I wanted to thank all of you who took the time to drop a nice comment or e-mail after the birth of my second daughter. Teagan and her mother are doing fine, and Ani‘s got some really good "big sister" instincts. It’s been pretty perfect around here lately. Pretty crazy, too.
Teagan was born on a Thursday. About 24 hours later, I accepted a new position in my school district as an instructional technologist. In about an hour and a half, I report for my first day in the new position. While I’m going to already missing my own students, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with teachers throughout my school district as we all work to better integrate technology into our instruction. I’m also pretty nervous about the whole thing. But that’s a good thing — nothing worth doing right isn’t worth getting a little nervous over.
So, anyway, the nature of this blog is going to change a little bit, as I both negotiate the new workplace and transition from language arts to a wider scope of reading, writing, and thinking. I’m pretty excited about the change — I hope you’ll stick with me as I learn and continue to better understand how technology and education intersect.
I’m kind of counting on you. This blog and the connections that I’ve made through it are a big reason why I’ve learned enough to be a viable candidate for this job. In some ways, this space is my own personal professional development school. As I get acclimated to my new position, I’ll probably be asking lots of questions and seeking information and guidance.
It’s going to be a pretty great summer. I’m ready. You? #
Wow Bud! Congratulations on the new job!
Congrats, Bud! Oddly enough, I am making the same move myself. Leaving the language arts classroom to help teachers learn about technology moved into instruction and learning will be a grand trip for me. It is a brand new position for my district. My superintendent said the thing he was looking forward to most was getting teachers and students podcasting. Wow!
I still get to work with kids, though, since most of my instructional time with teachers will be while they have students. It will be great to still have that contact and those relationships.
Good luck to you. I will count on you to post updates as you go along. If nothing else, we can swap stories in New York in November.
Congrats on your new daughter and new job. I remember that you were planning for your interview as our workshop in Amherst was ending and you were still waiting for Teagan to arrive.
It’s a great opportunity for you. Working with teachers and tech can feel like working with kids just at a different stage of life. I am teaching a grad course at the moment in digital storytelling and it’s a fantastic challenge. So you are right on the money. Wonderful to have these great challenges all at once!
All my best,
Bonnie K.
Congrats all around!
Excellent. Although we will miss your classroom insights….you’ll just have more classrooms to report from!
Congratulations on all counts! Leaving the classroom has its pros and cons, but the opportunity to have a broader influence is exciting. And change is good!
Bud, interesting. In the spring of 1984 (yes, that date), I was teaching English. In the fall of 1984, I stepped out of my role to teach instructional technology to.. teachers.
Been doing that since. It’s a different ball game, but one that a creative person such as yourself will join and learn quickly.
The job will be only as good as the time you are allowed to do “research and development” because you, like me, will struggle to keep the creative edge and to stay ahead of the next generation pushing in.
Enjoy change, because you are in the middle of a large dose of it!
BTW.. I left because I learned how to move a simple ASCII text file from one building to another via a 300 baud modem. The real challenge was to find out how Bank Street Writer had a hidden utility to translate the text created in the program to ASCII code. In the winter of 1983-84, no one else had really done that from an English class in order to create an authentic writing task.. a story chain between 5th grade “talented” kids in one building and my 9th grade “remedials” in my building. It was a beginning.
Bud,
Congratulations on your new position and your new addition! Great new beginnings!
May I suggest that you learn as much as possible about Universal Design for Learning so that all your students will benefit? When technology is embedded throughout the curriculum, struggling learners are not singled out and the obstacles to learning are removed.
May I also suggest the following websites:
http://cast.org
http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/
and feel free to check out my blog or at least the link to a free tech toolkit for UDL that I believe should be loaded on every computer in our schools! http://teachingeverystudent.blogspot.com/2007/02/free-technology-toolkit-for-udl-in-all.html
Your students on IEPs will thank you for it!
Congrats Bud! Like you and Scott, I am making a similar move, too, becoming a teacher on special assignment working with teachers to integrate technology. As a bonus (?), I will get to stay in the classroom half time, so I don’t have to leave my students quite yet.
Your blog has been a wonderful resource and I look forward to sharing this new journey with you.
Congrats on the new position! I made the same move 5 years ago. Although I miss having my own classroom, I have the opportunity to use other teachers’ classrooms whenever I need it. Although you will have less opportunity to directly make a difference for student learning, you will indirectly make a difference that will affect more students. Have fun! You’ll be great!
Sounds exciting, good luck to you in both of the new aspects of your life!
Your district made a wonderful decision. Enjoy the new adventure. And don’t worry: you’ll continue to intersect with kids; not possible to remove that instinct regardless of the title. Plus, Teagan will bring a whole new kiddo world your way! Cheers, Christian
It sounds like you will have an exciting new job. Tech people are so valuable to education. I can’t wait to hear more.
Congratulations!
I’m happy for you and the students throughout your district, a little sad for your students at Olde Columbine, and hoping that you can share even more great ideas via the blog.
Seems like we’re moving a lot of great people over to the technology side. I know you’ll be great.
I miss having my own class some but there are a lot of different benefits that make up for it.
Congratulations on both the daughter and the job! I wish my district was up to having technology integrators, but I will continue to learn with my classes and be ready when they get there.
Whoa! I get behind on my blogroll and miss news like this. Congratulations. I’m thrilled for you, and for me since now your posts will be even more relevant for me in my current position. Your teachers are in for such a treat!