New Tech

Well, two days of blackboard training are over and I'm impressed. It's a very nice set up and seems to be a great way to go. While I'd say I'm far from proficient in its use, I'm done for now.
After the training we had a meet and greet with the super and ass't super. Our school has budgeted for 200 students to be enrolled, which doesn't cover much ground. Through the course of the Q n A I got the feeling that soul purpose was to recover the cyber-school $$s that are leaving the district and not really aimed at the regular classroom.
With the cost of this program, which was staggering to me, I can see why it would have limited use and understand that end of things. With my past experiences here, I'm not about to sink my time and effort into something that I might not be using. I'm a bit tired of doing things that I can't use in my classroom and wasting my time on things that aren't worth my time.
Throughout the training there were "download and install" times when I knew that this was doomed from a school-wide perspective. We're not permitted to do that, so I started thinking that I might just be involved in something that wouldn't materialize in a global format for all to use. Even so, I was impressed with the work and skill that went into the system being sold and all it had to offer. Even though there's only so much one can gain from two training days, it seemed like something worth the effort and potential for benefit.
The cost of the program is offset by all the features and conveniences, but when it comes to dollars and cents I can only hope that sense wins. I don't know what will happen, but I'd be happy if I could merely use my wiki in school. It's free and requires nothing from anyone but me. Baby steps. Baby steps.
I look forward to seeing how blackboard develops in this district and how the administration handles the possibilities...and how IT deals with it too. In a way it's kind of like a drug dealer. They give out a sample for free knowing that you'll like what you get and hope that you'll come up with money to continue to fuel the fix. It's just that in this case, someone else has to approve of our usage and pay for our continued multimedia/interactive Jonesing.
Ah, another chapter begins. Hopefully it will be a fairy-tale experience :)

Current Issues

I've signed up for a blackboard training this month. I'm not sure what's expected or what's going to happen (or where I have to be yet), but I know that this is something that should help me in my career. I hope that this will be something that my school actually allows me to do.
I'm still awaiting the day that my wiki will be available in school. It's supposed to be and the tech department said that there was a server issue which might require students to hit refresh " a few times" before getting in. I had a student with nothing to do during ASP (study hall for us older folk), so I asked him to try the wiki. He said that nothing happened so I told him about refreshing. After literally 30 minutes of hitting F5, the page still would not show. If that's not proof that the kids still can't view the wiki, I don't know what is...I guess I'm just not doing something right.
Along those lines, my school is involve with some "schools of the future" or some other sort of thing and getting “really involved” with technology, so all the teachers have to take a survey about our tech use. I was amazed at what was asked! If people at other schools are able to say 'yes' to some of those questions, I'd be amazed!!! I'm fighting for some simple things and getting nothing but grief and excuses.
There were a series of questions regarding my district's encouragement of tech uses. For example there were questions like - Are you encouraged to infuse technology into your classroom - unfortunately "F@#K NO" was not an option. Another - Are you rewarded for attempting to use more technology in your classroom - which also failed to have the appropriate response box..."Are you f@#king kidding me????? Penalized, ridiculed and on the s$@t list is more like it." was sadly missing from the option list. Then there were the questions about what we have in our rooms/have access to/could use if we wanted to. It read like a wish list, to which I answered "no" to far too many times.
To make a long story short, it was a survey that really showed me that my school is supposed to be a member of this group and encouraging/ supporting my (and that of others) tech uses. I guess it was merely another ploy to get additional $$$ and not do much more than that. If we're expected to be doing what was in that survey, I can only hope that this group takes their money back OR makes my district burst into the current. I'm not looking at being futuristic, just hoping to be in the present.
Last year I used much more tech in the classroom and published regular newsletters for the parents (which received many responses from parents) and a MUCH expanded interaction with parents. Now that doesn't happen. I don't even have a projector at the moment and am making copies of things that are used for a few minutes instead of viewed, used and connected to the next step. Now it's a paper trail of waste.
Even the grading program has fallen FAR short of expectations to say the least. We have an upgrade coming April 15th. The list of improvements includes things like the ability to increase the size for easier viewing--which has been available for a long time due to the fact that it's viewed in a browser, the 'ctrl and the mouse wheel' thing is old news, how they can call it an improvement is beyond me. There are numerous other gripes with it, but since I was TOLD not to have a direct interaction with anyone involved in creating this thing, I'm stuck making my thoughts known during meeting times and wondering whether or not these ideas are going beyond the room in which I speak them. I'm constantly told how powerful this great program is, but haven't yet had anyone show me how it is soooo powerful for MY job on a daily basis.
Damn, I was in a really good mood before I started typing this one. Sometimes I wish I'd never seen the light of what tech can do in the classroom. At least ignorance is bliss. Trying to use it here is way far from bliss, unless you're in a select group in control/related to those in control. What a....anyway.
Other than the tech issues, it's been a really good year. The kids are really darn good and fun overall. So many have come so far this year and are really impressing me. I'm having fun with the students and feel that there are many who are becoming the young adults they are expected to be. That's what's really amazing about this age: the transition that students make through the year. Growing up happens right before our eyes. If only they knew how much fighting there was behind the scenes to get them the few advances that they see in the classroom. I take great pride in the fact that my students really have no clue how much I'm upset with the powers that be when it comes to what I can and can't do in my classroom or on the computers, even though it's my biggest bane.
I'm done for now...hopefully the next post will be more positive, but today I found out that the teacher on the other team, who is retiring, will not be replaced and I'll be taking over at least some of those students on the other team, so I'm not sure how positive that will be. More on that later I guess...hopefully it will be a good thing.