Today I am thinking specifically about teachers. If you are interested in the Technology in Education program at Lesley, you might be one. At the very least, you believe in the power of education, and the doors that a good one will open.
We live in a fast paced-society, full of media influence and quick-fix options. Our children are bombarded minute after minute with advertising, music, cell phones, iPods, video games, and television. Their lives are consumed with social networking opportunities like Facebook and My Space—the words, nonsense only a few years ago—are now actual nouns and verbs in our English language. Can you imagine telling your great grandmother that you are going to use Moodle, or Google or chat with a friend on Facebook? It might as well be a foreign language to someone who has not braved the 21st century.
And this is why we need teachers. Sure, kids today could, indeed, complete independent study work and teach themselves all they need to know about fractions, or the Mayan people, or World War II. Yes, they could read The Great Gatsby or The Scarlet Letter, hop on line and complete comprehension activities, read analysis papers and feel confident enough to discuss the literary elements at a party, but they would be missing something. Their teacher.
Teachers are a bridge. They connect yesterday to today and reach for tomorrow. Teachers look at Shakespeare—read now for hundreds of years—and share it with students who are barely into their second decade. Teachers hold that curriculum in one hand, grab technology with the other and with super-hero like power, and perform a classroom fusion that creates a beautiful explosion. When the smoke clears, our students are transformed. Sure, they come to us each year smarter, more discerning, less innocent, and yet, they are still needy. Teachers offer compassion, understanding, hope. A computer may not offer suggestions about how to rewrite code in ways that connect to the user’s life, but a teacher will…every time. A computer will not take into consideration that a child missed breakfast, said goodbye to his grandmother, or wonders how her parents will pay for her new sneakers—but a teacher will. All while imparting the information students need to have productive futures. Teachers think of a child’s future; computers wait for the next instruction.
But don’t get me wrong; I love computers. I love computers in the classroom. And, yes, you should definitely begin the Technology in Education program at Lesley. You should do it because it is exciting, interesting and challenging. You should do it because you will work hard, reap amazing rewards and meet creative, enthusiastic people. You should do it because you love technology, and because you love working with students. You should do it because you believe that teachers are bridges, and education is a treasure chest. You should, to quote Nike, who, by the way, is the Greek Goddess of strength, speed, and victory—something I learned many years ago from a teacher and confirmed just this moment on-line— Just do it.
