Home Alone and Alien

(1) I returned to the start of my PLN this week and had coffee with my first teaching mentor going back 20 years. I learned to be curious about this profession I fell into and just learned so much by observation. I started explaining my 2.0 adventures until her head hurt. She was excited, but all these web hours condensed into 3 hours at Peet's was a bit much. It was nice to try to give back full circle, and yet it made me a bit fearful for the school year to come......

(2) No one else speaks my language at my school. I have been given a crash course in a new language, and have spent this summer practicing verbs and learning new nouns and cuss words in this flat world. This summer I have been with a group who have adventured and empathised along the way, and now I am returning where no one speaks the lingo. It is a sad and scary place to be right now; I don't want to lose the vocab and the drive to learn, but it may be harder without the need to succeed the class has provided. So I hope many of you will post back to your blogs now and again --- to share --- to vent and to remind me that I should do the same. My last tech class had google and photoshop as the 'big' ways to be techno savvy....I am glad I have been run through the wringer to understand all the pythonesque sounding tools and opportunities that I have been unable to translate until now.

Comments

  1. CherriAugust 4, 2009 at 3:00 PM

    I have a feeling that I will also found myself as the only one at my school who wants to use the webtools we've explored. Thanks for posting this comment - it gave me a moment for a reality check.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marta ToranAugust 5, 2009 at 9:54 PM

    Susan, I think you've articulated very well what a lot of people are going to be experiencing when they go back to school! You should do some sort of presentation for the rest of your colleagues! At my previous school, we had to "report back" on what we did for professional development over the summer. If I had to do that right now, I would start the presentation with the "Brave New World Wide Web" video which I think is awesome. I posted it on http://sciteachhub.wetpaint.com/page/Techie+Tools
    Best of luck with the beginning of the school year!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sandy ClimenhagaAugust 7, 2009 at 4:45 AM

    Susan, I get your thoughts and feelings. I hope to stay in touch with our PLN throughout the school year to share successes and troubles in the 2.0 realm. Stay connected through your blog and add me to your twitter! I will look forward to sharing with you this year

    ReplyDelete

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