Jen Wagner has tagged me in the This I believe meme started by Barry Bachenheimer I have been mulling this over a few days. Hoping to come up with something witty and inspiring. What do I believe about education? My answer has changed over the years. As I have matured as an educator, became a parent, varied my experiences and shared with other educators I find I am not the same teacher I was 20 plus years ago (thank God)….
Ryan Bretag’s March post** …Aren’t Good Enough, really hit on something I have been struggling with myself. In my responsive post I listed some questions I am focusing on and will discuss with anyone who will listen. Here are my thoughts on my first questions. How do we get teachers/administrators to use and see the value of these tools for themselves and their students? (In my opinion Hurdle #1) First let me preface that the educators who ‘get it’ sign…
Ryan Bretag’s recent post …Aren’t Good Enough has hit a cord with me. I commented on the post, but felt the need for a longer response. Ryan speaks to two issues that have been haunting him for some time; Pockets of Greatness aren’t Good Enough Learning spaces that live and die with the teacher aren’t Good Enough Now I cling to these pockets of greatness or excellence as a sign of hope. There are days I am so overwhelmed by…
Note: I originally wrote this over the Christmas vacation and lost it. So I am trying to recreate it from my notes. Not quite as good as the original. The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are a wonderful time for multiple generations to sit around the table and share stories about the good old days. Around our table the conversations usually lean towards education and science. My parents were in high school during the mid 1940’s and we were talking about…
Out in my neck of the woods students have different options for attending high school. So my daughter and I have been visiting high schools and attending open houses. As I sit in the audience as a parent I tend to focus on different things then I would as a educator. But the questions put forward by parents at a recent open house really caught my ear as an educator, particularly as a tech educator. What type of technology do…
Tim Stahmer of Assorted Stuff has written about an educational consultant. This consultant recommends that we need to recruit teachers from the top college graduates (Duh!). One of the countries he mentions that does this is South Korea. I used to live and work in Seoul. There are many ways to recruit top candidates, better pay, professional development opportunities, and prestige. The latter is a tough one. In Korea being a teacher is a highly respected profession, parents actually hope…
Towards the end of the school year I was asked by a building principal if I liked fixing computers. I do not, and the gentlemen in my district who do that sort of thing would laugh at the thought. I guess he assumed that each time I was in the building I was fixing a computer. He did not realize I was working with teachers developing new skills in using technology tools in their classroom. Another administrator thought my job…