Techlearning blog

Three things you can count on in life: death, taxes, and your computer will fail.

As a computer teacher, my lessons rely on 23 boxes that need to work for most of my objectives to be met. As part of my job, I keep the computers in good working order ---it's something that I can control. But I am always at the mercy of a working Internet connection ---something I never have control over.

Solution: I always have a backup.

A couple of weeks ago, the students and I weren't able to connect to a site that we needed for the lesson I had prepared on "Communicating Ideas." We tried several times, and then I decided to just "punt" and use one of the links that I have at the ready in my "Link of the Week" section on our website. These links are primarily geared for students to use at home, but at times, we visit them during class as well.

The link I chose to substitute the lesson with was an addition/subtraction game over at Arcademic Skills Builders. The kids went absolutely wild over the game, and I've never seen students so excited about addition and subtraction. The reason was clearly because they learned how to "host" their own games and race their "jet skis" against other students in the same room. The skills of being able to login, set up a game, and create or access a password is an entire lesson in itself. Quickly, I realized that the substitution was so much better than the lesson I had planned, or at least was a lesson that I needed to include in the curriculum rather than just providing the link as an add-on.

In short, I was thankful the original site didn't work and even when it came back 5 minutes later, I ditched it.

In March, Pete Riley wrote an entry at District Administration Magazine called Teacher Dropouts. It highlights the top reasons why teachers leave the profession, based on survey data where ex-teachers compared their new private industry jobs to their previous teaching jobs. The top difference between both jobs cited was Autonomy.

In ditching the planned lesson in the lab the other day, I did what I had to do. It made sense and I'm sure any administrator visiting my room to see how my lesson was going would understand that this was the smart decision, that I couldn't do anything about the failed connection to the site included in my lesson. I probably would even be congratulated for my "smart thinking" or for having a backup plan.

In this climate of high-stakes, standards-based curriculum and assessment, I wonder how many classroom teachers have this same opportunity for autonomy that I had in the lab the other day. How many of us are allowed to "go off script" ---for whatever reason the teacher deems necessary?

In working with a classroom full of human beings, complicated and multifaceted as individuals and even more so as a group, there are constantly reasons to "ditch the best laid plans" and seek alternative and "on-the-fly" solutions. I won't even try to compile a short list of reasons here because it's probably futile to give any of the issues any more prestige than the other infinite things that can occur in a classroom which may demand a chucking of the prepared lesson.

This is what the teacher's first responsibility is: attending to the needs of the students at the moment. Like a ship's captain, she must be on the lookout for icebergs and reefs and veer off course when needed.

I wonder how many teachers are still afforded this liberty. Are you allowed to chart your own course when necessary, or are you to stay true to the fixed and unwavering course? I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback, which you can leave at my blog if you're unable to leave comments here at TechLearning.