Johanna+wiki+2nd+try

Hi, my name is Johanna and I currently work for the Acton Public Schools as a resource room teacher grades K-3. I got my Master's from Lesley College in '82, so I am fast approaching my 30th year of teaching..(A fact which never ceases to amaze me.) The vast majority of those years was spent doing preschool special education, which I truly loved. For two years, however, I lived in Montana and worked in the Bozeman Public Schools as their preschool special educator. That just about did me in... If you ever want to appreciate living in Massachusetts, go live in Montana for a couple of years. Very fortunately for me, a good friend said, "you may want to just take a leave of absence", as I was about to dive headlong into my new adventure and actually resign from the Acton schools. So after two years of complete work stress for no pay and no respect (perhaps I exaggerate a little here, but not much..) I came back and got a job back in Acton as the resource room teacher at Gates School.

If, by any chance, you are reading this and happen to be from Montana, please don't take offense. It is by far the most beautiful place I have ever been (except, maybe, Hawaii). I just couldn't live there, and I DEFINITELY couldn't teach there.

Anyway, I am extremely happy in my current position, and can totally imagine working in this job for another ten years. If you had asked me back when I was on year 27 of doing preschool special ed, I would not have been able to say that. Teetering on the brink of burn-out, I was... I think the thing that has allowed me to teach at all for 30 years is that I have been able to keep learning and growing as a teacher. That may sound corny but it's true, and it is something particularly true about the Acton Schools. They really encourage professional growth, and most of my colleagues seem to really embrace that spirit. I am surrounded by people excited by learning as much as they can, and getting better all the time at what they do. It has also made a big difference for me to shift my focus to the elementary grades (something I have often thought of doing but never gotten the chance to do), because I was a complete rookie when I started three years ago ("what's a digraph??"), and every day/week/year has been an ongoing learning experience. And one of the coolest things to watch is how much technology all the elementary teachers use in their classrooms. Next fall we will have Smart boards in all classrooms 1-6, and I have been totally impressed with how using the Smart boards can engage so many learners in so many different ways. I also use the computer a lot with my students because they all have a variety of learning and emotional disorders, and often the computer is the only thing that grabs them.

So here I am taking this on-line course about technology in the classroom... And right off the bat it's a learning experience, because I have never taken an on-line course before. This morning I Googled, "what's a wiki?"...Now I know. I'm looking forward to hearing from other folks about what they do for work and why technology is important to them in their jobs. Because truthfully, after years of wrestling with the reality of technology in our society (ask my kids: I was the VERY last person they knew to buy a microwave...), I am coming to really appreciate some of the wonderful things technology can do for us.

I'm also curious to see what other people do with their Wiki pages... like, should I really be putting links or widgets in?? Clueless about widgets..

That's all for now. Does anyone else feel like they are writing a profile for an on-line dating service??