Ruth’s Ruckus

I’ve been hearing a little voice in my head for the last week or so reminding me “You haven’t blogged recently”  and it is absolutely true.  Between the camp and getting ready for the teachers to come back, I’ve slipped back into my old habits of non-reflection.  SO it’s absolutely ironic that the first thing I want to respond to is Will Richardson’s post about educator’s inability to focus on their own learning.  I actually read the post a few weeks ago and said to myself  “I gotta respond to that” and never did.  I have been feelin’ Will’s pain the last month or so as I have been working on revising the performance evaluation and reflection requirements for the Technology Resource Teachers in my school division.  

Most folks acknowledge that the school division is behind in many ways, but those of us who love working here realize that we’re learning and growing in many areas.  Take our IT department for example.  When I was first hired 5 years ago there was an article in the paper that stated that our IT department was comprised of 3 people.  Now we (yes, I’ve joined the department) have close to 50 and have site based teacher coaches and tech specialists for almost every school.   While we were late coming out of the shoot, we’re making up for it by learning from the mistakes made by other school divisions who were light-years ahead of us and we’re catching up…

Our instructional technology department is really making some noise locally and it’s great to be in a department that is moving and shaking.  That’s why I find it absolutely ironic that our Technology Resource Teachers are in the same position as the folks in Will’s sessions.  Many of them pride themselves in being ahead of the curve in many areas, but when asked to reflect this past spring, most threw a fit.  Many acknowledged that portfolios are acceptable practice in other parts of the nation for a number of different applications. Unfortunately they could not see the application or benefit for themselves.  I was amazed at these professionals that I had come to respect were  putting down a practice that has been researched and widely accepted. Frankly their point of view made the reflection worthless, since you get out of it what you put in.  

So Will, you are not alone.  I too am amazed that teachers think everyone ought to be learning other than themselves.  In fact I have spent an entire month trying to make the whole self reflection professional development thing palatable to a group who ought to know better.  If those who are to be leading our schools in teaching about 21^st century learning refuse to examine the way they themselves learn and apply 21^st century techniques how can they lead the charge?  How can they model for and teach teachers? 

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