My name is Jenni Scott-Marciski. I've just entered the 16th year of my teaching career at Nip-Rock High in Red Rock, Ontario on the northernmost shore of Lake Superior. For the first couple of years I taught a bit of this and a bit of that (art, Special Education, merchandising, native studies, civics, career studies, Canadian history, drama and English). I then spent several years teaching English and leading the Communications department. I'm now in my fifth year as our school's guidance counselor and as the leader of our Student Services department. Our school has fewer than 200 students and we continue to try to run as comprehensive a program as possible which means we are developing a reliance on elearning courses to help students fill their timetables. In fact, all of our university-bound students must take elearning courses in Grade 12. In addition to my 197 kids at school, I have two at home. My son is just about 10 and my daughter is 7. One of the main reasons I signed up for ETMOOC is so I can better serve all of my kids (the 197 at school and the 2 at home). I`ve been asking for PD around technology for years and this opportunity was put before me by my principal. Besides me, she has signed up for ETMOOC as have 2 other teachers from my school. This morning we were working on one more of our teachers to sign up and I think we might have convinced her. Anyway, I digress. I just couldn`t pass up this opportunity to learn about technology in education. It`s way too daunting to try and figure this out on my own because there`s just so much out there that I don`t know where to start.
I have to admit though, I have a second reason for joining ETMOOC. And it`s kind of selfish. But I`m trying to convince myself that I deserve it. I`ve joined because I really, really need something in my life that`s about me. I have been feeling as though I`ve lost all desire to do anything lately and with the loss of desire has come a loss of confidence. The prospect of learning something new has sparked an enthusiasm in me that I haven`t felt in a long time, so that is why I'm getting excited about ETMOOC. (Now, if only I could get through an entire blog post without 10 000 ``Mommy`s." You know what I mean: `Mommy, I need to upgrade itunes. Is that ok?" And "Mommy, I deleted this app on the computer but it's still on my ipod. itunes is kind of unreliable." And "Mommy, I just did an experiment and the chocolate milk powder tastes WAY better than the chocolate milk syrup." And "Mommy, it's a good thing I figured out where to put the resistor in the last project I did, isn't it?" And "Mommy, do we have any 3D glasses anywhere?" And the most recent, "Mommy, you know how we couldn't figure out how to install the Aether Mod, well I just found instructions 'How to install any mod.'" Seriously, I heard all of this and more during the writing of this post.)
Well, I wrote this post the evening of the first etmooc Blackboard Collaborate session, just before it started. Apparently I saved it instead of publishing it. Since then, I've been pretty excited by what I've participated in so far. I'm now thinking that I had better try out some new things and make a visual introduction that's more fun than this one. Hopefully I'll get that introduction done before etmooc draws to a close. I'm now on TweetDeck and Hootsuite. I'm ready to try Google Reader. And I've got some ideas I want to blog about. (Note: during the addition of this final paragraph tonight, I heard 4 facts about nuclear disasters, each preceded by, "Mommy...")
Well, I wrote this post the evening of the first etmooc Blackboard Collaborate session, just before it started. Apparently I saved it instead of publishing it. Since then, I've been pretty excited by what I've participated in so far. I'm now thinking that I had better try out some new things and make a visual introduction that's more fun than this one. Hopefully I'll get that introduction done before etmooc draws to a close. I'm now on TweetDeck and Hootsuite. I'm ready to try Google Reader. And I've got some ideas I want to blog about. (Note: during the addition of this final paragraph tonight, I heard 4 facts about nuclear disasters, each preceded by, "Mommy...")
Jenni,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your story and thank you for sharing it (especially the bits about your interruptions). You are lucky to have a principal like @fryed to support this type of thing. I am participating in #ETMOOC too, my first MOOC and so far I have really enjoyed browsing through some of the introductions and realising how different everyone is, but then again how we all seem to have the same interest in connecting with other educators and continuing our learning.
Celia @ccoffa
Melbourne Australia
So hear you on the mom stuff. I had to stop listening to tonight's conference to do bath and bed time. Good for you, to do something for yourself. I haven't really thought of it that way, but I feel like this is what I am doing too. My life has been consumed with my kids needs, and it is exciting to converse and connect with other like-minded individuals. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteG'day Jenni and Celia,
ReplyDeleteNow that I have retired from teaching after 35 years, I feel I need to relearn blogging from my voice rather than using it to teach students as I have done for the last 5 years. But I will still be using the twitterverse to connect with teachers and like minded educators.
I feel it is the connections and conversations that make a mooc more enjoyable - not having to do all the activities but read posts and comment.
PS Jenni, not everyone will have a Google account, so you might need to have Name/URL as options when leaving comments. I have to remind students of this all the time when doing the student blogging challenge.
Thanks so much. I've changed the settings to include the Name/URL option. I didn't even know there was such a setting ...so much to learn.
DeleteJenni, I had to chuckle and shake my head in wonder when reading your blogpost because it seemed to me you were narrating my evening. "Mommy" is a constant refrain in my home as well and I have a 10 and 7 year old as well.
ReplyDeleteI know you joined ETMOOC to learn, but, it sounds like you could learn so much about technology just from your children too.
I, too, did a blog intro at first but now will be working on a visual one.
Looking forward to your next post.
Sometimes I ask them for just 5 minutes so I can try to sustain my own thoughts, even for a little bit. LOL. Part of my motivation to learn about technology is to try to keep up with my kids. I cannot continue in ignorant bliss...
DeleteJenni, I'm so excited that you have begun blogging. Your reflections are so honest, and already I'm looking forward to reading so much more... mostly because your experiences are so familiar! I think there are so many of us who need that 'something just for me', and isn't it great that we can share that?
ReplyDeleteOn airline flights, the safety instructions alway remind you to secure your own oxygen mask first before attempting to help anyone else with their mask. The direction is there because the instinct of a friend or mother may likely be to help the friend or child first. A few moments of clear thinking reveal the logic--I'm not much help to my child if I'm unconscious--but a few moments of clear thinking can be hard to come by in an emergency.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the same advice applies to parenting and teaching. We have to take care of ourselves in order to take care of the kids and students in our lives. If we don't recharge, personally and professionally, we won't have the energy, passion, and clarity to be of much help.
Thank you for your honesty. I hope the ETMOOC community renews you in ways you need. You've certainly helped me put this experience into perspective.