Monday, November 17, 2008

School district variables

I am currently taking a technology in education course and finding the tools available for teacher is immense. With the ease of access to information and the ability to collaborate on projects teachers are creating new and challenging ways to engage their students. I begin to envision how I would like to utilize technology in MY first classroom. What is causing me some hesitation is that I do not know where I will be teaching. I have been doing some initial research into different school districts and finding that access to technology is varied pretty widely. Even within the same department at the same schools teachers are using technology at different levels. Some do not utilize it at all while others are just scratching the surface.
If/when I get my first classroom. Will I be looked down upon by the other teachers with 20 years of classroom experience that do not use technology? With being the "new" teacher in the social studies department should I start my classes more traditionally and ease into the technology as to not upset the apple cart? Keeping myself politically/professionally safe. Or, should I come in and utlized technology to it's fullest? Risking upsetting my new associates but energizing my students and establishing my rep within the student body.

4 comments:

fba3 said...

Mark,this is a good point to bring up. What are the politcs of knowledge? When I was observing last Spring I kept trying to get my teacher to comment on how they interacted with the rest of the of the faculty. They were very reluctent to say anything. I got the impression that there was a culture of staying apart. After doing this work on collaberation I also wonder how it might come across.

Hai said...

Mark, like yourself, I am a teacher in training as well. Wanting to become a math teacher, I often have difficulty thinking about how I will use technology in my classroom. All my years of math studies, seldom do we use digital media to expand our learning. I wonder whether incorporating technolgy into mathematics will reach out to more students and make math a bit more interesting and relevant. I also fear what other experienced teachers would think of me if I used technology in my classroom and they did not.

amy said...

I do not have much experience in the field of education, but it my professional experience, I have found that change is not always received well. That being said, I think once changes take place, and people get over their initial fears, the change can prove to be for the better. Essentially, I think if you have technological tools available, but no one else is taking advantage, you might have to be an agent of change. We have seen in our Technology class how beneficial some of these technological tools can be for a classroom. I think it is important to ease into it and make yourself available to assist your collegues if you are going to implement something new.

What concerns me most is availability. I have a lot of friends who are teachers who have "guarenteed" that the first classroom in which I will work will not have a smarboard or computers for every student. That will not stop me from keeping up with the trends. Maybe if it is not available at first, I'm sure it will be someday.

Kurtsn said...

Mark - I think the questions you raise are valid ones. However, I believe that you are in a classroom to teach. So if the rest of the faculty doesn't like you, that's their loss. You need to get the students interested in what you are doing.

Having said that, I don't think your two choices are mutually exclusive. I think you can engage your students, and work with the remainder of the faculty, if they will let you. I think your approach - I have this thing I want to try, what do you think of it? should work with most of our collegues. Good luck with it!