Countdown to the End: Day 18

I spent the first two periods working in the greenhouse. First hour was with my Horticulture class, and 2^nd hour was my prep hour. I was organizing and cleaning, so we can open up to the public by Friday. I really like being in the greenhouse. I like seeing immediate results of my efforts.

I started cleaning out my office and desk today. I know that things need to be more organized, and I need to throw a lot of paperwork away. As I was going through things I found a file folder with letters student’s wrote to themselves my first year of teaching. I said I would mail the letter to them 10 years later. I started looking up addresses to mail them back. I hope they understand I didn’t make the 10 years. I think 8 is close enough. Some of the students sealed them in envelopes, and I respect their need for privacy. Others wrote on the top that it was okay for me to read their's. The one I read wasn’t well thought out. I felt that the student really didn’t write down anything valid, and I wondered if anyone took the activity seriously. I put them all in the mail anyway.

As I continued going through my filing cabinets it reminded me of my first year of teaching when I had to go through 10 filing cabinets and a lab area that was jammed full of papers. The filing cabinets were full of papers that I mostly recycled. I found a $20 bill in one, and a check from 1982 made out to the FFA for $30. I wasn't even born in 1982. Tucked away in a cabinet I found a cast iron cream separator from the 50s that is still in the back of my room. I’m really not sure what to do with it. The Apple 1 computer with the floppy disks that still works is impressive. I have that on a top shelf in my office.

I started collecting boxes for my books from college. I kept all my Horticulture, Agronomy, and Agbusiness books. I’m thinking that as I pack them away in boxes they will just be stored away in my basement or thrown out. I also thought about just leaving them here for the next person, but what if I ever want to teach again? I probably won’t use those books anyway because they will be obsolete. With every student having an iPAD the internet is the new book. I don’t forsee that changing much in the future. Students want fast results to their questions, and they get that from the internet. The internet is now much more entertaining than my dog and pony show. It’s funny to think that when I started I was cleaning out the last 30 plus years of the latest technology to make room for new technology. Now that new technology when I first started is obsolete, and I’m throwing out to make room for the next thing. Pretty soon computers will replace teachers.

We have had many professional developments about how to use the iPADs to increase student learning. Some teachers use them for everything, other teachers don't know how to turn them on. Laptops would be so much better for high schoolers instead of iPADs. Apps are great and all, but try writing a research paper on an iPAD. It makes sense to give every student a computer or device because they are generation z, which means they don't know a world without the internet, cell phones, and computers. My middle schoolers don't know a world without Facebook. Teachers have been taught how to teach to this generation using the ever evolving technology. It gets exhausting, and really frustrating when all students know is technology. Students believe everything they read on the internet.

The iPADs are great for students making movies. 

This safety video was made for the Central States

Region FFA competition. We got first place and won $1000.

A student raised his hand in my animal science class, and he asked if the ocean was salty because of all the whale semen. This was before iPADs, so he couldn't just look it up. I was silent for a minute, and just stared at the student in disbelief. I was trying to decide if he was serious. He knew I was shocked, so he informed me that he heard it on TV. I asked him if he believed everything he heard on TV. He said yeah, most of it. TVs aren't the newest technology, but students still believe everything they hear and see on them. Obviously, not a good choice.

I know I made the right decision because I won’t have to worry about keeping up with the latest and greatest technology.