This year I am a tech coach, and tech teacher. It is hard for me to balance the idea of being an environmental educator and tech teacher, mainly because I worry about how tech teaches consumption (with iPads, etc.) and how most of our electronic resources are either not recycled, or recycled poorly. However, I'll talk more about this later.
Right now, I'm really interested in this idea of coach. What is a coach, and how is it different than a teacher? When I"m outside with the students, I usually know more than most of them, about what things are around, how environmental systems work, and I've been around longer, so my theories are more solidified. When I'm using an iPad or tablet, I don't always know more, and I'm not sure that I should.
With the idea of tech coach, I've been thinking a lot about this guy.
So who is this guy? Usain Bolt's running coach. Wild huh?
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| Taken from www.world-track.org |
After talking with Addy about the idea of tech coaches, I've really wondered about what skills I need to develop. At first I was thinking about my own personal skills and my need to become a better user of the tablets and netbooks, etc. Now I think, my knowledge (maybe more like my environmental knowledge) needs to be broader, I need to know concepts and systems, and be able to pick out specifics in others.
While I don't need to be able to do everything, I need to be able to structure my questions and activities so students can achieve their personal best, maybe world best (likely a stretch).
I've been thinking a lot about it, especially when interacting with hesitant teachers. I need to reassure them that being the best isn't the goal, but like all teaching, helping others achieve their best is the goal.
