Teacher Training Wishlist

Many student teachers are starting their final placement this week. It's an exciting time - fresh perspectives, eager learners, new opportunities... but it's also a time for reflection from seasoned teachers. Here's what I wish my teacher preparation included:

1. Practical edtech training - I graduated with my M.Ed in 2009. I had not one single edtech course. I know things have changed for the better, but I still hear from current education students that the classes are not enough. Believe it or not, there are still professors out there in teacher education giving courses on setting up Powerpoint presentations. Is that not something we now expect third graders to be able to do on their own? Instead, edtech training should focus on practical things: troubleshooting technology problems, using an AppleTV or Chromecast, and managing a classroom set of devices.

2. An introduction to social networking -  Today's teachers cannot operate within a bubble. It's not me, myself, and my filing cabinet. Instead, we are expected to collaborate and learn from and with our peers. It's imperative that today's teachers can navigate Twitter, Google+, Facebook, blogs, and Hangouts. We are better together.

3. Independent projects focused on individual strengths and weaknesses - Wouldn't it be wonderful if before student teaching, education students had an opportunity to assess and improve their strengths and weaknesses? For example, one of my strengths is classroom design. I would have loved to develop a project researching classroom design and coming up with my own models. One of my weaknesses is time management. I am a habitual procrastinator. It would have been helpful for me to create a project where I broke down my planning process and created checklists to insure well-designed units.

What do you wish your teacher training had included?