I began teaching during the chalkboard days. When I switched school districts after 9 years of teaching, there was a dry-erase board bolted on top of a blackboard. I almost put in a written request to have the dry-erase board removed.
Almost.
Now, dry-erase boards are old-school. Smartboards are the thing. And even though they occasionally act up in ways that chalkboards never did, I enjoy working with the new technology.
Last week I got 5 new chromebooks. I already had 3 desktops. Sometime in early January, I will be getting 16 new chromebooks. (I have 27 students so it's still not 1:1 as far as technology is concerned.)
And so the paradigm shifts yet again. I'll be doing more things without paper (which is a good thing) but also with my own low-tech skills (which is a hilarious thing).
Do you consider yourself an old dog or a new one? What sort of things are you trying or planning on trying soon? Bumbling minds want to know...
I am definitely an old dog. I still like the intimacy of pen and paper. My arthritis doesn't, though!
ReplyDeleteKathy--You are so right. There is definitely an intimacy with pen and paper that doesn't exist with typed words on paper--at least in personal letters...
DeleteI am certainly old dog and it started long ago.They were going to smart board when I left. No one of certain age liked them. The failed. You had to spend teaching time making them work. Kids were easy to run amok while techs and teach tried to make the things work. I think we had poor IT person so that ratched issues up. I tried to stay up with things as much as possible...but you know...a lot of improvements now are not so much improved as just new, different and playfully interesting to people.
ReplyDeleteClaudia--You hit the nail on the head--or at least one of the many nails. Sometimes things are just fancy versions of the old things.
DeleteOld Dog. I can learn new tricks, but only when there is no other alternative.
ReplyDeleteJoeh--Can I speak for all of the "female dogs"? We're grateful when you guys DO manage to learn a new trick.
DeleteI'm an old-schooler learning to be open minded about technology. My boss is on a mission to go paperless. I'm really nervous about giving up the comfort of paper in my hand. But I'm trying...and trying.
ReplyDeletePat
Critter Alley
Pat--I keep trying and trying, too. However, this often happens: I'll call our tech person with a problem and they'll say, "I've never seen that kind of problem before." Should I feel proud I'm taking them where no teacher has taken them before? Probably not...
DeleteGetting ready to try the Skype thing with son in New Zealand (for Christmas)...I expect hilarity will ensue. (I also expect the kids will be laughing AT me, not WITH me.) :-)
ReplyDeleteCathy--Just don't keep looking at the thumbnail photo/view of yourself as you're talking, or you'll look… not very bright.
Delete(If I can Skype, anyone can.)
They gave me one of those dry erase boards, and I hated it! Administration was clearly unaware how easy it is to pick up a sharpie instead of a dry erase marker!
ReplyDeleteMama Zen--I quickly learned what took off permanent marker marks.
DeleteOld dog here. Not planning on learning any new tricks in the next year and half before I retire. It's bad enough they took away our Firefox on October 1st. Now all my websites run slower. I blame Google Chrome. This summer we're switching our email from what we've had for ten years to GMail. No problem for me, I hope, since I already use it.
ReplyDeleteSmartboards are products from not-heaven. I used to have one on wheels that got parked in my room, supposedly to be used by all classrooms at my end of the hall. Except it wasn't, because IT DIDN'T WORK. I prefer my projector that's mounted on the ceiling. I use it all day, every day. Already wore out a bulb. The hardest part is remaining ever vigilant so I don't flash the gradebook program for all to see.
Val--Yeah, flashers are not welcome in school...Unless you want to retire even earlier than planned...
ReplyDeleteI remember...mimeograph machines. Those I haven't missed for a second. I recently subbed for a teacher (young of course) who claimed to be allergic to chalk. Really? Or did she just think the dust was icky? This old dog wouldn't mind new tricks so much if the instruction manuals didn't have such infinitesimal print!
ReplyDeleteTammy--Those copies had a particular smell right after they came off the mimeograph machine. Hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I sometimes think about investing in a high-powered magnifying glass for those instruction manuals--along with the pages you get with each prescription and a myriad of other things. (The phone book is even a challenge sometimes.)
Oh Sioux, I guess I would have to say I'm an old dog always trying to learn new tricks! And speaking of dogs, it was so great meeting yours the other night -- and seeing you and meeting Cindy. Hope you guys raised lots of money. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
ReplyDeleteAnd it was great seeing you and meeting your husband. It's about the donations, for sure, but it's mostly about the wonderful conversations we have with the bookstore customers. Merry Christmas to YOU!
DeleteHaha - That mimeograph ink! Back in my schooldays I thought my teacher was a closet wino because he had that smell on him everyday after lunch!
ReplyDeleteMarcia--It WAS a distinctive odor. Back in our schooldays, your teacher might well have been a wino. Things were faster and looser then (in some ways).
Delete