One thing that the TRT at our school does is give a “Techie Award” at the monthly faculty meetings. Teachers can nominate themselves or other teachers , but mostly the other TA and I note good lessons that are occurring in our labs (or ask teachers about lessons they are doing on the laptop cart). At the faculty meeting, the TRT reads the nominations (which include a short description of how technology was used in the lesson) and gives an award. It’s a Styrofoam block spray painted & covered in glitter with a spray-painted CD stuck in it – the CD has the teacher name and date on it (I’ll have to post a picture). It’s really cheesy, but it’s amazing how teachers will really vie for it. I’ve had teachers explain a lesson to me and ask if I think they’ll get nominated.
Like many things, though, it can be feast or famine – sometime there are two or three really good ones in a month and it’s tough to decide, other months we are scrambling to find four people to nominate. One of the best things about it is not just that it encourages technology use, but gives teachers who might be hesitant about using it ideas and examples of effective use.
Lori, I love the Techie Award!!! I'm doing something a little similar with my staff members. If I "catch" them using technology in a meaningful way, then they receive a 'tech ticket' which goes into a drawing. About every two weeks, I have a random student pull a name and that teacher wins 30 minutes of "free time"...meaning they drop their kids off with me for 30 minutes and they get that time to themselves. So it encourages them to plan tech based lessons, while offering them a much wanted incentive! :) So far, the teachers love the idea. :)
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