Choices

I had a very interesting conversation with our tech support person this week about choices. She has a speech that she's going to email me about this and I'm looking forward to seeing it. Apparently it's all about how the more choices we are given, the more difficult it is for us to make choices. We are paralyzed by the fear that we might make the wrong choice or that a better choice is out there, just waiting for us to find it (often using technology). I can see lots of connections to this idea, both in my personal and professional life.

I also made a connection between this and a conversation I had this week with one of our regular substitutes. She is a retired teacher. She commented on how it seems that with all of the new technology applications that are being thrust upon us as educators to make our life easier, nothing is being taken away. She says that she thinks our job is harder now than it ever has been. This is a sentiment that I have heard from other retired teachers as well. I definitely agree that if we are going to have all of these programs etc. put in place to make our lives "easier," then we need to find ways to eliminate or integrate some of the other tasks that we are holding onto. Otherwise, this profession will be impossible to manage very soon. I don't think that we are given/have the time to deeply consider how to determine which of the multitude of CHOICES that we have to use with students and for management are the best suited to our line of work. I also don't think (sorry) that this kind of thinking is necessarily being done the way it needs to higher up on the food chain where these decisions are mostly being made. What results for many teachers is a frustration at trying to find ways to manage the CHOICES that are made for us regarding technology. This frustration and a lack of time results in too many teachers not being able to really consider (or find) which tools (like podcasting, wikis etc.) might be the right CHOICE for our students. When I saw all the cool things that could be done on voicethread (which I had never even heard of) this situation was only highlighted for me.

I guess this post also reflects my feeling lately that I've been on a treadmill that I can't turn off! With all of the requirements placed on us (God bless you guys who have MSA too), I feel like I'm missing out on golden opportunities for my students because I don't have the chance to consider the CHOICES that are out there.