The publishing assignment, at first, really scared me because it sort of blindsided me. After some time, I began to realize that publishing or presenting work is the next step in progression. While I would love to present my AR findings, I know that I don’t have the time to earmark practice, let alone if I could fit the actual presentation in my schedule. With that being said – I will be presenting to my learning community within my school over the summer. I have causally talked about it with many of the teachers, but will formally sell them on the idea of utilizing social networks and learning management systems for next year. If that goes well, I hope to have the opportunity to present to the district, so that it can be spread throughout different schools.
So, that leaves me with doing a write up. I am confident in what I’ve done, but am nervous creating a real academic review of it. My degree is in creative writing and I tend to write informally. I have no idea where I want to send my work yet, although I have been on edutopia’s site a lot and wouldn’t mind submitting there. I will try to use as much of the information I have already written, so as to avoid doing everything all over again.
I said in an earlier post that I don’t feel I’ve earned the teacher credits to be able to go tell other teachers what they should be doing. I’ve only been teaching for four years, although I taught training courses in my previous job. My fear is that teachers would look at me as the young technology kid that wants to destroy their way of teaching. While I know that’s me just being silly, I am grateful for this masters program and all it taught me. I can speak with experience now and feel I have some authority in discussing technology in education. I hope to able to make waves at my school and in my district now.
@Tom
ReplyDeleteDon't be afraid to present to what you may think are more experienced teachers because you are a "young" teacher in experience. What you have to offer is exciting and relevant to helping them to improve their teaching methods, which is what all teachers should welcome. Following your suggestions will make their work easier and more interesting to their students.
I, too, have been a corporate presenter and I also present once in awhile to my colleagues. And, to be truthful, you will always have one or two teachers set in their ways and do not welcome change. But, it is they who have to get over it.
We must all do everything in our power to change the direction our school districts need to go in order to keep up with the changes taking place everyday. If not, we will lose our students.
It is up to us to pioneer these districts. If not, some other country may come along and take over.
You will do just fine. I've seen your work and you just have confidence in yourself, you are great!
I am so glad that I happened to find this post or yours, considering the publishing and presentation of my AR was frightening to me and I had concerns in some of the same areas you have expressed here. I had established, from the beginning, that the best venue and the overall purpose of my AR was to present to my coworkers but I was worried that I too would seem like the “young technology kid that wants to destroy their way of teaching.” Even going through my cycle research, I got some flack from those in my department about the types of technology that I was proposing to integrate into our classroom instruction.
ReplyDeleteIn a way, reading that there are other people who have the same concerns and trepidations about this presentation process has helped me to feel a little better. I think that I can accept these concerns but continue to move forward feeling encouraged that others are doing the same. I wish you the best of luck on this process and I hope that your courage to go through it is beneficial to you, your coworkers, and your students for years to come.
@Tom.
ReplyDeleteDo not let age or lack of tenure on the job discourage you from sharing what you know. I don't know if you remember a video we saw in Rena's class a while back, by Michael Wesch. In the video Wesch starts by sharing with the audience that he has 4 years of teaching experience. Still his theories and findings are known in educational circles worldwide and what he has brought to education is highly respected. I’m sure the teachers you will be presenting to will see the logic in what you are bringing to them. Change is never easy and though it may not happen overnight, they will ultimately be grateful that you have given them a means to better communicate with their students.
Here’s the video if you want some inspiration: http://umanitoba.ca/ist/production/streaming/podcast_wesch.html