Team+1+-+Building+Effective+Relationships

Importance and Methods of Building Effective Relationships by Team 1

As technology peer coaches, building effective relationships is critical to helping colleagues understand the value of integrating technology into their respective curricula. As Laurie Jeffers noted, “Those who are willing to ‘plant the seed,’ receive rewards ‘twofold’.”  All of us have had various experiences working with colleagues this year.

Some suggestions for approaching administration include using the School-based Professional Development Standards Checklist to help focus the initial conversation with the school’s principal and other interested administrators.

Sharing technology-based lessons among subject areas and grade levels could support and enhance a standards-based curriculum and help ensure that all students are receiving the same quality of instruction. Also, if a teacher can see how technology is integrated into a lesson or live format, such as how to write a research paper, then he/she may be more willing to incorporate these ideas into his/her own curriculum.

One of the more difficult challenges is selecting a collaborating teacher. It might be possible to compile a set of criteria, so if there is more than one teacher, who expresses interest in collaborating with a peer coach, it is possible to make an informed decision about the prospective candidates. Proximity to the peer coach is one factor to consider because of the time constraints and frustration expressed by so many peer coaches and collaborators.

Some other detours around these roadblocks include encouraging participants to join professional organizations, such as AzTEA and ISTE, that provide support for teachers, who are interested in integrating technology into their respective curricula. An ongoing challenge, for which we have found no detour as of yet, are those teachers, who remain reluctant to learn about technology even after exposure and training.

What is important to remember is to let the prospective collaborating teacher know that the initial time commitment seems daunting, but the payoff will be greater later. Not only does the collaborating teacher learn a lot, but the peer coach learns a lot, too, about relationships and technology.