Can we get some tech up in here?

I attended my first parent-teacher conference today.  It was pretty cool.

Since I really have no idea how to run one of those things, it was nice to get some ideas on how I can structure the 20 minutes, what student artifacts to use, what to say, and what to ask.

Actually, the superintendent of the district was in my first set parents.  Not that it really mattered, being as I was just observing, but still.  He commented that his daughter "really seemed to be enjoying school this year, but that she had said something about not liking the intern", then he gave me a wry smile and chuckled.  Even knowing he was joking, I still almost peed my pants.

The experience of the conferences was great, but it got me thinking - with all of the technology we have available, why do we need to schedule a meeting to see our student's parents?  Samples of the kid's work could be available online, and any concerns about that work could be voiced by email, Skype, text, cell, etc.

If the whole point of the meetings, as it looked to me, was to see samples of work and use it to talk about strengths or what needs work, then it could have been done in another, more efficient way.  Through technology it could also have happened much sooner, rather than waiting several months into the school year to have an in-depth progress report.

But how would we balance that with the benefit of face to face communication?  I certainly don't want the impersonal robot conference from my earlier post, but we have far, far too much digital assistance at our disposal to be doing things the same old way.

Thoughts?

Overwhelmed & underwater

Blogging seems to have lost all of it's joy for me.

I try to think of deep and thought provoking, or clever and witty things to say about my experiences.  I know they are there, I build upon them almost everyday, but I cannot dredge them up from underneath the layer of mind-numbing coursework-related silt that sits on top of them.

Above said silt runs a fast moving stream of being a husband to a wife I never see (ships passing in the night) and a father to a 2 1/2 year old child with a severe CHD, for whom I will gladly sacrifice writing a lesson plan in order to have a fabulously deejayed dance party, or rush emergency vehicles to every crisis he can imagine.

Whereas I used to work ahead, I am now struggling to barely get by.  Sacrificing reading for one class in order to find time to do work for another.  Being acceptable when I want to be great.

There are now becoming times when I wonder if I can keep this up.  Can I really do this?  I feel overwhelmed and am struggling to tread water in my metaphorical river - trying not to slip underneath the surface.  Sometimes you all see me sigh deeply.  More than anything it is to remind myself I am still breathing and not underwater yet.

I know from speaking with others that many of us are feeling the same way (perhaps no where near as dramatic, but the same nonetheless).  Situations may be slightly different, but we are still at that same murky point.

In a recent reading I found a passage that has reminded me of why I am going through all of this struggle now, and why I will continue to struggle on in the future.  Of why it's worth all of the trials and frustration to become an educator.

Because being a teacher is what I was meant to do, and it's the best job ever.  

It's certainly not a cure-all, but the following words have given me a measure of composure and courage with which to carry on.  I hope they can do the same for anyone else out there who is in need.  Keep up the good fight.

"Sometimes I am totally baffled at the idea that I get paid to read great books with kids; help them write poetry (poetry, I tell you!); benefit from their honest, funny, youthful outlook every day; and then go to bed knowing I've at least approached doing something meaningful in the world. There are approximately two-and-a-half professions like that on the entire planet."

-Dina Strasser

I know, I promised no more talk about robots

"Bringing good teachers to places where good teachers won't go". - Sugata Mitra

Doesn't this sound eerily familiar?  As in, like, Teach For America eerily familiar?  Now, granted, in his TED Talk video Mr. Mitra is speaking of literally bringing educators to the back streets of New Delhi, but the overarching implications for those of us in the educator world is the same. 

I'm all for rapidly bringing teachers into areas where there is a shortage.  My concern is the same one I have with TFA.  How long before the teacher streamed by video into classrooms is seen as a viable alternative to the current educators already in place? In areas in which there is an excess of teachers? 

Computers are cheaper than health benefits.  Computer unions never demand a cost of living pay increase.  Sure, once Skynet comes online the computers will try to kill and enslave us (Google it), but until then streaming an educator into classrooms does have a nice ring to it as the potential solution to our country's education budget crisis.

Mitra does makes some good points.  Technology has empowered our kids to do some amazing learning.  I agree wholeheartedly that "if children have interest, then education happens"; but telling me that "children will learn to do things on computers on their own"?  Well.....duh.

With all due respect Mr. Mitra, there's a reason I go to my 16 and 10 year old nephews for tech advice: kids know things about computers because they play with them.  They tinker with a reckless abandon that only comes with being born into the digital age.  They don't fear them like the rest of us (which is also exactly why we will resist our new computer overlords while they will bow down to them).

This technology could change the world.  Let's just hope it is not at the expense of giving our kids a living, breathing teacher in the room.  There is more to life than learning how to use the interwebs and translate a google doc.  There is a subtlety and nuance to being alive that kids learn through mentorship and interaction with other human beings.  Life is best learned from the living.

Otherwise you get this for your parent teacher conference...

P C & A 2.0 coming soon!

It would seem I have matured some since I began this blog oh so very long ago.  Gone are the days of school girl crushes and robotic dinosaurs bringing peace to the land.  Sure, we will all long for those halcyon days of the past, but now it is time to move on.  We have important work to do as educators!

Soon there will be new and exciting postings to exceed, or at the very least match, the shiny new look of the blog.  Don't fret, I will always be prone to whimsy and random flights of fancy.  However now that I am actually getting to try my hand at teaching, I have heavy, meaty things to discuss.

Stay tuned.