Author: Sweat to Inspire

Educator and Parent

Computer Mandate too much for MDs?

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

I was reading the Detroit News today and one article stuck in my mind. It was about Michigan doctors complaining about computer mandates.  The article states that doctors have many issues to keep up with to help care for their patients and feel that the The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 might be to onerous for them to keep up with. I understand their concerns. Technology is hard to keep up with and changes all the time. Government mandates do get in the way with people trying to do their jobs as best they can and how the are trained.

Wait a minute, I am a teacher. I have had to keep up with ever changing technology since I started teaching. Many of the tools I use in my classroom were not even invented yet. Teachers are mandated to change all the time. In fact in 12 years of teaching Middle School my curriculum has changed 3-times. When teachers complain, they say we are lazy, under-worked and overpaid union members. Does diagnosing the flu or setting a broken arm change this often?

I truly respect Doctors. I come from a family full of them. Does their complaint about technology merit a front page story? NO way. Keep up or hire someone who can. So many other industries have kept up. Why is it in our society expectations are so different? Most professionals work hard and keep up with the ever changing society. The medical field does need to update. It might be hard. Look at what teachers have been going through for the past few years.

The time and costs stated in the article are real. They are the same time and costs education has been paying to keep up. The main difference is the education field has seen serve cuts to public funding. The medical field is primarily funded by its consumers, us. Medical prices have gone up due to these mandates to pay for them.

Detroit News if you are going to write this article, you should have been at the MACUL conference to talk to educators that have made this type transition through hard work.

Teacher Rock Stars?

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

I have been hearing of the concept of “Teacher Rock Stars” on twitter lately. I really wonder what it is about. I feel so many teachers do great things. Teachers have to be engaging, playing to a captive audience. So are teachers “Jailhouse Rock Stars”? 

Many teachers are stars that don’t want to shine in public. I talk to so many teachers that feel that “it is my job to get the best and perform at the highest level, I don’t need to make it public or get attention.” Just like the garage/indie band that plays awesome music that few hear the music. Education has thousands of teachers that produce incredible results, that are never recognized as stars in their field. 

It would be a novel concept to have a tour bus travel from school to school filled with incredible teachers presenting engaging lessons. This would create one-time learning events. Is that what society wants? Society needs modeling that presents life-long learning is needed by ALL. Society also needs to recognize it takes all types of music to make the world go around.

Some teachers will be the popular stars of the day, like Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber. Students will flock to their classes and not want to leave. Others will be focused on the classics like Elvis or the Beatles. Students might not like sweating to the oldies but society dictates that this education is also needed and valued. A few teachers might venture into the unknown and find new techniques that amaze learners and challenge the status quo.

All teachers are “rock stars” since they have dedicated their lives to making a difference in children’s lives. Teachers expose students to many different types of music, challenging them to find one to emulate. 

If only teachers could be paid like rock stars!!

 

AMLE Twitter Event March 28, 2013 #MLEM13

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

Middle Level Education Month Twitter Event
Announcing another magnificent Middle Level Education Month Twitter Event on March 28 from 7–8pm ET at #MLEM13! Join AMLE, NASSP, NAESP, and the National Forum for a great Twitter dialogue about “The Power of Professional Development and Affiliates in the Middle Level”. Tweet ideas, thoughts, questions, and more with our virtual panelists: Paul Dunford, Rick Wormeli, Doug Herlensky, Summer Howarth, Todd Bloch, and Todd Williamson! Be a part of this awesome online conversation!

This is the second chat for Middle Level Education Month. I am honored to be apart of the panel. The first chat was a huge success, please take the time to join in or look here for an archive of the event later. 

Reflections on MACUL Conference

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

I was one of the lucky 4,000 educator who was able to attend the annual Michigan Association of Computer Users for Learning (MACUL) conference for the past 2 days. MACUL is the largest education conference in the state of Michigan. Two days filled with session about the best uses of technology in education. Many featured speakers came in from all over the country.

The opening Keynote from Kevin Honeycutt was inspiring message that I feel all educators should hear. Make your teaching visible to the world, while focusing on the student. Kevin presentation moves at a fast pace to keep teachers inspired and engaged, just like a good lesson in a classroom. He shared stories about his childhood learning experiences and his current teaching practices. Teachers need to get to know their students and find ways to connect their learning goals to their world.

I attended many other engaging sessions ranging from blogging for education to Web 2.0 applications for learning. Tons of content was presented but the message that seemed to reappear in most session was to be a “connected” educator. Blogg, Tweet, post and share were mentioned early and often in most sessions. Just like teaching in my classroom, content is necessity but it does not drive the class, relationships do.

Teachers need to build relationships with each other. We need to talk about what works, what doesn’t. How we use a tool, pitfalls, challenges, management. How we can get access to more tools. The more teachers discuss their practice in a public forum the better it will become. Think about it if one teacher encounters a problem with tech integration , others will have the same issue. In more than one session audience members asked about how to get around road blocks, presenters shared their paths to success as did many audience members, 

The conversations happening in the hallways, at the social cafe and around the food court was where the most value comes. Most presentations can be found on presenters blogs, on YouTube, or in handouts. The connections with educators that want to learn and try new things has longer lasting impact. From most conferences our take away is 1 thing to bring back to the classroom. When we take away a connection with another connected educator, we gain all of their experience. We continue the learning after the conference through tweets, blog posts, e-mails etc. One take away becomes an avalanche of new ideas. 

I wouldn’t want to have missed any of the great presenters I saw this week, but my gains are in the contacts that I had discussions with, new people I will follow on twitter or follow their blog with Google reader (until I find a replacement). Every person you come into contact has experiences you need to listen to and see if the experiences relate to yours. Teachers are always learning. We learn best just like our students, with a lower teacher to student ratio and with individualized feedback. 

Thank you to everyone I talked to at the conference. All the presenters that placed ideas in my head. People that I started following on twitter. Educators need to remember there is no competition in educating our youth! All of our students deserve the BEST education. We need to ban together and share all the weapons in our arsenal to make it happen.