Ms. B’s Thoughts

There are so many times throughout my days (and nights) that I think-you should write about that-and then the thought leaves my brain and I’m off and running in another direction. My life is so rich right now that I wanted to reflect on some of it…and also alleviate some of the anxieties my ED483 students are feeling with regards to teaching, learning, and keeping up with it all!

First of all, let me tell you, I am blessed with a dynamic group of learners this semester! 46 students in two sections of Education Media and Technology let me share my passion and enthusiasm for 21st Century learning on a weekly basis. They humor me with their patience as I explain new technology tools like a child on Christmas morning. I know, at times, my love for this stuff explodes with a gusto that can make some people take a step back and I have reflected on that a number of times, telling myself that “my mission is not everyone else’s mission”, yet after a comment by friend and colleague, Charlie Yeager, about my ability to “sell it” when it comes to the use of technology in the classroom, I sometimes think that my enthusiasm is exactly what people need. So, I guess as I run through this course for the first time, I am not going to check my enthusiasm at the door–I’ve been at this game long enough to understand that enthusiasm for a subject, a passion for something is really what life is all about–and in teaching, if you don’t have it, your students won’t ever get it!

These same students–impress me with their ability to take new things and make them their own. Now, mind you there are a few students that are still anxiously skeptical and not quite buying in to it all, but those that are–are in hook, line and sinker. More than anything else, I feel like I am accomplishing something if a student takes a concept or tool I have introduced and uses it his/her own way, for her/his own purpose. Tools will come and go, activities can be designed and redesigned, but truly taking something and incorporating it into your personal learning experience is (I believe) one of the surest ways of becoming a life-long learning in this digital age. Want to see for yourself? Their blog roll, delicious names and twitter accounts are beginning to take shape–some really good networks are being formed!

Another factor that brings a new perspective to my learning this semester is that I am fortunate enough to have two of my colleagues enrolled for graduate credit in this pre-service course. They are veteran teachers who are Upper Peninsula Writing Project TC’s as well as members of our NHS MI-Champions project. Having their “real-world” voices in our class is a gift. I think that it is a good model for the soon-to-be teachers as they contemplate their own efforts to become life-long learners. Helen and Vickie are two of Negaunee’s finest teachers and I am flattered that they have elected to be part of my learning network! (Be sure to follow the links to their wikis that they have developed, just click their names!) Their desire to take their teaching and personal learning into the digital age is refreshing. They are always thinking, asking questions and most of all doing things to improve the learning experiences of their students.

So the uber-geek enthusiasm I bring to a classroom often projects me forward at speeds, I fail to recognize, are sometimes at a pace that may be a bit difficult for those new to this digital world. I’d like to provide the excuse that if they could jump inside my head and see all of the things I have yet to show them, they too, would clamber for me to move quickly. However, I also understand that I have been traveling this super-highway for a few years and I have to remember that the excitement and passion I have developed was cultivated along the way, not cast upon me in one workshop, at one conference or even during one course. I am going to implement a bit of the “less is more” philosophy when it comes to the actual introduction of “tools”, but will continue to feed their brains and lure them in with sights, sounds, articles, and opinions that illustrate the bigger picture of learning today. If they can walk away from my course with some tools that take them into a world of people, a network of educators, devoted to making education relevant to the needs of children then I feel the future of our schools will be a better place.

A very popular Facebook note, 25 Random Thoughts About Me, has spread throughout the social network, allowing friends a crazy glimspe inside of each other’s personal lives. Writing them allows people to share random information with each other. Some of my friends have used it as an outlet to let people know some of the more difficult or joyous times in their lives as they are reconnecting with classmates and friends who have been out of their lives for quite some time. Others use it as a vehicle to proclaim their blessings. Touting the wonder of having supportive friends and family to lean on during the chaotic lives we lead. Reading them is fun, pure fun, and great way to start conversations, observe similar experiences and bring compassion to each others lives.

I thought it would be fun to create a more focused list–one that captures the passion of educators. Teachers everywhere have so much to think about. I am sure within all of them there are 25 Random Thoughts on Education. Here are mine:

1. I only had to caculate grades by hand for my first year of teaching; after that we used a computer based grading system.

2. I’ve never been able to write really well on a chalkboard; despite years of practicing at home.

3. Textbooks should be used as a tool; not the main source of content for a class.

4. A school building with a postivie atmosphere is as critical to the success of the students than any standardized curriculum.

5. Standardized tests are painful to administer. I apologized to my students when they were taking the MME last year. We shouldn’t be doing that to kids.

6. The spirit of teaching will never die; despite all of the turmoil and conflict within the system.

7. Teachers don’t really care about money; they would rather have the learning environment support their practice.

8. It bugs me that our district still buys spiral bound grade books even though we have been digital for the better part of 13 years.

9. Every teacher should attend conferences by and belong to professional organizations; especially those that emphasize teaching and learning across the curriculum.

10. Technology has the power to transform education; that said, it is only a TOOL and teachers are needed to faciliate learning far more than they have ever been in the history of education.

11. After 14 years, I still get butterflies the night before school starts in the fall.

12. Connecting with students, watching them grow from immature, whiny freshmen to thankful, compassionate seniors is one thing I will never grow tired of.

13. You do not need to learn things because, “It is going to be on the test”!

14. If you love to learn, your students will love to learn. It is all in the presentation–sell it to them! Passion breeds passion.

15. Tests and quizzes should be a “dip-stick” for assessment of learning. Projects and production, creation and collaboration are the true tests of learning.

16. We cannot assess technology skills through standardized means. The sooner we stop trying, the less frustrated everyone will be.

17. Taking and passing an online course does not necessarily = mastery of technology skills.

18. Faith. It is all about faith.

19. If teachers stop learning, they will become as obsolete as the textbooks sitting on their shelves.

20. The development and integration of my personal learning network has been one of the most exciting, invigorating things I have done to increase my knowledge as an educator.

21. If you have never heard of or participated in the National Writing Project’s Summer Institute, you should. Hands down–the single best form of professional development. Our local site is the UPWP.

22. Inquiry and Reflection. Two critical practices of a good educator.

23. I love the August and September and the unveiling of the school supplies aisles in the local stores. Despite my obsession with technology, I love a good pen, freshly sharpened pencils and brightly colored sticky notes.

24. I’m in love with my profession; despite all that is ahead of us, it is an amazing time to be in education!

25. Favorite all-time quote:

“I’ve come to the frightening conclusioin that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.”–Dr. Haim Ginott