EDF 1005 - Veteran Teacher Interview Reflection

I met this teacher at my job. I work at a public library in Hialeah. I always knew he was a teacher in a private high school but we never got the chance to really talk about it. I borrowed some of his time and used this assignment as an opportunity to interview him about his career. It’s easy to tell that this veteran teacher has been around for a good while.
I think that this teacher has some great ideals about the No Child Left Behind Act and he definitely is an advocate of the abolishment of standardized testing. I agree with him about this. I don’t think that this type of education focuses on general knowledge, and it completely dims student creativity.
Despite some of his anti-technology responses during the interview, I found out that this teacher is actually a fairly tech-savvy person. He uses digital cameras, computers, etc in his personal life outside of school. I believe that to continue enjoying what you’ve been doing even after 10 long years, no matter what it is that you’re doing, is a definition of success.
When I first asked him what technology he uses in his classroom he mistakes the question as a personal one at first. He quickly moves on to instructional uses, though. I suppose I could have asked it in a clearer way. This teacher has only one computer for students to use for instructional purposes in his classroom/lab. I don’t think this is enough for the students. I have to disagree with how he goes on about technology; I think technology is something that should be taken advantage of. We have so much information at the tips of our fingers, so why not use it? Although he has some lack of technological resources in his class, he does mention a graphing calculator that is a fairly new model. However, he doesn’t have enough of these for the entire class.
I noticed a recurring theme. He kept commenting on how he has been frequently burned by technological adaptation. I think this teacher feels outdates, and he has lost a lot of previous work. The fact that he has had such negative experiences with technology, he has been made very suspicious of new technology and does not trust it. The teacher shows only some mild resistance toward technology but what he does have more concern about is the students’ instant gratification to find answers quick and easily via online search engines, such as Google.
He always mentions how more use of technology in the classroom will affect him personally, but rarely mentions how it can affect his students and class as a whole.
This veteran teacher is able to realize “21st Century” skills are somewhat a necessity. He realizes that some students don’t have these skills, and some refuse to have any effort to learn and practice them. The teacher values simulations that allow his students to play with initial conditions in chemistry/physics, and other courses. He likes the fact that they can see different results without risking burning the building down.
My subject recognizes that each student is different and their most effective way of learning varies from student to student. He is able to provide different options for those who need or would benefit from them. I noticed that the subject of power points was mentioned multiple times. He used this as such a primary example of technology in class. His students would prefer more technology in his class. The use of power points in the classroom can be very debatable on whether it is a good, bad, or neutral factor.
He mentions the loss of his data, and upgraded programs not being compatible with his outdated material being a huge problem within technology. I think this is a very minor error compared to some of the flameouts that have occurred in education. I think that private schools don’t have as much money or motivation to try anything ambitious.
The set of students in his classes is self-selected and not average! As I’ve noticed in many science classes, there is an under-representation of female students.
This teacher has an active sense of humor. It’s possible that this sense of humor has helped him through 10 years of teaching. Notice the scheme for keeping students awake. This hints to me that students find his class boring.
The teacher sees huge benefits to co-location of students even if technology is implemented and I agree with him. However, he seems a bit unsure about one to one computer as an ideal form of educating students. I wonder if this anti-technology attitude is just a reflection of experience or a reflection of age. Perhaps a mixture of both, or maybe even something completely different. He wants to see some more control on how students are using technology. Towards the end, once again, he displays a concern about personal use of technology and risking losing data and material through changing technological revolutions.