A reflection... (may be a little bit all over the place!)
I am in awe of these technology educators that I have come across on twitter and in my web 2.0 journey. Where do they find the time? I have been reading all about the Personal Learning Network and Jeff Utecht's blog was great! I still wonder, where do these educator's get the time to update their wiki's, twitter with each other, blog, attend conference's, globally connect, and still engage their students using technology. Where do they find the time with all of the other pressing issues in Education today that we are faced with?
In the new NEA magazine that came in the mail today, I was reading a really interesting article about why teachers are leaving the profession. Why teachers leave? Why are they leaving you ask? Well, let's see?? They do not have support, they are not valued by administration, they feel pressure to do well and help the kids pass the "test", they do not make enough money to pay their rent, educators should be seen and not heard (why not work together?), and my biggest issue, this is your classroom, you deal with the kids and discipline. Not to say my administration does not deal with discipline, that is not the case, but it is a silent, unwritten rule, that you would look weak if you were always sending students to the office.
I am disappointed to have lost one colleague last year and now another this year to the above issues. I am sticking it out to see if things will change and education will get better. I have a family to feed and can't or don't want to go back to the private sector. I know that I can make a difference even if it is within my 4 classroom walls, so I will continue to work in my new web 2.0 tools as much as I can. I will hope for change and still work with my peers to develop it.
I will begin by showing this video at our May staff meeting and explain to the staff how I first saw the video on teachertube, then I was poking around twitter and came upon the creator's blog, and from there I figured out that it was he (Darren Draper) who created this amazingly neat video that I wanted to share with my entire staff! Here is the website that I also will share with staff from the school that he teaches at.
I have to admit, I haven't even touched my RSS feeds, I check my emails now and again, bombard my two other computer teachers with links to great websites and ideas, and sit with twitter on so I do not miss any good links to things, so I guess I am finding some time, but at the expense of what? I have to find that balance or this will consume me! I have to finish my capstone project, but all of this web 2.0 stuff is swirling around, and how will I put together something cohesive to show my school district that using web 2.0 tools in my classroom will somehow be beneficial to our students??
I am sure I will manage. I always seem to. I now have a nice network to help me achieve this goal, and I am so happy to have taken this course. How fitting it is my last one before I graduate! :) Me with a Master's degree. Who would have thought!
Plein Air Salem MA
My Dad's Art work
3 comments:
Gee, I have no idea what you are talking about. I sat down 1 1/2 ago to write a summary and I'm still checking out your posts, other posts, the great websites you posted, had to check comments on my wiki and of course twhirl put me in a whole new direction as I saw the url "Death by Blogging" at http://karinalongworth.tumblr.com/post/30957185 ( sorry, I can't seem to figure out how to embed a hyperlink in a responding post). As for why as they leaving, well for the computer teacher who is looking for a job, I am just plain scared. I substitute for three schools and you have it good where you are trust me. The lack of support by administration has truly shocked me! And 12 weeks with a student does not give you much time to get to know them so you can offer differentiated instruction and figure out what makes them tick (so to speak)or set's them off. I envy you. I don't envy you. I am scared that come December I will sit in my house and wonder why my passions teaching and technology are at such odds with one another. I am such a strong believer in curriculum integration and collaboration in a time when most schools are still stuck in subject centered, discipline based approaches to learning. Once again, thanks for the great links and I truly appreciate your reflection.
weI'm with both of you. There never seems to be enough time to do everything... so, just do what you can. Really, no one's looking and it doesn't have to be perfect.
I think it's interesting that the DOE makes a law about digital portfolio and no one checks to see where they are, or if they are. The concept of breaking out, isn't about jail anymore, so many terrific educators are leaving the profession (I too read the Edutopia article), it makes me crazy for the students. They need somewhere to go there isn't an unyielding amount of tension.
Ask yourselves, why did you get into education... I think I did it for the stability? it wasn't the money, or the hours... I wish that the environment was more supportive of technology educators. I'm the sole technologist in a district filled with hardware. There will never be enough time, or energy to work it all out.
Yet, when kids are lined up by my car to walk me into the building to talk about what they did last night on their computer... it sure warms my soul!
How do we do it...it's our hobby our life and for the most part a lot of us bypassed our schools to get started going with the "It's easier to ask for forgiveness then to ask for permission" theory to get started.
These tools are very powerful, but they take a different approach to learning and to school. They help student to understand that the world is where you learn, that school...is a place where teachers are but the content, the skills they don't come from teacher today, they come from connections to people and sites around the world.
Why do we teach? We all do it for different reasons and I have to tell you I love working Internationally you get paid really well and you get to travel the world. Going back to the public system in the states would be difficult and many teachers who go overseas then then go back to the States usually only last two or three years and then go back overseas. It's tough and it's only going to get tougher as students learn that they can learn what is taught in school from the comfort of their cell phone. Now they won't have a teacher to help push them, to guide them and that will be educations fault for not understanding how the flow of information has changed and schools are no longer the center of learning...but need to become the center for innovation.
Great reflection!
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