Years ago, I put together some professional development workshops for teachers centered around using “web 2.0” technologies in the classroom. At the time, the idea of the World Wide Web as an interactive, participatory tool was pretty new. The classes addressed things like blogs and wikis and video conferencing and personal learning networks. They were offered in June, right after school let out for the … Continue reading Because We Want To
Twenty-one years is a long time. I wore a pager to the interview because we were expecting a baby any time. That child is entering her senior year of college this fall. I was asked if I knew Visual Basic. “Sure,” I said. How hard could it be? I had programmed in a dozen languages by that point, and I was pretty sure adding another … Continue reading Five to Seven Years
When I was in high school, I joined an Explorers group of future teachers that met monthly to get experience and information about the teaching profession from teachers and university professors. One month, we had a high school English teacher from a neighboring school talk to us. I don’t remember very much about her. But her advice still stays with me, all these years later. … Continue reading Don’t Waste Their Time
The teaching profession is under attack. The disgruntled parent is gossiping at the coffee house about some injustice done in the classroom. The taxpayer complains that the kids these days aren’t learning anything. Business leaders want to come in and tell the schools how everything should be done. Politicians simultaneously add more accountability measures from public schools while funneling more resources toward alternative education. And no … Continue reading 5 Things Teachers Can Do to Save Their Profession
About a year ago, I started carrying around an old-fashioned paper notebook. Whenever the mood strikes me, I jot down notes and ideas in it. They’re generally not very well reasoned. Sometimes, they’re little diagrams or lists or mind maps. Occasionally, they turn into blog posts or other work. This low-tech solution allows me to focus on the idea at hand without the distractions of … Continue reading Best Bits from the Notebook
Time. There’s nothing like a funeral to remind us that our days on this earth are numbered. Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Time. I often hear that time is one of the greatest barriers to teachers doing innovative things in their classrooms. I don’t have time to flip my classroom, or start a student blogging project, or connect with … Continue reading It’s Time
Taste of Tech 