It’s been an intense spring and summer of rethinking my career and preparing for something altogether different. It came together this week: I accepted a half-time math teaching job at a Denver high school and I also received news that I passed Colorado’s math content exam for teachers.
I don’t know whether I’ll blog about teaching or not — there are a number of difficulties top of which is maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of those I work with, especially the kids I teach. When I was focused on succeeding as a web technologist, blogging was almost entirely a good thing. Now my personal landscape has changed and blogging comes with significant tradeoffs.
Leisa addressed this in her post Ambient Exposure, where she talks about how life changes can bring new risks, new vulnerability to blogging and other online social activities.
I’ve lost much of my will to blog for now anyway. (I guess I’m not the only one).
Meanwhile, I’m enjoying the feeling of knowing what I want and where I’m headed work-wise.
15 Comments
Anne, congratulations on the new teaching job!
Best of luck on your new endeavors. I’m sure you’ll find many rewards in teaching.
congratulations Anne - this sounds like a really exciting direction for you and there are some lucky kids in Denver
Anne, congratulations. Your students will be lucky to have you. Best wishes!
That’s awesome!! I’m sure lots more kids will become much more interested in math from having you as a teacher.
Most Excellent News.
As far as blogging: Do what you feel is best.
congratulations Anne!
Congratulations! I’m very excited for you, and for our schools.
Cool! Congratulations. The Denver school system is lucky to have you.
As I long time reader of your blog and a high school teacher I am thrilled to read that you did land a job. One of the greatest gifts you will bring to the students is your experiences outside the school system. Teaching high school has been highly rewarding for me. I hope you find the same.
And, there is a huge community of teacher bloggers - it’s possible to discuss practices and pedagogy without sacrificing the privacy of your students or colleagues. I would love to hear your thoughts as you enter the institution with fresh eyes and a sharp mind.
Thanks everyone! I feel so excited about this new direction.
Lianne, I will definitely be checking in with the edublogging community. And I am realizing it will be possible to blog in a way that doesn’t compromise anyone’s privacy. I am working on my first edublog post already.
Congratulations, Anne. I can’t think of many endeavors more important than teaching and high-school is such an critical part of a person’s life. I certainly hope you’ll have time to blog but in any case, have a great time on this new opportunity.
Thank you for choosing to teach Anne ! Congratulations are in order more for the Denver High School for having you as a teacher rather than you getting the job !!
Congratulations on the new position. I encourage you to continue blogging and maybe even start blogging with your students. There are some fantastic math teachers that blog and some that blog with their students. They use the technology in really exciting ways, including inviting outside experts to mentor students through the blogs. Darren Kuropatwa in Winnipeg, CN is an excellent example. http://adifference.blogspot.com/
I really like this blog for creative teaching ideas and an interesting and passionate point of view: http://blog.mrmeyer.com/
I also like this one, although I admit it is well over my head. http://mathnotations.blogspot.com/
There are many other math teachers that are just trying to figure out how to leverage this exciting technology as a reflective teacher and as a teaching tool. With your experience as a blogger you can be an example for us to look to.
Hi Joe, thanks for stopping by and for the great links. Looks like I should keep tabs on Global Learner too.
How exciting to investigate an entirely new area of the blogosphere.
Congratulations! This is a big step. Please do continue blogging. Maybe you do not have to talk about the school or the students, but more personal: the joys and tribulations of changing careers, the motivations to experiment in your teaching, what works and what doesn’t work… there is much there that would interest us without naming names or giving specifics. What I am trying to say, badly, is I would be interested in your inward journey.