SO, I recently attended a gala of techno-geek teachers and IT professionals from around the region. I was given the Innovative Teacher of the Year award (only my second trophy in my whole life). I also had to give a little presentation there to a full house crowd. It was altogether humbling and flattering and--well, it made me feel special.
I do a good deal with varied techniques and media in class. That's a fact. However, I have a little talisman on my desk, a touchstone to another reality...and it keeps me coming back to the basics.
In a little Altoids tin I have a two-inch pencil that has been sharpened down from both ends. I picked up the pencil in a grade school classroom in an impoverished part of Mexico back in 2000. (I was part of a Rotary, International, Group Study Exchange program, touring part of the nation on an exchange from my district and theirs....essentially an ambassador, even though I am not a member of Rotary.)
The pencil symbolizes how some people have such a hunger for knowledge and such an eagerness about them that any teacher would just love to encounter in the classroom. Those kids did not even have a steady stream of school supplies; they got the good out of every scrap, right down to the last inch of a pencil. It reminds me that education, learning, is not about all these bells and whistles, all these digital bangles and apps. Learning takes place when the learner is ripe for it, when s/he is receptive and the content is relevant. Anything else might be swapping knowledge, but it's not really transfer of meaning and significance.
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4 comments:
Congratulations on your award for Innovative Teacher of the Year! That's wonderful. Even more wonderful was your follow-on about the 2" pencil stub and keeping in mind the important parts of education and learning. Thanks for this post - it struck a real chord with me.
Thanks! Yep, that pencil is one of a handful of things I'd really miss if a tornado swept up my possessions.
Excuse me while I wipe a bit of egg off my face . . .
First of all, congratulations on the award. When it was announced at in-service, it didn't quite click with me that it was a regional award. Excuse my inattention, please.
My real embarrassment, though, comes from reading your bit about the pencil. I'm only now reading this post, long after my yammering on your post on the present state of digital education. This is quite moving. I saw a couple such classrooms myself when I lived in Mexico, so I know what you mean.
I've always known you to be a good instructor; now, though, I know it.
Okay. I think that egg is gone now . . .
[word verification: "fixma." How appropriate . . . ]
Awww shucks, JB. I didn't take anything personally. Truth is, I know we need to be mindful of quick fix, no-bake education. Thanks for reading...and for commenting!
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