I like snow days. In a life so full of responsibilities and a to-do list that never ends, having a snow day is a gift. A gift of time, of unassigned hours...Not that I indulge in idleness, no, I am usually working still, just differently, mostly online. I recognize in myself that I have made the leap. I am definitely not a digital native and I am not as fanatic as having an i-pod touch velcroed to my palm so as not to miss every tweet, but still, being connected is a big part of my day. And not even socially connected, really. Facebook is nice, but does not command much of my online time. What I appreciate so much is the easy access to answers to my questions. I appreciate so much listening in to my AP French chat where teachers across the US post answers to questions that I have even before I have thought of them. I appreciate their screening of great websites that help my teaching. I never would be able to find so many quality sites with the little online time I have for surfing. My teaching is enriched by my colleagues' sharing. My understanding of what is quality teaching has grown to challenge me to keep learning, experimenting and bringing more & more digital experiences to my students.
Globaloria is like this too. From what is requested of our students digitally, I too have learned. The repetition of using online tools again and again, especially to accomplish something real, has helped to make the tools be a part of me. Familiarity...and deadlines... help me not to be afraid of them.
When I look around I see that although trying desperately from the top down to mandate improvements, our school systems are still mired in outdated tools of learning. Some teachers have been able to make the leap to the digital age, many have not... maybe most have not. Working on their own, it is the most courageous ones, the self-starters, who seem to be the most successful. They just "go for it". They are not afraid to take a risk. They are usually the younger teachers...though not exclusively. For the more experienced ones, like anything new, it's time-consuming to change how you have taught for years. It can be scary and usually bewildering to make your way through the maze of digital possibilities. You have to be patient and persistent. You have to see the benefit. Most attempts to use technology seem not to work the first time. With so little time, it is easier to give up than continue.
I wish that learning new technology was not done in such a vacuum in my school. I wish I had the equivalent of AP Chat sharing or the Globaloria Bloglogs of great research sites happening at my school. I wish I could know what my colleagues are using successfully.....hm........our tech support guy was told to create a wiki for our school to exchange info on a book-read we are doing. The site remains empty. No one uses it. Someone's nice idea, but really, it is not useful to us. We obviously do not feel the need to blog about the assessment techniques presented in the book. I think if we like them, we just do them. We don't blog about them. I guess that unless there is a personal benefit in learning & using a new technology tool, no one will invest themselves in it. Who has that kind of time?
MOVING FORWARD. I wonder if this site could be that forum I am looking for...where info is shared, where digital teaching experimenters could share their questions and successes. Again, it would only work if the information was useful & the traffic was regular....I wonder......
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