What's a 'Techer'?

The other day I was attempting to type the word ‘teacher’. It is a word I often type as I work with teachers on a daily basis. But for some reason, I had misspelled it. Before immediately allowing spell check to run its course, I looked at this Freudian slip for a moment. 

Techer.

What is a ‘Techer’?

With most spelling errors I make in a first draft, I simply fix it and move on. But this one stopped me… Techer. So I asked myself why…

It is of no surprise that technology is firmly rooted in the educational landscape. It should be. Careers and our day-to-day lives depend on our abilities to utilize, or at least, co-exist with technology. Teachers are tasked with building these 21st-century skills within our students, but may not always feel comfortable using it themselves.

As someone who trains teachers on how to implement a digital curriculum, this is the piece that often creates a barrier for teachers - the technology itself. Lines cannot always be drawn according to demographics - for example, where the teacher comes from or how old they are. Abilities vary greatly regardless of those parameters. 

What I have noticed however is that if the mindset to be tech-savvy - or at least willing to give the tech a chance - greatly increases one’s actual abilities in using the tech to any degree. On top of that, we have to give teachers time to explore the tech is an imperative piece of this puzzle. We will not use a thing we do not know how to use if we were never given the time or support in our own learning process.

Teachers are capable of being techers - if the supports are established and maintained. Districts, principals, and everyone with a vested interest in being on the cutting edge (or at least the dull edge) of technology in education all share that load.

So the question remains…

What is a ‘Techer’?

I don’t know.

But what I do know is that a ‘techer’ can do amazing things if given the time, tools, and support they need in order to do it.