I realize that I could be much quicker with my extra clicking, but as a head coach I also recognize the importance of the accuracy of those reports. Furthermore, in another midterm time length, I will better equipped to click quicker, just by knowing the students better than I do during the first few weeks, first few AE reports. Still, EGADS! The extra 20 to 30 minutes (no I'm not kidding , nor exaggerating) could be my lunch or a set of papers graded, or some cooperative learning stations created.
Technology enables us to do so much more, but, then, well, we do so much more. It comes back to balance, again, and priorities. I suspect that the AE list is a low priority for some teachers, and I suspect that some teachers have far fewer (and some with more) students on whom to report. I do understand that some enhancements to the technology will speed along some of the extra work for us, which is absolutely brilliant. THAT is what I love about technology: enhancement, improvement, time saver.
It's just that sometimes, it takes some extra time to get the technology to save some time, whether it's learning it or filling in the electronic potholes. And, sometimes, technology makes it very easy to require more from people, without allotting extra time. More often, I and others, do
extra as extra technology enhances.Sometimes I question if all the extra work is worth it; for example, I have a couple class blogs in which I update what we do in class, with insights and assignments. Do parents/students/supports for students utilzie them? In a couple disheartening email exchanges with parents of absent and/or needy students in which I provide the blog link as a resource for their long-term requests, those same parents responded with requests for the blogged information via email. For me, it was redundancy and extra time lost on those email communications. So, the technology I have employed to save communication time, was not accessed. "They" ask for it, but don't utilize it. I sort of felt like Santa, making the requested toy (and even a duplicate), wrapping it, flying it out
(when it's not even Christmas Eve), delivering it down the chimney (despite the roasting flames) and into the home, and then receiving an updated request for another to be FedEx-ed for front door delivery instead (even though the requested toy is sitting in the living room, right next to the 52" LCD screen TV). And then when they get that delivery, they have already bought a replacement or changed their mind and no longer want the toy, uh, toyS. So a pile of new toys grows, unused, unopened, and they are good, quality, and educational toys (without lead paint or plastic poisons). 
A little extra.
1 comment:
Hi,Nicole.
Is all the extra work worth it?
What separates you, as a technology leader at our school, from others is that you look at situations and ask, "What if?" rather than state, "Yes, but." What if questions keeps you moving forward but also makes you keenly aware of the roadblocks to feeling successful using new technologies to enhance the education of your students…and their parents. Parents like email and find it easy to monopolize you on your time. Blogs are new, one more place to go, one more place to keep track of, one more place to spend time digesting the content found in them.
You’ve already got links on your web site to your blog and have told parents and your students this is the place to go for a quick review especially if they are absent from class. Your blogs are amazing and convey much more than a web site ever will about who you are.
So, what if you give students a homework assignment to have their parents respond to a blog post you present to them? This would help increase traffic and actually make more parents return if they feel this could be a sort of one stop shop for daily classroom information.
"Please have a discussion with your student on today's class activities as described below and respond here with your own comments." Or….
"Please comment on the usefulness of the information in this blog and provide me with ideas that will help it become more useful to you."
You may have to make your blog open to anonymous comments for a while in order to let parents respond freely but this may be just the hook that is needed to let them see that your blog is the place to go for the information they are looking for on a day to day basis.
What if your web site displayed a paragraph reminding parents why you are blogging?
What if you put the Parent and Student Access links on your blog, too? Now that raises some interesting questions. Could a connection be made between the grades parents see displayed in parent access and the class information contained in your blog? Further, could this elicit discussion between parent and child and reduce the unnecessary email you receive?
Ideally, the new technologies you use will indeed, help to enhance, improve and save time. The reality is, though, at some point, you may decide the answer to your question is, No, it’s not worth it. Hopefully, this will only occur after all the "What Ifs" have been exhausted. Having said that, I am well aware that time constraints on our teachers today are enough to exhaust us to the point where the extras we do actually begin to interfere with what we do best – teaching out students.
Post a Comment