I'm glad I retired when I did
Thursday, January 19, 2023 at 06:55PM
Once upon a time, there were fairies, knights in shining armor, Amazonian warriors, and dragons - and places where being a school technology director was really fun and rewarding. I remember those mythical years quite well.
I have now been retired for nearly four years and when I see headlines like the one above, I feel lucky to have left the profession when I did. Remote learning over the past couple of years must have placed a huge amount of pressure on technology departments nation-wide. Security concerns were real and growing. Technology, what had once been a wonderful, exciting enhancement to F2F instruction in K-12 schools, suddenly became universal and mission-critical.
1991,after teaching 14 years in the classroom and building level libraries, I became the “AV coordinator” for Mankato schools which at the time had an enrollment of about 7000 students and about a dozen school buildings. To the duties of the retiring AV guy (running a film library, supervising the AV equipment technician, and developing B&W film), I was given the task of being library supervisor. Oh, and the half-time math teacher, half-time computer tech was also thrown in my department, much to his dismay.
This was all in the early 1990s and we all know what happened in the following years - computers, networking, information systems, and that new thingie call the Internet exploded. We put computers on all teachers’ desks and gave training on how to use AppleWorks. We helped teachers get email addresses and use gradebook software. Soon the student information system, now networked throughout our buildings and district, didn’t just allow, but required that all teachers use their computer to report attendance and submit grades.
That was the start of when being a tech director started to become serious - when technology was not just a nice extra, but a vital component of a well-run school district. When the tech didn’t work, neither could the humans in the district. Tech directors now had to be able to communicate effectively with other administrators about why a good budget which afforded redundancy, adequacy, security, and replacement was essential.
For the most part, however, I loved my job. New and exciting tools were available almost every year and there were alway technophiles in the teaching ranks who were eager to try them out. My staffing levels, budgets, responsibilities (and salary) grew. And for the most part, I really liked my staff and co-administrators.
But over the final few years, the problems surrounding the financing of “redundancy, security, adequacy, and replacement” overshadowed the excitement of the new, even as we rolled out Chromebooks for every student. Expectations, accountability, and managerial tasks leeched the educational aspects out of the job.
The news story above made me shiver remembering an incident when our student information system went down for a few days. School went on, but I was quite certain that my boss was going to put a hit out on me. Having increasing expectations of an already overworked staff was not a pleasure.
So in 2019, after 28 years in this exciting field and at 67 years of age, I willingly stepped away, happily knowing that younger, brighter, more enthusiastic leaders would easily fill my shoes. (And they have.)
There seems to be a worker shortage in many, many fields today - especially in education. Are others leaving the field as the joy of education is replaced by exceptional expectations?
Reader Comments (6)
Amen.
This might not be related to this topic, but I am beginning to see another technology issue in my classes.
I believe that there is a growing belief that students have the right to have technology in school - more specifically their own personal technology. I recently sent a couple of notes to students about their cell phone use and playing games on computers (both during class).
Still trying to figure out if their phones are just a pacifier or if there is an actual mental or physical dependence.
I felt the same way about special education. I retired 15 years ago and it seems like the paperwork kept increasing and more pressure to follow laws than teaching content. Every time lawmakers would "reduce paperwork" my paperwork increased by 10 pages for each student! I feel for the ones who are entering the field now but worry about the future when there are so many teacher shortages.
HI Greg,
I figured you might be able to identify!
Doug
HI Kenn,
I think the use of personal devices by students have long been an issue in classrooms. I know some teachers who have the kids leave their phones in a basket at the front of the room I know other teachers who ask the kids to use their phones as an interactive polling tool during class. I suspect my rule would be that if the use does not prevent others from learning, I wouldn't say much.., (PS Still do not have a working email address for you.)
Doug
Hi Pat,
Interesting perspective. Sort of make one wonder why (and how) anyone can stay in education today. I had a rough experience trying to substitute just after retiring that opened MY eyes to the current classroom situation. Perhaps my old age is accompanied by lower tolerance for some behaviors?
Thanks for the comment,
Doug
I hear you! I remember one of my last years teaching I had three different classes, all with major projects coming due. I staggered submission dates in order to allow for grading and to maintain my sanity. The day before the first project was due, our LanPlex went down, a 1 in 10,000 chance. The replacement took three days to arrive and put me behind schedule. When it arrived it turned out to be defective. I'm not sure of the odds of that are, but it was probably akin to the odds of winning the lottery. They didn't have a replacement and we were down for more than another week. Bye-bye sanity! Then of course there was the time I was visited by two secret service agents, but that's a story for another day.
And, Art, I bet you weren't thinking kind thoughts about the tech department!
Good to hear from you,
Doug