Chris Walsh’s keynote was terrific. He spoke about how television has been evolving. From the one story episodes of Dragnet to the multiple threads of the Sopranos, TV audiences are getting smarter. And yet teachers are still teaching like the one thread of Dragnet. See Chris’s blog entry about this or read the book, Everything Bad Is Good For You
Teachers need to be challenging students on non-linear levels. What stops teachers is often fear. Fear of not following a script (when that script calls for improv—also known as IWT, Workshop, research and inquiry teachers are afraid. Fear of losing control—if students take responsibility for their own learning chaos may ensue. Fear of losing the stage—if students are guiding discussion then teachers won’t be talking as much. Can you deal with that?
Chris also showed some slides of things which are just cool. A 3D printer which allows you to print three dimensional objects at a cost which will one day be affordable for the classroom. And this film which Chris used as a metaphor for allowing yourself to be challenged by students and participating as a learner in the classroom. A collaboration model versus sage on the stage. See the Inertia movie here.
I conducted a workshop at the Tech Fair on Integrating Technology in the Open Court Reading Program.
The crowds at these events are fantastic and I had a terrific day. It was only a two hour session but we worked on creating eBooks using ComicLife, and movies using iMovie or VoiceThread. These teachers got it. I ran into one of the participants a week later and she quoted back to me something I said about how low income students are denied access to using computers in ways which are empowering. I felt like I had reached her.
I don’t know what state you live in but in California educators don’t have any say over what they teach. Thanks to NCLB, our curriculum is mandated day-by-day, hour-by-hour, and minute-by-minute. While technology is slowing making its way into our classrooms, we are still held to a pacing guide that leaves little time for anything truly creative. Indeed, my job as an educator has been reduced to testing every other day and keeping growing pages of data. I know I work for the government, I just thought when I signed up to be a teacher, I would be allowed to bring my particular gifts to the classroom. Sadly, that is not the case. New teachers are increasingly questioning their choice of profession. I am a veteran teacher and can see the long term and that the pendulum always swings the other way. However, in this case, I fear the swing isn’t going to be fast enough.
Lastly, the real circumstances of today’s classrooms reminds me of the tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” I have 90 % of English-language learners. One can hardly learn to read in a language one doesn’t speak. Yet those of us teaching in these schools are held to the same standards as other schools that have a highly literate population.
I do teach in California and while I couldn’t agree with you more about NCLB, I do think that teachers use pacing plans as an excuse not to be creative in their teaching.
Teachers are required to teach writing and required to differentiate their teaching via Independent Work Time, Workshop, Universal Access Time. Clever teachers can find ways of integrating technology and engaging students in their teaching of mandated curriculums.
You may be interested in attending one of my workshops on integrating technology in the Open Court Reading Program at LACOE (if you’re in the L.A. area) or at the upcoming CUE conference in March, where I’m presenting Podcasting on a Pacing Plan. You can also see some of my work at http://www.videointheclassroom.com which features the work of first and second graders in an Open Court classroom (my own).
Thanks for sharing your experiences at the recent CUELA tech conference. I thought the graph that Chris Walsh used in his keynote was fantastic. I hadn’t heard this analogy before about how we are becoming more sophisticated in our thinking and reasoning. I need to read that book, Everything Bad is Good for You. I really enjoyed his presentation.
I also very much enjoyed this conference. The CUELA folks hosted a fantastic conference!