Reflecting on Another Year

This month marks another full calendar year teaching in a juvenile corrections facility. To compare this  current moment to last year on this day is a lesson in contrasts. My current roster shows only three students I had on this date a year ago. The classroom has been upgraded with a projector attached to the  ceiling, a new Smart Board and wireless internet (password protected and only for use by myself or with myself and a student for a specific learning purpose). I use iPads and can seamlessly integrate technology and mathematics. I'm now teaching the second iteration of my video game design class.

It's not only the tangible changes that exist, there are also changes invisible to the eyes. In a word, I feel a lot more confident, perhaps even comfortable. I don't say this in a way that makes it seem like I know everything, or just sit back and rely on a curriculum (I don't), but as a way to say, I can do this job and I do it well.

One of the most important changes over the past year has been to consistently seek out trainings which pushed me to become more creative, and blend together technology and education. It is really easy to say, let every kid use a computer or iPad. The question then always becomes how do I make this meaningful in my classroom, and how do I squeeze out the best of what these technologies offer.

It isn't easy. It took a training in Limestone, Maine at the Maine School of Mathematics and Science for me to really rewire my brain with all these technologies. It took another training at the conference for New England Mathematics Teachers in Vermont to connect the dots with Common Core.

All of these changes over the past year has improved the quality of education here greatly, and make this an exciting place to teach and learn. The nature of teaching in corrections though is it can all change suddenly, as a result nothing is taken for granted. I have to stay flexible and open minded to be successful here.

The evolution of being a teacher here has really run the gamut over the past couple years. I started out in a classroom with no technology, where our only resources were textbooks and each other. Piece by piece technology was added, then training and support.

My hope also by writing this is to help demystify a bit what education can and should look like in a corrections facility. There is no doubt it can be difficult, but I believe it can and does work effectively for a great number of students. My plan is to write a bit more about this in the coming weeks.