I’ve been purusing the net and found a very interesting site at http://weblogg-ed.com
where the conversation has been very interesting, to say the least. I commented on one of the entry by Will Richardson http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/the-myspace-effect/ that I did not completely agree with the author and did not always like the tone of his articles. But hey, I’m just one guy who seems to be way outnumbered as the many posts will attest.
It’s not that I totally disagree with what he says. It may be that I’ve been to the point where he is frustrated and I’ve learned that it does no good. In fact, much of the worrying and fretting that seems to go on in the comments about teachers not being willing to give up their status as teachers and become learners with the learners is just wasted time. Yes, we need to vent our frustrations but about others not changing because we would like them to? Really, when has anyone been able to change another person without the person wanting the change? Okay, some marriages are exempt. But, really, the only person over whom you have control is yourself. As an administrator, I’ve learned that I can’t change the people with whom I work, the children within the school, or the people who enter the building or have vested interest in some way. That is one large group of people. In light of this, it is my own attitude and my way of dealing with each day which will have the greatest impact over these interactions and my ability to be aware of the people with whom I come into contact.
What does this have to do with technology? Well, consider that the school where I am administrator has computers in each room, that 100 % of the staff uses computers for some type of online teaching, that 100% of the staff uses email communication daily, 100% of the staff receives an online subscription and incorporates it in their personal growth plan, I’d say we’re making progress considering that 100% of the teachers did not use email in the school as of three years ago when I arrived. Are we using wikis, blogs and other webbased sources? Some of us.
However, it was the suicide of one of my students last year that really made me sit back and really focus on what was important. You know, technology didn’t finish very high. Getting to know people face to face did. Listening to the students face to face became very important. I’ve had a site for years where kids have let me know what they are doing. Whether it was through email or blogs, I’ve kept in touch with students that I have taught. But when I lost one for whom I was responsible, it made me realize that all the technology in the world, all the global collaboration isn’t going to save someone if we first don’t pay attention to those in our immediate lives.
I teach Communication Production Technology in which we use various technologies to produce communication. You bet I’m going to use the web for the students to get some feedback on their projects. We may even be able to use a wiki to have others contribute to the work. But it’s about the learning that we do together, not with the global school, that will build the relationships that matter because they are the day to day, face to face ones that people have to learn to work through, realizing that we can’t change others but must be willing to look at ourselves to see how we might be able to adapt.
Will Richardson says “I hate to generalize, but the thing that seems to be missing from most of my conversations with classroom teachers and administrators is a willingness to even try to re-envision their own learning, not just their students. Many will say that they understand to varying degrees the changes that are occurring, that the Web is in many ways rewriting the rules of communication and socialization, that the world our students enter when they leave us will be much different from the ones we ourselves were prepared for. But it feels like there is this unspoken belief among most that we can deal with these changes without changing ourselves. And that’s is a huge problem.”
I agree but not because we need to look at changes so we can adapt to the technologies but because life requires us to change in order to grow and growth is needed to live life fully. I’ve had a number of teachers tell me that they can’t change, it’s too late in their career. To them I recount the quote from Roland Barth ” The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth of the rut.” We then discuss how changing is not something that might happen in a school, it will happen and their job is to be a model learner so that they can teach. Slow progress. But, I see things moving much more quickly than many would have guessed. Next adventure, a bit of a staff retreat to www.tappedin.org for some chatting, discussion and exploring.
If you’d like to see what else I’ve written about these kind of topics, visit www.freewebs.com/mrchristie . I’ve done some ranting there also!!
MrC
