Mission Geek Teacher

Watch out ,Pam, Belgica, Monica, Marie, Jeanell, Tara, and Miss Karns, I am on a technology mission. I promise I won’t be” carrying a special agent badge and dress in black pants, white shirts, a black clip-on tie and white socks with polished black shoes”. Nor will I be arriving at my school in a black-and white Volkswagen Beetle. (Although, they are cute.) And I won't be applying for a job with Best Buy. (Tapscott 2006) My mission is to become a “Geek Teacher!”

I can remember back at least 10 years ago when it was not cool to be a geek. But today Geeks use wikis, handhelds, blogs, cell phones and iPods to collaborate new ideas with others. They brainstorm, manage projects, swap service tips and socialize with their peers. Why can’t I do these things as a teacher? Can I bring the tools to my students so that they can survive in the new flat world and possibly become a Geek themselves? Do you think my mission is meaningful? Will I survive the mission? I don't know but my mission has begun.

My mission began this past Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at the Mid-Atlantic Handheld & Emerging Technology Conference. The conference was held at Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD. The collaborating sponsors probably organized the conference by utilizing wikis, blogs and cell phones. The sponsors of the conference, Salisbury University, Wicomico School District and Seaford School District, of Delaware, seem to be leading this community in technology.

I have been to several conferences before, but I really had mixed feelings about attending this one. I did not know what to expect. Were there going to be a bunch of “Geek Teachers”, administrators and others attending that would not be sympathetic to those of us who know very little about technology? Was the conference going to be over my head? Would I learn anything useful that I would be able to apply to my personal and professional life?

Tony Vincent shared a vast amount of innovated and exciting technology tools and stats. Having someone like him open a technology conference was brilliant. Saying that I was amazed, just would not do the opening session any justice. And this “young man” started out as a teacher? Wow! I felt my brain reshaping itself as he presented. (Karen Fasimpaur, “My Virtual Distributed Brain: Thriving on the Chaos of Information Overload”)

My quest for becoming a Geek Teacher was quickly being fueled and I no longer felt as though the mission was impossible. Net Gens were born between the years of 1982 and 2002. I began teaching in the year 1992, so I missed a few of these students, but the majority of them are just coming through. And they need a Geek Teacher!

I looked around and saw so many attendees using their palms to take notes. But there were a few of us trying to keep up with paper and pencil. The presenters all kept reiterating that you have to practice the skills to be good at them. If it was not apparent before it truly is now. I did not enjoy sitting there with paper and pencil, with a palm hidden in my purse. Oh yeah, let me tell you about it. I have the pleasure of being an employee of Seaford School District. http://www.seaford.k12.de.us/ All teachers were given a palm to use for Dibeling our students and tracking their progress. But there is so much more that I could and will be doing.

Ok Tara, my interest was sparked to see what I could have been doing! I too went to http://www.nwhandheld.org/research.html and K12 Handhelds. Both sites were loaded with activities and lessons to do with elementary students. I have no excuse for not doing these activities with my students, other than- “ I did not know how to properly use the tool.” And I did not take the time to practice or investigate the tool.


The issue here is: How can a teacher become a Geek Teacher?

Resolution: If you are fortunate to work for a district that provides you with the equipment to work with Net Gen students, it is your responsibility to use the equipment. I think every presenter stated” You learn by doing, so do!” I could have been allowing my students to use palms to write research papers, practice handwriting, listen to historic speeches, and practice math skills downloaded for free from the Internet! FREE!
Students and teachers are integrating the use of palms in every subject. They are using then to download information to others via the computer, reading books and highlighting information. This leads me to my mission. My mission is to introduce my students to blogging and to use the palms that are available in my school. One idea that I came across when I went to http://www.nings.com/ was to use the palm along with the elmo and project a story. By doing this, I can interact with the entire class as we point out the main idea and details that support the main idea. I have already downloaded my excel grade book to my palm. More is yet to come.
In Tara’s blog, “Palms in the classroom”, she quotes some very interesting pointers from “Competing Visions of Handheld Computer Use in the Classroom”, by Wesley A. Fryer.
By storing information from the handhelds, into computers:

• the teacher can assess individual skills.
• Instruction will be teacher centered (directed) but students will be more actively involved when using palms.
• Information can be stored in docs and not lost.
• The learning environment is more authentic.
  

To quote Karen Fasimpaur, “Textbook learning is neither engaging nor up-to-date.”
Maybe I will decorate my classroom this year with black and white checkered Volkswagen Beetles and have mini computer name tags on the students’ desk. I think it is time to run my classroom like Best Buy. Do I accept the mission? Sure I do, I do not want to washed away like sand in tidal wave storm nor do I want to fall off of this newly flat world. My mission is NOT IMPOSSIBLE.