RUNNING HEAD: NARRATIVE OF INTERVIEWS 1

Narrative of Interviews

Gabriella Jacob

Georgia Southern University

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I had the opportunity to interview three Instructional Technology Coaches in order

to better learn and understand the roles and responsibilities of their day to day job. I

spoke to Mariah Tidwell from Winn Holt Elementary, Malena Mitchell from Jones

Middle School, and Darin Davis from Mountain View High School. All three of these

professionals gave me varying perspectives on the role and how they facilitate and

incorporate technology into the classrooms at their school. While there were similarities

in their responses to my questions, there were many differences. In this narrative, I will

be comparing and contrasting the uniqueness of their school setting.

First, I want to talk about each coach respectively. Mariah Tidwell is the ITIC or

Instructional Technology and Innovation Coach at Winn Holt Elementary in

Lawrenceville, Georgia. This is a Title 1 school, so they get additional funding from the

state in order to provide students with more opportunities that they may not have at home.

She has been in this role for two years and absolutely loves it for various reasons. She

loves the flexibility in her schedule and the opportunity she has to assist teachers with

projects using technology. Next is Malena Mitchell from Jones Middle School in Buford,

Georgia. This is a very affluent area and she speaks about how she also enjoys the

opportunities that the school has to offer regarding technology. She mentions how she

does not have to ask for much because many things have already been provided. Finally,

Darin Davis is the Instructional Technologist at Mountain View High School in Dacula,

Georgia. This massive high school is also in a generally affluent area and also has access

to many different resources. He has been in this position for many years and plans to

retire in this role.

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The main questions that I asked in my interviews with all of these specialists

included job responsibilities, budget, team structure, and likes and challenges of the role.

Starting with job responsibilities, all 3 mentioned you did not need a technology degree

to become an instructional coach, just that you needed to have experience in the

classroom and flexibility in the field. The responsibilities in the role require frequent

attendance and facilitation of professional development, due to the ever changing world

of technology. While Mrs. Tidwell and Ms. Mitchell have more of a flexible schedule

where they are able to adapt to the needs of their school, Mr. Davis spoke about how his

principal has required tasks that he needs to complete weekly. All three of these

professionals are also tasked with supporting the needs of students and teachers. Teachers

will submit tickets to either the TST, which is the hardware or “fix it” person, or these

coaches when problems arise. They spoke about different instances such as a student

forgetting their password or a teacher’s learning management system giving them trouble,

and it is their job to find the solution. In the high school setting, Mr. Davis did say he has

more slow days than others because the students are very self sufficient, however in the

Elementary and Middle School settings, Mrs. Tidwell and Ms. Mitchell seemed a lot

more on the go. Regardless, all three technology professionals mentioned they always

have something they could be doing and seemed to all love what they do.

When I asked about the budget and team structure, each professional had varying

responses. Mrs. Tidwell talked about how her principal gives her more freedom when it

comes to what they allocate their money toward. Since they have a large budget, thanks

to Title 1 funds, she was able to purchase a class set of Virtual Reality headsets, which is
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life changing for students, especially those whose families are financially unable to afford

trips to the beach or the Grand Canyon. This purchase has allowed students to get to

experience that in a virtual setting. All of the students in the building have their own

laptop, and teachers are equipped with Smart Boards, Monitors, and charging carts and

stations. Ms. Mitchell and Mr. Darin have a more limited control over their budget. Both

being in affluent areas do not have the same budget as Mrs. Tidwell does in her setting.

They have much of what they need already, including 1:1 computers for their students,

VR Headsets, Drones, and more. If there is something that they specifically would like to

bring to their school, they have to discuss it thoroughly with their principal. All 3 coaches

have a similar team that they work with to help control their allotted budget, including the

Media Specialists and TSTs. Ms. Mitchell has an AI coach that assists her, however she

was on Maternity leave and I was not able to speak with her.

Finally, I wanted to highlight the likes and challenges of each Innovation and

Technology Coaches jobs. The similarity that all three of these individuals had was they

absolutely love their job. They all had various jobs before taking on this role and from the

sounds of it, they are ecstatic that this role is where they have ended up. They all

mentioned the flexibility that they have. Ms. Tidwell mentioned that as one of her

favorite things; that each day is completely different than the day before. She loves that

she can work with other teachers to make technology projects come to life. Ms. Mitchell

also spoke about how she loves the challenge each day brings and Mr. Davis talks about

how he loves to support teachers to bring innovative technology to their classrooms.

Although there were few, they did express some challenges in the role. Mrs. Tidwell
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spoke about how communication with staff and administration was sometimes difficult.

A lot of times things will get asked of her to complete in a short amount of time, which

can be stressful. Ms. Mitchell spoke more on the coaching part of this job. Education is a

good mix of veteran teachers and new teachers whose College Education has included a

lot of technology learning into their courses. She finds it challenging to teach high

performing teachers new things along with working coaching into everyone’s busy

schedules. Finally, like Mrs. Tidwell, Mr. Davis mentioned that communication with staff

and administration is not always perceived how he would hope. Due to the lack of

engagement, it is difficult for him to implement technology ideas into the classroom.

In conclusion, the insight I gained from interviewing Mrs. Tidwell, Ms. Mitchell,

and Mr. Davis is immense. I was able to get a glimpse into their day to day routines, learn

about the flexibility of the role, talk about how they are able to use funding and work

with other members of the staff to implement ideas through coaching or professional

development, and discuss their likes and challenges within their role. I was so thankful

for their in depth responses and their willingness to share their passion for the job. While

many of their points showed similarities, the differences in their roles at the elementary,

middle, and high school levels were interesting nonetheless. Although it does not come as

a surprise, these three professionals showed a love for their job and their passion for the

world of technology was admirable.