When I retired from my job as a full-time secondary math teacher, I guess I wanted a bit of a rest. I wanted to spend more time with family.
I also thought I would finally spend some time learning more about using new technology in classrooms. Weird, huh? Most people would probably want to step away from those things that had consumed so much time. But I do still love learning new things and sharing.
Over the past couple semesters, I have had the pleasure of working with math and science pre-service teaching students. I think back to those days when I was a new teacher. (Most of the parents of these college kids were babies at that time or not even here yet.) Two of my very good friends and former HS teaching colleagues are teaching these students at Northern Illinois University. They were excellent high school teachers, and I respected both of them for their subject knowledge and dedication to teaching.
My underlying messages to these new teachers - More learning takes place outside of the classroom than inside. Much of what you learn about using the advantages of technology you will need to learn in your own time. You are teaching at a very exciting time, yet with many challenges. Keep your passion alive.
One thing I do to help is sharing web sites that should help them get started. Good luck to these future teachers. The future is bright!
http://tinyurl.com/scienceeducniu
http://tinyurl.com/matheducniu
http://tinyurl.com/janetteachessmart
(Symbaloo is a great tool for sharing collections of web sites. One of those tools that every students should know about.)
