Perspective from both sides of the panel
“On a good day with teaching there’s nothing like it, working with kids,” said Patrick Sullivan, director of technology for Rome City school district in Rome, New York. “But on the other side of things, teachers have a very tough job.”
As a former math teacher, Patrick has been on both sides of the panel and knows exactly what educators are going through.
I keep things as simple as possible for them and invest in things that are going to work time and time again
Patrick Sullivan
After investing in panels from a company that didn’t work out for their team or teachers, Patrick turned to Promethean boards. “I wanted something that could operate as its own device,” said Patrick. “I’ve always liked the idea that the panel could allow the teachers to untether and teach from anywhere in the room.”
In the beginning of the 2022/23 school year, Patrick and his team deployed over 400 Promethean ActivPanel 9 devices. His strategy to take it slow and allow the teachers to become comfortable with the panel seems to be working. “The fact that Promethean’s panel can meet the teachers where they are, but also give them more options was a huge selling point for us,” he said.
As much as Patrick loves his IT team and the work he does behind the scenes, it didn’t stop him from reminiscing about his teaching days and the fulfillment he felt.
“In IT, I still think you get thanks—but being a teacher, you can have one day that goes really well, and four that don’t go well, and still feel like you did something for the students,” he said.
“I think it’s what teachers wake up for.”
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