i don't want to

Sometimes we have to do things that we just do not want to. This is evident on a somewhat regular occasion in the classroom. This afternoon it was very evident in the professional development session that I had to attend. 

Yesterday I was really looking forward to the pd session that was scheduled for this afternoon. We were told that we would learn about our new math resources during this three hour session. We came prepared with our laptops so that we could be guided through the electronic resources that correspond with our new text books. 

We spent the three hour session playing on our computers, talking to our neighbors, and enduring the trainer's incompetence. We would be guided to a link on the website and told about all of the awesome things that we could do to make our instruction more engaging for our students. Then we would sit and wait while our trainer fumbled around and repeatedly apologized and/or made excuses for why he couldn't actually do what he told us about. Those of us playing around on our computers frequently figured out how to do what he was trying to do and then sat as he continued to click links and mumble about what he was sure he had known how to do a couple of hours prior. It may be difficult to believe, but I did not want to be there.

I was however obligated to sit through the session, so I chatted with one of my fellow grade level teachers about the coming year and quickly navigated the web resources that I am excited about integrating into my instruction this year. In relation to this facet of bringing technology into my classroom, today I also set up my classroom c.o.w. (computer on wheels). 

This year all of the teachers at my school have been given laptops, document cameras, projectors, and speakers. Gone are the days of trying to run around and show my kinders how to use their manipulatives, of pointing to the words in a decodable reader that is too small for my students to really see when they are huddled around me, and of wasting loads of paper that is tacked to the board so that I can write all over it in an attempt to model how to do a worksheet or activity. With these resources I hope to introduce a new dynamic into my classroom, one that is engaging and interactive in a way that resonates with my kiddos.

Sometimes we just don't want to. But, sometimes we do.