Yesterday I dropped my son off at camp and was catching up with old friends.\u00a0 I was asked several times about what I did.\u00a0 The conversation usually starts as follows.<\/p>\n
“What do you do?”
\n“I am an educator.”
\n“What do you teach?”
\nIn my head I say, “People” but my mouth says “I work with students and teachers on how to use a variety of tools to research, communicate, collaborate and share information.”
\nLong ago I learned to skip the part were I say “I am a K12 Technology Integration Specialist” because the next question always was “what is that?”<\/p>\n
That usually leads to a mini rant no one wants to hear but I need to say or I’ll just bust. Here is an example.<\/p>\n
I have a pet peeve when teachers say they teach technology, or math or chemistry for that matter.\u00a0 We work with people around a subject area.\u00a0 But I don’t really have a subject area.\u00a0 I work with people helping them develop effective, efficient ways to access, organize, communicate, collaborate, create and share information.\u00a0 I teach them ways to support their learning. I don’t really teach groups but individuals.\u00a0 Learning is unique to each person, we all have our ways of thinking and doing.\u00a0 The tools today accentuate and support our individuality more so then ever.\u00a0 Yet schools tend to focus on groups and not individuals.\u00a0 In classrooms today instruction is scripted, locked to time tables and specific standards, there is little room for real variation of instructional and learning strategies.\u00a0 If you do not fit into the main group of learners you are just out of luck.\u00a0 I believe if we truly thought of each student as an individual and not member of a group (ELL, homeless, gifted, special ed, title 1, etc.) our system, schools and classrooms would look much different then they do today.\u00a0 Each individual comes to school with strengths, weaknesses, gifts, talents and interest.\u00a0 Many of these are ignored and over looked in the way we do things. We like to categorize and group things to make them easier to understand and\u00a0 organize but people are not simple and neither is learning.\u00a0 Learning is a complex process and and can not be simplified into a scripted one method fits all classroom.<\/p>\n
I am not going to win many friends that way.\u00a0 But I just can’t contain myself any more. Next time maybe the conversation will go as follows.<\/p>\n
“What do you do?”
\n“I am an educator?”
\n“What to you teach?”<\/p>\n
“I teach people about learning?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Update:\u00a0 I was just going through my rss feed and came across Angela Maier’s post Guidelines of Passion-Based Learning<\/a>, which is relevant to my mini rant yesterday.\u00a0 It is well worth your time to read and consider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday I dropped my son off at camp and was catching up with old friends.\u00a0 I was asked several times about what I did.\u00a0 The conversation usually starts as follows. “What do you do?” “I am an educator.” “What do you teach?” In my head I say, “People” but my mouth says “I work with students and teachers on how to use a variety of tools to research, communicate, collaborate and share information.” Long ago I learned to skip the…<\/p>\n