ONE TEACHER’S ALPHABET

R is for Revolution

For me, this might be called “The Summer I Became a Digital-Age Teacher”. Starting almost the day after graduation in June, I have taken great pleasure in discovering the wealth of teacher tools available on the internet. I previously had a hazy notion of what was accessible out there, but not until this summer did it become clear to me that we are in the initial stages of a major educational revolution. In the last few weeks, my concept of what teaching is all about has been turned topsy-turvy. In a sense, all things related to teaching have become new. It’s like I’m entering a totally fresh and original profession. In some ways, my 9^th grade English course this coming year will be unrecognizable to the scholars I taught last year. Yes, I hope I’ll be the same agreeable, gentle, but unrelenting teacher, and we’ll definitely develop the same considerate and helpful spirit in the class, but beyond that, almost nothing will be the same. Gone will be most of the “paperwork”, replaced by scholar blogs at home and the internet projected on a big screen in the classroom. Gone will be the traditional educational ambience of individualism and seclusion, replaced by one of togetherness and support. Most importantly, gone will be Mr. Salsich as the center of attention, replaced by the whole world of learning on the web. People have asked me when I’m going to retire, but what teacher in his right mind would retire at the beginning of an academic revolution of historical proportions?