Isn't It Crazy

Isn't it crazy that after having to go online for the first scare of the Covid Pandemic some of us are still teaching in classrooms with little technology? Many years ago, in North Carolina, I did long term substituting in a nice little "Leave It To Beaver " kind of neighborhood. I was working at good schools where many people had grown up together and now their kids are growing up together. There were computers, tablets, a computer lab, a computer section in the library for research as well as a library in general. Each classroom had a Smart Board bought by the school district or the PTO. Now this was over 10 years ago so maybe things have changed, but I imagine for the better. As a long term substitute, I was shown how to add the Smart Board information to my computer so I could create lessons from home, to use at school. I took a class so I could stay up with technology. I taught online in Europe, before the Pandemic was a thing. So, I am a little sad, after the things I learned during our online stretch of teaching, that now I am back to having to check out computers when they are available and relying on research to be completed at home. I do have my own classroom computer and we have an overhead projector that I had to buy a chrome cast for in order to be able to project wirelessly, onto my whiteboard. The scholars can't use my computer, for privacy reasons, so if we look at a screen it is usually as a whole class. I love being back face to face with my fantastic scholars, but I miss some of the things I was learning by being online and in those classrooms so long ago.

Now I knew when I was hired over two years ago, that I was working at a classical school. I thought I new what that meant. I was told that the school is data driven and that we taught at an advanced level. I was so excited to be at the school. I didn't realize that classical meant no school library. No computers in the classroom or even a computer lab. We are expected to have a classroom library. Thankfully with the help of home, scholastic and thrift stores, I have one of the biggest classroom libraries in our school. What I still don't have is very good access to technology. When we shut down in 2020, our school did not have computers to give to even every family. Those who could went out and bought computers, but it was real hard for families to share their electronics, to use phones, tablets, etc. Google classroom and Schoology don't work the same on tablets and phones. I still love my school and my fourth graders, but I can't help but wonder if we are doing a disservice teaching without the in class technology that so many schools have. We are truely focused on academics and in many cases, our students are above the bar academically, they read the classics in school, memorize recitations, write in cursive, study artists, composers and we are history based, which is one of my favorite attributes of the school. I could go on with all the wonderful things my school has to offer. At the moment though, I struggle to retain the things I learned over the past few years on the computer, while teaching my students. If I am trying to remember with all the busy things I have to do, I know they are too.

To keep myself going, I have my studies for my ASU Master's class. I have also revisted some of those old computer haunts from our online teaching time. I also read articles and look for things that I can share with parents. If I am lucky enough to get the "cow", (That is the name of the roller contraption that houses the computers and plugs in to charge them), I want to be able to teach my students to know how to navigate the online resources so they can meet the objectives we set out for them to learn. 

One of the latest sites I came across was on Edutopia. The article is called, "7 Clever, Teacher-Tested Tech Hacks" by Paige Tutt, 2022. I know it is just a little bit of fun, but I love when I can learn to work smarter and not harder, as the saying goes. All the little hacks are very useful. I have been playing around with them and I wish I could have known the hacks sooner. There was only one that I already knew. I have also begun using some of them to help my students who can't see as well, want to read the words as they listen to slides and I can sue a few of the hacks to help me create notes for those who are not able to take notes for themselves. The last hack is a lifesaver! I use YouTube at least a few times a week and learning how to cutout the adds is great! The Edutopia blog is one of my favorite go-to's and I hope you can take a look at it. Isn't it crazy that after a year of on again off again online learning, I am having to find ways to keep to find ways to get my scholars online in educational learning environments so that they can keep their skills  and not forget what they did. It is crazy to think how amazing it was when we went online and we were all learning together how to make it work. Even parents were there to help us when we were having technical difficulties and they were partnering with us like never before. It was a crazy time. Isn't it crazy that we came back to school and no longer have emphasis on technology.

 https://www.edutopia.org/article/7-clever-teacher-tested-tech-hacks