The first four years of my teaching career were done at parochial schools here in El Paso, Texas. There are many benefits to sending your children to a parochial school. Unfortunately technology is not one of those reasons. The two parochial schools that I taught in during those four years were housed in buildings that were a combined 100 years old. No classrooms were wired for internet and the computer labs were filled with donated and outdated computers.
The teaching practices that I was broken in with at these
schools included the handing out of lesson plan books and grade books being
handed out at the beginning of the school year.
Students were assigned books and asked to read the section and answer
the questions at the end of the chapter.
Lectures were given as I wrote notes on a chalk board (I can’t tell you
how many neckties I ruined). I created
tests on my home computer and printed them out on my personal printer. I would take roll and write down absent
students’ names on a piece of paper and clip it to the outside of my door. I
discovered TEKS five months into school when they were handed to me in a 3” 3
ring binder.
Instructional strategies were given during district wide
seminars. The seminars were normally
split between instructional strategies and religious growth and development of
students. The students that I taught
were from mostly lower income families who sacrificed many things to ensure
their children had a catholic school education.
I would venture out and say that 70% of their homes did not have the
internet. Many of my students
entertained themselves at lunch by playing marbles or tops. During my fours years at the parochial schools I was unaware of any research and learning theories that
were in place in 2001. This extent of my knowledge came from a Harry Wong book. This was not
something that was high on the priority list.
In 2007, after earning my teaching certificate, I joined the
staff at John Drugan School. Drugan is a
public K-8 school in one of the fastest growing districts in Texas. Drugan’s doors had only been open two years
and it was one of the most technologically up to date schools in the city. Every classroom had a white board and
projector in place. The first time I met
the staff at Drugan they were in one of three computer labs in the school. They were all receiving training on how to
update their page on the school’s website.
I received a class set of books to be used as reference to support the
PowerPoint lectures that I had created during my last two years at the parochial
schools. My first day I was assigned a
user name and password to access my online grade book and online
attendance. I was given a lesson plan
template created on Excel and was asked to make sure I have lesson plans
emailed to the principal by 3:15 on Fridays.
I received the itinerary for inservice week via email and signed my
contract electronically. I was taught
how to call in sick days via the internet, look up student information via
internet, and how to make my seating charts via internet.During my six years in the public schools our monthly faculty meetings normally consist of teaching theory and practices portion followed by a technology portion. Substitutes are called in so we can be trained on the latest online educational software the district has decided to invest in. We are expected to spend time every summer attending seminars that will improve our teaching skills and to keep us up to date with the latest education theories.
I teach using PowerPoint and I feel those days are numbered. Students have to be entertained while they are learning. Classrooms are now student centered as opposed to teacher centered. I have to create lessons that will not only teach the required TEKS but that will also capture the students’ attention. I access those TEKS via a website and it tells me how many days I should be spending on this topic. . I allow the students to use two thousand dollar lap tops to access the internet wirelessly to do research for presentations they will be giving to their classmates. I assign group assignments. I have students email me assignments and I have even created “classrooms” on education social media sites. I teach, reteach and then rereteach every topic I am expected to cover. Students see information in at least three different ways. I teach to the visual, auditory, kinetic, and even the olfactory learners. I don’t assign worksheets unless I am absent (which is rare). And I do this all before the late April deadline where we all get to show off how well we performed our roles during the course of the year.
During the week I also spoke with a 20 year school secretary veteran. I asked her how her job has changed since the internet has become a part of the education system. She said there is much less paper that she deals with. Communication has sped up and is better documented. She does admit as much help as the internet has brought to her job there is always that feeling that we are helpless if the internet is not available, a feeling that I know all too well.
The internet now plays a large role in today's educational system. There is a model of technology use in the classroom in which a teacher goes from becoming familiar with technology to using the technology to integrating it into the classroom. (Hooper & Rieber 1995) I would think that many teachers need to be at this point in order to expect any success. The model has two more levels which are used by teachers of the future. The next two steps are to reorient the technology to fit the needs of the students and then finally to make the technology grow and evolve into something else.
According to Ronald Berks' paper and lecture No Teachers Left Behind, most teachers in the classroom today can be classified as Gen Xers (born between 1961 and 1981)(Berk 2009). He describes our students as Net Geners. He suggests that we take an Avatar (tall blue aliens not bald headed element bender) approach and do some reconnaissance on students and find out what makes them tick. Then we can use technology to hone into pathways that will most likely lead to the flash drive in their brains.
20 years ago teachers needed a strong pedagogy and content knowledge background. Now not only do you need the pedagogy and the content knowledge but a strong technology background is necessary to be a teacher.(Wallace 2004). The fact of the matter is that technology is hear. Fearing it is useless and could be detrimental to your educational career. Embracing the technology and showing no fear though you walk into the Silicon valley of darkness, hand in hand with your students is without a doubt the path to success.
Berk, R. (2009). No teacher left behind. Teaching strategies for the net generation.http://www.pearsonassessments.com/hai/images/NES_Publications/2011_09Berk.pdf
Hooper, S., & Rieber, L. P. (1995). Teaching with technology. In A. C. Ornstein (Ed.), Teaching: Theory into practice, (pp. 154-170). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Wallace, R.A Framework for Understanding Teaching With the Internet.American Educational Research Journal. https://www.msu.edu/~mccrory/_pubs/McCroryWallaceAERJ04.pdf
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