Tim MacArthur

I have been an Instructional Technology Facilitator at Carrboro High School since Fall 2016. I began my career in education at Northern High School in Durham as a Math (Math 1, Math 3, Precalculus, AP Statistics) and Computer Science (Intro to Programming, AP Computer Science) teacher for five years, but I converted when I realized I spent more time (and derived more enjoyment) from helping colleagues integrate technology into their classrooms than I did using it in my own teaching. I am grateful every day that Carrboro High School lets me serve as an ITF. 

I am effectively a lateral entry ITF, mostly self-taught when I started the position. When I was a teacher, I discovered new tools after analyzing the gaps that I had in my classroom teaching and researching what could fill those gaps. When I discovered a particularly useful tool that either reduced the workload of my teaching or enhanced the learning of students, I shared it with anyone who would listen, who I thought could benefit either 1-on-1 in my school, to small and large groups in the school, or in district professional development sessions. Now that I am out of the classroom, it has become more difficult to organically keep my finger on the pulse of the needs in classrooms. To this end, I spend as much time as I can in natural conversations with teachers and administrators in the building, attempting to analyze the needs within the building so I can offer the most relevant training and assistance. 

Why do I do it? At my core, I aim to serve those around me. While I have innate curiosity about technology and have learned about implementing it successfully in the classroom, I understand that many teachers do not have the time or desire to do that. Thus, my goal is to alleviate the burden of learning technology from teachers (and administrators!), to release them to do what they are best at doing! I happily work with the earliest beginner or the most savvy. Please reach out to set up a time to meet.