When I started teaching seventeen years ago I had one non-internet-connected computer for teacher use only, a copier that could make double-sided copies if you manually reinserted the paper correctly and prayed hard enough for it not to jam, a chalk board and my pride and joy---an overhead projector (one of only a few in the school, granted to me only after a doctor's note confirmed a major allergy to chalk dust). At home I had a dial-up internet connection and a Juno e-mail account and I thought I was in teacher-heaven! Today I look back and wonder, "How did I ever survive?" (Not to mention keep all my fingers--as the teacher with the smallest hands and arms I was continually getting called to come and un-jam the copier!)
Today my classroom is not exactly paradise on earth (I have multiple "water features"--read here leaks in the roof, the heat only works half the time, there is zero air conditioning, half the chairs are too small for the tables and the tables have pieces missing from them) but it does have a lot of things that make teaching so much easier than even seventeen years ago. I have a medium to high speed wireless internet modem on my ceiling (thankfully not too close to any of the current water features), a Promethean smart board and projector, one-to-one ChromeBooks for my students and a document camera that technology promises they'll obtain the software for and make work sometime before I retire. In the building are four high speed copiers that will double-side, staple and even three-hole-punch my every job simply by pushing a few buttons on the computer in my classroom. Outside of school nearly every store sells teacher supplies (even the dollar store!) and at home I have an even higher speed wireless internet connection with access to multiple devices and printers. This is only the physical side of teaching---then there's the creative stuff!
Need an idea for a lesson? Can't remember what the formula for the volume of a cone is? Stumped as to a creative project for your class to practice a skill or vocabulary? Need to track their progress with basic math skills? No need to worry or even strain a single brain cell----Google is here to help! Thanks to Google and so many other websites/companies everything I need or want to know is instantly mine for the taking with the click of a few keys. Today is a perfect example: last summer when I was working on my geology unit I knew I needed an activity that would combine listening / following directions in English with vocabulary practice for the layers of the earth. I did a quick Google search and had literally hundreds of thousands of results immediately before my eyes. I simply clicked a few links, glanced through some sites and chose a modeling the earth's layers project from wiki How, complete with pictures and step-by-step directions. I was even able to click a few more times and save the link straight to my unit plan folder! Less than twenty minutes from start to finish and I had a great activity planned. A quick trip to Meijer the night before and I had all the supplies I needed. The only creativity I had to expend was figuring out how to do a science/art project in a room where the only source of water was the ceiling!
So often today we hear about how challenging teaching is compared to the past, how much harder it is and how if teachers from years ago came back to teach today they'd never be able to do it. Yes, teaching is extremely challenging and is not an occupation for the faint of heart or those who do not have a passion for it, but I think we are trying to compare apples and oranges, or at least Galas and Honey Crisps. There are new and difficult challenges facing teachers today but there are also a lot of advantages and helps available to us thanks to our modern technological age.