At our I-SITS meeting, Donna showed a video of a first year "digital teacher". The young woman in question was very definite in her opinions of her teaching methods and why they were the right ones for kids of the "digital generation". I found her presence irritating and arrogant and in response my back went up. Whatever she was saying might have been true, but I didn't want to listen to it.
On reflection, I wonder about my reaction to her. Is it that she is young, beautiful, and a recent graduate of UBC. (I checked her web page). Is it her definite "know-it-all attitude" that implies to my aging ears that she knows a whole lot more about effective teaching than I do. (I've been at it 29 years and I'm a graduate of the U of S Masters in Educational Communications program albeit 10 11 years ago.) In her defense, someone else has edited her talk, and perhaps presented her as being more forceful and know-it-all than she appears on the video.
I love being part of the I-SITS committee. I love the spirited debate, the thirst for knowledge, the camaraderie of educators that rejuvenates me and helps sustain me when I spend most of my weekend prepping "digital" lessons and marking. Right now, I'm trying to imagine this teacher or someone like her on this committee. Would she have anything to learn from us? Would she have the patience to teach us something or share with us her not-so-successful experiments in the classroom? I hope so. The video presentation doesn't leave me hopeful.
As I said, I've been teaching somewhere around 29 years. I'm still "prepping my face off". I feel guilty if I use the same lesson and lesson plan more than once without revising and enriching it. Somewhere in all of this, my "real life" continues to suffer? Am I stupid, inefficient or addicted to my job? I don't know. I still love to teach and prep lessons. I'd also really like a "life."
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2 comments:
I really want to say, "Get a Life Pat", but that might be rude. This made me laugh. I was also wondering how this first year teacher had everyone meeting her expectations. That certainly didn't work for me in my first year. But I also like that she is using the tools that the kids are bringing to school with them. I will be trying to take advantage of these tools in the future.
Oh boy, I understand the part about
'get a life' - especially this last weekend as read blog posts, reviewed, selected and suggested resources. I love that part of my job - but I do it at home, on a weekend morning with coffee. Should I get a life - maybe - but I do love what I do - maybe it IS life! Pat - I also enjoy watching your diigo bookmarks appear - at all times of the day, evening and weekend. What would a weekend be like without a "'morning yammies'from Pat Cone!?
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