A Tale of Two Coworkers...
Over a year ago, in July of 2014, a lady walked into an interview for a position as a District Instructional Technologist. On that interview panel was a guy who passionately coached teachers into fully embracing technology as an instructional tool. You'd think it was a professional match at first sight (with similar passions and all). That was not the case. We both loved our jobs and worked well with teachers but "working well together" didn't come right away.
Six or seven months later, we finally made a connection. As months passed, we became a great team and even good friends (most days). The truth is that we fight like brother and sister. If anyone on the team is going to question or disagree about a project, a vision, or even an email draft, it will be us. But with all that questioning, new ideas and better visions surfaced. A habit was developed: to never accept the status quo without some serious proof that it was the best available option.
We learned to trust that the other had the best intentions when providing feedback. A culture of freedom to speak and provide feedback of praise or criticism whether it was solicited or not became the norm. That partnership and culture have become a transcendent force for self-improvement and have led to visionary plans for our teachers.
Our goal is to share our experience. Whether we are arguing or agreeing, we want to share our thoughts with educators everywhere because the power is in the conversation. We look forward to sharing how we QuestionEd with you!
Six or seven months later, we finally made a connection. As months passed, we became a great team and even good friends (most days). The truth is that we fight like brother and sister. If anyone on the team is going to question or disagree about a project, a vision, or even an email draft, it will be us. But with all that questioning, new ideas and better visions surfaced. A habit was developed: to never accept the status quo without some serious proof that it was the best available option.
We learned to trust that the other had the best intentions when providing feedback. A culture of freedom to speak and provide feedback of praise or criticism whether it was solicited or not became the norm. That partnership and culture have become a transcendent force for self-improvement and have led to visionary plans for our teachers.
Our goal is to share our experience. Whether we are arguing or agreeing, we want to share our thoughts with educators everywhere because the power is in the conversation. We look forward to sharing how we QuestionEd with you!
Brittany Guy
Brittany spent several years in the classroom as an upper elementary and middle school teacher. She had a strong passion for the power of technology integration, which led her to eventually have a mastery-paced classroom with standards-based grading and technology throughout both learning and demonstrations of mastery. She believes that education is the primary way we can make the changes society needs. An education can end generations of poverty and be an outlet for those who have nothing else positive in their lives. However, education also has some changing to do to be able to match the changes in the workplace and society as a whole.