I hate forced group participation. Ya ever go to one of those b.o.r.i.n.g. meetings where the speaker wants everyone to"get up and form a circle!" Reeaaly? Form a circle...I'm not five years old and no I do not want to put my right hand on the right shoulder of the freak in front of me. Half the folks there were so confused by this right-left choice that they totally froze and had no idea what to do next. Put my right where? Did she say my left hand on her right foot and...whahhh? hokey pokey? I find this "KAGANITE" manipulation demeaning and condescending. We all know it is the tool that the "socially challenged" use to try and "break the ice and bring the group together! yay!" These are the same folks who carry neon plastic clapping hands, wear hidious halloween sweatshirts and decorate their door for every season and holiday from the craft sale counter at WalMart. Seriously, the getting up and moving to the other side of the room and playing the "Hi, my name is Betty and I love bird watching and skeet shooting...ironic, huh?" game is played so the webinar organizer can break up any sarcasm circles so she won't be heckled (sp?) during her hour and a half of boring useless information...and useless it was, folks! We were treated to the most boring meeting of all, A WEBINAR! Yes readers, this is when a talking head from the computer drones on and on and the added bonus was that all we saw was a blank screen and since we couldn't see the speaker or the audience that was answering the woman we were totally disconnected and thus uninterested...yes, I used the word "thus," 'cause I got me one o' them college degrees too.
I was texting my BFF about the pathetic webinar, the woman across from me was watching a youtube video and the guy next to me was grading papers. The funny part was that this "webinar" was about keeping your class interested and not teach subjects in a boring manner....REALLY? So, in order to keep teachers from being boring we need to bore them to death...brilliant idea! Oh, and, webinar lady, don't forget to throw in a miriad of three syllable "education-ese" term to make us think that you really do have your graduate degree...whoopie! I was personally keeping a tally of how many times you used our new buzz words: Rigor, rigorous...35 times in 90 minutes, and who actually uses the word, pedagogy in a sentence? YOU DO! Thirty four times in 90 minutes! This must be some type of record, right?
The pretty young thing in charge of the "webinar" was stomping around the room glaring at us and was not quite "seasoned" enough to turn this snoozefest around and grab our attention. She was also scared to death of us (hey, not my problem) and she had no idea how to say anything without having one of us rip her face off...figuratively of course.
The point here folks is that if you are going to demand time and attention from overworked and underpaid teachers then the "webinar" had better be interesting and include useful information instead of the "same old, same old" that we are force fed daily. In other words...TELL US SOMETHING WE DON"T KNOW!
I don't care if I get to wear jeans for the rest of the year, the bone we were thrown to attend in the amount of an extra $12.00 amounted to sqat after taxes. I do not want to stay after school for an hour...and a have to sit on a tiny germ infested cafeteria stool and hop up on command like a trained monkey and play a circle game to make you feel like you have justified your new job.
Teach me new things, new teaching methods and exciting new ways to present pertinent information. Make me want to teach, to join in, and to listen to what you have to say. Don't force me to stand in a contrived circle and "relate" to my coworkers in an uncomforable situation. Entertain me...grab my attention...and help me learn...hey, isn't that what you want me to do in my classroom?
Do I sound bitter?
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