Today I spent about 5 hours working with a teacher, side by side, problem solving and trying out media tools and social networking together.  Our primary focus was learning how to upload images and getting comfortable on the Ning.  We both had headaches by the time we finished but with it came a feeling of accomplishment. She seemed to feel over the barrier that had been holding her back from engaging with documentation.

Time is the biggest factor when trying to learn new technology – that and the need to make it personal and meaningful to your practice.  I might be a strong advocate for our division’s laptop program and be spreading the word on the value of documentation in the arts, but this drive will only go so far in making change happen. I have found that the teacher needs to feel confident in the procedure, ready to take risks with the tools and feel that the effort will be worthwhile for their practice. No one wants to waste their time. Time is precious.

I realized today that sometimes my job is about holding hands. I don’t mean that to seem condescending – this teacher is intelligent, creative and gifted in her work.  What she needed was time to focus on the task, encouragement to explore and take risks and to support the problem solving.  Holding hands indicates a side-by-side, trusting relationship.

This image was created at www.wordle.net and is composed from the text of my Inspiration blog page. This unique tool captures a word based image that relates repetition of language to the size of the font (implied importance). An interesting way to analyze thoughts, to glean meaning from the message.