As I’ve mentioned before, my daughter has started her student teaching in a high school in the mountains. We’ve had a number of short conversations, mostly her describing potential lessons, which are quite creative, and me pointing out potential shortfalls and making suggestions. Very little to nothing about technology. That would require too much conversation and she doesn’t have enough time. 😉
She’s starting to stress out a bit, as her time to actually begin teaching approaches, and it isn’t (according to her) the fear of facing a class. She’s trying to figure out how to present content to her class. She has a laptop, but the school has only two or three projectors. TVs are more plentiful, but connecting her laptop to the TV will require more hardware. She is struggling as to how to present what she wants to present, the way she wants to present it — and the response that I do not dare speak to her is, “Welcome to the real world.”
Here’s the point of my sharing this. My daughter, like most (if not all) of her friends have been using computers as their principal information tool for much of their lives. Although their high school experience was relatively technology-poor, nearly all of their writing was on computer, and a significant, if not majority, of their research was networked and digital.
Virtually all of her college classmates came to school, four years ago, with a laptop slung over their shoulder or a desktop dominating their desks. Although their classes were still predominantly lecture and textbook-based, all of the classrooms had projectors, speakers, and teacher presentation stations, and most of her instructors at least used PowerPoint.
I frequently hear how these millennial teachers are not coming in ready to integrate technology. However, they are coming in with a different sense of their information environment, one that knows very little boundary. And now, she’s facing a job of teaching inside the hard walls of a classroom, the covers of a textbook, and no conduit to the world of information that is home to her and many of her students.
If I said, “Welcome to the real world.” She’d reply, “Yeah! Welcome to the old world.”
After this experience, when she is interviewing for jobs, and the principal asks, do you have any questions? What is she going to ask for in her teaching environment?
What is her prospective principal going to need to be able to say, in a state that is suffering a near devastating teacher shortage?
Image Citation:
Mueller, Donovan. “Inside.” Donut2D’s Photostream. 27 Aug 2005. 9 Jan 2008 <http://flickr.com/photos/donut2d/37719493/>.
I understand completely what your daughter is going through. I am also a homebound teacher and one of my students home environment is completely “unplugged” in terms of technology. (As well as no access to the local library.) So I am dealing with trying to present without the tools and access that I have become very accustomed to over the last few years in teaching. Part of the difficulty also is so much of the textbooks make reference to “online resources” for the supplemental materials that we can’t access.
So not only will your daughter have a classroom that has its deficits, she probably will have a population whose homes are also not very close to the 21st century as well.
The point about what questions she will ask principals in interviews is very important. In an era where there are teacher shortages, it is advantageous to come prepared with questions and find the right fit. If I go back to the classroom in the future I will check schools and administrators before interviewing. I will make sure they can meet the needs of me as a teacher, but more importantly the needs of my students.
She is in for a shock. I teach in Howard County, Maryland. Allegedly the 8th wealthiest county in the country. I still had to apply to get a projector and still have only one computer in my classroom. I’d say that the Principal should be able to direct her to sources of funding to get the things that she feels that she needs to teach. She may want to request training on writing grants…as that may be the only way to get funding.
In other words, welcome to the real world.
I have 25 student computers – but I teach technology in K – 5. When I started teaching at this school in 2001. I had one computer hooked up to a TV. I brought my laptop – so I could do what I needed and the kids could have access to a computer.
Now my campus has 4 computers in 5th, 3 computers in 4th and 3rd, 2 computers in K – 2nd. That is increasing as each year. We are not a wealthing district, and my campus is 100% Title I.
I wanted a projector, I’m dysgraphic and use the keyboard as a modification for myself. So I invested in my own projector. Other teachers saw it and how well it worked.
For a period of time we went through a spot were people thought my equipment was the schools and would demand I share. As they learned it was mine, they started bugging our librarian and our principal for the equipment.
I’m now unoffically in charge of technology at my campus. We have 2 laptop carts, a document camera, 4 digital cameras, and a qwizdom set available for check out. They are used regularly. We have a Promethean board (free donated by a vendor) sitting in its crate waiting for the cart. That is going to be used regularly, I’m sure.
My principal and AP admit to not being familiar with Techology. They make an effort to learn, and listen to all the tech savy teachers.
My point is a group of teacher, who know technology, and a good principal, who listens, can make progress each year to bettering a school.
OK, so she has to learn to teach and how to beg for money so that she can do her job. So sad, Doug, but so true.
Kimberly, I could see my daughter going out and investing in her own project. Should could teach her students from a digital information and watch really big movies at night.
Honestly, things have changed and advanced so far so fast. I have to remind myself, sometimes. But there is still too much friction that comes from ….. ignorance?
What will the principal ask during the interview? My guess would be, “What do you coach?”
Enough said….
As an almost millennial teacher this post bothers me. Not so much the lack of stuff, but the seeming focus on the stuff.
At our local university, in the Ed. dept. all the classrooms have projectors, laser pointers, wicked fast internet connections, choice by flicking a switch of projecting or showing on a wall mounted monitor what is on your computer, special lighting, sound systems. These are the rooms new teachers are trained in. THEN they get to their first school and they get a chalkboard and chalk or if they’re real lucky a whiteboard and markers.
My suggestion is to go to a novelty store and try to find 20-30 sets of cheap novelty opera classes or telescopes (you know, the kind you would give away as party favors). Then develop as rich and wonderful presentation as you want and have the kids watch using the comically cheap opera glasses. On this day, make sure to invite an administrator or someone else who has a finger on the purse strings and has the decision making ability to do something about getting a projector.
I believe the millenial teachers are the tip of the tipping point. I always knew that the schools would not change until the teachers demanded it. So far, too much of the focus has been on “training the teachers to use technology”. NOW that the teachers already come in pre-loaded with tech savviness it’s ALL left up to the administrators to act.
Truly tech savvy teachers will grasp hold of the technology and become millionairres as private online tutors. Consider technology that allows you to pick and choose the students you teach from the massive pool of the global connected population.
Choose the topic you LOVE to teach and hang out your virtual shingle. Even the moderatly wealthy are willing to sport over $100/hr for tutoring. Consider what they would pay for an expert dedicated to teaching a particular subject at a certain grade level. Its already happening around the world. And when it becomes killer-easy and totally web-based with ecommerce connections, RSS, tracking, etc. you will see the best teachers leaving schools in droves.
There is no reason for bricks and mortar schools. And don’t give me the socialization !@#$%& story. I’m not advocating sitting in front of a computer for 6 hours a day instead of being in a classroom. I’m advocating for a more flexible teaching environment that allows MORE time for kids to do social (real world and digital) activities that allow them to engage with other kids: Team Sports, Playing in a band, doing philanthropic actvities, and all the rest.
The revolution begins when the teachers demand it and vote with their feet. The industrialized, corporate nature of schools is doomed when as soon as the millennial teachers opt-out and create their own destiny.
Sorry for the rant folks 😉
It comes down to computer minutes per student (which feels ridiculously low). Fortunately, there are so many good web-based resources that we don’t need to bend over backwards to incorporate good software into our classes anymore. We just need good URLs.
An alternative strategy would be to teach without presenting information.
Is teaching still about content delivery?
I routinely teach in environments with no projector and in some cases, no board (interactive or not). Seizing the teachable moment close to the student is much more effective (and fun for the teacher too).
I teach in a Norwegian Upper Secondary school (students age 16-19). All my students have laptops (they have to buy or lease their own. Earlier years they had to buy their own books and learning material – now we provide them with the material – but they have to provide laptops as told). Projectors in the rooms I use. I guess I use textbooks 15% of the time. All the students in my classes have been blogging this fall.
This is our first fullscale laptop project – all 30 schools in our region do the same.
I would be VERY FRUSTRATED not having access to these tools.
After posting this article, I ran errands and went to the history museum with Brenda, so I was a bit surprised to see so many comments so fast here — and in a way, not so surprised.
I appreciate the support. Just a couple of comments back:
Brent, I am fully aware of the opportunities that are available and able to be invented today for alternative teaching. It intrigues me that standing in front of the class is no longer the only way for a teacher to do his or her job. This is a HUGE advance over my years as a classroom teachers and hugely exciting. I think you are right. A revolution could be in the making.
Gary, I agree with you 100%. This is her first lesson, and she’s experiencing a disconnect between what she wants her students to learn and the avenues she has to express it. I already have my next conversation with her mapped out, and it’s much more along the lines of what you are suggesting.
Leif, I have to say that I am and I am not surprised. Your country has a reputation of being incredibly connected. That said, what motivates your society to demand this sort of connectivity in learning?
Aren’t we learning that the industry can produce low-cost hardware (laptops) if they want to? We could have low-cost projectors, too, if we demanded them.
I know of a foundation that supports young teachers. They would probably love talk to your daughter regarding a projector. They have worked with both public and private schools in the past in addition to other non-profit organizations. E-mail me to get the process started.
As a new millennial teacher, I’ve seen many of my peers suffer through the same sort of misguided reliance on technology.
I’m student teaching at a Title I school, and one of my two master teachers has a projector. She used her own money.
Most of the time, though, it sits around. I find that it’s simply easier to engage students with active discussion of the class material.
Students respond to constant PowerPoints just as well as they respond to constant book-reading. That is, not very well at all.
Throw in that nearly every student-teacher-created PowerPoint I’ve seen just plain sucks, and we millennial teachers are set up for failure. Naturally, by ourselves.
It doesn’t help that all but one class in our local credential program requires one if not two PowerPoints from every student teacher.
And our master teachers wonder why we expect to use PowerPoint all the time.
http://awaitingtenure.wordpress.com
Several of my students walked into class today, frustrated that they had done absolutely nothing in their previous class (and luckily anxious to do so math 😀
Anyway, the teacher’s projector had gone out, and he “couldn’t teach” without it, so he told them they could “have a free day” What a waste!!
These students come to school expecting to learn. They were ticked.
A data projector would make a nice graduation present from her father… 🙂
When the curriculum was changed/rewritten all subjects got digital competancy as a vital part. Well, all upper secondary students don’t have laptops in Norway. This is decided by the regions (Norway is divided into 20 regions) – and some primary schools around the country are not that connected. But the new curriculum and partly the new exams demands much equipment and connectivity.
A letter to your daughter
I am a teacher in a little high school in new zealand and I love reading your dad’s blog.
You are brave. In your first placment you are in a tremendous position to influence the old world just by modelling enthusiasm for digital technologies and committing to use what little you have in her classroom and what you can bring in to improve the situation. By bringing your ideal classroom into you life you will eventually attract your ideal placement in your ideal school to your life. When you have found this school you will not be alone. You will be surrounded by others who are as passionate as you about using digital technologies in the classroom and they will be lifelong learners like yourself.
Try your hardest not to be-moan schools for not having the technology. The whole world is undergoing change some schools are changing slower than others. Instead of seeing problems, frustrations and scarcity. Be a part of the solution and a catalyst for change for each school you teach in that may be slow in introducing digital technologies. I assure you there will be more than one.
In each school model a passion for learning using digital technologies in a way the makes it look easy for others to take on. Your attitude will help to bring change. Also there will be those among your students (I prefer learners) that have not had any experience with computers and others will not have used the internet. This may surprise you but it is true because some families just don’t have the money. Your utilisation of digital technology, however big or small in a school that is lacking in digital opportunties will influence that learner and you will have made a difference in his or her life. to help teachers update computer systems and schools and to bring learning equity through digital opportunties to the poor are two of our most satisfying roles we have as learning leaders (Senge 2000), look forward to it.
I wish you all the best for your new career.
Enjoy making a difference.
Paapere, thanks so much for your letter. I will forward it on to my daughter, just in case she doesn’t have time to read here everyday.
I like the idea of a graduation gift, though she’s pumping us for a trip to Europe. Yeah, right!
As for the comments about powerpoint and projectors, I have to say that she does not want to use a projector. She does not want to use powerpoint. She wants to use images and video. She wants her teaching to extend beyond just words. She wants to connect.
Projectors and powerpoint do not teach. They are not responsible. They should not be blamed.
Teachers teach. They are responsible.
Your point, LaJones, is an important one. But if a teacher has to cancel an entire learning period because the projector doesn’t work. Well, that’s not the projector’s fault.
It sounds like your daughter is starting like many of us did. However, there is hope.
Every fifth and sixth grade language arts student where I teach has a desktop computer. Each LA classroom in our elementary on the edge of Appalachia has a projector with a doc camera. The teachers have laptops. Ten years ago we didn’t have any of this. The key–keep asking and asking. Then, when you get equipment, put it to good use.
As a person who teaches a tech course for pre-service teachers (the only tech course they take) it used to amaze me how little these millenial teachers know about technology use in classrooms. The more I thought about it the cause was rather obvious. The modeling they received as students was generally not great in terms of technology use. Many of these new teachers need to be pushed to the idea of using technology in their classrooms. They have witnessed good and bad teaching in their educational careers. Most of the good teaching did not include technology at all. This makes them feel they do not need to include technology in their own classroom.
It would be my hope that a course like mine would not be necessary. They should get the instruction they receive in my class in their other classes. After all they do not take a course on the use of a xerox machine, chalkboard, and the like. I think as more teachers use digital information well in their classrooms more of these new teachers will start using technology in their classrooms. These millenials use technology in their day-to-day life. They are incredibly comfortable with technology. They just don’t see it as an educational tool.
As far as questions your daughter should ask her prospective principal…
How will you support me to become a dynamic teacher that better understands classroom management(I’ve never seen a new teacher that doesn’t need help with this) and how to reach all of my learners using the resources(equipment and people) your school provides?
Beginning teachers need support more than anything else as they begin their careers. Proper support will help your daughter make teaching a career (not a one or two year torturous act).
David, I read this post with great interest because I sort of blogged about this before:
http://tinyurl.com/362dvq
NCTAF is finding that one of the primary reasons for the significant uptick in teacher leavers is exactly what you describe: tech-suffused teachers who get frustrated with non-tech schools.
Wishing your daughter all the best (and infinite patience with her working environment).
Just wanted to mention that I just bought “Classroom Blogging” and am reading it now. You can check out my blog at http://googtweetblog.edublogs.org to see how I’m struggling through the untech world of teaching technology.
Kate, that’s an impressive ClustrMap for a week old blog!
— dave —
I remember parts of my student teaching experience like it was yesterday (even though it was really 17 years ago-yikes, I’m old I guess:)) I had a great mentor teacher, and although she was very traditional, she was open to any type of lesson I wanted to teach. I had no technology…but I really don’t think it’s about that…it’s about inquiry, and constructivism. I taught lessons about landscape and maps dressed up in my backpacking gear, and using my topo maps of Longs Peak. I have alot of technology now, and I do admit that I would hate to do without it now, but I know teachers who have alot of technology, and may as well just be using the textbooks…it’s not about the stuff-you can empower kids without the smartboard;) Not that I would give back the projector if Dad buys one;)
Tom,
You are completely correct.
Around 1989-90, Kodak produced a video projector that ran on a filmstrip bulb and then quickly disappeared from the marketplace. It worked fine.
The best selling computer in history was the Commodore 64. In 1983 it cost $299. The Timex Sinclair was