Source: http://goo.gl/LzIzy

The sucker’s choice…that either/or of undesirable options that a pounding pulse forces one to make. At a meeting last week, I had the opportunity to make such a choice. In a place where the desire to teaching writing workshop, AND blend technological ingenuity into the process, I found myself opining, “It’s too much to expect teachers who don’t know how to facilitate writing workshop to also blend technology.”

That opinion smolders, made hotter because I am its source. Then, tonight, while flailing about in my RSS feeds, avoiding Feedly because it’s too pretty, preferring stark simplicity of LifeRea, I tripped on this:

The point is simple. Teachers need to be able to understand how to embed technology into what they do. But you can’t do this unless you’re already a good teacher. The technological side of it only comes into to play if you already knew how to balance pedagogical knowledge with content (subject) knowledge. Only then can you understand how best to integrate an iPad into a classroom. (Source: Cageless Simplicity)

Indeed, I might as well have said, “Those poor souls. Their lives are so full, they can’t spare a moment more to learn how the rest of the world communicates, creates and connects.” You know, I’d rather “good teacher” meant something else.

Mayhap, a good teacher might be someone who says, “Throw me into the deepest pool, I’ll dog-paddle until I can swim, swim until I can breathe underwater, and emerge a leviathan of learning. Don’t molly-coddle me, protect me from failure, baby me until I wither to nothing, unable to move forward without your permission.”

Check out Miguel’s Workshop Materials online at http://mglearns.wikispaces.com

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