Teacher in Development

I’m not rich. I don’t have piles of cash sitting around my house or living in my bank account just waiting to be used for whatever purpose I desire. Nope. Most of the time, my money gets earned,  and very quickly leaves me to pay the telephone bill, cover mortgage payments, keep food on the table, and gas in my car. I use it to pay what needs paying.

So what about professional development? I firmly believe that if you’re a teacher, you should never stop learning. The moment you decide you’ve "arrived" and don’t need continuous development, is the moment you stop being relevant. Professional development is a vital part of being an excellent and effective teacher - in my personal case: a language teacher.

But what do you do when you can’t afford professional development? What do you do when you can’t afford to pay x thousand dollars to take a DELTA or CELTA course? What if you can’t afford to pay university tuition and books? Or worse still, what if you don’t even have access to such resources to begin with?

I don’t even understand what I’ve just found, but I want to pass it on to you. This link comes via Derek’s Blog

I just watched the vid cast by Richard Baraniuk (it’s short, interesting, and well worth your time.) and visited the Connexions site. All I can say is this: blown away.

Are you like me, and don’t have piles of cash sitting around, yet you would like to polish, and develop your teaching skills? Why don’t you take a peek at this: Teachers Without Borders: Course 1: Education for the New Millennium.

 This is the start point of a 5 course certificate program. All for free. I know where I’ll be spending some serious time over the next few weeks. What do you think?

I just came across this article in a local paper. Warning: Spanish content: El Financiero en línea

(http://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/ElFinanciero/Portal/cfpages/contentmgr.cfm?docId=21360&docTipo=1&orderby=docid&sortby=ASC)

The article’s title caught my attention: "Agreement Signed to launch Digital Homes."

The basic idea: Microsoft, Intel, and two local Mexican companies are partnering to include computers and internet access in 25,000 newly constructed homes.  According to the article, these homes are in "social interest" and Middle class income ranges. Broadband Internet, I imagine for the low income folks, will be offered on a "pre-paid" system - kind of like long-distance telephone cards.

 Computers will be provided "free of charge" to those who opt to buy homes starting at 170 thousand Mexican Pesos. (where the heck would these places be? Hours and hours away from civilization I bet.)

According to the folks at Intel, Microsoft, Homex and Grupo Elektra - the objective of this program is to help bridge the growing digital divide that exists in the country.

According to stats: Less than 5% of the population has access to the internet in Mexico, and and not even 9% of folks in the country have a computer at home.

My only question: If only 9% of people in Mexico have computers at home, how many people actually have enough money to afford to buy a new house in order to enjoy the new computer and broadband?  

I just read a fantastic post over at the Cool Cat Teacher Blog called: Perspective

I think it’s fantastic because Vicki writes about what really matters in life. It’s stuff few dare to ponder I think. We strive to succeed. We strive for excellence in our classrooms. We strive to get successful business ventures rolling, we strive to bring in sufficient income to pay the bills and keep food on the table, roof over head etc.

All important things. But a very tricky road to walk. I’m in the middle of trying to get my own free lance buisness off the ground. To me, that has meant getting up at 4:30 and 5:00 a.m., and going hard until 10 or 11 at night. It’s meant logging long hours behind my computer screen, researching this, planning that, developing something else - and then racing about one of the largest cities in the world to meet with clients and give classes.

To add to all this, I have a wife who is 6 months pregnant, and a 3 and a half year old boy. I’m a husband, a father, an active member of my church - I often get asked to "preach", I’m involved with trying to get the children’s program off the ground - as Vicky says in her posts, I, like many of you, have lots of balls to juggle.

What really gets to me, is how fast the important parts of my life get neglected. Just last night, after coming home from a long day (10:30 pm) my wife gave me a hug and told me that she feels like she never sees me anymore. (She works during the day too.)  and she told me that my son was wondering why I wasn’t there to say goodnight. 

Gulp. Could that be the gentle "tap on the shoulder" of perspective? 

What’s important?  I know the answer. My mom and dad always talked to me about that - that God should come first, then your wife, then your kids, then your job. But knowing, and doing are very different things, specially when money and tight budgets are involved.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is this: Spiritual matters, my wife, my son, my health….those would be the glass balls Vicki was talking about. The balls that I cannot allow to fall.  All the busyness, all the running around, all the "new client" hunt - those are important balls, but can bounce a little.

Working hard, and achieving excellence in your profession are not bad things. I think we are called to that…but we are also called to excellence around the parts of our lives that really matter. Sadly, I see in my own heart that I very often think of "the important" as balls that can bounce. That they can be forgotten for a while in order to get the other balls up in the air. But I see that this simply is not true. They may bounce, but bruising may start if they hit the floor too many times.

What about you, are you paying attention to the balls that matter most in your life?