It's All About Me! (But when wasn't it?!)

Yeah, so originally I started this blog for a class. Oh, sure . . . it was going to be profound, thought-provoking and full of incredible technological shortcuts that would amaze teachers around the world and have them worshiping me. Finished the class, got an A. Done with blogging.

But then . . .

Cut to 6 months later and I discovered It's Not All Flowers and Sausages. Mimi's my new hero! I think I have met my twin . . . just read her entry about school shopping at Staples and you can see why! She appears to be a decade younger than me, though, so maybe kindred spirits is a better description. (I even created a Meez avatar . . . and despite my attempts to have it represent me and my personality, it kind of looks like Mimi's!)


Okay, so while can only dream about being as witty and humorous as Mimi, I also have to admit that I'm at a disadvantage in that my current school--while it has its moments!--is run by a pretty competent administration. Oh sure, I've experienced many administrators and co-workers who have brought me to the edge of my sanity! My students are also older, but don't let that fool you--they can be adorable even at age 18! (Then there are others . . . well, I'm sure I'll discuss that later!)

Anyway . . . if you have stumbled along to this blog, please drop a comment and let me know!

Do We Deserve a Retreat?

I came across this article about a teachers' retreat being built in South Carolina. What was most interesting was the following quote from that state's schools superintendent:

"We are getting close to having a demoralized and compromised
teaching force," Rex said. "If we want our state to thrive, we must pay closer
attention to classroom teachers."

I don't think people realize how emotionally exhausting teaching is. I was teaching a night class about computer applications and one of the participants was a gentleman in his late 20s who was in the midst of his teaching practicum in the history department at a middle-size, upper middle class high school. He said "I've done construction work from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. and still was not as tired as I am at 3:00 after teaching."

Teaching is like performing . . . for 6 hours . . . to a very demanding audience. And the critics--uh, I mean parents--are very vocal whether they're talking about your "performance" to other townspeople at the local soccer games or commenting about you through local online forums. Mind you, they haven't seen your "performance," just heard about it through their child. (Conjures up memories of the old "Telephone" game?)

If you want to know what kind of work (and money) teachers' put into their "performances," talk to someone close to a teacher: their spouse, children, roommates, significant others. They can talk about the Sunday afternoons creating curriculum while (or instead of) watching the game, correcting papers on a drive to visit Grandma, and purchasing classroom supplies while at Walmart. (My students never have a pencil, but when I ask for collateral when I loan them one, they offer up their personal car keys, top-of-the-line cell phone, and video iPods!)

Our society--and I'm not blaming anyone, just commenting on it--is one of instant gratification. God knows even the microwave doesn't cook fast enough for me! But students expect the same instant gratification in school: it should be quick and easy and if it isn't--if it requires complete sentences or showing your work or following directions completely step-by-step--they don't want to do it! (Which somehow becomes the teacher's fault.)

Okay, I'm ranting. Just some food for thought.

Saving to a Folder on the Server

When working on your computer at home, you probably just save your files to My Documents. This is a folder on your computer's hard drive. However, while working at school, you probably have to navigate to your folder located on a server. While not difficult, it is often tedious. There's a way that you can make your folder on the server the default location to save.

In Word:

1. Under the Tools menu, select Options.
2. Click on the File Locations tab. The following window will appear:
3. Select Documents (the first item on the list), then click on the Modify... button.
4. Find your folder on the server, then click OK until you are back in the Word window.

Now, when you save a file, Word will automatically go to your folder on the server.

Another quick tip: when you are saving a document for the first time (thus giving it a file name), use the F12 at the top of the keyboard! It's the same thing as File...Save As, just faster! (This works with Word, PowerPoint and Excel.)

(See, it won't be all ranting and raving in this blog!)

$125,000 to Teach?!

So, while doing research for my grad class, I came across this article about a new charter school in New York.

"The school’s creator and first principal, Zeke M. Vanderhoek, contends that
high salaries will lure the best teachers."

Does this feed into the notion that "those who can't, teach."? I'm so tired of teachers being sub-par because of our chosen profession. Which is not to say that there aren't those in the field who are less than adequate, but isn't that true in any profession? It's not that I can't do anything else, it's that I chose to teach.

Here's the other kicker: Vanderhoek is 31-years-old. Now, he has taught middle school and I don't mean to undermine him because of his age, but how much time has he spent in the classroom? Three years with Teach for America. (I firmly believe it takes a few years to develop your repertoire and experience a variety of classes, students, faculty and administration.)

One final thought on the subject (for now, anyway): "only those scoring at the 90th percentile in the verbal section of the GRE, GMAT or similar tests need apply." So, you might be a great teacher who doesn't do well on standardized tests. Screw all that differentiated learning--they don't want you!

Yearly Burnout

RANT:
Finally March is over . . . for many reasons, it is the month I dread. It's long. No extra days off (unless you get a snow day, and at this point in the season, SNOW is a four-letter word!). The kids are rambunctious-- more so than usual. And here in Massachusetts we just finished the ELA portion of the MCAS tests. Yeah, I'm glad March is done.


For some reason, this year things seem crazier. The kids seem to be less focuses, I seem to have less patience, and others on the staff seem to be experiencing the same. Is there some sort of astronomical phenomenon that is affecting us all? Is anyone else experiencing this? Please share!


Tech Tip:
Instead of typing something in ALL CAPS (WHICH IS THE EQUIVALENT OF YELLING), try Small Caps. Look at the difference:


In Microsoft Word, simply highlight the text you want in Small Caps and hold down Shift + Control + K. If you use Small Caps, let me know!

Welcome to My World!

I am currently taking a graduate course that involves using blogs, wikis, podcasts and other web tools into the classroom. The course requires that I maintain an educationally related blog, so here I am!

So, why would you want to visit my blog? Well, I'm hoping to offer tips on using technology. Some tips may be simple, like shortcuts in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. Others may be more advanced, like how to have Word automatically save to your server instead of My Documents. I'd also like to share teaching ideas--not just mine, but ideas from other teachers. Sometimes what seems like a no-brainer to one teacher is a wow idea for another!

In addition, I may use a post to elicit opinions on an educationally-related topic. Or perhaps just a rant on an incident that happened in my classroom. I'm hoping that others will be willing to offer their comments on how to handle a situation or simply to commiserate and let me know that I'm not alone!

Stay tuned . . . this ought to prove interesting!