Egad! After going through the assignments this week, I have reaffirmed my greatest fear in teaching; I have become an anachronism. Had I been teaching 30 years ago, I think that my feelings of self worth would be in good standing. As it stands, I have found my teaching style seriously out of touch with what my students need. After taking the learning with technology profile, I am reminded that I work in a school district that does an excellent job providing technology and training for technology used in the classroom. At the same time, the graph demonstrated how inadequate my use of technology has been, and more to the point, how I am not meeting the technological needs of my students. Ouch. I have always been one that wanted to be told exactly the way it was, but in this case, I was hoping that some magical fairy could skew the results of the survey and show how great I was at implementing technology in the classroom. But unfortunately, the data tells no lies and uses no euphemisms.
I believe that self assessment has two purposes: the first is to point out weaknesses, and the second is to exact some sort of change for the better or worse. I am currently facing the proposition of choice. I can choose to be bitter about the results, claiming that they are irrelevant, and continue to teach in my current manner, or I can embrace the results and realize that I must take steps to improve classroom instruction. Fortunately for my pension and my marriage I will opt for the latter choice.
Throughout this course, I have realized how little I know concerning technology. There is no question that I am a digital immigrant who is at best somewhere in the entry level stage of the technology professional development process. I might even be considered at the pre-entry level stage if there is such a level. I can't believe how fast technology has passed me by. Although I could lament for hours, weeks, or months how unfortunate it is that I am in this position, I would rather dust off my ego and get back on my feet. My next step is to figure out how to become "one with technology."
I think the information that we have been studying in this class has developed my curiosity about technology. I never realized how much information was out in cyberspace concerning the use of technology. I have now been given tools to go find this information, and ultimately use technology in the classroom. I know that the journey will be arduous, but I have always maintained that student success has been the only reason that I entered teaching. With that in mind, I want to have newfound technology tools supplement my content knowledge to provide the best experience for my students. I want them to be excited about coming into my classroom, not because of me, but because they are excited about learning.
My hope is that other teachers in my district get excited about learning and subsequently implementing technology in the classroom. As in any district, we probably have many teachers who are set in their pedagogical methods, and are perhaps counting the days until they are put out to pasture. It is difficult to get students excited as juniors in high school who have no passion concerning learning and no clue what they will need to do for success in the future. This is not an excuse, for I cannot control what anyone does but myself. I look forward to continuing my education and applying the skills I obtain to allow my students become prepared for whatever they encounter in the future.
I think we are all going to have a challenge explaining the power of the information that we have learned in this class to our districts. I think we, as a whole, need to start small, within our department, and get everyone on board. Then we can go as a team and dig through the trenches. I know that my department will be very resistant to change, as some of them can barely check their email. I think that hosting small classes about the power of some of the technologies we have been using is a must. Our district has small mini sessions and I am trying to incorporate some of what we have learned into it.
ReplyDeleteIt will be a struggle, but through us teaching our staff as well as teaching our students who could intern teach our staff, we will conquer.