Reflections on the Learning

Here is my final reflection on course 1: Information Literacy and Ourselves as Learners.

1. Information Overload: Within a few short weeks, my knowledge of technology and how to apply it in my classroom has quadrupled. I am amazed at the variety of tools available, and the creative ways I can use them in my classroom have barely been uncovered. I truly believe that I could take the entire course over again and still learn more. At times the information was coming at me faster than I could soak it all in, but that is what I love about a good class. Too often in my life I have been the "know-it-all", the one who knows anything and everything about a subject (or at least I have thought I did) and I have found myself not learning new ideas, but trying to figure out better ways to teach the concepts being covered in the future. This class pushes me and I am by far not the "know-it-all" by any stretch of my imagination. I am still a neophyte in a room full of people that I admire and respect. I like to surround myself with people that I can learn from and this course did this every day.
2. Team Building: One of the added bonuses I have received from taking this course is the incredible team building that has happened with my colleagues. I wish we had taken this course back in August. We have come together in ways I never imagined and developed a curriculum unit that I am incredibly proud of and excited to teach. It may not have ever been an objective of the course, but in many ways it is one of the most valuable tools I will take with me. We have each been hired by ISB for our talents, and sometimes it takes us awhile to see how we can all work together. The experience has been rewarding on so many levels.
3. Overwhelmed vs. Balance: With all of the new knowledge I have attained, I find it difficult to balance my career: grading, planning, meetings; family: husband, three kids; and technology. When did technology become a category? Why is it that all of a sudden I feel behind on Facebook? No one is going to hate me because I haven't responded to their friend request in two days. I will get to it when I get to it. But now I am supposed to be available to people at all times. I leave school and pass 7 students on the walk home. I have children at my house playing with my children whose older brothers and sisters I teach. I go to Villa, and I am a teacher. I take my kids to soccer practice, I am a teacher. I look at my email, I am a teacher. Email makes me feel accountable at all times. When do I get to let my job stay at my job? When do we say no to being on call 24-7? My brother-in-law is a well paid lawyer in LA, and he has to be on call at all times for his clients. But do teachers have to be as well? I am currently trying something new that a teacher friend of mine suggested. He tells parents and students from day one that when he leaves school he does not check his email. On weekends he does not check his email. Last week I checked my email at 9:30 at night. Who knows why I decided to look but there it was, that one email that ruffles your skin and makes you not sleep at night. As teachers, there needs to be some level of balance in our lives; yet, I have no idea how to do it. Technology adds to it more than any other teaching tool I have been introduced to since the beginning of my teaching career in the 1990's.
4. Technology in the Classroom and Facebook: I recently asked another group of teachers how we stop the students from checking Facebook in the middle of class. "It is called classroom management." Yes and no. It is one thing if students are in first grade and they are making voice threads on GarageBand, it is another when students are researching issues on the web and have twenty tabs open while you walk around the room trying to help students decipher reliable websites. I can not watch my students at all times no matter how hard I try. And it isn't just about the students. At a recent faculty meeting I observed two people on email, one on Facebook, one on a blog, and three reading their iGoogle accounts. Where is the etiquette? I am just as guilty as my students, and yet I am not sure how to stop. Which leads me to my ultimate question:

Who or what do we stop multitasking for?

I have yet to figure this out and I am not sure any course will teach me this valuable tidbit of knowledge. I'll let you know if I figure anything out. . .