I have also observed teachers who have decided not to keep up with changes - who have decided they already know all they need to know to be a teacher - who have decided not to advance their learning - who have decided to give those educators who want to stay current and be effective educators a hard time - even making teaching in the same school a horrible experience, frequently driving the effective teachers away - who have decided not to take any additional classes to advance what they might have learned 5-10-15-20 years ago as current and appropriate for todays' students.
I have always wondered why such teachers remain in schools. Why don't they leave? Sometimes I think they must be miserable and want others around them to be equally as miserable. Do such teachers really think about their teaching and learning? Do these teachers really care about their students and their students' learning and their students' success? Are these teachers happy not keeping current with new research and discoveries about teaching and learning and knowing? Are these teachers happy being nay sayers and trying to prove other teachers wrong and in doing so prevent their students from enjoying learning? Do these teachers really want their students to succeed or do they secretly want their students to fail?
I frequently ponder what teachers and other people think are obstacles in schools. What are the obstacles that teachers face that get in the way of successful teaching and learning? What are the reasons behind teachers' resistance to change? The last couple of decades the use of technology and media in our daily lives has grown faster than most of us could have imagined and their use in schools contribute to recent pedagogical practices - ideologies - and expectations. What is going to happen to teachers who are resistant to changes in the use of technology and media strategies in their classrooms especially because they do not want to learn technological and media classroom strategies?
Online videos like Did You Know, What If, Pay Attention and others demonstrate how media and technology are critically used in our daily lives and how their impact and influence are not going away rather that they are increasing. How then can teachers accept the need to embrace media - technology strategies in the classroom with their students? How then do teachers learn such media technology strategies? What happens to the teachers who resist learning such media - technology strategies?
What kind of teacher are you? or are you going to be? One who accepts that media- technology are here and not going away and are willing to learn or are you going to be a nay sayer teacher who resists learning and being engaged with them and will only find fault with their place in the classroom?
Are you or will you be the educator that other educators, students, parents and community members look to with respect? Or will you be the teacher who takes the easy road by resisting change, by not moving forward and by digging in?
How do you decide or will you decide to be the type of educator you chose to be? What factors contribute to your decisions? Why do you believe or think you have the right to be an educator? Or do you think you have the right to be an educator? Or do you just want to go into a classroom with students sitting in chairs, in rows with you in the front of the classroom telling the students what to know and then give them tests?
You have the power to decide. What is going to guide you?
40 comments:
I have the privilege of being an educator. I would not necessarily call it a right. Rights are not earned, people should earn their status with children...they must have some sort of creditials. Not necessarily of the academic sort. I am not sure how meaningful any academic title is, it is more meaningful to make every moment a meaningful moment for teaching and to be dedicated to learning alongside students. I learn from my students everyday and the day that I stop learning from them will be the day that I lose my teaching privilege. It is about reaching - learning and defining importance. What is important to me? Learning. What is important to my students? Well, hopefully learning as well. Can I inspire learning in my students? Then, I am a good teacher. Will they remember what they did in class fondly? Then I am a good teacher. Did they learn a skill which they will use outside the realm of science in their everyday life, even if that is far from science? Then, I am a good teacher. I may never know. But I have to be at peace with that knowledge.
I hope that my students pursue their desires and remember my passion. If I inspire them to be passionate about something in the field of science, I will be a successful science teacher. If I can move them to change their community, in order to create the world in which they want to live, then I am a successful teacher. If in my class, they learn how to liberate themselves somehow from the bondage of stagnant thought, then I can consider myself a success.
Of course, in order to do this, it is imperative to use the media which the students are using - to understand them, to speak their language. To engage them in the process of learning. I teach because I want to learn.
I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. To my way of thinking, people who teach should be constantly learning, keeping abreast of new research and methodologies, using new information to improve what works in the classroom and discarding those methods and lessons that have been outdated or no longer reach students. As a former technology teacher, and now a library media specialist, keeping abreast with technology and learning new methods to engage 21st century students is part of my professional mission. I have just created a new blog at http://ponderiffic.blogspot.com/ where I will be pondering some of the same issues. Thanks, Elizabeth
I'll be the first to admit that I am not very tech savvy, but I do keep an open mind. I do not resist new ideas and cling to my "tried and true" methods. I think that keeping an open mind is very critical when teaching. In addition, I feel that showing your students that you are open to new ideas, activities, and teaching strategies is important. I believe that it is important to show students how to take a new (maybe even uncomfortable at first) idea and manipulate it and make it their own. This is important to me because, ultimately, this is what I would like them to do in the classroom when they are presented with information/strategies. If their is no ownership in learning, then how much have they really learned? Or are they just regurgitating information? As a teacher, I want my students to be life long learners. In order to do that, I have to model my own learning-that is why I think it is important to share my successes and failures (because even failures are learning experiences)in the classroom. So, even though working with technology might not come easy for me, at least my students will see that their teacher does not give up when faced with a challenge.
When it comes to teaching, I without a doubt believe in being a life-long learner. If I want to be a good teacher, then I have to be. If I want to make a difference to a student then I must learn from them. Things are always changing, including technology, and I have to be able to learn the new things that are surrounding me. My students will be up on the new technology so I must be to understand my students. I hope that because of these beliefs that I have my students, their parents, and the community will respect me as a teacher and learner. I want to be an educator that engages my students in their lessons. I want to learn new ways to make lessons interesting and enjoyable for my students. I want my students to be involved in class and excited to be there.
Maltita,
I think that in any profession a person should continue to learn and continue to take classes in their profession. This especially holds true for teachers. Yesterday's student is different from today's. Technology, views, ideas, resources and times have really changed in the last 15 to 20years. Educators need to teach based on what is appropriate for today's students and families. I'm the kind of teacher that feels that it's important for students to learn in the best way they can. If that means, that i have to find new strategies and take classes to reach them, then i will. Personally, I sometimes have a hard time with some technology, but I do try my best to incorporate it into the classroom. My main goal as a teacher is to focus on how my students learn best and helping them learn through interacting with each other, discussion, manipulatives, and trying to reach them through effective lessons that are engaging. Change -- is good. For me I try to adapt to what is happening now and take what I know as a teacher and make it work with new ideas and approaches to teaching. I don't think that I will ever stop taking classes to help me in the classroom. Technology, in the classroom helps to teach students to research and find new ideas and ways of learning, it also enhances their education.
As a goal, integrating technology into curriculum, classrooms, and teaching strategies is totally logical. Technology has become an integral part of everyday life for many, and will only continue to become more important, not less. As an educator, it is my responsibility to prepare children for the world they must enter, and as such I must keep up with current technologies. That said, this integration is easier said than done. I have control of my own professional development (to a great degree, anyway) but I do not control the budget of the school I work in, the state that funds us, or the decision makers in Congress, as much as I would like to. It is difficult to integrate technology into a classroom without having adequate access to equipment and tools. My school is lucky in that we have a relatively flexible budget, but just a month ago, all the computers were removed from my classroom in order to create a new program for students entering our school later in the year. While the number of computers in the school is the same, the number of students has increased, and I no longer have computer access for my classes. We lack projectors, which limits the way I can use computer based presentations and A/V materials; instead I use power point slides on my overhead projector. I hear about schools which provide students with laptops, classroom with Promethean boards and ELMO setups, and computers in every room. My students also lack technology in their homes. Three out of four of my students have no home computer, much less internet access. I often budget extra time into assignments so that students can use the school computers to type up or otherwise prepare their classwork.
I would love to integrate technology further into my material and teaching, but at the moment, the tools and equipment are not there to use.
"It's what you learn after you think you know everything that really matters."
That is an age-old saying for a reason. It applies to teaching, and every walk of life.
I wish I knew why bitter, frustrated people continue to do anything if it's such a drag on them.
Deep down, everyone knows the difference between having a bad day, and being in the midst of a dilemma over our career choice. It's our responsibilty as professional educators to realize the warning signs if we find ourselves in that situation.
Those are the moments in life when you need to either re-invent yourself, or go do something else.
That should apply to every walk of life in every part of the world.
I think that in any profession a person should continue to learn and continue to take classes in their profession. This especially holds true for teachers. Yesterday's student is different from today's. Technology, views, ideas, resources and times have really changed in the last 15 to 20years. Educators need to teach based on what is appropriate for today's students and families. I'm the kind of teacher that feels that it's important for students to learn in the best way they can. If that means, that i have to find new strategies and take classes to reach them, then i will. Personally, I sometimes have a hard time with some technology, but I do try my best to incorporate it into the classroom. My main goal as a teacher is to focus on how my students learn best and helping them learn through interacting with each other, discussion, manipulatives, and trying to reach them through effective lessons that are engaging. Change -- is good. For me I try to adapt to what is happening now and take what I know as a teacher and make it work with new ideas and approaches to teaching. I don't think that I will ever stop taking classes to help me in the classroom. Technology, in the classroom helps to teach students to research and find new ideas and ways of learning, it also enhances their education.
I am a career changer, and hope to be the type of educator that embraces change. Technology is an important part of our students' lives and must be just as important to us as teachers. As I am a lifelong learner, I hope to instill that quality and respect in my students as well.
We all have had many versions of teachers in our past. Some were the proverbial sage on the stage, some were facilitators, and the rest were somewhere in-between. Was it there styles that made them memorable? Or, was it there personalities outside of their style? Or, was it the subjects that they taught? Whatever it was that makes them particularly memorable, it doesn't necessarily mean that they were effective. My junior year high school teacher was tough. She never cracked a smile. She wore black on test days. She was certainly not one of my teachers that I enjoyed while in class. But, looking back, she was probably in the top three of the teachers who taught me the most. She was effective.
Consequently, when we look at teachers in today's classrooms, we have to be careful when we say that some are not effective because they do not follow the latest research. Some will say that we can interview their students to get an idea of their effectiveness. That is not a fair way to ascertain a certain teacher's effectiveness. When we are in the moment, our views of what is happening is colored through that particular moments experiences and how we choose to form them in our minds. So, some students may absolutely hate that teacher, for various reasons, and thus are saying that they are not learning a thing. Is that a fair assessment of that teacher?
On to technology, we have to be diligent in how we use technology in the classroom. When I started teaching, if students were creating powerpoint slides in your class, then you were a great teacher embracing technology. As I've grown in teaching, I am no longer impressed by a teacher who uses powerpoint, or any other technology, simply because they are using it. My question is always about how in-depth was their students' research. What was actually learned? How is that important for them?
As teachers, we need to be aware of what is changing. We need to keep abreast of the culture and find ways to bring that into our teaching. But, we also need to be responsible enough to filter the changes through our educator eyes, and determine what will be most beneficial for our students.
I absolutely love the latest technology and am so excited to learn more. I was an elelmentary teacher for several years. During that time the district offered year-long technology training courses that I was always enrolled in. Not only did you get all of the newest tools for your classroom, but you were given ideas and instruction in amazing techniques for teaching and learning in the classroom. I could never understand why everyone was not onboard.
After we had our children, I was given the opportunity to be at home with them for a few years. When I decided to go back this year and started subbing in November, I was shocked at how quickly things had evolved, as far as technology and how it was being used in the classroom. Luckily, I was given a long-term sub position and have now had the opportunity to jump back in and learn about all of the new gadgets and programs technology has to offer.
We are readig a book entitled Crispin in my Language Arts class. One of the characters in the book, Bear, talks about living life by questions. He basically says that if you think you know everything and have lost your thirst for knowledge and are no longer asking questions, then there is no purpose in life. If you continue to always ask questions and absorb as much as your brain will possibly allow, that is living. I am living!
I agree that there is a lot of apathy in the schools perpetuated by some teachers and some administrators. However, I would like to think that these individuals did not come into the field with this attitude. Hopefully, these teachers and administrators were at one point dynamic teachers willing to change and improve to increase student achievement. If this is the came then what was the cause for this change? Is there a common factor happening at schools across the country that could be fixed?
Complacency is a terrible quality to have whether you're a CEO of a Fortune 500 Company, actress, police officer, or teacher. There is ALWAYS room for improvement. You can ALWAYS sharpen your skills. You can ALWAYS learn something new. A teacher who is too lazy, proud, or complacent to develop their skills should really be embarrassed. But I know there are a few teachers out there that feel overwhelmed by technology because they don't understand it or use it. They don't know how to incorporate it into their classroom. They don't know how to incorporate it into the units they've been teaching for 5,000 years. So, they shy away from it and tell themselves their students aren't going to suffer. The problem is the students do suffer. And why? They suffer because their teacher can't handle being out of her comfort zone. How can a teacher who is afraid of a challenge be an effective educator? As a teacher, I will always challenge myself to develop my skills further. Whether it's technology related or not, it's important to be open-minded. Imagine a world full of close-minded teachers? Scary!
Deciding to pursue my certification in the MAT program was made while I was pursuing a career in business and working on my MBA. I decided to become a teacher three years after graduating from college, where I spent five years changing my major about five times!!! The one thing held true throughout that time and up until my teaching certification began; I loved learning and obtaining knowledge. It took me the time it did to realize that teaching was a career I could pursue that would truly allow me to be a life-long learner, as well as being able to teach those values to my students. In other words, I do not believe that you can be a successful and effective teacher, or a role model to your students, without having the desire and motivation to continually better yourself and stay abreast and open minded not only with teaching methods, but with technology. I believe the latter is essential, because how can you understand, develop, and maintain relationships with your students if you do not understand elements of their lives and surroundings? How can you expect to have respect from your students if they understand technology better than you may? Unfortunately, there will always be colleagues, peers, and maybe even superiors that do not hold the same view as most of us. In my opinion, this just proves how imperative my own role is in the life of a student, when other relationships they may have might not be as supportive to their learning.
I think that most teachers who are "sticks in the mud" that refuse to learn about and integrate technology into their classrooms will be phased out sooner than later. Most of the newer generation of teachers were raised on technology and it already comes so much more naturally than it does for the older teachers who had to learn it in their adult lives. If I think about my students becoming teachers it is clear that they wouldn't even know where to begin teaching WITHOUT technology. I for one am not very savvy with technology, but I do use the basics of power point and internet search engines in my classroom. I would love more opportunities to use technology, but unfortunately there is no way for my students to use computers during my class time.
I think that to be a good educator you must be a good student. You need to be a person who is always trying to improve your art and is always looking for advice, suggestions, and fresh voices. Students need to see that their teachers are learning too. Just by watching their teacher go through the process of constant self-analysis and criticism, students learn how they can do it for themselves. I agree that when a teacher stops growing and changing, that teacher needs a new line of work.
I think that educators that do not keep up with technology do a disservice to their students and themselves.
As technology advances students, especially middle schools students, will utilize it and make it part of their daily lives.
Teachers can learn from their students by being up to date with technology such that they can bring real world examples to their classrooms. Also technology might provide easier and more effective forms of teaching.
The main goal of teaching is to take what you have learned and pass it on to the student. The most effective form is to utilize how they think and act. Technology plays a big role in how students will react to a project or lesson, such that it is most important to include technology whenever possible.
What fun it has been to read your comments to my blog posting and to read what you have written in your your blogs.
I will reply to each blog - but it takes a while- so keep checking.
Your comments have provided me to ponder about many things - thanks.
Technology is a vital part of education and we as educators should embrace new way of teaching our children to enchance their education as well as inspire them to reach further. So they can compete in a national arena not just in their schools. But, we must have wider view for our children not a narrow approach of what we think only.
I can't imagine a career where you aren't a life long learner, and teaching shouldn't be any different. In fact, if any profession should be at the forefront of life long learning, it should be teachers! Of course, that is easy for me to say, considering I am a 2nd year teacher. I have no idea how I would feel after 20+ years of teaching. Then again, I can't imagine doing the same exact things for 20+ years. Maybe that is why we have teachers who are resistant to life long learning? What other careers allow you to do the same exact thing for 20 years? Maybe we should push teachers to move from one grade to another or from one subject to another to increase the likelihood of them "keeping up with the times." After all, it is much easier to incorporate new technologies and other new ideas if you are working with a new curricula.
I absolutely see the need for technology in our classrooms. Current students are more tech savvy then ever before and it is understandable that older generations sometimes have trouble embracing new trends in technology. Perfectly wonderful teachers have difficulties using power points and smart boards and that is just fine. Continued education and support for all teachers is important in all areas of their teaching but especially in technology. Advances occur at such a rapid rate that for anyone to stay on top of things they must make an effort to keep in the know. There are many basic tech pds that you can attend as a teacher in my district but most schools lack the actual support and student accessibility needed for real technology integration. In an ideal situation teachers would be able to have the tools they need to successfully use the technology available but in reality I know that there would still be resistance to learning these knew programs. It is my belief that you can not force someone to learn but as teachers we should always embrace learning in the way we ask our students to everyday. By embracing the possibilities of the world and continuously educating ourselves we are in turn inspiring our students to accept knowledge and be open to learning.
After receiving my master's degree in teaching four years ago, I am only now returning to school to take master's level middle school courses. I have really enjoyed my two classes so far. I have found my classes to be much more valuable this time around because I have had actual experience having my own classroom, so I know exactly how I will implement the new things that I have learned in class. While teachers do undergo continual professional development, I'm not sure that is enough, particularly when teachers are allowed to choose what they would like to count as professional development. Teachers who resist learning or using technology in the classroom will most likely not enroll for those kinds of classes. Maybe a class on using technology in the classroom should be required of all teachers considering its impact on the world today. I also think that teachers, like us, who have been exposed to the usefulness and fun of technology in the classroom should let other teachers see all of the neat things that we can now do in our classrooms! Teachers are always borrowing each others ideas that the students, parents, and administrators love. Maybe the more we use technology in fun and interesting ways, the more it will spread to other teachers. I also think that many people who are not as familiar with it, fear technology. It can be scary and overwhelming to get started making a website or blog on the computer, for example. Teachers need to help each other through this fear. Once a person gets started, he or she will see just how easy and fun it can be!
As much as I am concerned about the intent of educators regarding the dedication to their students, and staying current to make sure they are connecting on the strongest possible level, I am more concerned with the movement of education as a whole. If you ask 10 different teachers what the goal of education is, I'll bet you get 10 different answers. I understand that this is a highly personal issue, and that uniting it under one goal would be limiting, but are we encouraging teachers to reflect on how they want there students to turn out. Many teachers, especially new ones, are so overwhelmed with the state of the school system that they resort to communicating the curriculum as if it were a document to be read. The information is transmitted without any perspective because the end goal is short-sighted: "I want my student to succeed in this class." In reality, your class, or other classes are unimportant compared to the lifetime of the student. I feel strongly that the most important thing a teacher can pass along to a student is an investment in self-education. My goal is to bring out the curiosity of all my students so I know they are learning outside the classroom as well as inside and will continue even if they don't have me as a teacher.
I feel that educators who are not continually fine tuning their craft, may not be satisfied with their career, but not unhappy enough to change. Many individuals in any career need to have a reason to change and it is simply easier to continue following the familiar path rather than take a risk and try something new. I continue to look for new, challenging and subsequent rewarding challenges in my life and try to enjoy the journey rather than the destination. I have an idea of where I am going in life, but I try not to map out my exact route because I enjoy the detours that my busy life brings me. I want the kids I work with to love learning and realize that there is so much more than what I am showing them and I want to be that spark that ignites their passion to find out more, question why and seek answers. What kind of society are we bringing up when students stop pondering and all they want to know is if it is going to be on the test.
I don't understand how/why some educators are so reluctant to accept and incorporate new technology and/or research findings into their classrooms. Yes I understand that the rate of technological advancements are astounding and can quite honestly be daunting particularly for those who did not grow up with such technology. However, as we challenge and expect our students to learn and grow, we too must learn and grow with the students. Educators cannot simply sit back and feel as if they have done what is required since they have their certificate and they no longer need to take professional development classes or learn new technologies. Having a teaching certificate is not a right; it’s a privilege. A successful educator is always searching for ways and techniques to improve his or her self. In order for us educators to inspire students to be lifelong learners we need to first model that behavior ourselves. Successful educators are those that are lifelong learners. From my personal experience, students are pleasantly surprised when they learn that I and other teachers still go to school. They are intrigued and think its “cool” that we are still taking classes. I think it is great that students think its “cool” to be taking classes. For me, I went into the teaching profession because I never wanted to stop going to school. I think in order for teachers to be outstanding teachers, they need to be life long students.
I have often wondered why some old set intheir way teachers are still in schools teaching. They seem to resent anything new or current, and would just rather be left alone to do things they way they have always done. Does it matter to them that their methods or ideas are out of date? As far as I can see - NO! It is a shame that there are still teachers like this out there doing more harm than good. I am not even close to being up to date in the area of current technology, but I do have every intention of address that issue and correcting ASAP. Teachers should be open and willing to grow with current changes, not become dinosaurs. It is important that our students respect us as teachers and feel that we are capable of teaching them things they need to know, not the other way around.
I am a career changer, and hope to be the type of educator that embraces change. Technology is an important part of our students' lives and must be just as important to us as teachers. As I am a lifelong learner, I hope to instill that quality and respect in my students as well.
Helen:
Thanks for the comments about the Swine Flu blog. I'm a writer, and I'm always penning different things. No offense taken if you don't read it often. Many times I'm just writing as an exercise.
In regard to being frightened by how many people want to teach ... I agree, and unfortunately due to the timing of my schooling a lot of people assume I'm doing the same.
We could have the richest economy in history right now, and I would still be responding to a blog post written by my Middle Level Curriculum professor. Over the past 6 years, an incredible sequence of events (some planned, other's not, and even some divine) has transpired that has led me to my calling in Education.
Due to that, I also have a different perspective than most of my classmates. I'm sure I'll get hired right away, if not I will do something else related to Education - and I don't mean subbing and waiting for my phone to ring. I'll write books, post lesson plans all over the internet, teach for free, or even start my own school.
Education to me is teaching plus about 10,000 other things.
To me the best thing about rock climbing is when you become "committed". Being committed means you've reached a point on the cliff where if you had any doubts, you're too far up to go back without falling to your death, or risking serious injury. Then the adrenaline rush kicks in because you know you have no choice but to climb to the ledge. Then once at the top, you feel silly for ever having doubted yourself.
That's pretty much how I approach everything. If I'm not committed, I won't do it. I have to much respect for the people that are committed to what they do, and wouldn't stoop to insult them by tring to do what they do just to get a paycheck because I lost it all in the financial market.
OK,
MrBlogsak
I feel that educators who are not continually fine tuning their craft, may not be satisfied with their career, but not unhappy enough to change. Many individuals in any career need to have a reason to change and it is simply easier to continue following the familiar path rather than take a risk and try something new. I continue to look for new, challenging and subsequent rewarding challenges in my life and try to enjoy the journey rather than the destination. I have an idea of where I am going in life, but I try not to map out my exact route because I enjoy the detours that my busy life brings me. I want the kids I work with to love learning and realize that there is so much more than what I am showing them and I want to be that spark that ignites their passion to find out more, question why and seek answers. What kind of society are we bringing up when students stop pondering and all they want to know is if it is going to be on the test.
Teaching has always been a part of my life. When I finished college nearly 25 years ago I entered the teaching profession as an eighth grade English teacher because there was a shortage in the field and the fact that I did not hold a teaching certificate was waved. Back then I was seen as an innovative teacher because I video taped student debates and speaches and allowing them to see how they sounded and appeared giving them a chance to modify and develop their abilities. Today, 25 years later I am re-entering the teaching profession severely lacking in my technology skills and I feel very insecure and unqualified for the task at hand which is not simply to be a teacher, but an outstanding one. I have a long way to go but I am determined to learn and to share my struggles with my students as we learn together.
I can understand your frustrations with those leaving technology behind. It is very upsetting to see those teachers who are not preparing their students to learn using the technological resources of our current times. As educators, we often claim that we are shaping the future generation; yet, how can we do so using resources from the past? The only thing we are preparing our students to do is to feel inadequately informed.
I believe that the reason teachers choose not to incorporate technology into their curriculum is because they truly lack the internal motivation to learn the resource themselves. With such heavy work loads already, many teachers feel that taking on the task of learning a new technology and incorporating it into their existing curriculum burdens THEM with more work, rather than supplying their STUDENTS with more enriching opportunities.
I must say that recently I have struggled in learning a couple of new technology devices in my classroom and in the few short weeks that I have been trained on them, I have found multiple ways in which I can effectively work them into my classroom. It just takes dedication from the instructor to learn the new resources.
I believe that it is a pervasive and crippling problem in our schools that teachers do not keep up with the changes of the world. Even in the highest performing schools there are teachers who are stuck in their ways and feel strongly that they have figured out everything that they need to know about teaching. However, are these teachers the ones to blame? Yes, we can ask the question “Why do those teachers remain in the schools?” but a better question might be, why do schools keep teachers who are resistant to change?
I believe the structure of the public school system in the United States creates and encourages such apathy. Have you ever heard of a school firing a teacher who was not integrating technology into their curriculum? In fact, I would go as far as to say that the structure of the public education system discourages change. Think about how little instructional practices have changed in recent decades in spite of knowing all that we do now about learning styles and multiple intelligences. To cite another example of how the school system discourages change, when lay-offs occur in schools, the first people let go are the teachers with the least amount of time in the system, who are probably the most educated in current best practices and often the future of the school.
I believe that the public education system is faulted in its design because it relies on teachers to be internally motivated to grow professionally and change their curricula for the success of their students. However, there is very little if any accountability to do so. Just recently, there has been a push to require CPDU’s and create incentives for teachers to educate themselves further. However, are the states and the federal government doing enough to encourage and ensure that teachers keep up with the needs of the ever-changing globalized world that its students live? And what if a teacher still does not take the skills from PDs and implement them in the classroom? Is there any punishment?
I wanted to end with this quote by Frances Hesselbein because it summarizes my sentiments well: "Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day."
I agree with much of what Katie said above concerning the effect of systemic dysfunction on teacher growth, but I would actually dig a little deeper and hold some of the responsibility with us as teachers. You ask us “How do we decide…what type of educator we will be?” It is my opinion that we as young teachers don’t really make this decision until deep inside our first year. Only when confronted with the sheer enormity of our task can our decision reflect our reality as professionals. It is easy inside the protective walls of our training program/undergraduate courses to speak of being the highest quality educators, constantly improving our effectiveness, seeking out the best training and resources, and renewing our approach each year. However, we must acknowledge that being a teacher is an incredibly wearing and exhausting profession. At the end of a harrowing first year, will you decide to spend your summer forgetting about kids and your struggles or will you devote hours to redeveloping your curriculum and reinventing your practice? After a decade of success, would you be content turning on the cruise control? Most of the worst teachers we know began as optimistic, energetic professionals intent on success and consistent improvement. I think it might be endemic to the profession, as any profession, that repetition breeds stagnancy. No matter what the structure of the system is, it is only a unique few who can teach the same classes for ten years running and still approach their eleventh group of kids with the same energy and creativeness as their fifth or sixth. So maybe the point I’m making is really Carrie’s point from above, but maybe we ought to rethink our model of teachers staying in the classroom fifteen, twenty, thirty years.
"be the change..." that quote has been used in so many contexts, and education is no exception. I have learned that teachers must "be the change" if they expect their students to "be the change".
I consider myself pretty forward thinking in terms of technology and classroom lessons. My students have made power points, they have published their own books and they have made podcasts. However, regardless of how much I know or THINK i know about technology, my students are always one step ahead. I have students already producing their own music and editing their own videos.
Kids these days are stimulated by endless amounts of technology, and all at the same time. Long gone are the days of simple cartoons. Now, when a student is watching tv, there is not only the motion picture, but also text scanning the bottom, and split screens, etc. There is so much information presented to the kids at one time, that its hard to believe they can keep their eyes awake when I am giving a lecture on newton's third law! the LCD projector isn't enough anymore, and certainly the overheard is not sufficient when used alone. it scares me that teachers are not adapting to the changing times. if we are holding our students to high standards, then we need to hold ourselves, as educators, to high standards as well. How can we expect the future generations to grow up wise, resourceful and motivated if we can't keep their attention in the classroom?!
My favorite websites which I use in my classroom in order to promote the use of technology for constructive purposes are posted below. A number of these sites I use myself regularly (especially Ted):
http://www.ceasefirechicago.org : a violence prevention and education organization with maps and community based information.
http://www.ted.com/index.php : talks and performances from the world's most imminent, inspiring and creative minds of all ages
http://www.4chan.org/ : a place for free anime, avatars, etc.
http://earth.google.com/outreach/index.html : files and folders containing Google Earth files from science to sociology
http://earth.google.com/ : to download the program Google Earth for free onto any computer
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/ : A youth advocacy program for comprehensive sexual education, with complete state based information, lessons and lesson plans and youth directed answer/help pages
Hope that you enjoy them!
All of these comments truly make me ponder and help me to realize all the different backgrounds people have. This is what makes the world so beautiful and interesting to me. I can't wait until I grow up and am a teacher!! Luv, Michelle
I am leaving the comment
Education is an interesting thing.
What other field ponders learning aobut learning. I always try to teach and focus my education on higher level thinking skills. I also believe that teachers must continue learning to improve their skills of instruction. They also must stay current on new strategies and technologies in the education field. It is a teacher's responsibility to make sure they stay current on student communication and new ways of thinking.
Well I certainly hope that I am a teacher that stays current with the technologies of the times, and I hope I am able to implement these new technologies to the best of my ability in the classroom. I did come across two websites recently that I think are interesting. The first one pixelgirlpresents.com, which I think is particularly fitting for middle school kids. This site allows people to create custom artwork to use as backgrounds, for many electronic things, such as websites, phones and computer homepages. I feel that middle school kids are constantly looking for a way to make the selves unique and more of an individual and this site allows them to so a small something to make their computer or phone different from anyone else, and a middle schooler could afford it because it is all free! The second site I would recommend for anyone would be www.afrigadget.com. The awesome websites reports on inventions being used in africa that one would probably never hear about otherwise. Many of the inventions are created to help sustain living there such as a solar cooker make of foil. The inventions are amazing and are really inspiring for anyone to see!
PART A:
www.nmsa.org
I would use the National Middle School Association’s website to connect with other middle school teachers around the country. I would also be able to stay up to date with various issues/debates that exist within middle level education. This website would also be a great place for me to find out about potential conferences/workshops to attend and/or present at. This website may impact my thoughts about how to use technology as a source of professional development.
Thefischbowl.blogspot.com
This blog would be a fabulous way to find out about what is happening in various levels of education throughout the country. I would be able to respond to posts that are of interest to me or posts that are related to my content area. It is possible that I would be able to find a blog post to use in my classroom as a source for students to discuss/debate.
Teachertube.com
As a math teacher, I find that I am constantly searching for different ways to present materials to my students. Teachertube would be able to provide me with various videos related to a mathematical concept that I could use as inspiration or even show in my classroom. It would also be a great reference to provide to students to use at home in case they are struggling.
Freepoverty.com and Freerice.com
Both of these websites would be great study materials for students. I like how students are helping others while at the same time learning new concepts. It would be interesting to use these websites to inspire students to brainstorm a website that they could create that would be both for learning new material and helping others.
PART B:
www.ilovemath.org
This is a website that allows math teachers to share materials that they have used in the classroom – I use this all the time. There are some great games/activities to use as well as things like concept maps to help students better understand the material. I think that there should be a website like this for each content area to help teachers help each other come up with better activities for the classroom.
www.goodsearch.com
This is a search engine, similar to ‘google’ or ‘yahoo’….the key aspect of this is that you can select a charity, and each time you search, the charity receives a penny. You can track how much money has been donated to the charity. I believe that you can also shop online through this website and have a portion of the proceeds go to the charity that you specify. This would a be great website to share with students to use at home and in the classroom…maybe the class or school can vote for a charity to use. The concept of this website is similar to Freerice.com and Freepoverty.com
Brooke Walper
http://middlelevel500.blogspot.com
If you’re having a difficult time responding to my blog, you can email me at: brookewalper@gmail.com
Finally here sorry it took so long.
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