Our school has been on this big technology kick. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that we are being accredited this year. It looks pretty dang fancy when everyone has a mounted projector, power point presentations, document cameras, clickers and Smart boards. I have a projector (which I LOVE), but beyond that, not a whole lot. The other day, one of the administrators passed me in the hall and said, "Hey, I put your name on the list to get a document camera. I know you can use it!" Thanks, I think. Much as I respect him, that particular administrator has never seen me teach, and has no idea if I would actually use it or not. It's nice of them to give me a document camera, and I'm sure I can find a way to use it, but I would much rather have the chairs I've been asking for over the last 6 months than a document camera. More about chairs in a minute.Some of the new stuff that is out there technology-wise is pretty cool, but some of it (at least how it is used) seems like it's kind of pointless. Last week, my research class that I'm taking at WSU met in the library so the librarian could show us how their system works. It was time well spent, and I learned a lot from it. The beginning of class though, was just kind of odd. We all sat down at little computers stations (straight from the 21st century, I'm sure) which were sunk in the desks with glass tops. If you kind of squinted and pressed your nose to the glass, it made it so the glare wasn't too bad and you could see the screen. The librarian had us use a "response system" to get our input on questions she was asking us--general things like, "Have you ever used a library catalog system before?" The question would pop up on the screen, and we would click "yes" or "no". I've seen a demonstration of a similar system where each member of the class has a little remote control that they use to beam in their answer. I can see how in some cases that could be used in a really gainful way. In this case, it just seemed kind of silly. Why didn't she just ask us, and have us raise our hands? Would a little human interaction kill anyone? At the end, we were able to type in specific questions we had. A few people typed them in, we waited for a few minutes for the program to pop up a screen with what they asked, then waited for the librarian to adjust the scroll-bar on the screen so we could actually read what they wrote. Why not just save some effort and say, "Who has a question?" If your goal is anonymity, pass out slips of paper for people to write their questions on.
About chairs: I've been wanting chairs. Since last year. The german teacher next door has all chairs, and no desks. He uses folding tables if the occasion arises that the students need to have a hard surface to work on. I've been jealous of his room all last year, and so at the end of the year, I requested chairs instead of desks. I used the "my classes are so big next year, that I need chairs to fit all 40 munchkins comfortably in my room" argument. One of the Big 4 said, "Sure, you can have chairs." I think he was saying whatever it took to make me stop freaking out about the huge number of students on my rolls. A different member of the Big 4 (the one who is actually in charge of building needs), said "What!? Forty chairs? We have no money for that." Alas. No chairs for me. Until I found out the district was having a warehouse sale. Along with a bunch of other stuff, they were getting rid of student chairs. As soon as I saw that, I hustled to the office. After a few rounds of: "You want to get chairs? I don't know, why don't you ask _____?", a few phone calls, and a mad dash to the warehouse on my part, I was able to score 40 olive green chairs for my room. I am so excited!
4 comments:
I think even more than administrators, politicians who have any say over education policy tend to see technology in schools as an end rather than a means. There's this notion that if our kids haven't figured out PowerPoint by the time they finish high school, America's position in the world will be compromised. What we really need is kids who know how to think by the time they finish high school, and then they can figure out all the software applications they need. As the father of a three year old who has taught himself to be quite adept at using a mouse pretty quickly, I don't think he'll have a hard time figuring out word processing.
(Alan writing)
Amen to what Quentin said.
Plus Amy's story about the chairs would be funny if it weren't so sad. I mean seriously. We can't spring for chairs for our kids? Come on.
I was talking to a coworker the other day about education funding and how I am continually appalled that people scream about paying even a very minimal amount to pay for the education of their children. His comment "The portion of my property taxes that goes to support public education is ridiculously small. We should just double it. It's not that much money. Then maybe Utah wouldn't be number 50 out of 50 states in per pupil education expenditures." Amen brother. Maybe then our kids can get some chairs to sit on at least.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks all this technology stuff gets a bit overrated. I think it certainly has its place...but I have to ask if it was really necessary to spend tax dollars on a smart board and projector for the kindergarten classroom? Seriously. I'm sure it's pretty dang cool, and the teacher has found lots of fun ways to use it...but somehow the rest of us learned our ABCs ok without all of the bells and whistles. Let's start with getting chairs in the classrooms, people!
What the heck is a document camera? And why do you need it more than you need chairs? I love it when administrators miss the big picture...kinda like installing state of the art toilets but not having the budget for toilet paper...
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