I love my job. And it’s ending soon. Before I miss the chance, I wanted to share with others what I do and why it’s my dream job!
My formal job title is: Technology Curriculum Integration Specialist. It is significant that the TCIS (for short) title is used because I am more than just a computer teacher (in most school systems the computer labs are managed by teaching assistants and not certified teachers or other professionals). The current push in progressive school systems is not knowledge or even skills with regard to technology. It is integration. The goal is that the technology becomes like the chalk a teacher writes with. Nobody ever sits around talking about chalk - very boring! - but it is an essential instructional tool. Technology certainly can be a subject in and of itself but that is known as computer science and one does not need a degree in computer science to be an effective user of computer technologies. So the idea is that the technologies themselves become “invisible” (i.e. boring to talk about - like the chalk) and the instructional focus is the process experienced, product created, or content knowledge acquired through the use of the technologies.
Day to day my job involves a huge variety of tasks: I plan and teach collaborative lessons with teachers; set up, manage, and maintain our student network (running on OS-X Server); train the teachers on the use of various software titles we use (too many to list); troubleshoot hardware; help the teachers use their laptops effectively; manage all the internet and email accounts; offer staff development inservices on all kinds of technology and integration related topics. And that’s just a brief summary. I wear many, many hats. Most of them I don’t mind wearing. Others are annoying, but I suppose that is true with any job.
So what makes my job so great!? Apple hardware and an abundance of peripherals!!! The school system I work for provides Apple Powerbooks for every teacher at the elementary level. We have one iMac per classroom plus a quantity of iBooks equivalent to 2 per classroom (including resource rooms!). They are distributed in sets or portable labs though and run on wireless technologies so they can be moved around as needed. They can be used for a math lesson in a first grade class one hour and for a writing project in another class the next hour and for an internet project the third hour. You get the idea…
Plus, we have a slew of laser printers (color as well as B&W), digital cameras, digital video (for making iMovies), scanners, an lcd projector, disk drives, quick-cams, and a closed circuit TV system built in to the network.
I have heard of other school systems purchasing hardware as generously as ours; however, very few provide the necessary training and ongoing professional support needed to effectively use and integrate this type of hardware into everyday instruction. That’s where the rubber meets the road. I am a certified (i.e. licensed) teacher who knows the curriculum. And I am at a single elementary school full-time. Now, that’s a commitment that is indeed rare! (not that I’m the best TCIS - by far! - but it’s a pretty stinkin’ awesome job and I love it! I think loving my work helps me do a pretty decent job of it. Anyhow…
It truly is a forward-thinking model, and I feel privileged to have been part of it for the last 15 months. As you may imagine, I am quite sad. Perhaps I can find equal work out West… hmmmm.
