Goals for Improving Technology Professional Development

As I reflect on the goals that I have established for improving technology at Pleasant Plains School District, I have found that there are five goals that require continuous attention. The full size view of each chart may be seen by clicking on the respective chart.

Teacher professional development training in the teacher leadership models 

Encourage teachers to take ownership in their own professional development and to share ideas with their colleagues  

Teacher professional development training in the tools available in the Edline hosted district website 

Student and parent technology training, including training on the Edline hosted district website as well as any communication tools that the district utilizes.

Ongoing technology integration professional development for teachers. This model would be used for any technology tool that teachers would like to integrate into their lessons to improve student learning and understanding.

As noted, each goal is based on a cycle of training, evaluation, reflection, and needs. Both student/parent training and teacher professional development tend to occur based on immediate need. There is often little or no evaluation, reflection, or needs assessment completed to determine further needs. Education tends to be flooded with reforms that require administrators to hold professional development workshops on changes in legislation or in standards. Therefore, it is important to follow the process which includes a preliminary needs assessment; multiple learning venues for the learners; a method of evaluating not only what was learned, but also the effectiveness of the training; reflection on the training by both the trainer and the participant to make necessary adjustments to be successful; and a needs assessment that will drive the content of the next training sessions. If any of the steps are missing, training will continue to follow the course it currently has been following, a system based on immediate needs and not on long term improvement.

The area that I need to focus on the most is the importance of the cycle for each of the training goals. I, like most educators, tend to get caught up in the training - the immediate needs. I do typically make it through an abbreviated evaluation process and a personal reflection phase of any training that I have led, but tend to bypass the evaluation process of the entire training and fall short of a needs assessment that will lead to a reboot of the cycle. As I move forward with the training goals for the district, I need to ensure that the administrators are on board with the cycle as well as the teacher leaders leading the training.

Making Customer Service Come to Life in Education

I can remember working at Osco Drug as a teen in a time when Customer Service was extremely important. It was a matter of esteem to have your voice announce the "Thank you" over the intercom to designate that you had the customer service call covered, whether it be a phone call or a question in one of the store aisles. Every time a call came over the intercom, it was a race to be the one to answer the call. If you didn't know the answer to the customer's question, it was also customary to find out or find someone who might know. Helping a customer locate an item meant walking the customer to the item on the shelf. If there was a price check, any questionable signage in price went in favor of the customer.

That same great customer service experience continued for me as I began my career in banking. At the teller windows, it was customary to greet the customer, refer to the customer by name (Mr., Mrs. or Ms. Doe). The transaction was verbally detailed to the customer as it was processed, and a "thank you, have a nice day" was given as the transaction was completed. The drive-up window tellers commanded the same service. As soon as a vehicle pulled up to the tubes, it was customary for a teller to greet the customer and let the customer know that someone will be with him/her as soon as possible. When grabbing a transaction from the tube, the teller followed the same service routine as the window tellers.

Incidentally, customer service has been important to me throughout my life. As a customer, if I get good customer service, I feel good. If I get bad or apathetic service, it makes me want to teach a customer service workshop for that business. I also try to subtly lead the employee into good customer service. The results of good customer service are

• customer feels good/happy
• customer loyalty
• employee feels good/happy

It's funny to think that as customers we all know what we expect for good customer service, but as employees do we give that good service that we expect? It seems so common sense.


How does this all apply to Education? That same customer service does apply to Education. How? Educators create the same feelings of satisfaction with regards to students and parents. A culture of good customer service begins at the top. Employers/administrators must treat their employees with respect - respected employees are good employees. Teachers/employees must be trained in what good service looks like. The goals of good customer service in Education remain the same. We want the students to feel good about their education. We want parents to be happy with their students' progress and achievement. We want both students and parents to be loyal to the academic mission and vision of the school. It's common knowledge that if someone has a good experience, that person will tell a few friends. We want our students and parents to be able to brag about the academic experiences at our schools.

Good Education customer service:

• smile and greet students (by name if possible) as they enter the building and/or walk down the hall
• smile and greet students by name as they enter your room
• be knowledgable about your content
• be knowledgable about pedagogy
• be knowledgable about student interest - know your students
• be professional and respectful to students/parents
• respond to questions promptly
• listen to students and parents
• if you don't know the answer, find out and/or show the students/parents where to find the answer
• respond to phone calls and email messages promptly
• hold the students to high expectations that are realistic
• clearly communicate expectations
• make learning resources easily available to students and parents
• clearly and promptly communicate concerns to students and parents
• provide feedback in a timely manner
• make sure staff is trained
• make yourself available to students and parents
• know that the impact of your teaching may not be realized until much later
• avoid letting negative people bring you or the people around you down - battle them with kindness, respect, and procedure

While this is a good start, I welcome you to add more Education customer service tips in the comments.