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I taught for 30 years in the public school system and quite successfully I might add. I have, in those years, mastered the mimeograph machine, the filmstrip projector, the 16mm film projector, and on and on...backrooms in schools are full of the detritus of the latest technology to hit the streets. In 1984, I was teaching at a small eastern Oregon district when we had a visiting tech guru who peddled the wonders of the computer. Near the end of her spiel, she warned that those of us who did not embrace the computer in the classroom would be gone..kaput...within five years. I'm happy to say that 27 years later, I am still not computer "literate" and have just learned (from a student) how to cut and paste.

My success as a teacher comes from a passion for my subjects that technology can never replicate. The art of a socratic dialogue, the push and pull of posing questions that cause a student to leave the comfort of a Google or Wiki search. There is a "bibbidibobbidiboo" magic that good teachers have and that will never be replaced by smartboards, ipads or the lastest tech de jour.

posted 2 years, 4 months ago
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