Getting Started

I am in the beginning stages of my praciticum focussing on the facilitating curricular change through the implementation of educational technology (edtech). I  have decided to develop a team of teachers from my home school to work with throughout the process. Last week, I started my  practicum by sending an email to my colleagues asking for volunteers to join a technology group where we would work together to address current issues and find effective ways to incorporate technology. The format of these meetings will largely depend on the number of volunteers we get. To identify interested teachers, I drafted a letter to let them know about the goals and my vision for the practicum. In addition, I also tried to outline the requirements for anyone who is interested in participating in the edtech group.

As I was writing the invitation to invite other teachers to this edtech group, I was very uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable for two reasons. I am asking my colleagues to give up their free time to work with me on this project, which can be very frustrating for teachers who are already stretching the limits of their time with a variety of other projects. The other discomfort came from the fact that since I began my teaching career I have always felt as though there has always been an us vs them vibe between teachers and administration. By sending this invitation to my colleagues, I feel like I am blurring the lines of where I sit in this fictional divide. I am hoping through this process that I can become more comfortable with the idea of myself as an educational leader while maintaining my identity as a teaching colleague.