An Idea Becomes Reality

Every educator has strengths and weaknesses; knowing them helps us to teach better. One of my greatest strengths as an educator is being able to integrate technology effectively into current teaching practice. Since my first year of teaching (first job, not student teaching), I have focused much of my energy into investigating how I could use technology to help students in different ways. Since I saw that I had some talent for this, I wanted to help equip teachers with these skills. I started teaching technology integration classes last summer and then became the technology coordinator for my school the following year. An idea has been fermenting in my mind all the time. I’ve been considering starting my own consulting firm for educational technology.

I have finally had enough experience with it to feel that my educational technology skills are well-rounded to the point where I can help teachers in all content and age levels. I am now officially an educational technology consultant, or at least I will be when I get a client. I have come up with about 20 course ideas ranging from half day in-services to 3 day intensive workshops and I am writing descriptions for them at the moment. In the coming weeks, I will be making a dedicated page on this site and posting course descriptions, contact info, and pricing. The pricing will be much less than national trends at the moment and I am willing to travel up to 2 hours from Clarksville, TN without being provided a travel stipend.

I have no timetable for success and am currently only in the planning stages. My next step is to get references and make contacts with other school districts. If anyone has any advice for starting a successful business, please let me know in the comments. It may be productive to have a competent partner in the area, so if you have experience with educational technology, please let me know.