Taking the Next Step (yep, it’s a baby one!)
Here I go blogging again. My weekly blog. I have finally come to the realization, or rather have faced the truth, that once a week blogging is not going to extend my professionalism to the extent that I am wanting. I know this is probably not how one is supposed to go about growing professionally, but I am going to set a goal of blogging not once, but twice this week. I realize that I should blog when I moved in some fashion – whether profound or mundane. However, I also realize that I am not “there” yet. Not that I won’t get there – I just have to take one baby step at a time. It is difficult when I am surrounded by colleagues who ask about my course and provide comments such as, “Who has time for that blogging stuff?” or, “It must be nice to have so much extra time to spend on your computer.” or, “I am so glad that I am retiring soon and won’t have to worry about educational technology.” Yikes! These comments were made to me during our pre-determined PLC meeting which I was told I was a member of! Didn’t Richard Schwier mention something about, “you can’t force a trend.” Smug? Perhaps.I was intrigued by Schwier’s session with our grad class on Tuesday. So many issues he spoke of are so relevant to the many challenges that teachers face today. I know the luddites in my school community and administration. We cannot ignore that fear must be fiercely present for some to act so irrationally. Fear of the next year’s teacher facilitating greater academic success with the students, even being more preferred by parents could be total devastation for some. Students that understand more than the teacher also causes angst for many. Instead of nurturing and encouraging such students, some may get intimidated and defensive. We want our students to feel empowered all the while without losing the “power” as a teacher or administrator. An impossible feat? Absolutely when you think of the social implications of social learning. This is a huge philosophical shift. Working together to create, what would be impossible solely. Not a light task at hand. Yet, this fear restricts students, teachers and administrators. How do we educate the educated?
Darren Kuropatwa Dishes the Dirt
What an honour it was to listen to the conversation that took place with our EC&I 831 group and Darren Kuropatwa (DK). An inspiration as an educator but also hope as a parent. Who would not want their child to have an educational experience such as DK provides for his students? My true moment of inspiration was when DK decided, while showing a slide of a “Day In the Life”, opted to not show family time. This guy has got it figured out. Family time is precious in this profession and we give, often publicly, day in and day out. Our families deserve protection and privacy.
DK continued to speak of the power of technology to “amplify student learning.” How very true. I for one have assigned a “really cool assignment” that did not tap into rich understanding for my students. What’s the point? We get caught up in the “go to a workshop, come back to our class and do something neat for a day or two mentality.” What DK emphasized was that the learner and the learning must come first. Through technology the learner has a vast amount of portals to guide the learning.
I wondered how a family man could balance such a regime. When asked this very question, DK chortled about balance and it’s place in his life – sort of. This man obviously has found balance as he grows professionally each day yet, holds his family on a pedestal. I am a person who seeks balance continually. I wonder what advice DK would give to a mother of two, who teaches Grade 7 (generalists live a different life than specialists – sorry, but true!), and is also vice-principal? What is the secret Yoda??
Growing Up Online
I happened to catch a PBS Frontline special called, “Growing Up Online” the other evening. I wanted to share the following as I found it so profound to what we are all try to grasp in the course. Here are a few quotes that caught my attention:
“1 in 7 teens are approached by online predators”
“Kids aren’t victims – but participants” (They further explained that often kids will agree to meet up with unknown “friends” from the internet knowing full well that it is dangerous). This is a potential great debate . . .any takers????
“The internet is always a willing listener.” Perhaps the most obvious, yet profound quote.
“The internet has created the greatest generation gap since rock n’ roll.”
I would love to have further discussion on any or all of these quotes. Please comment. If you are interested to watching the full program I believe you can access it at PBS.org – Impact of Internet on Adolescence.
And She’s Off . . .
I’ll admit it. I talk everday to everyone about everything that I am learning through the EC & I course. Then I go home and do NOTHING! When I say nothing I mean after I have my kids to bed and finish my admin and classroom responsibilities. We’re talking 11:00 p.m.-ish. I am scared out of my wits about the wave of information that has come my way. Overwhelmed is an understatement. Yet, I contradict myself by enjoying all the new awkwardness that has crept into my life. Perhaps it is the incentives that I provide. For example, when I was finally able to post my You Tube bio movie (after great discussion with the Help Desk at RPS) I celebrated with a “Yahoo” that woke the children and sent my husband to uncork a bottle of red.
I continued my path by watching the session from Tuesday (see, I told you I put it off!) and felt the blood pressure rise as techno garb was projected my way. How do they chat and listen to the teacher at the same time? What if the teacher knew what they were doing? What? The teacher wants them chatting? What the hell is going on? wait a minute . . .I fit here. I am a multi-tasker. Yahoo! Skip the wine glasses honey, just grab me a straw!
I do want to tackle the issue of technology in the school system. Particpants at the live session discussed the pros/cons to ever constant hot topic. In my mind I just continued to reflect on how educators tend to deal with issues in similiar fashion time and time again. For example, a child has behaviour issues on the playground. Often, this child will be taken off the playground and has to sit at the office for all recesses for a set amount of time. If we don’t like the action our reaction is to take something away. What many of us have not learned, in my opinion, is that this will not remedy the situation. We are in education yet we forget to educate. How many of us take the time to educate ourselves about why the child is having issues on the playground?
I take this one step further. We constantly hear how schools are banning any or all forms of technology from schools. When will we realize that the technology is not going anywhere? Removing the technology from schools does not solve the problem. How about educating ourselves and students (and parents) on how to utilize current technology to assist in the learning process?
Here We Go!
Well, here I begin my journey with EC & I 831. So much to learn . . . My mind is reeling with all the new information that has come my way in one short week – yikes! I am looking forward to seeing the progress from my barbaric looking video, that I am still unable to post properly, to blogging on a regular basis. This is going to be interesting!!
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