the "broadband connection," and technology is changing our world and the way we teach--in a good way!

1:1 Teachers:
This was definitely one of my favorite interviews, probably because my future goal is to be a teacher. I know that I may not have 1:1 in my future classroom, but I love to prepare myself to the best of my ability. Hearing from these two young ladies who are early teachers, helps me understand that either way "it will be okay." I love that they both jumped with two feet in, and dove right into using the technology. It is always good to hear that the technology is actually useful, helping their students, engaging them, and motivating them to do the best they can. Another thing I heard from one of the teachers was that they had iPads, chrome books, and Mac Books. It was interesting to hear that she believes this helps them develop and is what they need; like learning to type, create, and discover. To go along with that, both teachers agreed that these tools are helping students collaborate, engage with others, want to learn, and strive to teach others what they are learning. The girls also talked about engaging other teachers with the technology and how important it is to integrate it. They allow others to watch them and learn to use it. They also said that it is the best thing for the students. It is preparing them for their future, engaging them, and growing with our digital world. We are becoming a digital world, and we need to grow with that. Management is also important. Symbaloo is one way that teachers manage it. They also teach the importance of digitcal cizitzenship and set the expectations at the beginning of the year. Both teachers also said that it is extremely important just to walk around the room. This will help the students understand the impotance of being on the right sites at the right times, and always thinking of when you might just be watching them. One final thing I loved hearing was that getting a technology minor is a great choice. It will help you in the future and principals love to hear that you have experience with technology. Overall, we are becoming a digital world and changing with the world is what future educators need to be doing.

Tech Integrationist:
The tech integrationist (or instructional technology coach) was very interesting to talk to. His job is to integrate technology into the classrooms. What was interesting to hear about from him was his research called "Project 500." This was when Google contacted his school district asking if they would test the use of Chromebooks in their classrooms. They did it, and it all went on from there. They grew to use Google more and more. As this tech coach continues with his career, he hopes to keep building on the strengths of integrating technology. He also had a background with education. This seems to keep popping up with our interviewees. That is extremely interesting to me because it proves that you can go anywhere with your degree. For example, I could even work towards being a technology integrationist in the future. This tech integrationist then went on to talk more about Google and using google apps/tools in the classroom. He was very happy with the use of Google and how beneficial it is for the students at his schools. I love using Google and it is always great to hear other educators talking about it, how it is used, and what benefits it has. Lastly, he talked about the importance of changing with the world. Like all of the other educators, he said that we are becoming a digital world and that is why we need to prepare out students for their future, including technology.

AEA Staff:
The AEA staff member that we had the opportunity to talk with was full of great information. She told us about her job, the importance of professional development, and how technology can be integrated in schools. One again, this staff member had a very colorful background. She went from being a teacher, to a tech director, to staff at AEA. She really works now with teachers and administrators on educating them on the importance of integrating technology and providing professional development training for educators. It was nice to hear about her goals, how she strategically went from one place to another, and then landed at a job that was her dream for awhile. Some words that she told us that I really liked were the once when she said that technology is not the only thing out there. We do want to integrate technology, but when we do we have to use it wisely and make sure there is a purpose. Lastly, this staff member talked about the importance of growing and changing. We have to grow and change with the technology world in order to better help our students become successful. Professional development is one way we can do this. I strive to attend as many professional development conferences and meetings that I can, in order to be the best teacher I can be and to continuously be learning with my students. I loved hearing from this AEA staff member and her journey to get where she is now.

Most Interesting Role:
To me, all of these roles were very interesting. I loved hearing about educators jobs, how technology impacts it, and the importance of it. I loved how each and every person we talked to loved what they do. They also were extremely happy with the path that they took to get to where they are. If I had to choose one of my favorite interviews, it would have to be the teachers. As of right now, my goal for my future is to be a K-5 elementary teacher. Hearing from a first year teacher who is so successful and a teacher that has had a little more experience was amazing. I loved hearing about their jobs, how technology has mad it successful, and how much they LOVE it. My goal is to have a job that I love so much that it does not feel like I am working, but just helping students be the best they can be. Maybe someday I will want to futher my education, or choose a different career, but I know now, that no matter what I choose, my educational background will help me get there.

Themes:
When watching all of these interviews I seen a few themes throughout: Google is becoming more and more common, you can be a teacher and still move into tech careers, and technology is changing our world and we need to become digital with it. These are the three themes I saw throughout the interviews. In almost every interview I heard about Google. Google seems to be making a huge impact on education and becoming a very prominent tool. It was also talked about in a very positive manner. It seemed as if these educators loved Google and all it has to offer. The second one was the fact that all of the educators had a teaching background. To me, this was awesome. It is great to know that the people who are helping teachers integrate technology into their classrooms, actually understand being a teacher. It also shows that you can go anywhere with your carreer. Lastly, technology is changing our world and we need to grow with it. This final theme is very important. Almost every interview included information on this theme. The fact that the world is becoming digital means that it is extremely important for us to become digital with the world and teach our students the importance of technology and how it will impact their future.

http://www.appsbar.com/blog/technology/