"Brave New Classroom" is Buzzing my Brain

I'm still wading through all the articles that make up Britannica.com's "Brave New Classroom" Forum on the use of technology in education (not to mention all the posts in the discussion), and it's really making my brain buzz. Is technology friend or foe, a boon or a boondoggle in the classroom? When I resigned my teaching position to stay home with my first baby, none of these issues even existed. Now I sub K-12 and get to implement other peoples' lesson plans, but do not yet have to create my own. What will I do if and when the classroom is truly "mine"? Will I be willing to "share" it with my students, to give up control, to truly create the "community of scholars" ideal? Will I be competent enough in technology to integrate it into my classroom?

Two things I'm certain of: that there are very effective teachers out there who use very little technology in their classroom, and that the reverse is also true. My son's 8th grade Science teacher (now, sadly, retired) used nothing but a blackboard... the kind with chalk... and is repeatedly described as "the best teacher I ever had" by countless high school graduates. At the other end of the spectrum, we've all suffered through "death by power point" at some point in our lives... sitting through a glitzy, but painfully boring presentation up on a screen. The key, I think, is engagement: we need to engage our students in the learning process. No amount of technology can do that for us... we have to genuinely care about them, figure out how to convey our concern in a way that our youth can believe and understand, make the material relevant and challenging, and set high standards and expectations. Those factors, at least, I can be sure of. In our rapidly changing world, some factors of "being a great teacher" will never change.

Easiest and Hardest

Thing #3

By far, the easiest thing for me to do as a life-long learner is to "accept responsibility". As the first-born girl in a family of 7, taking responsibility comes naturally to me. Not only do I take responsibility for myself, but I tend to take it on for others as well... and that's a problem. As a member of my family and as a teacher, I have to remain aware of this tendency, and remember to keep my nose out of other people's business, separating out "my problems" from "theirs". Sadly, I often forget to do this.

"Teach/mentor others" is also easy for me, because I enjoy doing this, and feel that it is one of my gifts.

Hardest... hmmm. I see three items as interrelated in the "hardest" category for me, but they all tie back into "have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner". When I lose confidence and give into negative self-talk, it's easy for me to turn "problems" into "roadblocks", rather than "challenges". Also, since I tend to lack confidence in my technical abilities, it's challenging for me to "use technology to my advantage". My husband and both of my two kids are technophiles, which is both a blessing and a curse. They are always there to help me out, but I can lean on their expertise too heavily and not develop my own abilities.

Frantic Catch-up

Thing #3

Having just returned from CA and my daughter's college's "Family Weekend", I'm trying to zip through the"23 Things" homework that I put off for too long.

So far, so good... despite being a self-proclaimed technophobe, nothing is too scary so far. The creators of this class have gone out of their way to make everything extremely user-friendly and accessible, and for that I'm grateful.