Monday, January 18, 2010

Teacher Tech – by Mrs GeekTonic

Teacher Tech – words that strike fear in many teachers, laughter in many students, and headaches in technology employees.  It is now 2010 and our students must be prepared for the world outside of academia which is filled with ever changing technology, right?  Well, who is going to prepare them for that world?  Their teachers?  ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Forgive me while I pause to stop laughing.  In my house, I am the least knowledgeable about technology.  But at work, I am seen as an “early adopter”, a technology trainer, the go-to-gal with technology questions.  For Mr. GeekTonic that is cause for a regular belly chuckle.

Note:  This is a guest post (series) by Shelly (Mrs. GeekTonic), the non-geek in the family ;)

http://www.todaysclassroom.com/images/avcart-9014ed.jpg

This sweet little combo set runs $250 at www.todaysclassroom.com


My college teacher technology training only extended to making sure we understood that images on the overhead projector were reversed and how to adjust the transparency.  During my student teaching, the first lesson my supervising teacher gave me (the most important lesson she said) was how to "un-jam" the copier.


http://www.paw-print.co.uk/copier_repair.jpg

(This sign can ruin the day for a teacher)

At least by the time I was teaching we had copiers.  Some of my colleagues were around for typewriters and dittos (kill me now).  Yet now those same teachers are supposed to learn how to use a gradebook program in 1 hour, and post grades on the internet.  Forget teaching them how to make powerpoint presentations with embedded video and audio clips.  We had a teacher who retired a few years ago that had seven years of unopened emails.  He didn’t even know how to log in to his computer and didn’t want to know.

I am extremely fortunate to work in a district that has extremely generous patrons and fiscally responsible administrators that afford us the ability to expand our technology purchases and tech “toys” to the degree that most of the staff does not have a CLUE as to what to do with them.

BUT all districts are NOT created equal.  There are districts that would be pleased as punch to have the overhead projectors that we tossed aside when we installed LCD projectors in every classroom in the district.  Yet, when school started that fall, many complained.  We sounded like some of our students that we roll our eyes at when they complain that daddy bought them the wrong kind of car for their 16th birthday.

Teacher Tech?  I would like to slay the dragon here at GeekTonic.  I am going to show some of the latest teacher toys that I have been playing with as well as sharing some of the trials and tribulations of dealing with the technophobes that I work with as well as the technology "Nazis", I mean department and the processes that they have put in place to keep us (the users) from breaking the system thereby making the system worthless in some ways.  So stay tuned …. And if you know any teachers, technophobes or not, send them to Mrs. GeekTonic.