Wow...where does the time go...I have all of these ideas in my head, but no time to get them down. It has been a week or two since my last post. I have been struggling with the 'time' factor associated with our jobs. Technology today is changing daily. I am constantly reading blog posts by other tech leaders and there are new things to see and do everyday. I have hardly had time to read all of the feeds I've subscribed to, much less comment on those blogs. And isn't the purpose of blogging to connect and have a conversation, not just read and move on? (If I wanted that, I could go back to the good ol' days of Web 1.0 :)The point here is being able to find a happy medium. When is information too much information? When does learning new things and trying those things out become a problem rather than a solution? A former colleague and mentor taught me that you can't do everything great all of the time....if you try to improve everything you do (math, social studies, writing, reading, etc.) all at once, then none of them will improve. Instead, she suggested, choose one topic to really focus on improving and do it well...next year, you can attack another one. With technology, though, next year could be too late!
Elementary classroom teachers are in the same boat with their subjects that embedding technology into the classroom seems like 'one more thing' for them to do. Part of my position is helping them integrate technology into their classrooms, I am struggling with the resistance. Time is an issue with them, too, so there is a fine line between pushing too hard and not pushing at all. How do we know where that line is? How do you handle your struggles...I know that I am not alone on this one!
It is early in the school year and it is the time to plant seeds with teachers and students. It is the time to make changes in a classroom so that the technology that is available is used to benefit the students in the classroom. It is the time to challenge our teachers and students to change what we do in education! It is surely a happy medium that I must find...I just hope I have the time to find it :)
3 comments:
embedding technology into the classroom seems like 'one more thing' for them to do
Very true....if they are trying to embed into an already set sytem it WILL seem like one more thing AND getting them to rethink what they do and why they do it that way is a challenge as well. The true reward comes when we can get teachers to do things differently vs just doing different things. Plant those seeds in good rich soil and things will begin to grow.
Great post!!!
Dude, life is too easy if you have that much time to worry about all that!!! Get a LIFE man!
I appreciate the advice....there are certainly more important things to worry about! However, putting thought and concern in what you do isn't such a bad thing, either...
Post a Comment