My reflections on the week at NCCAT come in two forms: 1. overarching questions/thoughts that I left with regarding technology and teaching and 2. absolutely ridiculous laughable moments. Ultimately, both forms tie into finding balance in life. As I read over others’ blog posts, that seems to be a common theme.
The first part of my reflection- Questions sparked about technology’s place in the classroom:
- We say we need to limit technology and not overwhelm our classrooms with it, but I am reminded of a definition of technology that was shared with us during the brown bag mystery lesson, “technology is anything that makes things better.” Is this the definition most teachers use in their classrooms? How might my/our classrooms change if we used this as our definition?
- As much as we need to strike a balance of electronic devices in the classroom, electronics played a pretty big role in my natural experience on the Nantahala. During rafting, pictures were snapped left and right, and I’m really happy to have those shots to share with others who weren’t on the river with me. After rafting, our group wanted a picture with our guide, so I took it on my phone then proceeded to email it to group members and post it to Facebook to tag them. As much as I love taking away the electronics and soaking in the environment around me, I was also quick to jump back into my technology the minute I was done rafting. I guess it was hard not to jump back in when the first stop after disinfecting vests is the company photo booth. Even when we want to disconnect, we are somewhat pushed into connecting. Perhaps a good discussion to bring up with students and get their thoughts on it?
- How do I relay to my students the importance of striking the balance- of turning it all off and connecting to the world naturally versus using the tools we have to make the world more connected?
The next part- Absolutely ridiculous highlights:
- Finding out that there is mayonaise in pimento cheese. I hate mayonaise, but I love pimento cheese. Mind blown.
- Calling our rafting team Zach and the Viking Princesses and having the honor of being named captain (self-appointed).
- Another huge honor- winning the Potty Mouth award. My mom is proud of this major prize (can’t help but think that this type of prize falls in line with the “major award” from A Christmas Story).
- Being given some seedless watermelon.
- These moments of connections and camaraderie made me realize the value and importance of NCCAT. NCCAT provides a place where teachers can be, well teachers, but also a place where we can be ourselves. We’ve all been in situations where it’s hard to slip out of teacher mode and stop talking about our classrooms, but I feel like NCCAT helped us strike a balance. And anyway, when we did slip back into teacher mode and start talking about students/classrooms, there was someone else there to listen to the story, connect to it, and laugh with you about it. This type of time is invaluable.
The power to turn things off. This is a skill I am still struggling with. We are teachers through and through. The focus of our career is to care about others, so how do we turn this off and focus on ourselves? I agree that participating in programs, like NCCAT, gives educators a chance to “shut down” and “recharge.” I have also made a vow to myself to guard my time away from work (this is an ongoing battle). For students, we need to teach them how to use technology, but we also need to teach students the value of a face to face conversation. I love using the iPads in my classroom, but I also like to pull out a text book every now and again and go “old school.” I think varying my instruction teaches my students that there isn’t one way to learn. This also teaches students that they can be stimulated by a book or a conversation and do not need “streaming media” in front of them to be entertained.
Thanks for the reminder of what he said about “technology is anything that makes things better”–I had totally forgotten about that! I think most teachers do not have this as their definition; I sure did not. It is all about balance, and I agree with your concern of how we can tell students when it’s time to move to the non-technology part of the lesson without the constant battle against their refusal to “turn it off.”
So glad the week NCCAT inspired lots of great thoughts. We hope our other PD sessions do the same.
Amneris
Bonding is an awesome esperience…especially with people can somehow relate to your stories and experiences. It was a great!