I am not sure that anyone has administratively asked for clear self-improvement goals from me since I left New Jersey. That's probably a problem, since I have been teaching in PA for the last 8 years. I had become rusty at thinking about my profession in such terms. That lead to me feeling a little "stuck." I went to the meeting with something, which is always better than nothing, but it had no "punch."
To his credit, Mr. Terch recognized that and pushed me. He asked me "What have you learned that is new to you in the past 12 months?" I guess that was a fair question, but it was a little unsettling. I did not want to say "nothing" because that would not have been true. I learned about formative assessment and learned that my natural desire to include novelty into my pedagogy was not just having fun with my students, but that it was also helpful to their learning.
But when he pressed me on technology, I had nothing. Technology requires a budgeting priority in my life that does not exist. With a remodel underway in my large bathroom, new car payments, and a 3 year salary freeze, buying gizmos that I don't need or have any real interest in, was definitely not on my radar. Bandwagon propaganda has never appealed to me.
I grew up in an engineering family: dad is a retired electrical engineer, my sister is an electrical engineer, and while I was growing up, both of my brothers-in-law were electrical engineers. I gained the understanding that new technology is expensive and often has bugs in it, and that if you wait long enough for the electronic competitors to come out with similar products, the price will come down. For that reason, I did not acquire my first cell phone until 2004, I bought my first CD player in 1991, my first DVD player in 2006, and I received my first iPod this year for my46th birthday.
The funny thing about technology. It's like options on a new car. If you don't buy it on your car, you don't know what you're missing, but once you experience the benefits, you don't know how you lived without it. When I was in college, I spent one summer with my 86 year old maternal grandmother, while clerking with a law firm in Columbus, OH. In return for allowing me to stay with her rent-free, I purchased groceries and was her personal chauffer anywhere she wanted to go. As a "thank-you" gift, I purchased a microwave oven for her. She called it the "miracle wave" because she did not know how she managed to raise 7 children without one.
At the end of the year, I will be able to tell my principal that not only did I learn to create, broadcast, and share multi-media prezis, I also learned to download apps, rip music and video onto my iPod Touch, sync my automobile to my iPod, and use it as a coaching tool. Who says old dogs cannot learn new tricks?
Woof!
PS- Teaching propaganda? Check out this prezi! (Yup, I'm proud of myself.)
http://prezi.com/npw0y9_a-gce/propaganda-notes/?kw=view-npw0y9_a-gce&rc=ref-20374267
