This blog is for those of you who are just starting to get excited about the new technology you are beginning to access, but at the same time, are overwhelmed. It's actually a message of hope so please keep reading! It has a happy ending.
For the past two or three years I have been trying to do the "technology thing." I'm trying to be the tech savvy educator who is keeping up with all that is becoming available to us as educators. I am fortunate enough to be teaching in a district which has begun to provide us with nearly everything that we need. I have a Smartboard, an i-pad, some access to classroom sets of i-pads, web-based universal assessment with electronic reports, and various web-based diagnostic and intervention tools also with access to electronic reports on the progress of each and every child. The only thing I haven't been given is the brain implant needed to retain all that I'm trying to learn. I go to workshops only to lose what I have learned because I don't use it soon enough.
While all of this technology is absolutely wonderful and necessary, at times I still feel as if I am drowning. There is a quote out there somewhere which compares this to "drinking out of a firehose." Too much information, too fast. Not enough time to process and practice.
I found myself trying to learn all that these wonderful devices had to offer. I researched, went to workshops provided by our school, attended free technology weekend seminars and tried desperately to find the time to create new lessons on my Smartboard, create and use google docs, and find ways to organize my newfound websites and other electronic creations (which is still my biggest mountain to climb -- if only I could find where I saved that lesson!).
But as an elementary classroom teacher, I still needed to keep up on the latest ways to teach reading, comprehension and fluency, math, science and social studies, while also switching to a standards-based report card and keep pace with the ever-changing requirements of the State. Because of the newfound technological gifts bestowed upon me I also had to review and analyze these online assessments of my students for IEP meetings and to help plan for their direct instruction. More information to sift through. Plus, there were behavioral issues to deal with in my classroom and I had to figure out how to help these children socially and emotionally as well. Technological learning and implementation sometimes had to get pushed to a tiny corner or a placed on a shelf until I had more time. How did other teachers do it? I was really trying so hard. Maybe too hard? Was I learning ANYTHING? Was I making ANY progress?
I was so busy being frustrated by my own slow pace of learning to realize that I was, indeed, actually assimilating some of this information. (I am sure that you are too). Sure, technological glitches had forced me on many occasions to get frustrated, shut down my Smartboard and go to my "old" ways of teaching on the rug with manipulatives and/or with chart paper. But maybe I shouldn't get rid of those techniques altogether anyway. Maybe there needs to be a balance (especially in elementary ed).
THERE IS A HAPPY ENDING... KEEP READING
Then I went to a Blue Ribbon Conference and had my eyes opened to something which I hadn't been aware. I went to a similar conference two years ago and was "wowed" by the school. Each classroom had an Interactive Whiteboard in their classroom. The teachers could use the IWB. They knew how to create lessons. They spoke foreign words to me. Told me to look at their Wikki. What's that? Am I even allowed to look at it? Am I already looking at it and don't know that I am?
HERE'S THE HAPPY ENDING...
This year I went to the conference and skipped sessions on Smartboards that were too basic. Too basic for ME! I guess I had learned something. I was warned at the beginning of a session on i-pads that the workshop was for users who had just begun to use the device and that we should probably seek out another session if we knew more than the basics. I left! I attended another session for intermediate use and was helping the teacher next to me figure things out. I was actually translating the foreign technological instructions that she was hearing! And, at one point in the day, I actually heard myself explain to someone what a Wikki was!
The biggest take-away I had after leaving this conference was the realization that I had actually learned a lot over these past two years. I had learned little by little over a period of time. I had grown but didn't see that I had grown until I was placed in a similar setting that I had been placed in two years prior and discovered that I knew much more than I had given myself credit for. There is still a long way to go and I don't see myself as an "expert" on anything technological yet. But there has been progress. That's what I always look for in my students -- progress. If there is progress, there is hope. If there is hope, there is room for more growth.
So keep your hope alive. Take it in small bites. And realize that if you learn only one thing this school year, you are still learning. Be kind to yourself.
In reality, there isn't a happy ending, because it is never going to end. Technology is not going away...which means that we have a lot of time to learn.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Importance of Language in Parent-Teacher Relationships
It's unfortunate that public discourse and political causes can create ill feelings between parents and teachers. The parent-teacher relationship is so important in the education and happiness of a child, that talk of this type of environment saddens me. I feel that I have always had positive relationships with the parents of the children that I teach, so this is not a personal story. Rather, I am referring to a larger political discourse of parents and teachers blaming each other and accusing each other of not caring, rather than working with each other.
It all comes down to the words we use with each other. I recently ran across this excerpt on the Music of Language, which aptly describes the power of the words we choose:
"When we speak or write, we use the vehicles of words to carry meaning, as well as energy, from ourselves to another person or group of people. We may be speaking to our baby, our boss, or to an audience of 500 people. We may be writing a love letter, a work-related memo, or an entry in our own diary. Whatever the case, each word we speak or write has a life of its own, a vibratory signature that creates waves in the same way that a note of music creates waves. And like musical notes, our words live in communities of other words and change in relation to the words that surround them. When we are conscious of the energy behind our words, we become capable of making beautiful music in the world. If we are unconscious of the power of words, we run the risk of creating a noisy disturbance.
Some of us know this instinctively, while others come to this understanding slowly. Most of us, though, speak without thinking at least some of the time, blurting out our feelings and thoughts without much regard for the words we choose to express them. When we remind ourselves that our words have an impact on the world, we may find within ourselves the desire to be more aware of our use of language."
Mutual respect and open dialogue are key in establishing a positive relationship between home and school, which ultimately extends to child. It's a delicate relationship -- not unlike any other relationship we choose to establish. The difference in this relationship is the focus. The focus is (or should be) on the child, not the adults. We each carry different pieces of the same puzzle and it's important to work together to put these pieces together to uncover the true picture of what the child needs. Teachers need to be willing to "hear" what a parent is trying to convey. Likewise, parents need to really listen to what the teacher has to say. Nobody is "right" or "wrong." We each have a different perspective which can help us see the whole child and what is best for them. It's when one party tries to force another party to see ONLY their perspective that conflict ensues and roadblocks are built.
Instead of trying to "control" others with our words, maybe we can use our words to create a peaceful relationship which can build trust and mutual respect. This is the only way we can effect change in education and in our world. Otherwise all progress is stalled with "noisy disturbance" and we are reduced to playing a control game which nobody wins -- including the child. We are all in this together. We all have a common goal -- to help a child grow and lead a happy fulfilling, passion-filled life. As adults, it is our duty to set the example and work "with" each other, not against. We can each do our own part. Hopefully, if we continue to stay on the course of mutual respect, all of the negative chatter will fall on deaf ears and go away.
It all comes down to the words we use with each other. I recently ran across this excerpt on the Music of Language, which aptly describes the power of the words we choose:
"When we speak or write, we use the vehicles of words to carry meaning, as well as energy, from ourselves to another person or group of people. We may be speaking to our baby, our boss, or to an audience of 500 people. We may be writing a love letter, a work-related memo, or an entry in our own diary. Whatever the case, each word we speak or write has a life of its own, a vibratory signature that creates waves in the same way that a note of music creates waves. And like musical notes, our words live in communities of other words and change in relation to the words that surround them. When we are conscious of the energy behind our words, we become capable of making beautiful music in the world. If we are unconscious of the power of words, we run the risk of creating a noisy disturbance.
Some of us know this instinctively, while others come to this understanding slowly. Most of us, though, speak without thinking at least some of the time, blurting out our feelings and thoughts without much regard for the words we choose to express them. When we remind ourselves that our words have an impact on the world, we may find within ourselves the desire to be more aware of our use of language."
Mutual respect and open dialogue are key in establishing a positive relationship between home and school, which ultimately extends to child. It's a delicate relationship -- not unlike any other relationship we choose to establish. The difference in this relationship is the focus. The focus is (or should be) on the child, not the adults. We each carry different pieces of the same puzzle and it's important to work together to put these pieces together to uncover the true picture of what the child needs. Teachers need to be willing to "hear" what a parent is trying to convey. Likewise, parents need to really listen to what the teacher has to say. Nobody is "right" or "wrong." We each have a different perspective which can help us see the whole child and what is best for them. It's when one party tries to force another party to see ONLY their perspective that conflict ensues and roadblocks are built.
Instead of trying to "control" others with our words, maybe we can use our words to create a peaceful relationship which can build trust and mutual respect. This is the only way we can effect change in education and in our world. Otherwise all progress is stalled with "noisy disturbance" and we are reduced to playing a control game which nobody wins -- including the child. We are all in this together. We all have a common goal -- to help a child grow and lead a happy fulfilling, passion-filled life. As adults, it is our duty to set the example and work "with" each other, not against. We can each do our own part. Hopefully, if we continue to stay on the course of mutual respect, all of the negative chatter will fall on deaf ears and go away.
Friday, March 16, 2012
I-pad is the key to unlocking doors to engagement
I finally had the chance to use a classroom set of i-pads as a reinforcement to all of the math concepts my first graders have learned so far (see video below). Instant feedback to children is of vital importance when it comes to reinforcing a newly-learned skill. When there is only one teacher in the room, instant feedback doesn't happen often enough. Today, I had seventeen tutors in the room with me in the form of i-pads with fantastic math apps such as Telling Time and Penguin Math. Each app gives instant feedback to the child, letting them know if the answer was correct or not and allowing them to try again. The only job I had was in making certain that each student was exploring apps which were appropriate for their skill level (ie. not too hard and not too easy). So, in effect, each child had a customized activity in front of them according to their skill level. The rest was up to the i-pads! The kids had a great time and I am positive that they didn't even realize that they were reinforcing a learned skill. So much better than a worksheet!
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