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My New Job

By Jason Bedell, on June 8th, 2010

I just had an interview for a new job today. I already had an excellent job lined up, but this one was only 2 hours away from my family, so I thought it worth at least going to the interview. The position has the lofty title of Educational Technology Specialist. I interviewed with both the middle school principal and vice principal, the supervisor of curriculum and instruction, and the technology director. Instead of being intimidating, they stressed the collaborative nature of the school and the district which is a good sign.

I left the interview feeling pretty good. They asked questions ranging from technology to pedagogy and everything in between. Their questions also gave me a sense of what is important to them and where the district stands in certain areas. In terms of technology integration, they are not quite where I hope to help take them (which is good, since then they wouldn’t need me); teachers are not equipped with laptops, only some of them have projectors. this is going to be a slight shock coming from a school where every classroom had a ceiling-mounted projector, laptop, surround sound system, and accessible laptops. However, we can easily make older technology work well with students.

My job description is quite varied and interesting. First, it is a 12 month position. It will be the first time that I’ve worked a full year, but I usually get a summer job I don’t like anyway, so this is not really a negative for me. I will be in charge of all of the technology training for the school, which is similar to what I was doing as the librarian last year.

I will be in the position of coach in that I will be expected to help individually train, co-plan, and co-teach with all the teachers in the building. This is a role that I love and that I thrive. I really turned the librarian position into this last year.

I will get to officially wear a mister-fix-it hat. While the district has a technology staff, they really need someone available to fix as many issues as possible in the building. I’ll be able to act more quickly than the district staff.

Lastly, I will also be teaching 1 period of informational technology, which I understand to be a teach-what-you-think-is-important type of class. Those are always the most fun to teach.

I believe I will be starting in July or possibly August. Any tips on where to start?

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  • http://pgcummings.wordpress.com Philip Cummings

    Congratulations! My tip for any new job or post is to remember that all good stuff happens through relationships. Start by establishing and building good ones. Best wishes!

  • http://www.beyondiwb.com Joe Stewart

    Hi Phillip,
    Any tips you get I would love to know about. I’ll be doing virtually the exact same thing soon.
    Good communication with staff is a key factor. Have fun!

  • http://www.beyondiwb.com Joe Stewart

    Sorry Jason, should always get peoples names reight too. haha.

  • http://noeltigers.com wmchamberlain

    Congratulations, it sounds like you have a great opportunity. I am also pleased you still get to teach, you would be surprised how quickly you can miss that opportunity.

  • Debbie Gottsleben

    Jason they offered the job already? That is terrific!

  • http://jasontbedell.com Jason Bedell

    Philip,
    You’re right. I need to get to know my new staff personally to be a real asset to them.
    Joe,
    Are you on Twitter? I’d love to collaborate if you’re in a similar position.
    Will,
    I was disappointed at first because the class will take away from my time to help others. The more I think about it, though, the more I like it. I don’t want to become disconnected from the classroom and what kids and teachers go through daily.
    Debra,
    Thanks for the job tip. I look forward to working with you.

  • http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com David Andrade

    Tips for starting:

    1. Get them all to create a PLN
    2. Show them different lesson ideas using technology. Start small.
    3. Create a survey to find out what they want and need to learn/do.

    Have fun.

    Don’t forget that you have a huge PLN yourself to help you.
    David Andrade´s last [type] ..Dropbox – file sync, backup, and sharing

  • http://tech221blogspot.com marilyn

    As a technology director, please create positive relationships and mentor every stakeholder in your school. Administrators, teachers, students, and parents. If everybody buys into the excitement of using technology to enhance the curriculum and inspire everybody then you will encounter success. Our tech guru has ‘tech Tuesdays’ and meets individually with teachers to discuss their needs. Offer online courses, share inspirations, create a positive blog to share how to implement technologies, be on hand to help teachers implement strategies and projects with their classes, publish a tech newsletter to everyone, and be open to new ideas. Establish a committee within your school so that everybody that wants to can mentor others. Maybe coordinate a technology conference for teachers or students, you could work with other schools or districts. We are going on our third year of our state in-service tech conference. Good luck and have a lot of fun. Have your students create digital stories, glog, blogs, google sites, and use Google Earth. Have them create stuff for their teachers to use. Show them how to create in using smart board tool kit. They will amaze their teachers if they create something for them to use.

  • http://davidwees.com/discuss David

    It sounds to me like the two of us have very similar roles. I’ll be “Learning Specialist: Technology”, again with a focus on professional development for the teachers and some tech support as well. Good luck with the role, we’ll have to make sure we find some time to collaborate.
    David´s last [type] ..I don’t know how to use a fax machine

  • http://jasontbedell.com Jason T Bedell

    David,
    We should definitely work together. Some of the things I saw when I visited (like having the librarian and I teach standard classes) makes me think they don’t quite understand the positions. They also have a very long way to go tech wise, so I’ll need all the help I can get. The up side is that everyone I’ve met seems froendy and open.
    Jason T Bedell´s last [type] ..Developing Passion: Lessons Learned From Soccer

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