Another thing they never told me in teacher college

Some day someone will tell you how great teachers have it because you have summers off and they will be wrong.

So here I am 15 years into my teaching career, 13 face-to-face, 2 full time online and at the beginning of my children and student's Winter vacation period.  I can honestly say that in all of this time, I have never taken a summer vacation off.

Seriously dude, you can take 

bathroom breaks

I was always active in professional development in my "off" time before.  But now with rolling enrollment models I have realized that I never get an entire day off again. This fact is punctuated as I work now pretty much everywhere - poolside at my child's swimming lesson, in the lobby of the gym where my child is having basketball practice, in the car while parked outside the movie theater picking up my older child from a date, and once in the deep North Woods on a wi-fi card and a prayer.

Dad, get off the phone!

E teachers like me have to develop extraction strategies so that we can cope with our daily lives outside of work.  The constant connectivity can be both a joy and a burden.  Efficiency has its price in exhaustion and burn out.

We need to think about ourselves somewhere in this equation.  A colleague of mine recently told me that she turned off her data plan so that she can only work while physically at the computer.  Otherwise she found herself emailing at Disney when she should have been enjoying her kids.

Some Tips:

• Schedule at least 5 hours per day with activities that do not include work.
• Take vacation days (you are allowed) which are completely offline.
• Post office hours-even if you intend to be available at other times, this can cluster the work so that it lessens the off hours time you are spending.
• Give yourself a break
• Chew your food without your cell phone
• Let the cat take his nap on the keyboard like he wants to...

Where computer ends and mobile device begins

In the beginning there was the abacus (circa. 500 B.C.) now there is the android and the atrix.

Where does the computer begin and the mobile device begin?  when is it not the right plan for students to complete homework on?
Is it ok to dropbox from your xbox?
Is it a good idea to view video lecture on a blackberry?
does screen size matter when it comes to learning?


I have friends trying iPads who have been very disappointed when they found out that the software manufacturers consider it "not a computer" and so could not enjoy full functionality that they had with laptops.  Is it reasonable to tell a kid, that you wish them luck, but you cannot provide technical support when they try to use a device in an off label manner?

To me the answer is yes.  I want to be helpful and make you as comfortable as I can with using the course, but I wouldn't use an abacus to cook.  You may be able to do it, and good luck on figuring that out.  I would appreciate the information of how it was done.  But I don't think I can justify taking the time out of my day and away from teaching to trouble shoot the process for you.

So test away, beta test, and push the boundaries.  I applaud that.  But if you want to be sure you are successful and not constantly cutting your teeth on untried options, may I recommend the tried and true. (or at least tried and help available) technologies of the modern era.  A lightweight laptop (or notebook) OS of your choice is STILL the best bet for teachers and students alike.

Whomever said "It is always darkest before the dawn" clearly did not have a blackberry with a too short auto dim setting.  I would argue that there is nothing darker than after texting for a while or perusing my email when I have a long read at 1 am and the screen dims to black