|
Here I am in 8th or 9th Grade. We are in the middle of the 70’s. (Are you counting yet? I was born in 1960!). In my math class we still learned the slide rule; the computer of the scientist! Electronic calculators were out but still too expensive for the average person. My math teacher did say our class would be the last one she taught the slide rule to. Before I graduated High School, I would have a calculator of my own. It cost about $60, used 6 to 8 AA batteries and only added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided.
|
|
Yeah! I made it! Graduation has arrived. I took my Senior Picture, sent out Graduation Announcements, Walked the plank, um, I mean the stage.
Was I free? Well, not really as I was off to Boot Camp soon for an enlistment in the Navy. I felt I had few options; I could not stay at home yet I was not ready to leave. I didn’t want to work flipping burgers my whole life yet college was overwhelming and seemingly out of reach. There was also my aversion to sitting in classes again for the next four years coupled with the headlines of the day that College Grads could not get jobs in their chosen field. There had been several headline articles in Time Magazine that year about colleges and job prospects. So I enlisted, delayed entry, in October of my Senior year so I could relax knowing my plans after high school were set. I graduated and off to the Navy I went! |
|
Remember my aversion to sitting in classrooms for four years. I ended up doing just that in a manner of speaking. I enlisted as a data processing technician. This was basically a data punch operator or data entry for the type of computers in use at the time. It turns out later the method of using punch cards to feed information into a computer was short lived anyway. My recruiter talked me into taking the test for the Nuclear Power Program. So I went from data processing at at a military base or aircraft carrier to two years of Electronics Technician and Nuclear Power Training. I also volunteered for the Submarine Service. I ended up on a submarine out of San Diego as an Electronics Technician / Reactor Operator.
|
|
To make a long story short I finally earned my Bachelors Degree in Technical Management in 2009 and my Masters in Educational Technology in 2011.
It was only after I was able to take my courses online was I able to juggle work and school obligations and earn my degrees. |
My position as Technology Director is just about as perfect as it can be. I get to bring in and utilize decades of experience and interests. I am a technician and I like technology. I like to keep current on the available technology and its application in a K-8 setting. Although, it seems like the faster technology moves forward the slower the education systems become. Maybe it is all relative?
I don’t like to think of myself as a “teacher” but more of a guide. I like to set the stage and let the student discover their own way through it. It is the journey with all its struggles that I remember the most. Being able to apply learning to my own world is also very important to me. It is the journey and application of knowledge to new journeys that I value. This is what I strive to pass on to my students.
I don’t like to think of myself as a “teacher” but more of a guide. I like to set the stage and let the student discover their own way through it. It is the journey with all its struggles that I remember the most. Being able to apply learning to my own world is also very important to me. It is the journey and application of knowledge to new journeys that I value. This is what I strive to pass on to my students.