First Day of School

Today is the first day of school for students at my son's middle school in Virginia. When Sarah and I went up for Ella's birthday at the beginning of the month, I went with David one day to his classroom to see his setup and to view the Smart Board that he has in his classroom. What a wonderful way to be able to demonstrate math concepts to eighth graders. His is the only middle school in his city, and the school has undergone some major renovation and new construction.

When I walked into his classroom and walked the halls and visited some of the other classrooms, the first thing I looked at was the floors. How they sparkled awaiting new students. I remember as I would begin a new year of teaching looking at my room that had been cleaned so well over the summer with the shiny floors. The first day was probably the last day that they were so clean. Those of you who have been in the classroom know what I mean.

David's computer is connected to the smart board, and he is able to write with a stylus on the board and then choose to have the computer recognize it and save it. As you can see here, his desktop shows up there on the board. I asked David what his students thought of his photo of Sabrina and Ella. He said, "Oh, they love it. It helps them know that I'm human."

While he's there at the board, he can go to the internet and pull up helps and visuals for his students. Did you have a good grasp of fractions as a student, or did you just learn those facts like I did? Why does the larger denominator mean a smaller part? Here it is easier to visualize.

He can have a worksheet like this reproduced for the students to work at their desks as he demonstrates and helps them from the front.

This equation was written with the stylus by hand, then recognized by the computer. I was amazed. I'm not sure how many Smart Boards are in his school, but he, as a first year teacher, had one at his disposal last year. Such is not the case everywhere. I asked one of my teacher friends who in our county had smart boards. Her reply? "If you have connections, you might have one. They're very expensive." And then, unfortunately, there are still teachers who are a bit afraid of the "new stuff."

It is a new day in education. Methods change. Technology makes advances every day, and yet teachers are still working with human beings. I was always a bit jealous of my husband who was a master electrician. When he did a wiring job and was finished, there were never any loose ends, no wires hanging loose. If there had been, he would have been in big trouble. When he was finished, he was finished.

As a teacher, I never felt that way. I never felt that my job was done. There was always something more that could be done...never finished. And we were working with humans. We tried methods that got thrown out because it was decided that wasn't the right way to do it, and then if we waited long enough, here it came again...the same thing with a different name.

I salute the teachers who have started or will be starting this school year,

and I take my hat off to you, my son.
May you be a teacher who will make a difference in the lives of your
students this year, not just by the things that you try to teach in the
classroom, but by the life that you live before them each day.

(Please excuse the appearance of this post. The way that it posts, and the way that it previews are not one and the same.)