Well, I’m back on my phone again. I have a short list of frustrations…
1. Free wifi is hard to find
2. Twitter seems to be down
3. I can’t seem to find free wifi
4. I spent $10 on a warm beer last night
5. Still no free wifi
Oh well, Amy Tan is about to begin speaking. At least I’m still able to get online with my phone.
This is my first blog post from my phone. I’m waiting for my plane to NYC and thought this would be a good experiment. It’s slow,but could absolutely see the benefits. For me, my phone will not replace my computer, but I LOVE having the Internet in my pocket.
I just finifhed reading Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. There’s a lot in his book that holds true for me as I work with teachers. I had a conversation with a teacher recently after a class that I held. Really what I do now is help teachers with instruction, my tool just happens to be technology. Sure, I still do a lot of “click here” instruction, but I’m still trying to influence instruction and help kids learn and succeed.
It’s an interesting position to be in and a little bit of my struggle with my new role.
Anyway, if off to NCTE. Got a flight to catch.
I wrote about this project before and it’s still going strong.
This last week has been an exciting one for me. For the next year I have been given the opportunity to serve as the Secondary Representative At Large for the National Council of Teachers of English Executive Board. This is a wonderful opportunity and I can’t wait to get involved. I wasn’t planning on going to the NCTE Annual Convention this year, but with this appointment, I have the opportunity to attend once again and see some friends that I would definitely have missed had I not been able to attend. Luckily I’ll be able to attend the meetings and participate in the conversations that will take place amongst the other board members.
Since August I’ve been in the one high school in our district every day. I have a desk, a phone, a chair and a routine. Starting Monday, that will all change. The Technology Integration Specialists are being set free. We each have our own schools to support and will start moving into them to help teachers.
While this is an exciting prospect, I will once again be “making my way” in a new building. I’ll still be in the high school on a regular basis through December, but it just won’t be on a daily basis.
I’ve been struggling with my new role as a professional development person with technology as opposed to a classroom teacher. There is a distinction between the two and I’m trying to come to grips with how to change my thought process so that I’m the coach rather than the teacher. I’ve enjoyed moving from the classroom, but I’m not yet sure what my “path” will be as the year continues whizzing by.
