Lead by Example

As teachers we often find ourselves working under adverse conditions and under pressures that we never thought we would have to survive.  Budget cuts mean less teachers, mediocre salaries, larger classes, fewer materials, and more. Morale goes down, tempers flare, and people retire early or leave the professional altogether.  So how do we as “technovangelists” spread the gospel of technology integration and 21st century learning skills when teachers are constantly given more bad new?

In our state the legislature has been fighting over the education budget for several days now.  They ended their session in deadlock.  The universities don’t want their portion cut so they persist on lobbying to kill the budget until they get what they want.  With no budget, K-12 schools cannot make plans.  Unlike universities, K-12 schools have no other area in which to make up lost revenues.  What does that mean?  Cuts.  Subpar conditions for students and teachers.

As good teachers we learn to overcome.  Unfortunately, the not so good teachers do an even worse job because their complacency continues and they refuse to overcome the circumstances.  I would love some best practices examples of technology integration in low-resource schools, over-crowded classrooms, and one-computers classes.  Can anyone lead me to some sites with that info?

Filed under: Rants & Raves | Tagged: education budget bestpractices lowresource onecomputer