who’s in your five?
I have been talking about simplifying and so here I am to downsize my twitterlist, blogroll, anything else I can…. you see I just dabble in this really. Truth be told- I am just a Spanish teacher. Knowing all the coolest web 2.0 tools is trendy, but blogging for me as a ‘reflective practice’ is sounding like work. And I have enough of that. Sure-there are plenty of bloggers out there that are debating the big issues. Honestly, I have yawned at them. I like a blog post that touches me intellectually and makes me laugh at something truthful. My day has enough ‘must know, must do, must respond, must quantify’ in it that I look at my PLN to create humor in some difficult, stressful situations. I am not interested in being an aficionado of the edtech gurus. Do they really care if they have one more twitter follower? I kind of gravitate towards the people in the same position as myself-teachers well into their career trying new things, but still teaching every day. Getting up and going in to plug through the lesson plan and see what works best for the kids…….My five is essential to me. Then there are my guilty pleasures(the anonymous bloggers who really have the humor/chutzpah) They are the ones I turn to for a dose of “I hear ya barkin’, big dog” reality. May they keep the comic relief coming!
signing off until something strikes my fancy again……
~Linda
February 10th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Linda,
I hear you talkin’
I skitter around on the edge of things. My blog gets more responses when I piggyback onto “significant” edtech bloggers, but I get more pleasure from my funky little posts.
Never was good at following the leader or coloring within the lines. My school reality doesn’t match up with much of what I read about online. I mention a few cool tools and hope to inspire at least the spirit of adventure in a few souls, students or teachers.
When I retire, I’ll go on a few new adventures of my own.
Love your perspective!
diane
February 11th, 2008 at 1:56 am
I do agree with you Linda and Diane when you’re referring to school’s reality matching up with edu-tech tools in the classroom. Most teachers in Spains do not use what we call TICs (Information and Communication Tools). They don’t believe in them as efficient resources from which we should start developing our lessons and they even think they are meant to distract their students’ attention to other ‘non-important’ issues. The old-fashioned lazy teaching philosophy on the side of old dinosaurs is still on vogue on most classrooms, I mean, they care about teaching nor educating nor diversifying (as call it here). And now, what are we supposed to be spending our time for? Are we losing our time? A new teaching era is approaching quickly for those technologically ready and for those who’re not. We’d better get ready even when we don’t feel like doing so.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Well said, Linda! I love learning about new things and discussing them with all of the people in my PLN, but truly struggle with being able to write and “think big thoughts” on my blog. I have such limited time to actually USE the tools that I find myself gravitating toward blogs and twitter-friends who discuss actual teaching (and living) as well. I get swamped so often with PAID work and have to take a huge step back in my online involvement - those times make me evaluate why I’m “here” and what I’m doing. Thanks for making me think about this again today
February 13th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Diane- I look forward to geting you more involved in the DEN. You already know most of us! I always appreciate your perspective. I imagine you are very valued by the teachers in your building.
Pedro- It is really not different here in the States, sad to say. And this feels odd, since I never type you in ENGLISH.
Kate-You have incredible energy to do all you do! Stay sane and breathe deep.
Thanks to all for the comments.
February 17th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I am not sure about top five, but my new favorite tools are Twitter/Snitter, Ning, Podcasts, specifically EdTech Talk and Wesley Fryer and VoiceThread.
I do wish Discovery Network/United Streaming would implement a program for Pre-service teachers to expose them to what they have to offer. It would be FREE PR. They use it, they get a job, they want their school to have it…30 day demos are fine, but the limitations are frustrating. If the 30 day demos was just full featured. United Streaming had a special program for Colleges of Ed for a while and have eliminated it. I wish they would bring it back.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Linda:
How refreshing your post is!
Among those interested in communicative uses of technology it seems almost de rigeur to show how involved one is in this and that, what new tools one has mastered, how many followers one has, how many presentations one has given, how many new blogs/wikis/moodles/widgets/etc. etc. etc. one has created . . . .
Hmmm. Seems to me that there’s something wrong with this recipe! I mean, if you can make potato soup a bit more savory by adding a little garlic and cabbage and cheese, is it necessarily true that by adding saladitos, pickled herring, nori, mahlepi, file powder, and fish sauce, you can make turn potato soup into something even more savory?
You’re wise to realize that more is not necessarily better. You’re also courageous in having the chutzpah to say what I imagine a LOT of people are actually thinking but not daring to say.
Kudos! Your post was a breath of very fresh air indeed.
D. Oliver
February 24th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Linda, you’ve hit the nail on the head. So many people who are discussing or who are writing about using tools are not doing the full-time teaching thing. It is easy to say that teachers should be doing more of this or less of that but in reality, there are so many demands on teachers that finding out what might work in any given situation takes a great deal of time - something that most teachers don’t have. Besides, new technologies are not the only things that teachers are having to examine. With new initiatives coming from almost every direction, teachers are usually in a constant state of being overwhelmed. Their lives as teachers are directed by the “must do’s” and the “must finishes” and not the “it would be nice” ideas. Each of us needs to do a little but many do not have the time to do more than that given the demands being handed down by administration, parents, government, etc. I like your approach and your honesty. Keep strong.
February 26th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Hi Linda,
Thanks for dropping in on my blog. I see you are a second language teacher. My husband is as well. He has a wiki going in his German class. He has thought about some of the connections which you are using with Pedro. I will definitely send him over to take a look at your thoughts.