How can an administrator streamline daily tasks in order to be more present in the classroom? Whether to assist teachers in their daily objectives or perform walk-throughs, these are the times that best provide data to better coach teachers.
As your school’s “Super Coach,” you need tools that support that effort, as well as provide efficiency in those other aspects of your job. If you are a G-Suite school (formerly known as Google Apps for Education), you have such tools at your fingertips.
- Google Docs: Create a coaching schedule. Volunteer to read a book, manage a center, supervise morning board work, help during computer time — whenever there is a time that you can be present and helpful in a classroom. Consider offering yourself as a sub so that teachers can observe or support a colleague. Then create one document and provide the shareable link to all teachers and staff to sign up.
- Google Forms: Collect data on your classroom walk-throughs. One question should be multiple choice that reflects the time of day of your visit. The summative graph of the responses will quickly indicate whether you do all your walk-throughs after lunch when teachers and students are not at their best or balanced throughout the day.
- YouTube: Model effective and responsible YouTube behavior by maintaining an active YouTube channel full of curated videos and uploaded instructional videos to bring the learning to your staff.
Karen Larson is an academic technology specialist for the Santa Clara County (CA) Office of Education, working with teachers supporting the integration of technology in their classrooms. Previously Karen served as an educator and administrator in elementary education. She sits on the Board of Directors of Silicon Valley Computer Using Educators, a professional developer for Leading Edge Certification and certified educator with Common Sense Media. Connect with Karen at about.me/karen.larson
Tech Tips is a weekly column in SmartBrief on EdTech. Have a tech tip to share? Drop us a line at [email protected].
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