Herculean Heroes

A long while back, I took two years off as a sort of "sabbatical" from banking. One of those years I spent teaching Middle School Math. Fast forward to today. I have one year of actual teaching in the school system under my belt and I can tell you that teaching today does not look like teaching in the early 2000s. It definitely doesn't look like the 1970s. The county I've been substitute teaching for has fully embraced technology and each student is provided with a laptop. In some classes, the students are using technology for their school work almost exclusively.    

I've observed a lot of interactive learning applications being assigned with knowledge checks at the end. This is true across grade levels. I can only hope that the technology helps reduce the time that the teacher works outside of the classroom. Working in the classroom requires a significant amount of stamina and patience. At the end of the day, teachers deserve to truly clock out. But, of course, that is not the case for them. 

Most of the teachers I have subbed for provide clear plans for their classes. I cannot express how grateful I am for this. Some of the plans include directing students to complete certain assignments on their laptops. In those cases, my job is to make sure students are actually on task, which is not hard to do. I do it by walking around. Some teachers use the "share the student screen" technique. It allows teachers to check any student's screen while they are in their classroom. There are incentives for the students to complete their work, which can include game time on the computer. 

One nice thing about computer learning is that students can complete their work at their own pace, without being intimidated when others have finished. The apps also provide bright, kinetic animation which presents information in several ways. It can help a visual learner grasp the concepts as well as an auditory learner. It also has practice features that help the hands-on learner. 

Electronic presentations are simply "how it's done" now. This is true even in the field of adult learning as well. For corporate training, I can't help but think of the time that can be saved when there are good training packages that can reduce the individual trainer's prep time. When I was in the corporate world, I appreciated online training because it allowed me to schedule for myself. The information could be reviewed quickly, which I really appreciated.  

Some people express worry that using colorful and interactive apps to teach our students will diminish their ability to learn the "old-fashioned" way. For as long as I can remember parents or concerned adults worried something important would be lost with each teaching innovation. 

As a product of the '70s education system, I can tell you we were not hurt by such things as Sesame Street or "The New Math" or other such things that were new. When calculators were introduced in the classroom the concern was students would become dependent on them. --Heck, I'm dependent on them. The difference is that today a calculator is readily available on our phones. 

For an accurate analysis of what educational tools work for today's students, I defer 100% to the teachers using them. I don't know which applications help our teachers and which add extra layers of work. My guess is there are some of each. 

I hope that it is the teachers that are consulted for any new school curriculums. I hope that it's the teachers who decide which books (or applications) are best for each group of students. The reality is that their voice is probably rarely consulted. My guess is that teachers' needs (which is another way of saying student needs) are not the biggest consideration. 

When we speak about "what's wrong with education today", it is certainly not the teachers. Teachers are herculean heroes. If we really want to know "what's wrong..." then we need to ask the teachers. They are the only ones truly qualified to answer the question!

View from Parking Lot of School

Freshly Sharpened Pencils in Fall

"Colourful" - By Ole Houen from Denmark

Each year when fall arrives or school starts I remember the line from the movie, "You've Got Mail". Tom Hanks writes to the anonymous Meg Ryan, "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." It's one of the best lines ever! 

I love any place where the crisp, fall air overtakes the summer heat. Buying school supplies is another love of mine.  There is something about new spiral notebooks and file folders that makes me want to organize all of my papers! It helps if they are pretty.

"You've Got Mail" will turn 25 in December, so a whole generation of people must not have seen it. I recommend renting this one and enjoying a feel-good movie. It's not a spoiler to say that two people fall in love...so there, I've said it. But the movie is also a love story about New York. And of books and bookstores. The internet mail communication was cutting edge when the movie came out, which is funny. The movie offers me a love story to nostalgia as well. 

This is my and my daughter's favorite movie. When we lived in the same town we watched it together at least once a year. 

Nora Ephron is the film's director and the writer most credited with writing the script. What needs to get more acknowledgment (in my opinion) is the fact that the movie is co-written with Delia Ephron (Nora's sister).

Delia Ephron is a talented writer in her own right. Last year, Delia released her memoir, which I highly recommend. Since it has been a while since I read it, I looked back at what I wrote on Goodreads, which I'm sharing with you below.

I absolutely loved this book; it is Memoir at its best. I'm afraid my review will not do it justice. Ms. Ephron tells her stories with the intimacy of a close friend. One of the best stories is "Love and Hate on Hold with Verizon". Ms. Ephron captures the insanity of trying to get something simple corrected when you are dealing with a company that is so big it really doesn't care if you are satisfied. Her story is about Verizon, but could just as easily be about AT&T or Cable TV. The frustration, laced with humor, is universal.

Delia's Webpage

Enjoy the beautiful weather! 

Knee Updates

Enjoying Saturday @ New Belgium Brewery

It's my goal to increase my yoga teaching gigs to a bonafide gig. I was working towards that but slowed down after the knee surgery. I am teaching two times a week to a community center group. The classes are nice because they are small. The participants are fairly new to yoga, so the classes give the opportunities to emphasize teaching the poses and focusing on alignment. I also offer lots of variations for each pose. I've gotten into the groove of those classes since my surgery. I've been able to show the modifications I take for my body; this seems to make everyone more comfortable in making poses work for themselves, rather than trying to achieve what we imagine a pose is "supposed" to look like. 

I've been surprised by how achy my knee and hip continue to be. I have trouble falling asleep at least 3 times a week. I just can't get comfortable. My knee feels pain on both sides of the artificial patella. And my hip joint feels pain because the hip has been compensating for my knee for years. Now I'm asking the hip joint to move into the socket the "correct" way so that my foot points straight instead of out to the side. I can feel the hip click in and out of its socket. Both things will settle down. I know. It's only been 8 weeks. But that doesn't keep me from being disappointed with the pain. 

I'm also disappointed that I have not regained my full range of motion. The doctor is happy with my progress as is the physical therapist. I have achieved between 120 and 125 degrees for flexion. I have -3 degrees for extension. Both of these results are "acceptable" based on the literature. But I really want to achieve 130 degrees or better for flexion. The fact that I haven't achieved full extension adds to the misalignment of the two legs because it effectively shortens the right leg. My right leg also tends to be shortened because my right pelvis continues to have an anterior tilt, bringing the hip joint higher up into the body.

I've been going to one or two yoga classes since about 5 weeks after surgery. I'm worried that I've lost some of the stamina and strength I had gotten earlier this year. But this week I've hurt too much to even consider going. I've had PT two times a week and I've been substitute teaching (a lot of standing and walking) as well as teaching two yoga classes. I hope that between all of this, I'm doing what I need to steadily improve. 

On the plus side, Bill and I have been able to take pretty long walks on the weekend. Two weeks ago we walked up to the local brewery and enjoyed the outside venue. So, I am walking better than before the surgery. And I'm able to walk further too. The results have been successful. I just have to wait out the pain.