MARIST COLLEGE MINDSET LIST FOR ENTERING COLLEGE CLASS OF 2023
https://www.marist.edu/w/marist-news-the-first-marist-mindset-list-is-released
I had a job interview for a middle school librarian position yesterday in the hill country. The principal said the prior library media specialist retired after 25 years. He wants to innovate. I sent him this.
https://www.k12blueprint.com/sites/default/files/informal_learning_space_library_0.pdf
Pedagogy before Technology
After reviewing the resources above, I was reminded that our students view technology very differently than I do. I didn't have a cell phone until I went away to college. It was a bag phone that plugged into the cigarette lighter in my car. An antenna attached to the roof with a magnet. No one knew where I was unless I wanted them to. No one took my picture or videod me without my knowledge or consent. No one posted mean things about me on the internet. No one cyberstalked me. I was unaware of how good I had it. My older daughter (pre-pandemic high school class of 2019) got a smart phone in high school, which was late. I shielded her as long as I could. She can't live without it now. After getting both a bachelor's and a master's degree in an integrated program, she now works remotely from anywhere her little heart desires. I could never even have envisioned this life for her.
Fast forward 6 years. I took Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) for Long COVID complicated by bereavement stress this past spring. I then worked remotely for no pay every day for the entire 12 weeks (and still got fired anyway, but that's another blog post entirely). I posted weekly videos to our website. I graded assignments digitally for my dual credit classes. I placed book orders online. I submitted travel requests via an online system. I sent and received countless emails. The list goes on and on. Essentially I taught from home. This would not have been possible in the pre-quarantine world at all.
Technology is only a tool for learning. My students missed seeing me and talking to me in person, although we had phone calls. It's not the same as a big hug and a warm smile. We need human connection. We must build relationships with our students and colleagues. We have to show our students we care about them in order for them to trust us enough to let their guard down with us so they can learn. We crave personal interaction.
Had I not been a certified school librarian in my last semester of my MLS program, I would have been woefully unprepared for this hiccup. I didn't appreciate how much I had learned and developed until I so easily applied these skills. I had a bad case of imposter syndrome. It didn't begin to dissipate until I started writing this blog post. Look Mom, I'm blogging! She doesn't know what that means, but she would be proud of me if she did. My daughter does. She is.
I only have three years left until I am eligible to retire. This doesn't mean I will. I can though. That doesn't sound like very long. The time will fly by. Still the landscape of technology will change immeasurably in that brief period. I will keep up so I don't get left in the dust. Now I know I can. I had serious doubts prior to today. I'm typing this in line at the airport. I had a Zoom interview in a different airport last Wednesday. I can't believe I'm even saying that, but it's true.
Hi! Not a lot of good things came from COVID shutdown, but if I could take anything from it, it would be the perseverance that teachers and other staff showed during this time. We proved to the world that we could, overnight, put teaching back into our hands. We didn't wait until there was a plan of action. We used our skills to the fullest.
ReplyDeleteOnce we were back in the classroom, we took our new skills of technology to keep the learning going. During this time yes, technology became a priority for some campuses, and I think that's why that group of kids struggled. My daughter was in kindergarten for the returning year, and I was teaching kinder. We worked very hard to build relationships with kids through the masks. The push of technology was exhausting, but we made it as fun as possible. By the end of that year, all but two kids would do a full research project on their own. It was amazing to see the accomplishments of 5- and 6-year-olds. I took that year of learning and applied it to my following years classes, but with less focus on only using technology. I wish I had seen this new Blooms Taxonomy then. I feel like it really could have helped with justifying a lot of what we were doing.
Hello, it was nice reading your post about your views of technology and its effect on how we operate. I liked your section in your post on how creating and building on relationships with students and colleagues is imperative. Which is something I can agree on, nowadays it feels that everyone is so enthralled with their mobile devices that sometimes were missing that personal connection.
ReplyDeleteCarrie, your section on Pedagogy before Technology was very moving. I realize the importance of blogging. It's a mixture of learning about academic topics through the use of some personal experiences. Yours is unique, and I thank you for sharing. I think it ties back to how every student brings their own unique experiences with them to the classroom that help them learn.
ReplyDeleteThe tools have changed so much, even in just the last few years, but the heart of teaching hasn’t: students need relationships, trust, and that human connection to learn. I also appreciated your honesty about imposter syndrome; it’s encouraging to hear how your librarian training prepared you to adapt, even in challenging times. Thanks for sharing such a thoughtful reflection!
ReplyDeleteYour post almost made me cry just thinking about the pre-covid days. Working in education just hasn't been the same since. I am grateful that you did make a point to say that no matter how great a technology program is or how much technology can help, it does not supplement for human interaction. In person help and instruction just cannot be replaced.
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