I've been toying with pursuing my Master's for many years, but quite frankly I didn't for two reasons; one, I never wanted to work that hard; and two, no program really interested me. At the time when my teaching license was about to expire, I was a high school English teacher, raising two kids, with another on the way, and living on the emotional edge of burn out. The last thing I wanted was to go back to school. I considered becoming a principal, but the thought of a Masters in Administration made me want to take a long walk off a short pier.
So now, many years later, here I am; a computer geek teacher in a K-6 setting, whose only formal training was on a Commodore in 1984 (Is anyone old enough to remember those dinosaurs?), obsessed with discovering the latest and greatest in classroom instruction and making my coworkers crazy with suggestions of how to get technology into their classrooms. And yet there's a side of me that finds all of this incredibly intimidating and makes me feel like perhaps I'm in over my head.
This is why I'm so excited and yet a bit anxious about our program. I am a sponge for information technology and, hence, am eager to learn more; yet there is so little I know that my confidence is shaky. Creating this blog is a great example of my emotional struggle. Of course I had heard of blogs but have never created one, so I was excited to immerse myself in my assignment and get "playing." But I have to admit it took me over an hour just to come up with the title for this blog. As I kept blurting out ideas, my 15-year-old daughter, observing my struggle, kept mumbling, "Just blog, Mom. Who cares?" "Yes," I kept responding, "I'll just blog," but I couldn't seem to get past the title. Then it occurred to me, as I reflected on how easygoing she was, and I nailed the reason for my anxiety. It's this whole concept of instant publishing. Unlike my daughter and others of her generation who are constantly texting and thus are used to publishing extemporaneously, I'm of the generation that was taught to write and rewrite and draft and edit and redraft and proof and perfect before publishing. Publishing one's words was supposed to involve a painstakingly long process and although creating a blog still involves a certain amount of proofreading, it still feels too sudden. I'm hoping with continued blogging, I'll become comfortable with the notion of instant publishing and putting myself out there for everyone to read. Any words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated. :)
Blogging isn't the only thing that has my mind racing already. This is my first time taking an online class and already the whole notion of using technology to collaborate is changing the way I want my students to learn. When I first started teaching computers, the curriculum was very literal, so to speak. I taught students how to use certain software, such as Word and Powerpoint. Students would learn the software, create projects and be done. Our first session, however, already has me rethinking much of what I do. Our introduction to Google Docs is a great example. I know many of my students already have Gmail accounts, so I've been busy thinking of how I can get them to work together on their projects. Ironically, one of our obstacles lately has been the students' inability to save to a common place when they work on projects in groups. Shazam! Problem solved. Who knew it could be so easy?!
Although I am excited about the prospects that these courses will offer, I also have some lingering questions and challenges. How will I be able to incorporate the newest technologies with the younger age groups? Is collaboration really for the older students? I have little difficulty coming up with great ideas for my 4th-6th grades, but how can I make learning just as fun for my 1st-3rd grades? And, just as importantly, as the technology coordinator for my school, how can I encourage other teachers to utilize what I learn? Fortunately, my Irish/German heritage makes me both stubborn and vocal, and so I am looking forward to attacking these challenges head-on.
Speaking of great collaboration, for those of you interested, I am on the emailing list for the JASON project, a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Geographic Society, that connects young students, primarily 5th-8th graders, with great explorers and great events to motivate them to learn science. On January 27th, you and your students can join hurricane researcher, Jason Dunion, for a live video stream discussion. Log onto: The JASON Project
Okay, it's late. I'm tired, and I have no final words of wisdom, except to say that I am looking forward to working with all of you and am excited to hear your feedback and insight. I must warn you that I work very hard but take very little seriously. I'm often the person who must be shushed and who finds humor in everything, often at the most inappropriate times. With this in mind, I can't wait for our first group assignment, LOL...
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Hi Kara-
ReplyDeleteI understand your fear of blogging. It seems so informal, and so out there. We are going to be assessed on the blogs that we write. I am chatty in real life, so what if I ramble too much? And, what if I am so busy rambling that I forget to answer the questions we were assigned?
My question to you is: Do you think that you might incorporate blogging into your job as an "computer geek teacher?" Would elementary school kids be able to blog on what they did at school? Do teachers at your school blog about what is going on in class?
I can't empathize with the Commodore 1984 story, as I was born in 1979......But, I can only wonder what tomorrow's generation will think of our current technology.
Have fun and stay warm!
Erika
Hey Kara,
ReplyDeleteI'd have to say that after your last comment about not taking things seriously we're in trouble for our group work! J/K. You'll be a good balance to my obsessive compulsive nature. Which is why I'm glad you brought up the hesitation with instant publishing.
I can't tell you how many times I've started an email or a comment to someone's blog only to leave it and never send or post because I think that it doesn't sound right or I have to put the finishing touches on it. I hope that I can let some of that go with continued experience and practice (I promise to myself right now that I will post this no matter what!) I think you're right in that some of it comes from the way we were taught to write - I too remember long drawn out evenings of writing a first draft from the index cards that I was taught to write my topic sentences on with the three supporting details... Not to mention that my mom was an english teacher so I never got a break there either.
I do recall the Commodore - and even further back, The Timex Sinclair. And Apple II along with a teletype. Gads I am way to immersed in this :)
ReplyDeleteI think with the written word, it is like exercise, hard to begin but once you start it flows till you are done (OK exercise iss hard for me to start, maybe others fall into it naturally)
Reflect and place what you can from class into your practice - concepts that become habit will be valued by you and your students. I'm impressed you are already looking on using Google Docs!
I have to say, I never thought of blogging, at least a journal form of blogging, something I could ever do on a daily basis. It always amazes me when people do that. I have a friend that blogs pretty much daily...but she also never runs out of things to talk about; she has a tendency to ramble. Crazy...not my kind of crazy, either. So, in my struggle on how to come up with using blogs in my classroom, I played with a few ideas. I thought maybe my kids could do a weekly reflection on their experience in math. But I really don't want to grade more. Maybe they could type in the reflections they already do (more like answering summative questions) as a blog. Maybe. BUT, a quick and easy start kids a really loving is a daily math challenge. I type in a math problem I have on calendar and have them respond to them the next day.
ReplyDeleteThis more of my kind of 'blogging'. Not the traditional journaling, but the to-the-point question and answer thing. ...With that having been said, I do occasionally enjoy reading the open journals provided by those who enjoy writing them.