The TWAIN blog

This is the one year anniversary of my start date in my current job. It is a time of reflection for me as so much has changed in just one year – for me and the district.

A great experience for me during this was the support I received from the training I received from TCEA’s Technology Director’s Academy. This is a five-day workshop spread across an entire year. The two presenters were Kari Rhame (from Deer Park ISD) and Lori Gracey (from Bastrop ISD and now Executive Director of TCEA) and they provided so much rich content. I call it my “just in time” training because each session met my needs just in time. I learned about staffing, evaluations, budgeting, technology planning, and developing those Big Hair Audacious Goals (BHAGs) early on. I developed my BHAG that continues to drive my focus and plans for the next few years in my role.

In the district, I helped push them toward high-speed Internet and migrating services to the web. We are looking into wireless solutions for accessing resources online. We are evaluating curriculum, looking into research, reading books, listening to podcasts, and developing blogs for principals and librarians.

The district website was redesigned so each department and campus has a web-editor who can make changes from any computer connected to the Internet. We have an online calendar that not only allows us to see events across all campuses, but also allows visitors to subscribe to events through email, text, and RSS. We can even edit online resources from our phones if we need to.

After attending two board meetings, I put together an idea to make more room by removing some older cabinets and cleaning up some wiring. We now have a media cart for the board room that should make presentations easier without having to switch out cables, laptops, and speakers. The system saves space and allows more people in the room.

This year I was able to take 10 people to TCEA – and most of them had never been to TCEA or a conference for that matter. They were exposed not only to the conference and the magnificent exhibit hall; the conference sparked a fire in them that is continuing today. They have had conversations with teachers and administrators about what the world outside of Kerrville is doing and they want to change….everything.

We have tested our 8th graders for NCLB technology applications and that information isn’t just vital for NCLB but it is sparking conversations about how we should be teaching our students. I even tested a few teachers using the tool and that sparked a few more conversations about what is expected of them to know and use in the classroom.

This summer, I have offered some staff development opportunities to learn about all sorts of Web 2.0 technologies, Microsoft Office 2007, and even a book review of current education literature. Participants have been hesitant coming in but leaving with passion and ideas. The best compliment is that they keep returning and wanting more. I’ve had a few tell me that the 3 hour trainings have been the best trainings they have experienced in careers over 20 years long. They like that the trainings don’t dumb them down or make them feel dumb. That they are encouraged not only to use the resources but that the training website points them to finding more training on their own. They like that I tell them not to become experts, but to become resources to find learning online. This is the key to Staff Development 2.0, if you will (I like adding 2.0 or 3.0 to everything).

My job requires me to wear a lot of hats and to balance a lot of information. I have to know hardware, software, web-ware, networking infrastructure, purchasing, federal and state requirements, administrative input, community involvement, etc. I multitask while multitasking on many things all at once. It is never boring! And when I have a moment to dedicate to one project, I take it head on.

I am making change. I am working with district stakeholders to develop a vision for the district that encompasses the history of where they have been and where they want to go. My title is Chief Technology Officer and I have never been thrilled with the title. It is a little intimidating. In my interview, I asked if I could change the title to which they said I could. But I haven’t found a title suiting the job. I do like something incorporating Technology Vision. Maybe adding something from Disney – Imagineer. Ideas?

I say all this to say….this was a great move. I love this job. I love this town. I love how it changes me as it changes with me. It isn’t easy day to day and there are some frustrations here and there. But, I am challenged and I like that. I love it.

I had a real thorn in my side in my previous job. The campus website. It took up a lot of my time not only with all the updates; but with my need to constantly want to make it more streamlined. I wanted it to be easy to access and I was constantly working on it.

I moved to this new job with thoughts of grandeur. I wanted to break away from working HTML and CSS. I thought I might be able to give some direction to the new website and help them find a company to run it. I did that. But now….I am spending my days migrating the old website to the new one.

The district got rid of their old Webmaster and did not keep the job open. So….I am once again regulated to being the webmaster.

It isn’t such a bad job but it is a tedious job. It is a desk job – almost clerical to migrate everything over. And people who don’t have any experience in web design have no idea how much time the process takes. Copy and paste is their idea of web migration. They don’t know that it isn’t that easy. There are formats. There is code. There are steps and procedures for every piece of each site.

For future planning, I am deleting all references to web design from my resume and profiles. I won’t even mention that I taught it, either. I taught a great program to ninth graders several years ago. It was even for industry-standard certification.

I enjoyed that aspect of it. Teaching someone else to design and implement a real business model of success. Teaching students to get certified to design a website before a certification to drive in the state of Texas. Teaching design, color strategy, font concepts, etc. That was exciting web design times.

But now….it’s an albatross around my neck. I thought I would become the CTO here and put the web design business behind me.

I know all tech directors have something that they are bound to do but don’t feel the passion for it. This is probably the first in a series of such items. I really want to get out of web design though only because it removes me from providing training and instruction. It is really sit and do. I don’t like that. I want to stand, speak, share, instruct, learn, give, and receive with a group of learners. The more I sit at a desk, the more frustrated I get. I just want to be able to teach.