I suspect that it has been traditionally believed that the last time you’d want to do staff development was May and early June, just after the school year is over (Northern Hemisphere). Teachers just aren’t ready for it. The tests are behind them, the students are behind them, and vacation is just a few weeks, days, or hours away.
But I’m finding that this is changing, at least when we’re talking about schools and learning 2.0. I found my teacher audiences yesterday in Colorado Springs, and last week in Hawaii to be extraordinarily excited, enthused, attentive, and asking a lot of spot-on questions. ..and I think that the reason why, is that we’re giving them toys. We’re giving these educators toys to play with over the come weeks as they seek to relearn how to relax, and eventually and inevitably start to think about the coming year and decades.
I know of many teachers right now who will be starting the next school year with new connections with other educators and potent information resources, streaming into their newly cultivated aggregators. A few will be blogging, but many more will be contributing to and tapping into their new social bookmarking networks, and also having thought long and hard about what all of this new flow of information means to the definition of literacy.
Being with these educators at this time reaffirms my believe that it’s actually a good time to be a teacher, that some time well within the careers of many of the educators I’ve worked with in the past two weeks, teaching is going to become the most exciting and sought-after occupation on the planet.
Twice in the last 6 years I’ve been chosen to participate in my district’s county-wide technology training (CTIP). Both times we began training two weeks before the close of school, and both times the engagement level was at an apex. The “toys” were definitely a boon, and the opportunity to collaborate with technology minded teachers also enhances the experience. The CTIP cadres spend a year together learning and sharing. The experience was well worth the time. And yes, I agree that technology training shines a bright spot on teaching in a time when school closings, budget cuts and lay offs threaten to darken our morale.
I agree that it is a great time to be a teacher. Technology is moving faster than many of can comprehend. It is staggering the tools that are always being mad available for us. There remains a central problem…money. Money for hardware (namely working computers that will no conk out after a year), peripherals (flash drives for each kid would not take up network space and slow it down) and the money for training. It is not there! Any suggestions for grant writing would be appreciated.
I agree. We have scheduled what we are calling a 10 Tech Conference for staff next week. All sessions are being facilitated by district staff and we have over 100 adults attending on their own time one week after school closes. Wow, exciting!
We have a ways to go to make it the most sought-after profession, but it is a worthy goal.
By the way, I have been asked to “keynote” and in a weak moment I agreed. I know very little, but I have excitement and I bring hope to this work. What shoud I say so that they will want to come again?
I’m a teacher and also taking a Digital Media/Web 2.0 class in early summer, it’s sweet and I hope to blog and wiki this summer and if my school “unblocks” access, use it in the fall
From where I’m standing in the new world of digital technology based self-education – where all your tools are belong to us and ‘students’ are using them every day without waiting for any teachers to “learn 2.0” – my view of the landscape suggests that the most exciting sought after occupation on the planet is going to be the freelance online tutor.
Hmmmm! I think you are right, Bob, in that freelance online tutors are going to be in enormous demand. And a suspect that there are many who would find this exciting. For me, and this is probably my age talking, I would not find it all that exciting to teach about the world from the other side of a window. I’m not doubting the power of this. But my wife and I just returned from Savannah, Georgia, where I spoke at a school boards association conference. We kept seeing this horse-drawn carrages where the drivers were turned and telling their occupants something about this house, or this square, or… That would be an amazing job to me, a tour guide in some old history-rich city or town.
But that’s me 😉
Besides the toy aspect of this, the other thing driving participation is that teachers see where this is going to be of real use in their classroom. By keeping the focus on students and how this helps them we can carry the momentum even through the summer. In my district I know many teachers attending technology workshops over the summer, including some who have just been hired-they haven’t been to their classroom but are participating in district PD! I’m also working with a graduate class full of teachers who have given up basically a month to take two classes that focus on integrating technology within the classroom.
I’m glad you enjoyed your audience in Hawaii and I too agree it is an exciting time to be a teacher (and student!) because of the changes at hand.
However, I was fairly disappointed in the conference. I attended four sessions on Monday, including the keynote speaker and your small room talk, and I didn’t really hear anything I hadn’t heard before nor discover any new networks. I understand that many of us new to the edutech bandwagon are just learning to become computer literate and the process of convincing supervisors to invest in technology is underway. Patients is key. However, one can only be shown a myriad of neat-o websites and resources (twitter, blogs, del.icio.us, skype, etc.) so many times before you tire of playing with new “toys” and you want to talk about implementation.
I would have liked to see videos of teachers showing lessons they conducted using these new technologies in different ways. If you show those on your tours, teachers will become aware of the technologies used AND see possible implementation. We need to move beyond just focusing on the toys.
Thank you for visiting our island and getting teachers excited about teaching during summer: that is not an easy task.
I am also in a Web 2.0 professional course and also see the excitement about using “toys.” For me, it has been a long time coming. This is my district’s first online course, and my first class since graduate school that I get help with the toys I try to utilize on my own.
Anyway, I subscribed to your blog because it has me excited about Learning 2.0 as well. Thanks for all the valuable information and opinion.