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MARSHA
RATZEL
Diary #2
A
New Reality Sets In
Classroom
teachers and students came back this week and it was chaotic, synergic,
demanding, a chance to renew friendships, and a reminder of the hope each
new school year brings.
And for me,
a definitive reminder that I have changed hats. I am a part of the district
office staff now and people perceive me differently, although I am the same.
Somehow now I have "power" and "authority." Which is perceived to be both
a good thing and a bad thing.
I see myself
as a champion for teachers inside the "system," and a bridge to understanding
how to carryout school board policies, federal compliance laws (I had never
heard of before), and the behind-the-scenes nitty gritty bureaucratic stuff.
All the things I hated to hear about when I was a classroom teacher and
still do, but know they have to be taken care of.
Most of this
week was spent solving problems and setting visions. Solving problems is
something I've been good at in the past. But it sure is exhausting and makes
me lonely for the classroom. It's so much more controllable in that environment
because it's smaller in scope and once the door is closed you just settle
in with the rhythm of teaching students. I'm besieged with logon, password,
and domain change problems. I'm trying to infuse the desire to use technology
as an invisible tool in a climate where teachers feel overwhelmed and overloaded.
Again, I find
myself falling back on what I've learned about classroom assessment as a
model for making it through. Measure, Adjust, Deliver, Measure, etc. etc.
etc. Keeping my objectives simple and to the point must be foremost in mind
at all times, so I don't get sidetracked.
For example,
I know that technology can be the most freeing thing to happen to a classroom
teacher because it just explodes the stage from which one can operate. You
are no longer confined to the walls of your classroom --- you can take your
students into the world and help them "get it." They can read about current
events, look at online maps, and cyberchat with others about what happened
that morning. Or students can read on-line digitized Library of Congress
documents on the Constitution, while linking to other digitized images of
Jefferson's letters.
Suddenly history is something that has personality and passion because they
can hear Jefferson's concerns as he helped to craft the Constitution.
Technological
intimidation
But this vision
is not widely held and it intimidates teachers tremendously. And my own
personal enthusiasm for the opportunities "tidal waves" them. I can tell
when that glassy-eyed stare takes over, I've done too much talking. That
goes back to the Measure, Adjust, Deliver, Measure thing. So I've re-learned
that I need to listen, anticipate obstacles, and help teachers see what
I see and help myself see what they see.
With the return
of students this week, the buildings were no longer ghosts but full of hum
and buzz. I had the opportunity to return to my old building to solve a
technical problem. And it was such a blessing to hear the Mrs. Ratzels and
get hugs from the kids I've had the last couple of years. The things that
used to make me a millionaire. And that night as I cried over my loss, I
realized I needed to learn to get that same satisfaction from hearing a
teacher say "I can do that" or "I did that and the kids were so successful."
It isn't an
equal trade. Yet. One teacher friend tried to console me with this image
that I have been in the "Mother Theresa" mold --- helping one student and
classroom, one year at a time; now I migrating to the "Eleanor Roosevelt"
model --- setting policies and visions that will change 1500 teachers and
14,000 students lives. I sure hope I can do it.
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