Getting Teachers to buy in

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Permalink Reply by Brian on January 31, 2009 at 8:26am

Hi Brett,
I'm a technology trainer, and so yesterday we called in all the trainers from the city and had a technology day (it was a workday) where we broke into small groups and showed quick and simple things one can do that won't require much consumption of time. The response from even the technophobes was great! I put the resources on my blog at http://ppsblogs.net/brianmckee/workshops/ . Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Barbara on January 31, 2009 at 9:55am

Brett, ots of great advice here! It is great to find other principals here! I too am an administrator and so for what it is worth this my 2 cents.

First I agree with a lot of what others have said like lead by example but on a very practical level I have encountered two stumbling blocks one is fear but the bigger one is time...the teachers plates are full and any time you embrace change there is a learning curve-

SO my suggestion is to look for things you can take off there plate... Can you create a situation that dos not require them to ad something on top of but rather in place of...

For example I looked for ways to lessen there paperwork load- changed my expectations regarding lesson plans, tried to simplify things
Also work to create an atmosphere that celebrates risk taking
Provide time where ever possible... For example can one staff meeting a month be a technology playground time,- This seems to help with fear...as they help each other and have time to try things..and you can introduce tools too
Can you start meeting with time to read blogs a kind of SSR time
Another idea is to give the teachers permission to learn alongside the students..I know our plates are very full but can you get in the classroom and do a technology lesson for the teacher

To echo some of what others have written above, data, videos and stories are also important to building a common vision

In the end though it is one day and one step at a time...I'd love to talk with you more about the day to day victories and set backs

I am not sure if you read LeadersTalk...it is a blog by admins for admins... you might enjoy it.

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Permalink Reply by Brett Mohr on January 31, 2009 at 8:09pm

Thanks for the advice and the website. We have an inservice day on monday where we are taking our staff to do a mixture of technology workshops. I am excited about this, maybe being the first step in the direction we would like to go. I too would like to talk about our adventures in this journey. Keep in touch.

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Permalink Reply by Ricky Yean on January 31, 2009 at 10:27pm

I totally agree - the most convincing argument seems to be the time savings. What can you help teachers do so that they don't have to?

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Permalink Reply by Gerald Ardito on January 31, 2009 at 11:02am

I am a teacher who has been using lots of Web 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, podcasts, Vokis, Voicethread, Google Docs, etc.) with my middle school students.

The biggest conversation/action starter has been other teachers seeing the (usually amazing) student work.

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Permalink Reply by Brett Mohr on January 31, 2009 at 8:12pm

I would like to know more about google docs. What can you tell me or where can I go to findout more about it?

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Permalink Reply by Gerald Ardito on February 1, 2009 at 5:48am

Brett,
Sure. Google has created a bunch of videos to demonstrate what's possible. You can find them here:
http://www.youtube.com/googledocscommunity

If you need anything else, just give a shout.

Gerald

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Permalink Reply by Brett Mohr on February 1, 2009 at 6:22am

Thanks Gerald. I will check it out.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on January 31, 2009 at 6:42pm

I would think for the classroom teacher there is one main issue TIME (or lack of). Find a way to get class coverage for those interested teachers--aides, paras, parents, etc. . I think staff dev, resources and equipment should go to those who will use it. It could e a trade-off--workshop time for those who will use it.

I agree that you should put your money where your mouth is (if you don't already) --use a blog to communicate with parents or staff. Create a wiki to get information, suggestions, input from staff. Podcast info instead of having a faculty meeting or to send out information.

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Permalink Reply by Barbara on January 31, 2009 at 7:37pm

I agree that as administrators we need to use the tools and demonstrate there effectiveness however... I have found that it has not been to effective to use wikis or Google docs as ways to communicate with my staff... and I have tried to do collaboration that way.. but it just did not take...they did not have the habit of using online communication.. We are doing much better now acessing google docs and using them to share templates but so far they have not worked for us to collaborate..
May be just us...

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Permalink Reply by Gerald Ardito on February 1, 2009 at 5:49am

Barbara,

I have actually seen that it is easier and more productive to make use of these tools with the students, then share the results with others.
Once people (teachers, admins) have some reality about the tools, they consider adopting them.

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Permalink Reply by Elise Mueller on February 1, 2009 at 9:20am

I would start with one good thing. My building started a ning this year. All committees have a "group" and we created a group for book discussions too. It has been a VERY slow start. In part because our principal (a great guy!) is stretched thin over two schools. Although the ning seems that it would be a natural time saver (all committee work in one place) not everyone is there yet. We'll keep trying though, knowing that change takes time.

Before you follow the look at standards > create a plan > begin training method of producing buy in; I strongly encourage you to listen to Charles Jennings. He is the head of Global Learning for Reuters and an expert on group learning. His 80:20 percent rule makes a lot of sense to me.

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