Teaching with teachers

I enjoy working with teachers. I enjoy teaching teachers. I find I enjoy working with the kids themselves to support teacher lessons. The part which is difficult is getting teachers to understand that I can't work in isolation. I have to know what they are teaching, how they are planning on teaching and where I fit into the mix. I can't simply take a group of students and teach them a tool in isolation and expect a positive learning outcome. Teachers are so different in this way from professors. Professors understand that they are experts in their field and simply want me to assist them to weave technology into the learning and teaching process. Teachers do not recognize themselves as experts. They assign me and coaches the role of expert and expect me the lay wisdom at their feet. They are passive in the process. Because they are taking a passive role, it inhibits their ability to grow as teachers. They assign me the role of technology expert not instructional expert. They will let me fix a machine or teach a student but see both divorced from what they do. Of course, as with any generalizationthere are huge exceptions to both professor  and teacher approach. teachers, let me in as a team member. Let me be a critical friend who can help you do your job better and probably easier.