Life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen at once. – Paulo Coelho

Oh man, this blog post is coming at you a month later than intended. But that’s because I am finally not treading water with the rest of my classes. It wasn’t necessarily homework that was keeping me down. More than anything, it was getting all the technical issues I was having with ALL my classes sorted. Each of my six classes seems to have 2-3 different platforms to work with, and I know I am not the only one, but at least 1 or 2 of those from each class were giving me trouble. Maybe because I am on the older-side than most of my cohort and I’m more “technically challenged,” but I felt lost and hopeless when it came to getting organized with all the various operating systems we needed to be engaged in.
I have to thank Rich McCue for all his help and support; he really threw a liferaft to so many of us and allowed me to come up for air. I guess the one constant in most of our classes is Brightspace (ugh) and blogs. So I think there is something to be said if most of our teachers see blogs as a useful learning tool. And I am starting to agree with them. Writing academically isn’t one of my strong suits. But in a blog, I can freely and casually write what I am thinking. I can express myself more true to who I am… a technically crippled old man. I think that might be the case for most people and could see it as an excellent tool for high school kids that haven’t learnt how to write academic papers or critical reviews. It would allow them more freedom of expression and a means to communicate more candidly.
I could see myself using the platform as a means of getting to know my students better, on a personal level. Allowing them to express their creativity and knowledge in a way they might be more comfortable with. So maybe I will adapt. I will no longer fear technology and invite into my teaching pedagogy. Anything to let my students vocalize their thoughts in a process they feel is enjoyable and productive. And maybe along the way, I will learn from them how to be “hip” and “with it.”