As an example, after one of John's in-services last year I learned how to incorporate YouTube videos (blocked at my school) through multiple different outlets. However, here were my results:
- TedEd (website is not blocked, but one cannot view the YouTube videos = Blocked)
- Popcorn Maker (same as above)
This year I have enjoyed losing the filter battle to these wonderful web sites:
- Thinglink (Blocked)
- EdCanvas (Blocked)
- Weebly (Blocked)
- Cover-It-Live (Blocked)
- Google Docs (Blocked)
- Anything Google except "Search" and "Images" (Blocked)
Who really blocks all of the GREAT things that Google has to offer? I was hoping to use Google Forms this year with my Flipped Lessons so I could get a quick survey of how the students felt they understood the lesson's material. Yeah...not so much. I have since moved on past this unfortunate non-use of Forms. I figured I wouldn't miss it. That is, until I read this article by Kevin Brookhouser. It was titled, "10 Sentences Google Apps Teachers Never Hear". Man did that make me even more frustrated. I felt (and still feel) like I am missing a boat here. But then I realized, it isn't me that is getting hurt. I'm not the one that has to learn to collaborate, create, and share knowledge with strangers all around the globe. Nope, the ones that will be hurt are my students.
I guess I'll just have to keep teaching mathematics the same way, each day, every year, because math never changes. It was dry and boring when I was in high school and it is still dry and boring as I teach it now. I'll keep sticking with the teacher-led direct instruction from the front of the class. My classes will still learn math the same way as their mother and father, or older sister and brother. By the wonderful method of "drill-and-kill" worksheets and 20-25 problems from their book. And then I will assess them through a standardized test at the end of each chapter. Yeah...that's the ticket!
At this moment, I feel very disenchanted and held back because of our school's filter. There have been numerous times throughout this year that I have spent a couple hours at night creating something "engaging" and "exciting" for my students so we can get away from the drill-and-kill worksheets and book work during class. I'll double-check that I can open it on my computer first. If it opens (50% of the time), then I will pass it along to my students and they will try the activity on their student laptops. Success rate = 25-40% of the time. Therefore, my overall efficiency rating is about 25%. Awesome! Excellent! I'm so glad I can take time away from my kids at home to create something for my kids at school only to have it blocked. Ugh......
I guess I wouldn't be so frustrated if this was an issue with other area high schools. There in lies the problem. Plenty of other schools have the ability to pull these resources from the web. However, we are not. Why is that? Even more upsetting is I never get a full fledged answer from any of my administration.
Frustrating...
Nonetheless, I will keep forging ahead in education technology. I will keep looking for new and innovative ways to engage my students. Not because I have to, but because I want to. I want to find that resource(s) that makes the kids want to come to my math class. I want math to be as exciting as an elective class to attend. Therefore, I WILL continue looking and creating and trying, and looking and creating and trying, and so on. I'm sure there will be more failures along the way and more battles to fight against the dark tyranny of school networks and filters. But not because I have to... but because I want to.
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